The article is Stuart Williams, publishing director of Kerrang interviewed by Stephen hill. This article is about the way Kerrang! has positioned itself as the leading rock brand.
"Kerrang! is the world's biggest music weekly magazine", Stephen Hill has been working as the head of marketing for Kerrang for 18 months and it that time he has expanded the magazine into other media area, such as a radio station, in 2003 Kerrang radio station was set up and was the first major rock station in the west midlands, this as help the magazine name to become more known and has helped the magazine grow.
"Kerrang tend to ignore the stuff it doesn’t like and is just be enormously enthusiastic, passionate and evangelical about the stuff it does like" this shows that the magazine is for people who are very passionate about rock music as Kerrang is a rock magazine, I also get the impression that the magazine is for older people (people aged 16 and upwards) as I don’t think that very young people are as serious about the type of music they are into and young people are more interested in gossip.
"Kerrang role has been about educating and informing and passing on knowledge onto the next generation" this statement shows that my first perception of the magazine is not as I expected as I thought that Kerrang magazine was for an older generation however the magazine does attract young people and does include newer artist in their magazine, and after looking at an issue of their magazine I have seen that Kerrang has does have younger, popular artists and band in their magazine and does appeal to a younger audience.
Sunday 25 October 2009
Friday 16 October 2009
Case study of NME magazine
NME is a music magazine which has been published weekly since March 1952. During the 1970s it became the best selling British magazine. It was closely associated to gonzo journalism which is written in a subjective way and the writer was often part of the story and would get involved in whatever they were writing about, which allows the reader to be able to relate the article and it feels more personal than if the magazine was written in an objective way. During the 1970s the magazine was also closely associated with Punk/rock which was the main genre of the magazine.
Nowadays the magazine has more of a variety of music in the magazine as this generation doesn’t really stick to a particularly genre of music and now listen to a mixture of music the magazine consists of rock, indie rock, rap, hip-hop and dance and this generation would want to read a magazine with different which includes all these genres. However as music has changed in the way it sounds many different genres have collaborated with each other letting themselves become known and popular with people interested in a different genres so NME has change the look of their magazine so a mixture of audience are likely to buy the magazine.
The cover has the typical forms of a front cover, it has the title, price, date, issue number and an image if a musican. The cover of the magazine is of “Dizzee Rascal” who is a rapper; this is an interesting cover choice as my perception of the NME was that it was mainly all about rock and indie rock but seeing Dizzee Rascal on the front cover who is a black rapper shows that NME has become more involved with different genres and are moving with the times and not sticking to a particular genre but a mixing different genre. The content page inside the magazine is very simple making it easy to navigate as the main articles page numbers are highlighted. the advertisment in the magazine is mainly drink, mobile, games, computer, clothes and music companies, i think that theese compaies have put their avertisments in NME magazine because they know that young people read this magazine and their products they are selling is mainly used by young people and young people are more intrested in their products. The magazine also has a lot of gig infomation about upcoming bands showing that NME try to support bands and artists trying to make it in the music industry.
NME is a music magazine which has been published weekly since March 1952. During the 1970s it became the best selling British magazine. It was closely associated to gonzo journalism which is written in a subjective way and the writer was often part of the story and would get involved in whatever they were writing about, which allows the reader to be able to relate the article and it feels more personal than if the magazine was written in an objective way. During the 1970s the magazine was also closely associated with Punk/rock which was the main genre of the magazine.
Nowadays the magazine has more of a variety of music in the magazine as this generation doesn’t really stick to a particularly genre of music and now listen to a mixture of music the magazine consists of rock, indie rock, rap, hip-hop and dance and this generation would want to read a magazine with different which includes all these genres. However as music has changed in the way it sounds many different genres have collaborated with each other letting themselves become known and popular with people interested in a different genres so NME has change the look of their magazine so a mixture of audience are likely to buy the magazine.
