Are music magazines doomed?
Music magazines are assumed to be doomed because the numbers of weekly and monthly magazines have decreased in numbers; also it is questioned whether or not the public will be willing to pay for a subscription to a magazine that they can access online for free. Furthermore, magazines cannot respond as quickly as the internet which does not fit in well with our advancing society in that we like to be able to multitask or look over the news or subjects within a music magazine without having to put time out of our day to do so.
On the other hand, music magazines aren't doomed because around 2.6 million magazines are sold in the UK alone everyday; along with 87% of the British population read these magazines. Furthermore, £2 billion worth of magazines are purchased every year. Also, its hard to get people to sign up and pay for magazine subscriptions which therefore makes the paper copy of magazines seem cheaper and gives the customers the freedom to choose from a variety of magazines rather that subscribing to two or three different magazines. It is also very hard to make money from online subscriptions because many other magazines or newspapers are available for free and no commitment. Many other things such as cinema and radio use to be claimed to be doomed although they are still here today and are very successful.
Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Monday, 21 November 2016
My Genre
I will be creating an indie-pop music magazine. Within this genre, music magazines are quite rare therefore I will be aiming to combine the outgoing, on trend style of pop magazines along with the more subtle indie style; by doing this I am creating a music magazine for a genre that is not widely publicised and therefore I am attempting to reach an audience which hasn't been entirely targeted before.
Billboard is a music magazine that focuses on popular, new music; it mainly consists of the pop genre. For my own music magazine I will be using some of the features of magazines like this as inspiration to ensure that my indie-pop appeals to both the pop and indie music consumers. This example of Billboard is very simplistic in it's main image; the main image is a close-up portrait image of the artist edited to be in black and white; I plan to incorporate a very simple image, such as this, on the front cover of my own music magazine as I believe that if I use an image that includes more landscape/setting it will draw attention away from the main headlines or the feature of the artist themselves.
Furthermore, the second example of Billboard magazine is seen as more stereotypically the pop genre; the colour scheme of the pinks alongside the floral theme surrounding the image is seen commonly amongst pop magazines for the younger individuals. Although, the simplicity of the mid-shot, main image is continuing from the simplicity of the earlier cover, furthermore by doing this the magazine is ensuring that the readers are focusing on the bold headlines and the artist rather than being distracted or drawing their attention to other aspects within the image.
The indie music magazine 'Fader', as shown below, has a more realistic, raw look/style to their magazine in that the images look natural through the settings, costumes/clothing, make-up and lighting (mise-en-scene). By doing this indie magazines give the sense of an informal tone which therefore makes the targeted audience feel more inclined to buy the music magazine as they are able to relate within the content of the magazine. I will be incorporating this within my own images and magazine design to appeal to the indie-pop audience as it is more authentic and unique within each edition.
Billboard is a music magazine that focuses on popular, new music; it mainly consists of the pop genre. For my own music magazine I will be using some of the features of magazines like this as inspiration to ensure that my indie-pop appeals to both the pop and indie music consumers. This example of Billboard is very simplistic in it's main image; the main image is a close-up portrait image of the artist edited to be in black and white; I plan to incorporate a very simple image, such as this, on the front cover of my own music magazine as I believe that if I use an image that includes more landscape/setting it will draw attention away from the main headlines or the feature of the artist themselves.
Furthermore, the second example of Billboard magazine is seen as more stereotypically the pop genre; the colour scheme of the pinks alongside the floral theme surrounding the image is seen commonly amongst pop magazines for the younger individuals. Although, the simplicity of the mid-shot, main image is continuing from the simplicity of the earlier cover, furthermore by doing this the magazine is ensuring that the readers are focusing on the bold headlines and the artist rather than being distracted or drawing their attention to other aspects within the image.
The indie music magazine 'Fader', as shown below, has a more realistic, raw look/style to their magazine in that the images look natural through the settings, costumes/clothing, make-up and lighting (mise-en-scene). By doing this indie magazines give the sense of an informal tone which therefore makes the targeted audience feel more inclined to buy the music magazine as they are able to relate within the content of the magazine. I will be incorporating this within my own images and magazine design to appeal to the indie-pop audience as it is more authentic and unique within each edition.
Sunday, 20 November 2016
Effects Models for Music Magazines
The Hypodermic Needle Model
This model is a model of communications suggesting that the intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver. This is an outdated view of media effects. This effect is the idea that the media 'injects' it's passive viewers/audience with their message, which immediately affects the audience. Furthermore, this model brings about the idea that the viewers cannot escape the media's influence.
