Research into Music Magazine Publishers

The Task
I have looked in to different music magazine publishers and there history, hopefully this will allow me to see how magazines are published and what sort of publishers sell different music magazines.

The Research

Conclusion
From this research in to the industry that surrounds music magazines, I have learnt that there are only a few main publishers. This is interesting as there are so many different genres covered by music magazines many of them for niche target audiences.This research will help me later on in my production of my music magazine as it shows me what the of things are needed to start off a magazine company and what these publishers and companies want from their magazines.The reason I did this research was to give myself a better insight into the whole industry of music magazines and from this I have learnt about three big publishers and a brief overview of their history.

Investigating Iconography

The Task
I am going to look in to artists in different music genres, to see how artists vary style and look because of their genre of music. This will help me to identify what type of image I will need to create and make when I am design my own music magazine and finding a genre to use for that.

The Research

From this research I can clearly see the different genres a at glance to help me identify what icons and what clear identifiers belong to each music genre.

Conclusion

This will help me later on in my project and in my designing on a magazine front cover, contents page and double page because it will allow me to clearly represent my chosen genre with correct iconography, and will help me to ensure that the genre is clear and identifiable to target audiences 

Magazine Names

The Task

I am going to look in to existing music magazines names, for this I will be using the internet to find names and hopefully see if their is a common name used with all of the names and also to see what names work in the music industry. Lastly from this research I will be able to see what names already exist so when making my music magazine I won't use an already existing name.

The Research

Below I have put some of the names I found together so that I can quickly see some at any moment if I need a reminder of what I found out.

Conclusion
By looking in to different magazine names I can now start to identify commonly used words and names for the music magazine industry.T his research it will help me later on when I am creating my own music magazine to achieve a effective name for the magazine.

Brief Analysis Of Three Magazines

Task
I started some of my research off by looking in to three well known magazine front covers. I decided to split my research of these in to four sections: firstly the history of the magazine, secondly who the target audience was and how that was shown throughout, thirdly brief analysis of the front cover and lastly a collage of previous issues of the magazine to show if there is or is not a running trend through all the front covers.

My Research

Conclusion

From doing this research I have been able to find out who some magazines have started up and what they have gone through to become what they are now ( well known names and brands). This research will help me when I'm starting to design and create my music magazine, as it shows me briefly what type of things are placed on magazine front covers and why they are however this is something that I will look further in to, to ensure that I have a good knowledge of more magazines and how front covers change depending on genre and target audiences. Something I have learnt from this is that magazines need to stand out as when on the shelves all consumers can see is a small section therefore brighter colours and fonts should be used to stand out a to be different from competitors, this finding will enable me to 

Introduction To Magazines

The First Magazine 
The First Magazine ever published was called 'The Gentleman's Magazine of London' it was released in 1731 and had a monthly edition. 




















What is a Magazine?
A magazine is a publication that contains articles and images usually focused on one specific genre or aimed at a particular target audience. Magazines are different from newspapers as they tend to be thicker, glossy, and are published less frequently than newspapers. The frequency can depend on the size of the readership, or the specific target audience the magazine focuses on. For example a popular magazine like Cosmopolitan comes out once a month this is because there target audience is mainly focused on 18-34 year old women therefore this is a demographic that may not be able to afford a weekly magazine. Magazines have the ability to influence social trends, and have to stay in touch with demographic, economic and social trends as sometimes magazines emerge from these trends. Magazines do not tend to break stories of the last days events, however they may contain material about people or events. 

Genre
There is a huge range of genres in magazines that is widening all the time. There is a higher degree of audience fragmentation as more niché magazines, for example magazines have become more specific for there audiences, fishing once only had one magazine now there are separate once for Game fishing, Trout & Salmon and Total Carp are now all separate magazines. As magazines have become more popular the range of genres has increased,20 years ago there were no lifestyle magazines directed at men, however now there are many directed at men such as GQ, FHM and ZOO because now there is a want for these types of magazines.

Front Covers
The front cover of a magazine creates an identity for the magazine, the front cover of a music magazine will immediately show the consumer what genre of music the magazine will cover, what type of things will be included in the magazine and who the magazine is directed at. It also helps differentiate the magazine from competitors. Another reason the front cover of a magazine is so important is because when you see the rack of magazines in a shop they will all be overlapping, if the front cover is good it will stand out from all the others and would be able to be seen and picked out from a pile of magazines. 

Analysis of Two Music Magazines

The colour scheme of this magazine is mainly focused on bright neon colours like pink and yellow, these colours are also usually associated with girls. From this the audience can tell that the target audience is teenage girls around the ages of 11-14. The images that can be seen on the front are of famous stars that would attract the target audience to view and read the

magazine. From the front you can also tell that the main genre of the magazine is based on pop music, this is because of the people shown on the front, another reason for this is because the name includes the word 'POP' this helps demonstrate the genre. The use of pink and yellow also connote bright and upbeat news, this again helps to attract the specific target audience it is aimed at.

The colour scheme of this magazine (red and black), helps show the audience what type of genre this magazine focuses on. The red connotes danger and passion both of these very present in the rock genre. The black connotes power and mystery these two things will intrigue the consumer to pick up the magazine to read. Both colours are very eye-catching which will help the magazine to sell as it will attract the eye of the buyer. The name of the magazine is catchy and memorable and also stands out on the stands. From the front cover you can also tell this is aimed at an older target audience and at both men and women in there thirties to forties.

Conclusion

The point of this research and information on magazines is to help give me an idea on what magazines are about, the different types of genres used and represented by magazines. The research has shown me some brief different ways that magazines are used and how they ensure they are seen by there target audience. This will help me with my final product and ideas for it as it had given me an idea on what is expected on a magazine. However I know that more research will need to be done to ensure that my magazine represents the genre that I choose. This research has also given me an insight in to what colours magazines use to show what they will be focusing on by using the conotations ascribed to each colour, e.g. black with power.

My Expectations

What I hope to gain out of this course
From taking part in this course I hope to enhance my existing skills in media, by using a variety of different tools and applications. I would also like to gain a deeper knowledge of a section of the media industry,(in this case the magazine industry). From doing media as a double GCSE last year, and gaining an interest in it, I would like to build upon knowledge that I learnt last year for example, learning more skills on photoshop and final cut pro- as I am thinking about working in the media industry after hopefully completing university. 

Other skills I would like to get out of this course is the ability to work independently, as to organise myself to make sure that everything is on time and to deadline. As this is my first time using a blog format I also hope that the course will give me the ability to strengthen this gap in my knowledge.