Deciding on my Target Audience.

The indie/rock genre is typically consumed by males, although the slightly softer music women may prefer. Also this magazine genre tends to have more male singers and bands on the cover, which might influence who buys the magazines, and according to NRS 09-10, 276,000 males read NME, in comparison to 76,000 females. I would like to have a mixed gender audience, so that it can appeal to a wider range of people. I will achieve this by making the magazine housestyle slightly more feminine, but still make it appealing to a male audience.

The typical demographic for this genre is aged 15-44 according to NRS. The figure of 15-44 year olds reading Kerrang! is 370,000 in comparison to 29,000 of 44+ who read NME. To make sure that my magazine appeal to this age band, I will design the magazine so that it appeals to a slightly younger audience, by using mode of address that isn't old fashioned or too complex language. I would like my magazine cover to have a youthful and exciting feel, that would make people want to read it.

I don't think race and ethnic groups will be a big issue with my audience, but rock music is typically enjoyed more by white caucasians. I will not put any comments or pictures that would be offensive to people of other races. Also my magazine will not be either for or against sexual preferences, so there won't be any comments or images which homosexual people could find offensive.

According to NRS, people in the ABC1 social class read NME and Kerrang! more than the C2DE class, which surprised me. This suggests that the ABC1 class listen to the rock/indie genre. Although the results on NRS about Kerrang! show that 207,000 people in the ABC1 class read it, whereas 189,000 in the C2DE class read it. This is a very small difference in numbers which could suggest that Kerrang! appeals to a very broad audience. I want my magazine to appeal to a wide audience, so I will use conventions that will appeal to a range of social classes.

I would like to have my magazine appeal to females more, as I feel music magazines aren't always directly aimed at women. I would want my target audience to be people who like going to gigs and like to live the party lifestyle, as it would give me more to put on the contents page. It makes them more outgoing and interesting. rock/indie genre magazines usually have a section reviewing gigs and informing the audience of future gigs and concerts. I could also use the convention that Kerrang! and NME use and make up an event that is sponsered by the magazine, as it makes the magazine look more reliable. This would also appeal to my target audience as it is a social activity and gets people involved.

Summary of my Research.

In my research i have learnt about some of the music magazines currently on sale, such as NME and Kerrang! and have looked into how they attract their audience and their different styles. These are things like the housestyle, the mode of address they use and even the font style. My preliminary task also helped me to understand what sort of conventions look good on a front cover and contents page of a magazine, and also let me experiment with ways of presenting the layout. I have also learnt about how many different sub-genres there are in larger genres, and how the styling of an image can affect how the audience perceive the person in the photo. This involves ideology, which is important to consider when looking at images.

I would like to use conventions like a mid/long shot of my subject, but then I would like to incorporate the unusual setting instead of a studio, like they do in NME. Examples of this could be taking the photos in an outside setting, like a large field or a forest. I will use a large banner to draw attention to the magazine, with a short catchy name. I would like my magazine to have an indie/rock genre.

Deconstructing an image.

I am going to deconstruct an image of Florence Welch, from Florence and The Machine, as i have a few pictures of her on my moodboard.

She has long bright red hair, that sometimes looks quite disheveled, it could suggest that she wants to stand out, because of the vibrancy, and also the messiness and full fringe reflects her indie/folksy genre of music. Her make up looks quite haunting, with the dark eyes and red lipstick against her pale skin. It reminds me of some of her music, particularly 'Sleep With One Eye Open' which sounds a bit eery.

She is wearing a lot of black and is wearing quite a grungy outfit, with the vintage t-shirt and bomber jacket and short skirt, this is quite typical of an indie genre singer. The fact that she isn't wearing obvious brands and isn't sporting an outfit where brands are clearly displayed makes her seem less generic and maybe not all about the image. The black clothes also make her seem quite dark and mysterious. Also the setting of this photo isn't where a pop star would usually have a photo taken, compared to an expensive studio.

In comparison to this, I'm going to deconstruct an image of Justin Bieber, who is an American pop singer. Firstly he is wearing a NY baseball cap with a small but recognizable logo. He could be quite influential with his style, because people can relate with well known brands more easily. He has a thick, mop style haircut, which is also a popular cut. It makes him look more innocent and youthful and possibly more appealing to teenage girls. His clothes are plain, but could be copied very easily and the purple could represent his youthfulness. He is posing towards the camera, not smiling and showing the peace sign. This shows that he is positively gesturing towards the audience, with a hand in the pocket, which makes him seem casual. This pose has become quite generic of pop/r&b genres.

My Moodboard!

This is a small scan of my moodboard. It includes magazine titles, famous singers and bands, some of my favourite album covers, shots and photoeditting that I like, and some of my own pictures from Reading Festival 2010. Also I have added some fonts that I like the look of.

Different Research Methods.

There are different ways on how to research.

Primary: Original research, such as photos taken yourself, or research found yourself, usually after secondary research. This is a good method because it allows you to feel more involved.

Secondary: Collecting existing research, such as searching on Google. Examples of this can be things like images, existing interviews and information off Wikipedia. A good thing about this research method is that you can get a lot of information easily. The disadvantage of this research is that a lot of photos or information on the internet may be subject to copyright.

Qualitative: This type of research is more indepth, looking further into topics, such as how the decisions are made. It could be looking into why someone does something. The advantage of it is that you can get a deeper understanding or something, however you may not find a lot of information. An example of this could be questionaires.

Quantitative: This kind of research is generally used in mathmatical investigations, because it involves numbers and statistics. The disadvantage of this is that the information may not be accurate, and might not be very relevant to the subject as much as qualitative research may be.

I will be using a mixture of primary and secondary research, such as buying my own magazines, instead of always using internet research. Buying the real magazines allows you to see the whole thing, close up. You can also see the articles that won't be shown on the internet. Qualitative research may also help, as it allows me to look into things in more depth, so I have more understanding of something, such as Mode of Address and Deconstructing an Image.

Mode of Address.

Mode of address is the way that a magazine will 'speak' to its readers. Certain words, phrases and punctuation will be used.

For example, Kerrang! magazine uses exclamations frequently, this could be because the music they focus on is loud with instruments such as drums and guitars. They write words like 'explode' 'unleash' and 'hits back'. They are quite loud and active phrases and relate to the magazines title. They might write like this to appeal to a teen audience, as they use simpler, more abstract words that make the article more interesting to read.

NME tend to talk in a slightly more educated way, like the reader has a broad knowledge of music, and some words used are complex. In an article, they write 'The band run through the cataclysmic intro to 'Drum Courts'. By using slightly complicated words, it educates the reader and may also appeal to a reader who is more aware of these phrases.

Genres of Music.

Genres are types of music, and sub-genres are smaller groups in the main genre. Here is a mindmap I made of well known music genres..