Institution to produce and distribute product

IPC is the company that I have decided on to produce and distribute my product. They are the leading UK magazine publisher with over 80 magazines including NME, Pick Me Up, Marie Claire, In Style and Woman.
Approximately 2/3 of women and 44% of men in the UK read IPC magazines which equates to over 26 million readers.
Their digital properties include NME.com which is the third commercial music website in the UK.

IPC produces many diverse magazines and therefore would be ideal to produce my magazine because it doesn't produce many music magazines and as they are the leading magazine producer they would be ideal to produce my magazine as the fact that IPC produces it makes a statement about my magazine.

Circulation Figures

Circulation figures for June 2009 for UK Music Magazines show that the best selling magazine out there is Q even though sales figures show that sales have decreased from 113 174 to 103 107, before dropping to 100 172. 

Mojo also has good sales figures despite suffering a fall from 106 367 to 100 507 and most recently to 97 722.

NME is also suffering with circulation figures, falling from 56 284 to 48 459 and as of June 40 948.

Other music magazines such as Kerrang, Metal Hammer and Uncut are suffering from a fall in circulation figures; however the one magazine which has seen a rise in its circulation figures is Classical Rock which has gone from 66 362 to 70 188 and finally to 70 301.

This shows that there is definitely room for a new, modern, up to date music magazine in todays market. And considering that my magazine is going to be Pop further shows that there is room in the market because there are not that many pop magazines in circulation and those that are out there such as NME (which covers a variety of genres of music) are suffering from a decline in their circulation.

Magazine cover analysis

This is my analysis of the magazine cover for Top of the Pops.

I have highlighted where the key conventions of a magazine cover are, and given a bit of detail about each convention.

In this analysis I have shown where the Header/Logo is; shown where Direct Address has been used in the images; shown where the Strapline is and explained a little about what the strapline is for; shown where the Leading caption is and where a couple of the subheadings are; and also given a brief overview of how you who the target audience of this magazine is. 

Demograhic and Psychographic Profiling, and Project Phoenix

There are a few ways of catergorizing target audience and I intend to discuss Demographic and Pschographic Profiling.

Demographic Profiling

This was the first type of audience profiling that was introduced as media industies started to grow following the end of WW2. They needed a way to identify their audience and they needed a way of marketing it to them.

The way they did this was by spliting and grouping the audience into smaller groups base on:-

• Age
• Gender 
• Sexuality
• Class
• Geographical Area
• Religion
• Economics

This method was made taking into account the lives their audience lead or their social and economic status. The Social and Economic scale split the audience into 6 groups based on their economic status.

•  A (upper class) - higher managerial, administrative or proffessional eg:- surgeon or company director.       
• B ( middle class) - Intermediate managerial, administrative or proffessional eg:- teachers, solicitors.                   
• C1 (lower middle class) - Skilled non manual eg:- sales assistant, shop floor supervisors                                                                                       
• C2 (skilled working class) - Skilled manual work eg:- pluber, electrician   
• D (lower working class) - Semi skilled eg:- assembly line workers, cleaners
• E (subsidence)- Unskilled, pensioners and unemployed

However age needs to be considered and members of a similar age group tend to be at the same stage regarding their family life cycle eg:- new parents would have similar wants and needs. Also people within the same age bracket have smilar financial status eg:- pensioners who live off just their pension and any savings they have, would have a different financial staus to a student at university. This method has caused some problems though as people who have the same type of job do not neccessarily have the same financial status; and this is why a different way of catergorizing audience was introduced known as Psychographic Profiling.

Psychographic Profiling 

This method makes the asumption that the audience is complex and takes into considertion their emotioal and psychological needs when they make their adverts. It takes into consideration Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs which takes into consideration Psychological needs, safety and security, belonging needs, esteem needs and when all these needs are met you have achieved Self Actualization.

Another study which is taken into consideration in Psychographic Profiling is Young and Rubicam's Cross-Cultural Consumer Characteristics. This splits the audience into 4 catergories based on their aspirations.

1. Mainstreamers - 40% of the market. They seek security and comfort in well known brand names. This is the largest part of the market.
2. Aspirers - They are motivated by status and buy smart, high tech and fashion goods.
3. Succeeders - Have already climbed the ladder and want control over what they have. Adverts for cars that emphasise power are aimed particularly at the people within this group.
4. Reformers - Want the world to be a better place. They tend to be educated people such as teachers or doctors. They prefer to buy eco-friendly and health products.

Finally the most recent group that has become a way of classifying audience is 'The Individual'. This group responds to advertisments that emphasises individualism and quirkiness. 1980/90's Niche consumer markets/Lifestyle groups classified consumers further eg:- OPALS - Older People with Active Lifestyles, GLAM - Greying, Leisured, Affulent and Married, NINJA - No Income, No Job or Assets, and SNERT - Snot-Nosed Egostical Rude Teenager. There are many other groups within this way of classifying audience and they focus not only on the economical situation of the person but also personality traits. That makes this one of the better ways of classifying audience.

If you take into consideration Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, Young and Rubicam's Cross-Cultural Consumer Characteristics and 1980/90's Niche consumer market'Lifestyle groups then you will find that Psychographical Profiling is a lot more beneficial than Demographic Profiling as it takes into consideration more than just the economic status of a person based on what type of job they have.