The Hypodermic Needle Model applies in the context of music magazines in that main images and headlines on the front cover of a music magazine captivates the intended audience therefore meaning that any message within the magazine is accepted by the reader. Furthermore, if the reader is the music magazine's target audience, for example an indie-pop magazine, these indie-pop fans will be more likely to be accepting of any of the messages within the magazine and therefore be easily influenced.
Two-step flow
This model focuses on the people with the most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content to others. This is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model. 'Cool' people are viewed as the opinion leaders and the 'uncool' people are the opinion followers.
This model follows on from the Hypodermic Needle Model but is more advanced as media developed in that it had selective influences on people. This model assumes that influences flow from mass media to the audience of opinion leaders or the 'cool' people and then onto the opinion followers/'uncool'. Therefore, this model suggests that mass media does not influence people as effectively anymore as it isn't as direct but instead connections amongst the audience alongside selective exposure are the main reasons for any influence from the media.
The Two-step flow model in relation to music magazines implies that the music magazines themselves are the 'cool' people and the 'uncool' people' are the consumers/readers of the magazine.
Uses and Gratifications
This model reflects on the idea that individuals are not victims of mass media but use the media intentionally for specific gratifications. This model researches individuals to understand how and why they seek specific media to meet their specific needs. The model is audience-centred in they way it only focuses on what people do with the media that they consume, this then helps to advance their understanding of mass communication. Uses and Gratifications model is referred to the dominant model. This model in terms of music magazines is applied through music magazines researching and developing their target audience to gain a better understanding of what the audience wants to then apply to their magazine to meet the audiences specific needs.
Reception Theory
The reception theory comes from the reader response literary theory, it places an emphasis on individual's interpretations of a type of media. This theory takes on the readers interpretation of a text rather than the text itself or the intentions of the author which is linked to the "Death of the Author" theory. This theory also links in with the post-modern theory. The Reception Theory represents that a text, in this case a music magazine, is not actively accepted by the audience but they interpret different meanings of the text based off their background and life experiences. Overall the meaning of the text is not within the text itself but within the relationship of the text and the reader.
The Reception Theory applies to music magazines through the individual music magazine's target audience as the articles/text within the magazine would be written and adapted to match the desired relationship of the text and reader. By doing this the reader is more likely to purchase the music magazine to read the article that can be easily interpreted.
Obstinate audience theory
The Obstinate audience theory suggests that due to the audience/reader being selective in what messages they want to pay attention to, the producers of music magazines are using media to actively find what the audience wants through what they like to see within the music magazine. This applies to music magazines with a specific genre, such as indie-pop, in that the magazine would use surveys or media similar to find out what features of the indie-pop magazine are appealing to the audience and what they want to see more of; this magazine can then incorporate their findings and therefore meet the needs of their consumers.
Drip Drip Drip Effect/Cultivation Differential
The Cultivation Differential theory states that mass media influences our attitudes through our interpretations as an audience of messages produced that then change or adapt our world view of the message. An example of this is that we, as audiences, begin to become convinced that certain things are desirable or 'cool' due to media reinforcing this idea repeatedly. This applies to music magazines in that they may incorporate a certain artist repeatedly or a specific article with a reoccurring theme, such as records, which audiences then interpret as a popular subject and therefore 'cool' or desirable.
This model is a model of communications suggesting that the intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver. This is an outdated view of media effects. This effect is the idea that the media 'injects' it's passive viewers/audience with their message, which immediately affects the audience. Furthermore, this model brings about the idea that the viewers cannot escape the media's influence.
The Hypodermic Needle Model applies in the context of music magazines in that main images and headlines on the front cover of a music magazine captivates the intended audience therefore meaning that any message within the magazine is accepted by the reader. Furthermore, if the reader is the music magazine's target audience, for example an indie-pop magazine, these indie-pop fans will be more likely to be accepting of any of the messages within the magazine and therefore be easily influenced.
Two-step flow
This model focuses on the people with the most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content to others. This is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model. 'Cool' people are viewed as the opinion leaders and the 'uncool' people are the opinion followers.
This model follows on from the Hypodermic Needle Model but is more advanced as media developed in that it had selective influences on people. This model assumes that influences flow from mass media to the audience of opinion leaders or the 'cool' people and then onto the opinion followers/'uncool'. Therefore, this model suggests that mass media does not influence people as effectively anymore as it isn't as direct but instead connections amongst the audience alongside selective exposure are the main reasons for any influence from the media.
