Music Magazine Analysis

I am going to be examining a magazine front cover and I am going to be covering all the key and main aspects that make up a magazine front cover. I am going to go through step by step all the key elements of a magazine front cover

Natasha Lyonne - GoreZone Magazine [United Kingdom] (December 2009)
 The above magazine I am going to be examining, 

The Sell line is the long line on the left side of the magazine and it is meant to draw audience in and in this magazine it used the text “Worldwide no1 horror entertainment magazine” this tries to prove to the audience that this magazine is the best choice for people who are interested in that gene as it says what is probably its own personal view that it is the no1 worldwide horror magazine, there is no 100% way to find out whether this is true and it’s a common use of self-hype in order to draw more people to buy this magazine.

The use of lots of red text makes the images stand out on the white back ground and emphasises the horror genre which is a common link with danger, which the colour red is usually associated with. The use of red also is used to represent blood as used to the image of the girl in the middle this is all related in terms of the horror genre as blood is often used if not all the time and this emphasises the gore factor.

There are puffs used (without borders scattered all around the page) in one of the puffs it mentions a bug Hollywood star this will not be just for any reason this would have been done to emphasise the magazines superiority and to show its position of power in the magazine genre.it would be highly unlikely another magazine will get a bigger Hollywood star than the one mentioned on this magazine which is Cameron Diaz, not exactly known in the horror genre although. Despite this, the main puff will only of been used to show that they can get high powered stars or celebrities to be a part of the magazine. Puffs are also recognized as pugs and they are used to give information to the audience about what the magazine is going to contain.

There are some Cover lines used underneath the puff titles this is used to give a clue about what the numerous chapters inside the magazine will contain such as, “interview with Michael Jackson…Mj discusses his new and upcoming tour”. It gives the reader a small insight as to what parts are good enough to be mentioned as is used to stand out as the audience may pick up the magazine to have a quick look as to what is in the magazine and these help gives them an idea of what will be in there.

The big masthead is the most traditional item of a magazine as it makes the magazine and gives it a name, it’s the most important thing in the whole of the magazine in my opinion as it shows the audience exactly what they are buying and can in some cases of the huge magazine company it can be worldwide known to millions of people.

The magazine front main image doesn’t use or contain the full typical conventions of a horror film it uses a white background compared to either black or red which are more often associated with horror. This was used for a purpose to make the image stand out with the splatters of blood more directly noticeable. The main image is a true key point as it is the first thing that the audience will get to see when they either choose to buy the magazine, the magazine creators will have to make an image more creative and make it stand out in order for people to notice it at first glance and even think about buying it.

Comparing the magazine to other magazines of this genre I think it is of high standard due to the simple mention of a high Hollywood star, and the conventions shown indicate that there is a high quality of knowledge taking place behind the scenes by the people working for the magazine, comparing it to the magazine above there is more special effects gone into the front main image compared to the first image, this shows that the main focus is on the image to try an draw the audience. Although there is barely any text written and surrounding the main image there  is on the first image this will be because the other magazine may contain more relevant thing inside the magazine and the first magazine may simply have better information or interviews than the second magazine etc. 

College magazine analysis

What images have they used?

The image the college have used is a medium shot of a girl studying in the college.  The image used shows a girl approximately aged 16-18 wearing her own style of clothing studying and working inside the college. The lights are shown in the distance while the main focus is on the girl.

What is the mise en scene used on the cover?

The mise en scene used shows a light setting and shows the amount of space available to the students. it gives a brief outlook of the facilities also. the lighting is light behind her this shows that she will stick out as the main image on the page. The props used of books and a pen connote school life as she is working away as this is what the college expects from students.

Would the front cover engage the audience?

The front cover is terrible when compared to actual magazines on sale as it gives off limited information and it very poorly put together. The magazine front cover is of high quality as it shows the determination of students to work and what the people in the college expect from their students and pupils.

Who is the target audience?

The target audience is male and females in the college aged 16 to 18 who would like to know more information about the college or parents who are interested in finding more information about the college

How does the magazine engage the audience?