The cover has the typical forms of a front cover, it has the title, price, date, issue number and an image if a musican. The cover of the magazine is of “Dizzee Rascal” who is a rapper; this is an interesting cover choice as my perception of the NME was that it was mainly all about rock and indie rock but seeing Dizzee Rascal on the front cover who is a black rapper shows that NME has become more involved with different genres and are moving with the times and not sticking to a particular genre but a mixing different genre. The content page inside the magazine is very simple making it easy to navigate as the main articles page numbers are highlighted. the advertisment in the magazine is mainly drink, mobile, games, computer, clothes and music companies, i think that theese compaies have put their avertisments in NME magazine because they know that young people read this magazine and their products they are selling is mainly used by young people and young people are more intrested in their products. The magazine also has a lot of gig infomation about upcoming bands showing that NME try to support bands and artists trying to make it in the music industry.
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Review of NME"Behind the line"
The article was written by Eva Wiseman, Observer music magazines, November 2008, I will be reviewing this magazine to understand what NME magazine think about the magazine industry.
Magazines have been having recent fall in sales “is readership falling 17.4 percent a year to little over 56,000…bloggers and media pundits started questioning whether the title has a future at all in its print incarnation.” this suggest that less people are buying magazine and maybe in the near future the magazine will stop selling in shops as not many people are buying the magazine but as this generation is not as interested in reading magazine as much, but are almost always online young people are less likely to read magazines but get their information of the internet. However “it recently registered 3,501,326 unique users online almost 2 million from June 2007” this shows that even though not as many people are buying magazine there is a huge fan base online which makes up for the falling magazine sales.
NME has been being published since 1952 and since then the magazine has changed drematicaly as before the magazine was all about rock muisc and now NME has a mixture of music in it. "People bang on about heritage, but we still offer a true alternative" showing that people still expect the magazine to be the same as it was and the magazine has changed since it firist stared and isnt as good as it was. I get the impression that adult who used to read NME magazine think that it isnt as good as it was but because todays genration have a different taste in music than before so NME has change the magazine as time has changed and has become more recent. I get the impression that adults who used to read NME magazine feel as if NME Magazine has lost its uniqueness.
Magazines have been having recent fall in sales “is readership falling 17.4 percent a year to little over 56,000…bloggers and media pundits started questioning whether the title has a future at all in its print incarnation.” this suggest that less people are buying magazine and maybe in the near future the magazine will stop selling in shops as not many people are buying the magazine but as this generation is not as interested in reading magazine as much, but are almost always online young people are less likely to read magazines but get their information of the internet. However “it recently registered 3,501,326 unique users online almost 2 million from June 2007” this shows that even though not as many people are buying magazine there is a huge fan base online which makes up for the falling magazine sales.
NME has been being published since 1952 and since then the magazine has changed drematicaly as before the magazine was all about rock muisc and now NME has a mixture of music in it. "People bang on about heritage, but we still offer a true alternative" showing that people still expect the magazine to be the same as it was and the magazine has changed since it firist stared and isnt as good as it was. I get the impression that adult who used to read NME magazine think that it isnt as good as it was but because todays genration have a different taste in music than before so NME has change the magazine as time has changed and has become more recent. I get the impression that adults who used to read NME magazine feel as if NME Magazine has lost its uniqueness.
Monday 12 October 2009
Research on how magazines are reaching out across different media platforms to secure sales.
Due to the improvement of technology there are now different ways of finding out information, and magazines are trying to improve the way they reach to the public as less people are opting for magazines and instead finding other ways to access their information. Nowadays magazines are seen as “old media” and magazines sales are falling.
To increase sales magazine are turning to the internet as most the world is using the internet now and can get their information by it, not only can magazine websites be accessed by UK consumers but by consumers worldwide, also as advertisement companies are putting less money into ad campaigns in magazines and magazines gain a lot of income from ad campaigns, so as magazines have websites, advertisement companies put their ad on their websites which increased their income.
Also as there are now over 300 channel on TV due to sky and virgin media, particularly music magazines are making channels dedicated to the genre they appal to for example NME now has a TV channel, this also consumers to watch their favourite musician instead of read them since Television is more popular than magazines as this generation are more likely to watch TV than read a magazine.