The Two-step flow model in relation to music magazines implies that the music magazines themselves are the 'cool' people and the 'uncool' people' are the consumers/readers of the magazine.
Uses and Gratifications
This model reflects on the idea that individuals are not victims of mass media but use the media intentionally for specific gratifications. This model researches individuals to understand how and why they seek specific media to meet their specific needs. The model is audience-centred in they way it only focuses on what people do with the media that they consume, this then helps to advance their understanding of mass communication. Uses and Gratifications model is referred to the dominant model. This model in terms of music magazines is applied through music magazines researching and developing their target audience to gain a better understanding of what the audience wants to then apply to their magazine to meet the audiences specific needs.
Reception Theory
The reception theory comes from the reader response literary theory, it places an emphasis on individual's interpretations of a type of media. This theory takes on the readers interpretation of a text rather than the text itself or the intentions of the author which is linked to the "Death of the Author" theory. This theory also links in with the post-modern theory. The Reception Theory represents that a text, in this case a music magazine, is not actively accepted by the audience but they interpret different meanings of the text based off their background and life experiences. Overall the meaning of the text is not within the text itself but within the relationship of the text and the reader.
The Reception Theory applies to music magazines through the individual music magazine's target audience as the articles/text within the magazine would be written and adapted to match the desired relationship of the text and reader. By doing this the reader is more likely to purchase the music magazine to read the article that can be easily interpreted.
Obstinate audience theory
The Obstinate audience theory suggests that due to the audience/reader being selective in what messages they want to pay attention to, the producers of music magazines are using media to actively find what the audience wants through what they like to see within the music magazine. This applies to music magazines with a specific genre, such as indie-pop, in that the magazine would use surveys or media similar to find out what features of the indie-pop magazine are appealing to the audience and what they want to see more of; this magazine can then incorporate their findings and therefore meet the needs of their consumers.
Drip Drip Drip Effect/Cultivation Differential
The Cultivation Differential theory states that mass media influences our attitudes through our interpretations as an audience of messages produced that then change or adapt our world view of the message. An example of this is that we, as audiences, begin to become convinced that certain things are desirable or 'cool' due to media reinforcing this idea repeatedly. This applies to music magazines in that they may incorporate a certain artist repeatedly or a specific article with a reoccurring theme, such as records, which audiences then interpret as a popular subject and therefore 'cool' or desirable.
Monday, 7 November 2016
My Reader/Target Audience
Audience:
My readers are a range of female and males of whom are intelligent, positive, passionate about music, relaxed and outgoing. My readers are interested in finding unknown artists and going to their gigs; their religion or beliefs are not specific but their taste in music is whether its finding new artists or supporting smaller groups or individuals that are making their way in the music business; the main aim of my readers is to not follow mainstream music, which includes artists/music that are generically very popular. My readers enjoy a variety of indie-pop music from Tom Odell to Charlie XCX to Birdy. My readers can be described as intelligent, positive, passionate about their love of music and outgoing; which then will be represented within my magazine design, such as the main images and the language used in the article included in the double page spread.
The age range is from 16-35; I decided on this age range because at the age of around 16 onwards individuals become a lot more passionate about their favourite genre of music; my indie-pop music magazine would be perfect for this age range through providing appropriate articles and information for individuals wanting to be more knowledgeable about the genre or wanting to find new artists to support and enjoy listening to their music. I closed the age range at around 35 because my indie-pop magazine , although it will provide some knowledgeable and intricate analysis, will not be as informative or as serious as some at the age of around would like to be reading, therefore by having my age range of my target audience stop at around 35 I am able to appeal my magazine as accurately as I can.
I have chosen this audience group because they are a conventional group as these type of individuals are not uncommon to be seen. There is a gap in the market for an indie-pop music magazine; there are a lot of indie style magazines as well as pop style magazines; although, there are no obvious indie-pop magazines which gives me the chance to choose my own style of indie-pop magazine as this genre is not commonly seen therefore there are no guidelines to follow or go against. I believe that an indie-pop magazine would appeal both to pop and indie audiences thus making it a mass audience which my magazine is appealing to.
