Question Three- What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

A media institution is an organisation that deals with the production, marketing, distribution and regulation of media products.

I narrowed this decision down to three key media institutions;

Bauer Media                      

IPC Media

Future PLC

As can be seen on my blog, I have already done research into Bauer Media, an extremely successful institution. However, I decided that in order to make a balanced decision I would also research other institutions so that I could make the best choice.

FUTURE PLC:

The UK’s leading distributor of music production and music software magazines. Holding titles such as:

·         Computer Music

·         Future Music

·         Guitar Techniques

·         Guitarist

·         Rhythm

·         Total Guitar

The magazines such as Total Guitar and Guitar techniques have become long lasting, well established under Future’s guidance. Though these magazines are extremely successful, it does seem that Future PLC have a pure focus on the production of music and skills involved, as opposed to magazine’s designed more for listeners of music. Due to this I feel that my product would not suit their current list of brands.

IPC MEDIA:

IPC media distribute successful magazines such as:

-NME

-Woman’s Own

-Woman&Home

-Amateur Photographer

-Ideal Home

IPC have a focus on distributing lifestyle magazines, and deliver a range of different titles. The main brands that they deal with are women’s lifestyle brands. They only distribute one music magazine: NME. The fact that they do not distribute any other music magazines seems to be a disadvantage- they have no experience with dealing with rock music magazines, whereas the competing distributors of Bauer and Future PLC do.

BAUER

Has music brands such as:

-Kerrang!

-Planet Rock

-Q magazine

-4music

Bauer has ownership of numerous recognised brands and is Europe’s most successful privately owned media institution. It also seems that Bauer has more experience with multi-platform brands. I feel that as my product is newly emerging, it would definitely have to become a multi-platform brand in order to keep up to date with competitors who have well established extensions to their magazines.  Bauer also has magazines similar to my own genre, so I feel that it would have experience in handling my product.  For these reasons, I feel that Bauer media would be the most appropriate choice.

Question Two- How does the media product represent a particular social group?

How does the media product represent a particular social group?

My chosen genre is aimed at a primarily younger age group who have an interest in rock/metal/alternative music.  In magazines such as Kerrang! And Rock Sound, this social group is represented as fun loving, but also ambitious. “The magazines’ psychographic is defined as ‘people who aspire to be respected among other people and people who wish to have a high paid job.” Advertisements of band merchandise, music, concerts and gadgets feature to target a youth audience, e.g. teens often have a slightly higher disposable income to spend on their social lives or materialistic items.

-The listeners of my chosen genre (rock music) are often stereotyped as being part of social groups such as:

-Goths

-Emo’s                          

-“Scene”

Kerrang! Has itself been accused as targeting itself at particular social groups with too much of a specific focus. For example it has often been accused at focusing too much toward an “emo” group which left listeners of nu-metal/metalcore or classic rock disappointed.

I did not want to focus my product at one specific social group, just the wider audience of rock and alternative listeners, aimed at an age group between 16-25.

I feel that I successfully represented this social group successfully. Costume, photography, mode of address and language has all been used in a way that represents this group.

In my front cover images, my models wear band t-shirts, hoodies and skinny jeans. This is a casual look but not an over emphasised look which is maybe too focus specific. They display a fun and carefree attitude by the way in which they are positioned, and their carefree attitude is represented by them destroying the cd’s.

My contents pages have a consistent informal mode of address reflecting its aim at a younger group. Even the editor’s note remains light-hearted and friendly, creating a greater sense of interactivity and relationship between the readers and producers.

My double page article is mostly more serious in content. However, there are still aspects of a fun loving attitude between the more serious comments.  For example, the band talk about how they created their own success in a mature manner, but later on they joke about how their album was inspired. The fun attitude is also presented through one of my photographs which features on this double page spread. The photo shows one of the band members aiming to hit the other with a guitar. These kinds of outrageous and comical photos are often found in magazines of the same genre. It reflects the humour of an audience who want to see their favourite artists having fun and not taking themselves too seriously.

 

Evaluation Question One, Part Two

Music magazine cover completedfinal, a photo by jessicamannmediaAS on Flickr.

Please click on the images and follow the links. I have created images using flickr which annotate specific parts of my product in an additional visual response to question one. 

Evaluation Question - Part One

In what ways does your media product use, develop or 

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product “Live Rock!” uses conventions of real media products by conforming to reliable layout designs, eye catching titles and photographs, and conventional colour schemes.

My product is a rock music magazine, focused towards a rock/metal and alternative market. In order to create my magazine I studied conventions from well-established rock magazines such as Kerrang! , Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Rocksound. I found that they were aimed at a younger age group, attracted readers with more outrageous stories and used an informal mode of address. The main colour schemes used were red, black, white and yellow, and covers/features are often cluttered with lots of content. This creates a loud, in your face image which draws potential buyers in. The codes and conventions of this genre of magazine is very different to a publication such as Q magazine, which a clean cut image.

