Music magazine evaluation

The sale of magazine has recently been decreasing, particular music magazines; this could be due to the development of technology and the easy access to the Internet, or because of too few different genres of music magazines. For media we were asked to make a music magazine which includes a contents page, double page spread and front cover. But first we did a school magazine which I explained about in my video, I thought the school magazine helped me improve the standard of my music magazine. Having now completed my music magazine OutLoud I have feel as if my magazine is similar to magazine being sold but has a difference to it which makes it unique.

My music magazine is a funky/pop/hip-hop & R&B magazine I chose these genres because after doing I survey I learnt that most people listen to more than one type of genre and would prefer to buy a magazine with all their favourite stars rather than buy maybe 2, 3 magazine to find out about their favourites stars also I found that people wanted a mixture of different styles of magazines for example a magazine that included music culture and celebrity gossips, and though we are only doing a double page spread if I was to do a whole magazine I would put in celeb gossip and music culture which I did include in my contents page. However I didn’t want to drift away from all the conventions of a music magazine so for my double page spread I did an interview with a band I made up called SDH(So damn hot), I also included competitions, gig info and general information which people want in music magazine

OutLoud is targeted at teenagers, girls more than boys which I didn’t intend as I wanted my magazine to be appealing to both sexes however due to the band I have created on the front cover it think it will be more appealing to girls rather than boys. I decided to do teenagers after doing a survey most of the people who took my survey was between 13-17 and as I used the results of the survey as the foundation of my magazine I had to make OutLoud to the liking of people between 13-17 year olds. Also doing a magazine for people similar to my age makes it easier as I am a teenager myself I have an idea of what 13-17 year olds are looking for in a music magazine. I addressed my audience by doing surveys on http://www.surveymonkey.com/ a website where you can publish a survey and send it to people to do it; I posted the link on facebook and sent out the survey by e-mail. I think this was a very successful way of doing a survey because the results a anonymous so the person doing the survey doesn’t feel self-conscious and are more likely to put their honest answers rather than follow what everyone else is doing. I did this so I could find out what people wanted from a magazine.

OutLoud represents young people who just love music and want to know about musicians lives. Its represents the diversity of music today and teenagers who want to dream, I feel that OutLoud is a fun magazine; it’s a magazine which allows different social groups to mix. OutLoud is not targeted at a particular social group; it’s a magazine for people who like Funky/Pop/Hip-hop & R&B. OutLoud don’t have a lot of slang terms in it, it has typical slang term which most people know, which allows almost every social group to read without feeling out of place. I decided to do this because after looking at an existing magazine (hip-hip weekly) I found that some of the terminology they used was not used by most people so it was sometimes difficult to understand what the article was about and I didn’t want my magazines go give off a vibe in which some social groups feel as if they can’t read the magazine because they don’t understand the slang used.

Photoshop was a vital tool whiles making my magazine, having done my school magazine I realised that the making a magazine required me to pay attention to detail as my school magazine was very simple and basic I don’t think it would be very successful if were to be given out in school as the colours were very bland and the images were simple, there wasn’t anything on the cover to make the reader want to read the magazine, having now developed my skill in using Photoshop I found that very additions to the cover makes it more appealing for a someone to read. For example I here my front cover without the sticker.

Here is my front cover with the sticker:

I found that adding that more detail to make it look like a real magazine like a banner on the bottom or though this not a real magazine adding a bar code makes it look realistic and professional.

If i were to publish OutLoud magazine it would probably be published by a big media institution because the magazine features more mainstream people and a big media institution will be able to fund the magazine to be able to feature mainstream musician in the magazine. Also the audience i am targeting my magazine at are more likely to by a professional looking glossy, and a big media institution will be able to achieve this look rather than a small media institution.Also a big media institution will be able to advertise the magazine well and distribute it more widely.

Looking back at my preliminary task i learnt the importance of research and how important it is to do as much research as possible to produce a product which people want and for it to be successful you need to research what people what and think if you can fill a gap in the market or improve on an existing product.I also learnt that the magazine industry is rapidly decreasing and this maybe due to the increase of technology or maybe people feel as if the quality of magazines have fallen.