These two images are representative of my target audience; in one of the images there is a young woman at the age of 17 of whom is looking through an old record collection. This emphasises how those who listen to indie music and even indie-pop are open to discovering and exploring new or old music. The model is dressed in casual clothing and there is nothing prominently unique or obvious that can determine her as an indie-pop fan, this therefore places an emphasis on how the indie-pop audience do not display their taste in music entirely through the way they dress or look where as rock fans or even R&B fans may dress to match the persona of the music. Although the causal way the model is dressed could suggest the way the target audience is open to new music and does not define themselves to one type of genre as indie-pop is a mix of two genres; although it would be expected that if the genre was more specific in it being just indie or pop, the audience would carry more characteristics that reflect the specific genre. 
Sunday, 16 October 2016
Ideology of Music
Every genre of music has its own ideology (a set of beliefs).
An example of a big dichotomy is between the pop and rock genres. These ideologies affect the representation of the genre's musicians and fans.
The ideology of music affects the representation of that specific genre visually through the choice of font, colours, images and themes within a music magazine. For example, a rock magazine such as 'Kerrang!', uses a bold font with a smashed effect that relates to the ideologies of rock music in that it is loud, looks abrasive and is represented as scruffy, untidy and uncaring in the appearance of the title which reflects the ideologies of the genre itself. The colour scheme isn't like that of a pop magazine in that it uses darker colours to suggest a more serious tone to the genre of magazine. Further more, the main images in the two examples shown both provide a direct mode of address with the artist's conveying serious expressions, which is not as clean cut or as conformist as you would see in genres like pop. Although this is done to appeal to the target audience of adults of whom no longer want to conform to what is mainstream or 'in' at the time but wants to take their taste in music more seriously. The layout of the magazine cover itself does not effect the representation of the genre as many magazine covers layouts are very similar, although some themes suggested in the main images is further affected by the ideology of the genre. The rock genre's ideology consists of themes of sex, drugs, anger and violence which mirror their loud, abrasive and sometimes deliberately offensive to mainstream music representation. The rock genre is referred to as 'classic' in that its music is built to last, and that it is genuine, real and authentic. This can be seen in the choices in the main images of the magazine due to the fact each cover is unique and specific/accurate in the representation of that artist.
Audience pleasures:
Schadenfreude
Predictability
Narrative Resolution
Intertextuality
Entertainment and Diversion
Familiarity
Surveillance
Consumption of the familiar
Identification
In my magazine I will be incorporating the audience pleasures of intertextuality, identification, consumption of the familiar and surveillance.
Uses and Gratification Theory:
This is the theory that explores why and how individuals seek out specific music magazines to meet their specific needs. This theory is an audience-centred approach to understanding mass-communication; the Uses and Gratification theory focuses on what do people do with media rather than what does media do to people.
Audiences made choices about what they did when consuming texts; these audiences were made up of individuals who actively consumed texts for different reasons and in different ways. As early as 1948, Lasswell suggested that media texts had the following functions for individuals and society, surveillance, correlation, entertainment and cultural transmission (ideas shared by similar cultures).
This theory stated that individuals might choose and use text for the following purposes: diversion, personal relationships, personal identity and surveillance.
Hypodermic Needle Effect/Magic Bullet:
'This is the idea that the mass media is so powerful that it can target an audience directly and the audience is powerless to resist' - This theory suggests that, as an audience, we are manipulated by the creators of media texts, and that our behaviour and thinking might be easily changed by media-makers. It assumes that the audience are passive and heterogeneous.
A difference between these two theories is that the Hypodermic needle theory sees the audiences as lazy where as the uses and gratification theory views the audience as more involved within the media and intelligent.
Social Identity Theory
Henri Tajfel (1979) - He proposed that the groups, (such as social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. These groups are said to give us a sense of social identity.
To increase this self-image we enhance the status of the group we belong to, we can do this by saying our group is 'the best' or promote it positively. We can further do this by discriminating against opposing groups and acting prejudice towards the out group. The 'out' group is a reference to the group which we don't belong.
We thus live in a divided world, divided into 'them' and 'us'. This is based on social categorization (social groups).
Social Identity Theory Outline
Tajfel and Turner (1979) proposed the 3 mental processes that are involved in evaluating others as 'us' or 'them'/ 'in' or 'out' groups.
1: We categorize objects in order to understand them and identify them. We do this similarly with the categorization of people in order to understand the social environment.
2: Social identification - We adopt the identity of the group we have categorized ourselves into. With this there will be an emotional significance to the identification within a group, also your self-esteem will become influenced within the group you're a part of.