Project Phoenix

Project Phoenix was a UK based research by Emap, don in 2003, looking at the attitudes towards music of 15 - 39 year olds. They surveyed 2200 people; equal amounts of male and females. They found identified 4 main degrees of interest in music:-

• Savants - 9%. Their lives are tied up in music and they couldn't live without it. A characteristic which identify them are that they are knowledgeable about music. They can be split into subgroups including, Insiders (male mid-late 20's who are usually in a band), Curators (male mid 30's. Aficionados of good music), Hoodies (teenage schoolboys living with parents)
  
• Enthusiasts - 16%. It is a key part and important in their live but they have other interests which balances their life. A defining characteristic of them is that they feel that their ipod as made the world a better place. They can be split into subgroups including Miss Dynamites (mid-late teen girls who are knowledgeable, worldly wise and "sophisticated", ipod tourists (males in their 20's. Passion for niche music. Defines mood and occasion), Party Grandees (male, late 20's-early 30's. Active social life put in front of adult responsibilities).
• Casuals - 26%. Music is welcome in their life but there are other things a lot more important to them. A defining characteristic is that they are equally or more interested in lifestyle and fashion trappings of music world. It can be split into subgroups including The Glamour Club (music important but they don't give much thought to it), Weekend Rowdies (male and female mid teens-early 20's. Live for the weekend), Mums in touch (women early 30's, busy lives. Keep up and not "boxed in" by age or parenthood)
• Indifferents - 48%. they would not be too bothered if music no longer existed. Identifying characteristics are that they have never heard song that they hear at parties and they tend to listen more to radio or sports instead of music. There are no subgroups.

Music Magazine Conventions

The general conventions of music magazines. 

On the Cover of all music magazines, regardless of what genre it is have an image or logo header which is usually found at the top of the page; it must be suitable for the genre and target audience. The colours used are also extremely important as it has to appeal to the audience by standing out from other magazines and catching their eye; they have to reflect the genre of the magazine. The fonts must be eye catching and vary so that the magazine appeals to the audience; these have to reflect the genre of the magazine.

Also the Mode of Address is very important as it is how the text communicates and forms a 'relationship' with your target audience. It is most common for direct address to be used where the main star looks out directly out of the magazine, to the audience. However indirect address can be used and even though it has been used on covers before , it isn't the norm. The shot of the star is usually a medium shot. The Mode of Address is also about how the magazine addresses the audience; this is generally direct and informal, using 'you'.

All magazines have stars and celebrities on their covers to sell their product and make money. These stars are admired by the audience and relate to the genre of the magazine.

There are also other conventions including straplines, a leading caption and subheadings; all of these are located on the cover. 

The Contents Page of a music magazine needs to be have bright, eye catching colours to keep the reader interested.

The images on the contents page usually dominate the page; these images have a number on them to allow the reader to graze through what they think might appeal to them without having to look through the entire contents or flick through every page. It is popular to use direct address in all of the images.

The title/header appears on every single page; usually at the top.

There is obviously a list of contents; usually split up into different topic areas.

The Feature Article of a music magazine has headlines and subheadings; this is to quickly explain to the audience what the article is about and catch their interest. Usually these are based on the artists new album or tour. 

Images dominate the feature article and there is always one large image surrounded by smaller images. These are generally set in different locations.

The style of writing depends entirely on the audience but it is always clear and easy to follow and also directed at the audience.

There are also text grabs which are there to to encourage the audience to read the article; they are generally controversal,  funny or even rude. Text grabs split the columns up in the article up so it doesn't look so long and daunting. 

Feedback 24.11.09

Shannon,

You need to get the prelim uploaded and evaluated asap - this should've been done by now! You need to be getting on with your research. You should outline the conventions of muysic mags in general and upload and analyse a front pg, contents and dble pg feature of mag of similar genre to yours and discuss how it targets the audience, suggests genre etc. Use rel theory - AIDA, U&G theory etc to say how it fulfils its purpose. Also conduct some primary research - audience questionnaires and collate your data and say how it will inform your product. See me or checklist for guidance. You should be doing this work outside of lessons!

Mrs A

Preliminary Task.

For my preliminary task I went out and took my own photographs to use on the cover and designed a contents page.

I then cut these photos out using Photo Shop, and this is where I could make an improvement for my music magazine. My images were not cut out very well andthat is definitely something to work on; on the main photo on the cover you can see that the image has not been cut out accurately and therefore I intend to improve on this in my music magazine.

I used In Design to create and design my front cover and I feel for a first proper attempt at using it and the fact that I had not used it before, that the overall product was not too bad.  

Through using both Photo Shop and I Design in this task I feel a bit more confident using them and that my music magazine will benefit from it.

The magazine cover on the whole is rather plain as there is no background colour to it and therefore in my music magazine I intend to have a more colourful cover.

I think that I could also improve by using a wider variety of fonts to make my cover look less boring and more exciting. I will go onto www.dafont.com to get some other fonts which will be suitable to use on my music magazine.

My contents page could be improved by having a few more images on there and a better structure to it. My preliminary task contents page is quite plain and boring; therefore I intend to use this experience to improve on this and make my contents page for my music magazine a lot better.

I will also do some research on covers and contents page of music magazines to also help me improve.

11/11/09 Initial Ideas

I have chosen to do a music magazine because I think that I could achieve a better grade on it and that I will enjoy it a lot. 

The genre of my magazine will be pop and aimed at teenage girls.

Similar products are magazines such as Top of the Pops. I think that I could better it by using some of my own original ideas and have a unique layout on the cover; but keep it in a similar style to other pop magazines.

For my research I will create a questionnaire to fine out what my target audience is looking for in a magazine, what kids of new ideas they would like to see and what aspects of pop magazines they like to see. I will also analse some magazines from the same genre in order to see what kind of layout the cover has and to improve on some of the ideas that I have.