I have used these forms and conventions in my own product as you can see:
My masthead is bold, bright and stands out. I have chosen the name “Live Rock” as it has connotations of a double meaning. It firstly sounds like a lifestyle, which many avid music lovers consider their chosen genre to be- more than just the music but the lifestyle that comes with it. In this case, examples could include wearing band merchandise, going to gigs on a regular basis and discussing/ reading additional information about their favourite artists.  This idea of the lifestyle has proven important to readers of real magazines as market research displays that readers of this genre attend gigs and buy merchandise on an extremely regular basis. Secondly, my masthead could also be interpreted as “Live Rock”, in a sense of Live rock music, which is something of a primary focus for my chosen genre.

My imaging also conforms to conventions of real magazines. My front cover image features a young male band, dressed in casual clothing. I chose to use props to create a more unique image. Like many rock magazines, I wanted to imply the idea of a rebellious and outspoken nature. I positioned my models to look as though they had vandalised CD-ROM disks. The main one, held forward, reads “ORIGINALITY IS DEAD.” I felt that the bold statement would capture attention. My other models destroy the CD’s – one is being burned and the other broken and being bitten. This also hints at humour and gives an immature impression. Outrageous behaviours and bold statements are largely used in this genre.

I also aimed to fill my pages with a large amount of content. I feel that I created my own images and designs in a way that put my own mark on my product whilst sticking to regular conventions. For example, I stated in my mission statement that my magazine would also encourage musicians and so I created cover lines such as “The Drummers guide! Master sections of Slipknot and BFMV!”

I chose to use a double page spread for my contents piece, as my product is a monthly publication. So this idea was taken from Q which always feature bold double page spreads. However, I altered my spread to conform to the image of a rock magazine by featuring large rock styled images and genre based editorials. I used conventions for my contents pages such as:

-Branding

-Editor’s note

-Subscription offers

Adding the editor’s note and branding also supports convergence culture. My branding features my product’s web address showing that it is part of a multimedia platform. My editor’s note also shows interactivity and a relationship between the producers and the readers. The note also encourages reader to use the website. I have tried to challenge conventions in a minor way by mixing conventions from different music magazines and working them together in one single design. Page references such as "posters" and "win!" entice the reader and I have tried to create a selection of interesting references.  The largest photo, I edited in order for it to make it look more eye catching. The flames surrounding the band has connotations of Hell, and this rebellious dark image is popular in the rock music scene. As the rest of my page was fairly bright, I felt that this would help establish the genre. I also used my own concert photography to present real images of bands under the "gig reviews" reference, this also created realism. The subscription offer signs readers up for a limited time, hopefully encouraging them to continue to be loyal when the offer ends. The "posters" page is also a particularly popular feature in music magazines. Teenagers specifically are known to collect posters of their favourite artists. The "special features" section displays references that are exciting, new and specific to this month's issue , highlighting the best content to the reader. I have circled each page reference number in bold red, making it clear for the reader to see.

My double page spread (article) uses the following conventions that can be found in almost all magazines.

-Bold Title

-Oversized starting letter

-large pull quote

-large, clear main image of the band

I also again reinforced my brand by displaying the web address, and also added my own extra features as opposed to presenting the article alone. I found that in magazines where artists spoke about new albums, the album would be promoted in additional ways rather than solely within the article itself. I added the release date information and created an image of the album myself using photobucket to advertise it to the reader. I also created a “track guide” to give a quick review to fans, recommending the best songs loved by “Live Rock!”

The overall way in which the article is written remains mostly friendly. I wanted to give the impression that communication between “Live Rock!”and the artist is relaxed and comfortable. I felt that this may make the reader think are reading more trustworthy information. Whilst the article remains light hearted in tone, the fact that I have chosen an article which isn’t an interview still allows an informative view on the band and their music.

Finished Double Page Article

Contents pages almost finished

As you can see, I have completely changed the layout of my contents pages. My previous draft looked plain and empty. I've now rearranged it, so that the main image is on the first page, looking like more of a feature. The first page now has a neat layout, with a bold image covering the top half. The bottom half contains an editor's note and a few page references but does not 

look too cluttered. I have inserted a picture of a female artist after realising that the images are predominantly male focused, to display a  more equal gender representation.

On the second page, I have now placed the gig reviews at the top half and other page references at the bottom. I have added more content to my "gig reviews" section ,  including a subheading "plus backstage acces!" and descriptions under each gig review. I have also added a background colour to make the section more visually appealing , as opposed to plain white. I have also added a subscription offer, as I've observed they are a regular feature in magazine contents pages. The subscription persuades readers to sign up to receive the magazine for a certain amount of time, and this encourages readers to become loyal. This will hopefully help the music industry as readers who sign up will regularly get the magazine, which will inform them on which music to purchase and which concerts to go to. 
The other references on the bottom half of the page will hopefully interest the readers.The feedback page reinforces a sense of interactivity and references such as "musician's tips" and "on tour with...Alice Cooper" will appeal to readers of this genre.

Article Drafting