3. Social comparison - Compare the group we are in with other groups which can lead to conflict and competition.
Through this social identity theory we can create different tribes by categorizing individuals into different groups. These tribes are proud of their own tribe but can have conflict with others in competition for who is a better one. An example of theses tribes would be within music genres such as the pop and rock followers. These are genres with which their ideologies contrast and so they separate themselves into what the social identity theory conveys as 'tribes'. These tribes further go on to contrast through which 'tribes' are 'in' or 'out'; this is distinguished through the popularity of the 'tribe'. 'Out' groups are 'tribes' that are unheard of and therefore they are unpopular and not well known amongst the other 'in tribes'. The 'in' groups are therefore part of a popular or trendy 'tribe' that are more well known.
An example of this is the ideology of pop; the pop genre has a large following that all retain similar characteristics, the artists also retain these characteristics and promote them to their audiences. Pop is a genre where its ideology is based on conformity; artists mainly have a clean cut image, are good-looking, perform songs about love and non-threatening or sexual subjects, they perform in a conventional way (typical song structure, sing well and contain catchy hooks), their ability to play live is not important, they conform to the norms, they are manufactured by those in the industry, they are ephemeral and are mainly targeted towards children or those very young.
Music magazines incorporate a genre's ideology through the main image; this can be seen in pop magazines through the clean image produced, with no nudity, drug/drink references or subjects of violence.
These two examples of pop magazines represent the ideology of pop music artists. The clean image and innocence presented appeals to the young target audience. These types of covers are also mirror images of many other pop music magazine covers and they lack any individuality or uniqueness which could be seen in a genre such as hip-hop/rock which conveys quite a rebellious image. We can therefore identify a group of artists or audience by their image and the way they act through their conformity to what they believe is the 'best' way to be. therefore through the representation of artists and genres through media such as music magazines we are able to distinguish 'tribes' and their ideologies. Friday, 14 October 2016
Collecting Data - NSR
NSR Collecting Data
The NRS provides research in use for print and digital advertising trading in Britain. The National Readership Survey focuses on readership; this is the statistics of the people who read particular magazines. It was established in 1956 and now covers over 250 of Britain's major newsbrands and magazines whilst covering the size and nature of the audience that these specific newsbrands or magazines achieve.
e.g.
How will this help with the development within my own magazine?
These statistics would help in developing my magazine through the fact that I can research within the genre of music media magazine I will be pursuing and accurately develop my target audience. Although the three music magazines in the example are all similar genres of rock they clearly represent their target audience in gender, age range and ABC1 category. This will help me understand who my magazine will appeal to and therefore will help me in the choices made whilst developing my own magazine.
ABC
The ABC focuses on the circulation of magazines, which is research focusing on the amount of copies sold of a particular magazine.
This would help me in the development of my own music magazine in that I can research the most successful music magazines and analyse the characteristics within the magazine that made it successful and try and incorporate some of these into my own magazine.
Penumbra Effect:
This describes the small group of individuals that are not in the specifics magazine target audience as they don't fit the stereotype, but they do purchase or read the magazine. Niche magazines may have a Penumbra effect in that the magazine has been targeted specifically to a group, although there is still a small group of people within their audience that do not fit into the specific group. This can further occur in any type of magazine, TV programme or film.
The NRS provides research in use for print and digital advertising trading in Britain. The National Readership Survey focuses on readership; this is the statistics of the people who read particular magazines. It was established in 1956 and now covers over 250 of Britain's major newsbrands and magazines whilst covering the size and nature of the audience that these specific newsbrands or magazines achieve.
e.g.
How will this help with the development within my own magazine?
These statistics would help in developing my magazine through the fact that I can research within the genre of music media magazine I will be pursuing and accurately develop my target audience. Although the three music magazines in the example are all similar genres of rock they clearly represent their target audience in gender, age range and ABC1 category. This will help me understand who my magazine will appeal to and therefore will help me in the choices made whilst developing my own magazine.
ABC
The ABC focuses on the circulation of magazines, which is research focusing on the amount of copies sold of a particular magazine.
This would help me in the development of my own music magazine in that I can research the most successful music magazines and analyse the characteristics within the magazine that made it successful and try and incorporate some of these into my own magazine.
Penumbra Effect:
This describes the small group of individuals that are not in the specifics magazine target audience as they don't fit the stereotype, but they do purchase or read the magazine. Niche magazines may have a Penumbra effect in that the magazine has been targeted specifically to a group, although there is still a small group of people within their audience that do not fit into the specific group. This can further occur in any type of magazine, TV programme or film.
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