The page engages the audience by offering agony aunt with problems page relate-able to the students. it also offers stress tips of how to cope with it, this could be useful to some students, this shows that the college cares about the students well being so could be bought because of this.

How do you know its for the particular target audience?
The girl on the front gives off an example of who should be reading the magazine, as she is from the same age range and also a students at the college. This connotes that she is apart of the readership population of whom the target audience is.

What is the ideology and what does the college consider important?
The college  considers the college students' well being important as it wants them to be able to cope with stress the college considers the students' needs and wants important.

College Magazine Pictures

This image is an over the shoulder shot, the simplest name for a simplest shot as it takes place over the shoulder of a person.

This is a long shot, the reason it is a long shot is because its taken a long way away from the person or object that we should be focusing on another example of this is taking a photo of a bear in a woods from 200 yards away. (This is not recommended).
       











This is a birds eye shot, this is called a birds eye shot is because, this would be directly what a bird would see if it looked down. Its taken from a high point vertically and focusses on the floor at the bottom where our eye focus comes to an end.













This is a medium shot, i have edited this photo on my I-phone and made it black and white faded this in my opinion makes it look better. This is a medium shot as you can still make out a lot of detail on the main object/person of whom our attention and direction is drawn to.

These are images that I have taken specifically for my college magazine creation the two main image that I will use on the magazine front cover will be either the birds eye view, the establishing shot or the medium shot of the student singing for media. All these images are specific and relevant to the genre that I will be covering in the magazine. Its necessary to have taken several images as the best music magazines usually have more than one photo in order to keep the audience interested and entertained. In my college magazine I will only be using one or two of these photos as I don't feel as if they mix well with each other. They are all pictures I could use as my front cover page but I will only be using one, the final creations of my college magazine cover will be available soon, keep visiting here for my three piece college magazine.         

Music Magazine Layout

Below is an image of what the typical music magazine layout will look include, the words have been explained on a previous blog post as to what they represent: music magazines have certain layouts that they tend to keep the same in order for the audience to easily recognise the magazine, the typical music magazines sticks to this layout.

Photoshop introduction

This blog post will be used to show how i have shown briefly my ability on photoshop via merging two images together. Photoshop is a software that allows you to edit text, images or anything else you want via numerous ways such as changing colour or size and many other ways. I wanted to create a funny style image that was combined of two famous faces to add a bit of humour to this blog rather than bland blog posts with no amusement.  The software I am using isn't top quality as I am currently using a school Macintosh computer which is hard to replicate certain things I have done on the past.

My use of Photoshop is very bare as I haven't used Photoshop for about 2 years so I will need to do some research to be able to create a better magazine on Photoshop at the end of the course. The image below is what I am currently able to create on Photoshop. I have taken a picture of Eminem and made text all over his face so that the text looks like it belongs there.

Rock Moodboard

This the a moodboard for the genre of rock, the rock genre has been around for generations with several bands becoming huge succeses through the genre. Bands that are shown above are Foo Fighters, Kiss and ACDC these are well known bands that have been extremely successful attaining mass interest from the audience. The two coloured images are logos for the band KISS and the band Foo Fighters these help the audience indentify the band and distinguish them from other similar bands.

Feminism

The web based definition of feminism is the following: The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.
This definition of Feminism here in simpler terms means the fight of women to gain equal rights that men have been accustomed to for generations, even in today's society women are treated as inferior to men in some cases especially fields such as sport.

Brief Feminism introduction 
Feminism has been around since the 18Th century, but there is evidence to suggest that advocates for women's rights existed way before this time some 24 centuries ago. Back in the 1920's especially women were seen purely as housewives who should, cook, clean and look after their husband and family, by the time WW2 came around their voices were heard and many more women got involved in the war, women have been documented as fighting in wars since the bible was wrote, and WW2 was the biggest example of women become more active in fields typically dominated by males, as a record number of women signed up to serve their country even propaganda played its part in recruiting females.

