In order to attract my audience I ensured that I researched my selected audience (indie scenesters) carefully insuring that I new what they were and were not interested in. in order to do this i used the website UK tribes.
By using there unique sense of fashion and music I combined them to create my magazine.
My target audience would be indie scenesters and young alts. aged between 15 and 25 however I think my magazine could also attract the audience of casual people who are interested in music.
This is a picture of someone I would expect to buy my magazine.
To find my target audience i used a website called 'UK Tribes. this website sows all the different social groups in the UK and describes each of their characteristics. It helped me understand the importance of their fashion sense and music interests.
Target audience from 'UK Tribes'
INDIE SCENESTERS- The Indie Scenester still likes to be ahead of the game when it comes to discovering new music. They still can’t quite shake off the skinny jeans though.
YOUNG ALTS- In your teens, repulsed by the mainstream and unable to connect with the stars of the UK and US urban scenes? Chances are you’ll end up in the Young Alt Tribe. Thanks to the internet the alternative lifestyle is now totally accessible and influential, and this is a huge, welcoming and diverse Tribe.
TOWNIES- Viva the ordinaries! Townies are the mainstream kids who still – in terms of numbers at least – reign supreme. Townies think most non-Townies are weirdies. So there!
CASUALS- Smart, sussed football culture rebooted for a new generation
BLINGERS- They’ve taken more knocks than most tribes in the last decade, but the Blingers remain strong, loving the weekends and (over) dressing to impress.
Above are 5 of the more common 'Tribes' in the UK. My main aim was to attract the Indie scenesters and young alts, I went about this by looking at the music that interests them which is generally bands not in the charts and often unsigned. Therefor I steered away from the common rap and hip hop which you here in the charts today. However i also wanted to attract a wide variety of customers so I looked ant the 'Townies' and 'Casuals'.
The fact that they are called Indie comes from there fondness of independent labels which proves that generally they are against the mainstream. this is not only in music as they feel this way also in things such as clothes, cars and style of living. they like to do the opposite of What ever is the common thing to do.
In order to attract them I could not make my magazine to, out of the ordinary although it does sway to the indie scene I dressed my models in clothes that indie people would see themselves wearing denim shirts, striped t-shirts etc, however they are still not too different for other people to look at distastefully. As Indie fashion can become quite extreme, also vintage shops are very popular within that group whereas others may look down at them.
Here you can see the most popular brands and how the indie scenesters spend their time. I got this picture again from UK tribes. we can see that the internet and reading newspapers are the two most common activities.And brands such as Top man and UNI QLO are popular brands. Last FM is a popular free website used by the people in the indie scene.
Topman is a very popular shop between indie tribes as it offers a wide selection of alternative clothes. denim shirts, striped t-shirts, baggy tops and vintage looking out wear are all very popular within this group and top man can provide them all. To the right you can see a image that I have taken from the Topman website it shows a model wearing cloths typical associated with indie sceensters. It is also common for them to roll up there sleeves ans short and long sleeved shirts as well and rolling up the bottom of there trousers to show the ankles. common footwear worn would be Van's, boat shoes, desert boots and espadrilles. Commonly associated with the indie is the 'Old Man' look also called 'Vintage' where many people wear striped and patterned jumpers and shirts with colors such as beige being very popular. and knit wear often is worn. Although baggy jumpers and tops are popular skinny clothes are also extremely popular and very common with skinny jeans a must for all indie wannabes.
Top shop is the equivalent of Topman except for women. It again offers a wide variety of cloths in the indie style and to the left you can see a model showing one of the outfits typically found in this shop. the women style tends to contain a wide variety of colors with light pink, light blue and beige all being common in there outfits.
However Topman and Topshop both also offers a assortment of cloths for people without such a extreme sense of fashion such as plain polo shirts, jumpers, suits skirts and dresses.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The music magazine distribution is controlled by a few key players.
-Bauer Media- 'Q', 'Kerrang' and 'Mojo' are three of their biggest music magazines released by Bauer however their are other big magazines such as HEAT' and 'Grazia'.
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-IPC Media - 'NME' and 'Uncut' are two of the biggest music magazines released by this company, also has many other famous magazines in other categories such as 'Nuts' and 'LOOK' They have great experience in publishing magazines and would add legitimacy to magazine. IPC claims to produce over 60 iconic media brands, reaching 62% of UK women and 42% of UK men which comes to nearly 26 million UK adults. Which completely over shadows most of its competitors.
For my magazine I would expect it to be distributed by 'IPC' as I think my magazine is quite similar in Style to NME however Q would also relate to it therefor Bauer would also have experience in my genre. Also there is the possibility to amalgamate my magazine with the likes of 'NME' which would give my product a chance to reach a much larger audience. 'IPC' is so successful and famous that if my magazine belonged with them it would give us a automatic sense of authenticity and being compared to the likes of 'Q' would suggest to the customers that my magazine would be worth buying. Also there countless years of experience would be priceless in getting my magazine of the ground.
You can see above that my magazine similar to the NME one has a silver backgrond. And also although there are three models on the NME cover compared to my one they are all wearing similar outfits, in so far as they are quite plain and simple with dark colors.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
There are many different social groups in the UK and I would hope to attract them all. However I have focused on attracting the 'Indie' group with there alternative taste in fashion and music.
