Music Magazine Work

Are music magazines still a popular format of publication? Or is it passe that is no longer viable in today's music world?

Take a look at our attempt at designing one!
Symphonix Front Cover

Symphonix Inside Page

In our discussions, most of us seemed to agree that whilst there is still a small audience for these music magazines, they have diminished over the years, with the uprising of cheaper, more effective, more convenient options (i.e. music websites, television etc.). There also seems to be a general consensus in that the music magazines must be somewhat integrated with the Internet, and be made very convenient, and cheap, to survive in today's music world.

If we were to publish this magazine, we would make it heavily integrated with the Internet (setting up a website, news updates, freebies, community etc.), and make the magazine very cheap, and easily available to the public. We also tried to blend genres together, so that the scope of the audience can be widened, and so more people will buy the magazine (i.e. there is no set genre of music. Lots of different artists featured). Additionally, we tried to focus on trending and popular artists, in hope that "hot" news will draw in more audiences than news that is less popular.

Music Magazines

In our most recent Media Studies lesson, we analyzed music magazines of various genres, and took note of representation, conventions and features. Take a look!

XXL - Features:

·       Main genres: Hip hop, g-funk, “gangster” music etc. etc.

·       Targeting audiences: Mostly people of African-American descent, people who grow up in neighbourhoods where such “gangster” music and culture is popular. Target age group is unclear – artists are of varying ages, but mostly younger audiences.

·       Ethnicity: Black males predominated.

·       All dress similarly: Gangster, “in the hood” style, lots of “bling”, looking serious and “smooth”.

·       Language used reflects this: “homeboy”, “snitch” etc.

·       Not a lot of “posing”. People are not represented as “elegant” or “glamorous”, but rather rough and aggressive, more serious.

·       Typical magazine conventions are followed. Large headings, advertisements scattered throughout, small text in body, interviews, editorial etc.

·       Artists represented as real gangsters off the streets. Serious, rough people. Lots of tattoos, bling, dark colours, looking “cool”. May relate to readers.

XXL focuses on rap, hip-hop, g-funk, and generally music that one would attribute to African-American artists. Many people would believe that the magazine is targeted at young people, but it is interesting to note that artists are of varying ages, and this is the type of music and culture that certain readers may grow up from, and so age might not be a matter, for they will keep reading, since it is something they can identify themselves with. The ethnicity of the artists (mostly black males) may also reflect the target audiences and their backgrounds. Clothing follows the typical “gangster” conventions (i.e. hoodie, caps, jewellery, sneakers, sunglasses etc.). The artists are also represented as if they were genuine gangsters off the streets (the poses, facial expressions are tough and aggressive, lots of tattoos and hand gestures etc.). Typical magazine conventions are also followed closely. Large headings, advertisements scattered throughout, smaller text in body, interviews, editorial etc…

Other music magazines

Pop star

Aimed at teen girls, POP

Posters included

Big writing

Picture dominated

Colourful, Cartoony

Few words, mostly graphics

Brief sentences

Lots of advertisements

Smiley, happy, cheesy

Lots of posing

Kerrang!

ROCK

More words, smaller fonts

Hardcore, more serious theme

Advertisements

Bands

Artists represented as tough and serious, rather than teeny and glamorous

Less "posing", more pictures of concerts, people in real life etc.

Male-dominated

Posters, but people are posing tough and strong, not aiming at teens

Uncensored interviews and quoting.

MOJO

Mixed genres (country, jazz etc. etc.)

Older, more mature artists

Not as tough and rough as Kerrang!

Posing, but once again not glamorous or overly cheesy

More words, smaller font than pop star

No posters

Less advertisements

Calmer feeling

Mixmag

Freebie CD

Colourful, but not quite as much as "pop star"

Less wordy than previous (XXL, MOJO etc.)

Many advertisements

More "pop", but not teen

Mixed music genres again, more on the "pop" side

Horror Movie!!

In this assignment, we created a short horror film, aiming to showcase techniques and genre conventions from our research.

Music Industry Introduction

This is a brief breakdown of some people within the music industry that are less heard of...

Media – Music Industry Introduction

Movie Poster Textual Analysis

In our first coursework assignment, we took a look at a movie poster of our choice, and broke it down to see how it conformed or differed with genre conventions.

Movie Poster Textual Analysis

Music Websites Poster

Take a look at this poster, analyzing and showcasing a series of music industry related websites.Music Websites Poster

Blur - Coffee and TV (Pop-up video)

http://vimeo.com/20835643

A pop-up video describing some media concepts, narrative, lighting, techniques, and trivia in the video...