What's next for Feminism?
Feminism I personally don't think will ever end, women are going to keep continuously fighting and protesting to get the same or even better rights than men, the media will still "fetishize" women and show them as sexy rather than professional, if you look at any newspaper of  magazine women are shown as sexy rather than their ability in their line of work. Only 2 years ago when a female linesman was first used in the premier league was she a target of sexual jokes from two sky sports pundits, this was solely because of her gender and the two men were fired immediately, back in the 1970's women were often the but of the joke and accused of being inferior to men and everyone turned a blind eye to this so this is evidence to how Feminism has made an impact within the world of media.

Typical of society to see gender as a dominating factor in certain fields when it doesn't make a huge difference, Women can do about 99% of everything men can do and men can also do about 99% of what women can also do. women in the media is an issue brought up whenever a female is sacked and replaced by a male colleague whether this has anything to do with their gender remains to be seen but we as a society are able to accept people for who they are regardless of their gender. Women are often seen as having long hair, dressed in frilly pink dresses with make up and high heels this is just the stereotypical image presented to us from years of being glued to media through television and newspaper etc. Music videos and magazines often glamorise women as sex objects rather than talented female performers, Madonna is often claimed as a feminist and she is often quoted to "Broke the glass ceiling of women to show they can be sexy in their 40's onwards" but we never hear from this who were the first women in the media? Angela Rippon became the first regular female presenter back in 1975 and showed women they can compete with men for jobs in male dominated fields 

Magazine Analysis

Below is a screenshot of a magazine analysis that i have created complete with the necessary magazine terminology:

College Magazine double page spread analysis

This is a double page spread for a college magazine instantly I can tell that it is very well created and it looks very professional. The magazine uses a terrific colour scheme that works well throughout the whole page with the focus of the main image being split between the banner and itself.

The way the main feature text is spread out is in a book style as if its a part of a story which I think is a very clever format to present the magazine. The questions and answers are very well set out and very believable, its almost as if you can image the interviewer asking the interviewee these questions personally.

The images used don't come into contact with each other and like I said before make it seem as if the audience is reading a story directly out of the magazine. The way the notes lap over the main image make it seem 3D which is a really cool effect and makes them stand out.

This double page spread, is one of the best I've seen from any magazine and because of this I will try to replicate this when I aim to create my music magazine and also my sixth form magazine. Everything about it works well, the only thing that I could say that is bad about it is that the image does not contain a caption and the masthead is not visible anywhere on the page but other than that it is a very well put together college magazine.

Cohens Moral Panic

A moral panic is an intense feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order; and is when something that could affect society in the wrong way is published like it is nothing.

Cohen's moral panic is a theory that there is what is known in media as a "Folk Devil" which means that an individual in the music business is doing something out of the norm in which the press and public don't agree with on a majority.

People such as......

Lady Gaga is idolised by her fans but regardless of her singing abilites a majority or a lot of people find her strange and weird. Her outfits and comments are seen as controversial as she is definetley out of the norm of the social normality. Another character who appears in the same boat as Lady Gaga is Nicki Minaj (as seen below).

 Nicki Minaj is controversial in almost every action she does, her outfits are constantly ridiculed, her singing/rapping talents are questioned repeatedly, her cosmetic surgery is often brought up in arguments as she gives of the messages that to be idolised you have to be fake. Her song lyrics are also frowned upon by many her provocative lyrics of sex and violence make her a very questionable performer.

People have often been accused and portrayed as folk devils, in the olden times this is in relation to witches who caused huge attention to the when there is no real danger to be seen. There's no danger in new bands theoretically as a new type of music will not make the world blow up but people who don't like change will always appeal against it shown by the "new" upcoming artists like Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga.

Justin Bieber is a perfect example as when he first appeared on the music scene he was just a young teenage boy singing which many people disliked while others adored him, but as more and more of people start to like him he becomes more socially acceptable rather than the former folk devil that he was.