Appearance and layout wise this magazine from 'Vibe' is very similar to my front cover with the same color scheme which give them both a professional and modern look. Both magazines would attract similar audiences as they both appeal to fashion concerned and alternative music interested teenagers. The pictures on both are lit using artificial lighting however theirs would be far more professional which you can see the evidence of as theirs is more crisp and clear however I do not think my photo would be considered worlds apart. Also neither have any props, I decided not to use props as it would detract from the picture and draw attention away from the famous icon which is their to draw people into the magazine. Both have the main article written across the picture, with cover lines also dotted around the page however none actual interfere with the face of the person.
On my magazine the picture is a medium close up whereas on the 'NME' the photo is slightly more up close to the model. And although both are looking straight at the camera therefor at the reader, my model is wearing sunglasses giving him a more distant look which would entice the reader in. The picture in NME has the model 'Noel Gallagher' at a side view with his head turned giving a less formal, casual approach whereas mine has the model standing directly at the camera making him look more dominating.
For my research I looked at many different magazines and the different styles that they used.
A double page spread from NME I looked at interviewed
NME
Rostam Batmangly from Vampire Weekend.
in a the style of telling the story of the interview in a more
traditional way. In the middle there is a insert advertising
there new album. the picture in this one for me works
well as it gives a idea of his personality. the colors and picture lean towards a indie style ad i think it works very well. Vampire weekend are a band who are very popular amongst the Indie group. I think that the way it is lay out would bring in a similar audience to the one I am attempting to attract.
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I used R.E.M as one of my articles due to the fact that anyone who is interested in alternative music would have great respect for them. This is because they are the founders of alternative/indie music. Therefor a article on there carrier would entice many of my selected audience to buy the magazine. There songs will have influenced every band who claim to be 'indie'.
You can see there is a lot of competition and each magazine's circulation has decreased, the worst affected is, Metal Hammer which has decreased by 15.7%.
This is a example of a front cover from a real music magazine, in this case 'Vibe'.
This is the name of my music magazine,indieSeen is a play on the indie scene and also the abbreviation would be ISwhich has a good ring and works well on each page for continuity.you can see the top of the picture is covering some of the lettering which is very common in magazine front covers. you can see in the example above that Vibe have used similar colors and photo and his head covers the title. I choose my title by going to the website ffont and choose a variety of different types and then asked for peoples opinion. I decided to use a font called Presa Antipixle. However the color was black, which i decided was too dull. So i went over the thicker parts in red using the paint brush tool.
Here you can see the strapline on my front cover with a caption from the article underneath which acts as a hook to draw the customer into the story. The example above does not have this but many often do. I chose the quote as it is controversial and is not what the reader would expect.
Here is the bottom of my front cove there is a line of writing saying what acts are inside the magazine. it is similar to the example of the one above except they had it at the top.
Compared to my preliminary task my front cover has many more cover stories and the picture s more detailed and blends with the background better.
This is a example of a contents page from a real music magazine, in this case 'Q'.
On all the pages I have a 'IS' logo on however on my contents it is much bigger, in the top corner.
This is taken from my contents page and shows a caption on the picture telling the reader what is happening in the picture. There is also a page number so people can find the full article.As you can see in the example above. I used this picture as it shows him playing a instrument, I chose the outfit as denims shirts are considered indie.
This is taken from my contents page and sows advertisement for getting a years subscription. It is very common for magazines to adverts this in their magazines and do it by showing the front cover of one of their issues. I screen grabbed the front cover and then placed it on to my contents page.
This from my contents page is a note to the reader thanking them for there commitment and asking for suggestions this is very common in music magazines when the reach a landmark sale.
Compared to my contents page from my preliminary task the color scheme is completely different and the pictures are far more advanced.
This is a example of a double page spread from a real music magazine in this case 'Q'.
Kerrang
This double page spread from Kerrang is a interview with the the lead singer Jared Leto from 30 Seconds to mars. It is laid out as a question and answer piece with one quote in the middle which stands out. The fist questions are about his music and recent success, then the interview becomes more relaxed and light hearten. The interviewer asks questions more about his life which gives the interview a more personal feeling. I think that the picture in this spread works extremely well. It is a extreme close up but in great detail. It almost looks as if he is reading the text with you. I decided to uses this style of question and answer in my magazine however i had a paragraph at the beginning and end describing the surroundings and my feelings which I believe gives the reader the feel that they are their.
Here is the title of my double page spread and underneath is a small caption describing the the person the article is on. This is very common in music articles. The same as the example above. I researched many music magazines and almost all use this style and I believe it gives a very good idea what the article includes.
This is the main picture I used for my double page spread, he is looking straight at the camera giving the reader a personal feel. Similar to the example above. I think the outfit he is wearing here gives him a smart feel however still relates o the indie scene.
Here is a pull quote on the picture of the double page spread, they are very common and swearing is also often used in them. The same as the example above. I thought that this quote is controversial therefor would interest the reader.
This is my double page spread so far I still have to ad the bulk of the text and also find a way to get the background to not cover the text however i have got the pictures and intro of my article. I have used the contrast to change my pictures on the double page spread. the bottom corners have he is symbol to continue the house style. I intend to place in my interview.
Here you can see I have added the Magazine Logo in the corner which along with the background helps create the House style.
This is the Title, Subheading and Intro of the piece. These are all very important as it is the first thing that the reader sees. the different font break it up so it does not look too daunting.
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Here I have put a certain quote in italics and bold in order for it to stand out. i did this a certain quotes will entice the reader to look at the whole article.