To increase sales magazine are turning to the internet as most the world is using the internet now and can get their information by it, not only can magazine websites be accessed by UK consumers but by consumers worldwide, also as advertisement companies are putting less money into ad campaigns in magazines and magazines gain a lot of income from ad campaigns, so as magazines have websites, advertisement companies put their ad on their websites which increased their income.
Also as there are now over 300 channel on TV due to sky and virgin media, particularly music magazines are making channels dedicated to the genre they appal to for example NME now has a TV channel, this also consumers to watch their favourite musician instead of read them since Television is more popular than magazines as this generation are more likely to watch TV than read a magazine.
Plummeting sales in magazine industry.
In recent years there has be a fall in the sales of magazine, some may blame the fall on the increase in internet users and the easy access to information on the internet. Magazine industries have started websites to give a more wide range of access to their information however due to this more people are using the websites instead of buying magazine which is what the industries want them to buy. Also more companies are withdrawing their ad campaigns from magazines and using it for internet advertising, which is reducing the profits music magazines are making and magazines are quite dependent on advertisement to make their profits.
Some may argue that the fall in magazine sales is due to the latest recession which many people have been affect by and I presume the magazine industries has been affected as magazines are considered by a luxuries and many people were losing their jobs and had to cut back on their luxuries therefore not buying as many magazines this may have caused a negative multiplier effect on the industry where people are not buying magazines.
Another factor which is decreasing magazine sales is that a lot of magazines are appealing to a certain genre particularly, woman as there are much more magazines are targeted at woman and girls than at young people and men. I think that magazines are targeting woman because woman are more loyal to a magazine whereas men and young people are not as loyal. As there is such a range of magazines marketing the same information woman can go for a different magazine instead of the same one.
Some may argue that the fall in magazine sales is due to the latest recession which many people have been affect by and I presume the magazine industries has been affected as magazines are considered by a luxuries and many people were losing their jobs and had to cut back on their luxuries therefore not buying as many magazines this may have caused a negative multiplier effect on the industry where people are not buying magazines.
Another factor which is decreasing magazine sales is that a lot of magazines are appealing to a certain genre particularly, woman as there are much more magazines are targeted at woman and girls than at young people and men. I think that magazines are targeting woman because woman are more loyal to a magazine whereas men and young people are not as loyal. As there is such a range of magazines marketing the same information woman can go for a different magazine instead of the same one.
Monday 5 October 2009
Semotic anyalysis of Rolling stone cover issue 1080
The "Rolling Stone" magazine cover provides the typical conventions of a magazine such as title, issue number, teasers and price.The image on the cover of the magazine is of a female music artist called "Lady Gaga" in the image she is surrounded by pink form and it appears that she is being covered by bubbles. This image is polysemic as the bubbles may suggest her new title of "Queen of pop" or it can just be showing off her wild fashion sense. The image slightly covers the title of the magazine which can emphasizes the sub title on the right and side of the magazine "the rise of Lady Gaga" The magazine also has teasers which many most magazine have to show what else consists in the magazine and the teasers also shows what kind of people read the magazine as people intrested in the teasers are likely to buy the magazine. This magazine is drawn to attract fans of Lady Gaga, who want to know more about her music and influences and what made her become what she is today.
The magazine is typically american, as even though this magazine is a music magazine it does include some aspects of politics seeing as some musicans included their views in ther music about the last presidental election and many people where intrested in their views and their invovlement also helped some people gain knowledge about the election and somes musicians used their music to show their support to the president they liked.
Inside the magazine there are various different artists from different genres, suggesting that the magazine is not for a particular type of audience but for people interested in music culture or people interested in all the different genres. The magazine doesn’t have much gossip, images and is very text based showing that the magazine is a more serious magazine and for people who like reading and are interested in musicians view. The magazine also has quite a lot of politics in it showing that music and politics are quite closely linked.
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