College magazine Contents page analysis

This Contents immediately tells me it was done by a student or an amateur. This contents page seems very bland and boring as only one image is used and the image itself doesn't tell us anything about the magazine nor what to look for within the magazine
The fonts used are very bland and not entertaining, although the actual storylines seem very well put together and seem very believable and interesting.
The title of the page doesn't seem to fit in with the overall style of the magazine and I still cant workout what the colour scheme of the contents title is related to, using a red or blue would of made it more effective and made it match the style of the contents page.
The house style seems very well put together with the repeated blue page numbers standing out against the orange background. The red colour used for the subtitles match the colour used on the main image which works well here. As for the effort that seems to be put into the magazine it seems very minimalistic, compared to others that I have researched, it doesn't seem very formal enough to be a sixth form or college magazine also it seems as though the magazine is only ten pages long which seems like an error
Overall this contents page is very bland and boring and does not make me want to read on, if this was in the shop and I turned the page to find out what else was inside the magazine I would quickly put it back, more attention to detail and more pictures would of made it better and more entertaining.

Music magazines analysis

Good:

The effects to get such a clear resolution in the picture

The mode of address shows the theme of "sexiness" and "danger"

The text size and colour do not draw attention away from the main image or the logo

The Sell Line is short and sweet and lets the audience know which magazine is the best choice for them

The Main headline gives little away about whats in the magazine so therefore the audience have to look inside to get a glimpse of whats going to be in there.

I chose this magazine due to the effects used to make it stand out and it gives it a more dark and deeper feeling to the magazine rather than the other magazines which feature bright and colour images and text to

make it stand out and this magazine has opted for the opposite which in turn makes it stand out more.

 

Good:

The Stand out image is good due to its him (Kanye West) with a straight face to show him in a neutral state

The colours used give off a laid back approach and a more happy upbeat tone rather than what he is usually known for which is dark colours and deeper colours

The way the text is placed around him and the way he appears before the Title of the magazine only enhances his significance

I chose this magazine due to its use of bright colours which don't dispute Kanye's masculinity but they also give him a sense of humanity with a human touch. The use of colours in the font and text make Kanye stand out, the clothing used give Kanye a more sensitive touch rather than his usual typical all black outfits and clothing.

Good:

The use of shading to produce a sinister more evil look to the main image

The use of a famous cartoon character at christmas with a reference to a man associated with being bad shows the season in use as well as not losing their serious touch

The almost secretive use of baubles give off the christmas touch as does the themed title of NME with snow along the roofing

The background is good as although dark it doesn't take any credit away from the main image and the wallpaper remains christmas themed

I chose this magazine due to its use of colour and portrayal of the christmas theme. This is different to the other magazines as he is shown as evil without the content surrounding the main image being over the top in terms of displaying the theme. They (the magazine) have mixed themes of christmas and an evil sinister type due to the character being featured is often stereotypically portrayed as a villain in society but a loveable one that people can compare to the grinch

Analysis with PowToon

Below is an analysis I have created to show how well PowToon works and how simple it is to be more creative with my blog posts.

Semiotics Theory

Semiotic theory focuses on the meaning of signs, codes and conventions in society and culture. Signs are typically consist of an image, world of an object. We all will have certain feelings and meanings towards specific signs and symbols, but certain cultures will see signs as a collective meaning whether we agree with what they represent or not. Semiotics focuses on the study of signs in three different stages:

Perception Stage- The person visually sees a sign and becomes aware of its presence

Manipulation Stage- The person reads of takes in what the sign represents and decides how to react to it

The consummation stage- The person responds to what they have decided to do and performs the action

An example of these three in the common world is seeing a stop sign (perception stage) reading it and seeing the word stop (manipulation stage) and then reacting to it via stopping (consummation stage)

Denotation: This is the literal meaning of a word such as "a car is a vehicle"

Connotation: The hidden meaning behind a word and what is represents such as "a car especially to a teenager symbolises freedom and independence"

This can be applied to music magazines because some colours and signs that have been used represent certain things, the colour of school buses especially in america can be used as a sign as the colour is interpreted quicker than any other colour, and the colour of a magazine could also be seen this way to make it stand out from the rest to the audience. the colour scheme and the images used will be more positively seen by the audience making them want to buy magazines. 

 

Powtoon Introduction!

I thought to myself while looking through my blog that it looked and felt incredibly boring so i looked at other applications that i could incorporate onto the blog and the one that seemed the most professional and fun was Powtoon the presentation below gives some insight about the application.
The following video was exported onto my Youtube channel and has been embedded into this blog post

Magazine Terminology

The following terms are often used within magazines as they are the correct media terms:


The Masthead- This the  name of the magazine such as NME or Q

Banner: This the text that is often placed on a different coloured background in order to make it stand out

Lead: The lead is text that is usually written in bold or italics and its the opening paragraph or sentence of a part of the magazine to get the reader interested which could then tempt them to buy it to read on

Strap Line: This is the associated motto of the magazine

Buzz Words: these are words that are used to draw the attention of the read such as "Big News!" or "Magazine Exclusive!"

Pugs: This the text that is typically placed in the corners of the magazine front cover, they sometimes have text within them such as "More inside" or sometimes they can just symbolise the price of the magazine

Puffs: Puffs are usually colourful words or shapes that give an indication as to what will be inside the magazine such as "Interviews!" "Posters"

House Style: This is the typical colours and display associated with the magazine or brand style such as using the colours red and blue in a logo and keeping it the same constantly and repeatedly

Caption:  A caption is just the denotation of what an image is

Headline:  This is the main feature or story of the magazine

Sell Line: Text located on the magazine front cover to make the audience more interested in the magazine an example is a simple text of "New Music Inside"

Drop Capitals- A drop capital is the Large letter or letters that are used on the opening sentence of an article

Ideology

Ideology is the messages and values within a media product that the media producers are trying to put across, people and the audience may interpreret messages differently and other than their intended use or desire. Ideology is a set of beliefs and ideas that come together to represent something.

Ideology is often labelled as common sense such as a phone represents means of communication howerver these beliefs and ideas evolve over time, the original phone was just able to make a phone call where as nowadays we can call, text, email, facetime and also use social media as well using a phone for a pass time through playing games.

Typical and well documented Ideologies are:
Family is ideal, its important to have a strong family unity
Sex outside of marriage is bad

Most if not everything has an ideology to it, alot of newspapers docment about terrorism the storyline on the right includes the headline of "ira bomb hero kills 2 kids" this headline conflicts ideologies as we associate the word hero with people who do things for good but how is he a hero if he kills 2 kids which we natually deem bad.



In the popular modernist tv show FRIENDS can you guess whats deemed important in the ideology of the tv show, Friendship of course. The clip below is from FRIENDS and shows how the ideology is portrayed within the tv show.

Many films especially childrens films always show good beating evil this connotes that being evil is not good, this is the ideology.
Tv talent shows such as The voice connote that talent leads to a celebrity status and that with that comes wealth this the ideology that atracts us to watch these shows. An example of ideology in your own life is school, you get rewarded for doing good work and punished for acting out and being naughty the ideology here being to behave and do your work.

College magazine Front Page analysis

This is a college magazine, this is different to a music magazine as its subject relates to education and not music. This magazine looks very professional and appealing to the audience as the colour scheme and house style work very well together and are also appealing. The main focus is on the main image which shows a man carrying books to relate it to education. The man looks happy this will again attract the audience as they are more likely to buy a magazine that shows happiness rather than sadness or any other emotion.

The headline is clearly visible and makes us as the audience want to read on to also understand what the subject is about. The other Sub-headlines are easily as appealing to the audience, as they show the stereotypical things that students are interested in such as Money, Fridays and Technology.

The use of the pug is very effective as it adds more colour to the magazine rather than leaving it with two colours, this makes it stand out in front of other plain magazines.

All in all this magazine is very well put together and seems to send out a strong message of professionalism and education. The house style is very well put together and everything seems to be in the correct place.

Sixth Form Magazine front page

Through my very limited use of Photoshop I thought I should have an "attempt" at creating a sixth form/college magazine front page. I took several pictures and looked at which ones would look the best and I then added text around it to make it seem realistic. Bare in mind that this task was not assigned to me I just thought that it would be relevant but my teacher has told me that we will be doing the same project later on in the year so this is just a rough copy.

The magazine layout is similar to magazines I have researched on college magazines but this magazine is clearly of a poorer standard, I hope my Photoshop skills will be more advanced by the time I make my real magazine.

The Masthead has been edited using a faded out rubber running through the C and the H which stand for Cardinal Heenan and the main title has been made on fontspace.com and then transferred over to Photoshop where it has been edited and resized to fit my page.

I added a barcode as all physical magazines contain a barcode and this makes it look realistic and the sub-headlines used are similar to those headlines that I have researched.

The Male Gaze

The male gaze theory is a theory coined by Laura Mulvey and the concept is about the way the audience views actors/ actresses on the screen.

Feminists often look at this theory in 3 ways:
How men observe women
How women see themselves
How Women observe other women

Laura Mulvey believes that in film the characters should be viewed from the opinion and view of a heterosexual female. Women are often lowered and viewed as objects and women must interpret this from the males perspective. A simple example of this for a male viewer is the following, "Watch the music video below and answer the questions below it:




Name three colours of outfits that Rihanna was wearing?

What was pointed at Rihanna when she is wearing a latex outfit eating popcorn?

What colour eyes does Rihanna have in the music video?

Name four words that appear within this music video?

Name two things Were on Rihanna's face at the end of the music video?


The reason that you may not of been able to answer all of the questions was because you were viewing the woman in the music video from the males perspective and therefore not being aware of the other mise-en-scene within the music video.
Many women claim that they enjoy being looked and gazed at as it makes them feel beautiful, this gaze can also be related to those of the same gender such as body image of clothing

Facial Expressions differ between genders for example women are typically categorised to have the facial expression of a chocolate box with their mouth wide open or an invitational expression that shows them as seductive. Men's facial expressions differ from women and they are categorised as being  more comic with their expressions and more carefree as in they don't care and are more open about their facial expression.

Jonathan Shroeder categorised "Gaze" as a psychological status or relationship of power which shows that the gazer is the more significant figure with status over that of which they gaze at.

Music Magazine Questionnaire

Methods of Research

An important part of creating a music magazine is to have a target audience, but firstly you have to find out who your target audience are you have to find out the size of the target audience, their likes and dislikes and other stuff concerning the audience. The two methods of research that I will be using are:-

Quantitative Data Research: (Examples of this include surveys and questionnaires) used to be able to measure and predict a result in order to perform a final conclusion.

Qualitative Data Research: (Examples include Diary account) Qualitative date is all about answering questions with more personal opinions involved.

There is two different types of data that is typically collected from these two research strategies, these are:

Primary Research: Data that is specifically created to answer a specific question, an example of this is conducting a study as to what weather people enjoy the most and asking ten different random people about their favourite weather then recording their answer.

Secondary Research: Data that has been recorded by others but has been transferred into relativity in your questionnaire an example of this is finding out that a survey in magazine said that 50% of people like a certain weather type over another weather type and recording that statistic and keeping it within your results

But why is this necessary, and how can it benefit a music magazine?

The data that will be recorded is necessary as it means that media consumers will get the most out of a piece of media based on their own opinions. People in media may not like something but don't like complaining so they just carry on either suffering or without, when a questionnaire is taken more peoples opinions are taken into account and certain things are done to help benefit a piece of media to an audience's preference such as conducting a study into "what colour people would be more likely to buy a magazine in?" If this question was answered truthfully by an audience then the media institution conducting the survey may see an increase in magazine sales, as they will have taken the audience's opinions into account.

What is a Music Magazine?

A music magazine by its web based definition is "A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a covermount with recorded music." Although this definition is correct its just one opinion of what a music magazine is, a music magazine to me is a last line of the physical form of music that people are still interested in, social media and on-line downloading have erased virtually every physical form of media within music, but music magazines are still standing and people continue to buy them, people prefer music magazines as they are seen to be more truthful compared to websites on-line which means that some people think music should be kept in its original form and I agree, a music magazine is a romantic style text full of truth and passion of people who want to keep physicality of music alive and not let social media keep its grip on reality.

A music magazine contains many elements to it these include:
Images
Interviews
Tour Dates
Reviews
Band information

All these the main elements that music magazines are bought for, these all make up key aspects that make up a music magazine, music magazines popularity now is laughable compared to its height especially for NME as they were arguably the biggest and best know music magazine from 1975-1982 where it was averaging 300,000+ plus from January to June compared to just march 2011 to June 2012 where it received just 289,000 this is a  huge drop even compared to the times of then and now as this was recorded for over a year.

The oldest music magazine in Britain is BMG Magazine, it was first created in 1906 and revolved around the acoustic genre (guitar and voice). 
The most popular music magazine in the UK however is is FLY which had a circulation of 106,586 when its figures where last recorded.
The magazine with the highest recorded circulation figures is The Rolling Stone which has an enormous circulation of 1,464,943 worldwide.

Many music magazines tend to focus on either one or few music genres to appeal to a certain target audience an example of this is NME(New Musical Express) who's target audience is Rock, Alternative, and Pop this shows that they focus on just a few genres to make sure their target audience is focused on certain groups of people rather than trying to make it appeal to everybody. Other magazines will focus on other groups of people they do this as if a music or any type of magazine tried to create a magazine with every genre it would not work pure and simply as too much detail would go into it and not enough detail would be created for each genre plus the magazine would have to be huge and hundreds more jobs would be needed to compensate for knowledge and background on each genre.

The future of music magazines doesn't look too good, but it doesn't look too bad as it has a steady of dedicated fans who look to magazines as their source of enjoyment and pleasure, one day not too soon into the future, magazines will become obsolete and I think it will be replaced by higher forms of technology such as the tablet but on a smaller scale. This does not say that sales will drop as new formats could rapidly improve sales if they are sold at a cost but at this moment in time music magazines are still standing and are still selling.

Introduction

My name is Joel Lampkin and here on this blog you will find my coursework for AS media, in this project I will be creating a Music Magazine. This blog will act as a diary full of posts linked with my magazine such as Magazine reviews, Music video reviews, Screenshots of my progress and other posts that can get me to a higher grade throughout this project. The immediate impression and foundation I imagined for this project was to visit a shop and purchase about 3-4 music magazines and compare them to see what actually needs to be included in my own. By doing this I will have a basic understanding of what I need to do such as taking photographs of people to include in my band and do research into the correct terminology of magazines to make this blog seem more professional.

About me

I am aged 17, and like nearly everybody in the world I am a music fan, my music preferences often vary as I enjoy a large range of music from different genres. If i had to pick a favourite genre or genres they would have to be Indie music, bands like The Imagine Dragons, The 1975 and Ed Sheeran really appeal to me as their music is not loud or pointless and make

s me and others feel happy, the type of music of the artists above is very soft music and I like it purely because the songs sound good with the certain tones used, regardless of the meanings behind them. Ed Sheeran is the most original out of the three and he really appeals to me as an artist because he seems very down to earth and the way he sings his songs is like something I've've never heard before, he sings in a metaphor style making the audience think about his lyrics rather than just the sound of the music. I don't tend to take very much notice into the world of music magazines as I prefer reading about my favourite artists on-line, via social media such as Twitter or Facebook as I think its more appealing and socially viable rather than spending at least £3 on a music magazine each week. I appreciate the scale of the effort that is incorporated into a music magazine or any magazine for that  matter but I just believe that there are better ways of reading a magazine rather than in its physical form.