Section A Initial Introductory Task 1

Jack Garland

General Questions about music magazines:
1. What is a music magazine?:
A music magazine is a magazine that is in relation to the musical genre. This can be any form of music, as long as the magazine itself prioritises the magazine as the
subject. The web definition featured on Wikipedia of a music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and music culture. This dedication to the culture would
be different depending on the time of being published, hence why magazines that include musical culture have date lines, which allows the reader to see various
musical cultures depending on the time of the magazine being published. These magazines have a specific target audience and are usually published or supported
by a specific record label. A music magazine is an effective tool for branding certain artists and the genre of music they write, for example, if an artist was featured in
Kerrang, you would believe they are stereotypically a rock band, as that is the genre that this specific magazine focuses on.

2. What content (text/copy/writing/articles/stories) would you expect to find in a music magazine?:
I would expect there to be articles or stories in relation to music, be it a band interview on a new album being released, or writing about an up and coming musical
festival that people are excited about. This is because the magazine itself should be centred around the musical arts. I would also expect each issue to have a date
line, allowing the target audience to see what was popular at the time of the magazines release. I would expect the text in a magazine to be stylised depending upon
the genre. I may also expect to find synergy, be it with a celebrity promotion inside the magazine and vice versa. An example of synergy would be with Brutal
Legend and the artist Jack Black. These two products promote each other. Another example would be Ride to Hell: Retribution and the magazine Kerrang, which
promoted the game and so founded a deal with the game developers. Other examples of synergy would be musical scores being involved in films etc. I would thus
expect film reviews as part of this synergy, and I would also expect advertisements for said films to promote them through these collaboration. Another piece of
content I would expect would also be cover mounts for the reader. The magazine may also include competitions with various promotional offers, as well as people
sending in letters etc. to the magazine publisher.

3. What images would you expect to find in a music magazine?:
Inside of a music magazine I would expect to find images of various things. This would include images of a band that is featured inside of the magazine to
corroborate the article in which they are featured. I would also expect there to be pictures of a festival if the outcome of the festival is being written about inside of
the magazine. These are stereotypical things that would be expected of the genre, and what has now become the norm in reference to music magazines. A
denotation coming across to me should be that it is a music magazine as soon as I see the images. I would also expect these images to abide by the rule of thirds, as
per codes and conventions.

4. Identify general characteristics/ features that you would expect to find in all music magazines:
I would expect to see features such as a mast head on the front cover, as well as things such as main cover line which would confirm what the main article of the
magazine is about. A variety of shots are also common place in the musical genre, be they medium close up or other wise. These are part of the codes and
conventions of music magazines and arent specific to a certain genre, and could be found in any type of magazine, be it musical or otherwise. I would also expect
these characteristics to be aimed at a certain model audience, thus drawing them to this specific magazine.


Questions about music magazines front covers:
1. Identify the features./ characteristics they all have:
Each of the four magazines has a main image which is the focus of the front cover. Each image is using direct address also, as this draws the readers attention. All
four of the magazines also use a masthead that is located behind the main image, to bring more of a focus to the image itself rather than the masthead. As well as
having a prominent main image, each magazine front cover also uses a main cover line, and they all do this by making the cover line larger and bolder than the rest
of the cover lines that are on the magazine front cover. They all also then have smaller and less prioritised cover lines that are available to the cover. Each cover has
the main image located towards the centre of the magazine and then uses the hotspots on the cover for cover lines.

2.Why are these features present on all of the magazines? Why are they important?
Features such as a large main image and masthead are used in order to draw the target audience to the magazine, a very important feature in order to receive sales
and gather the correct attention to the articles they have inside of their magazine. The in which the masthead is hidden behind the main image is also fairly
important, as it allows the target audience to see who is specifically being interviewed/ featuring inside of that issue of the given magazine. The direct address is one
of the most important features when referring to an image, as it makes the target audience feel as though they are being personally picked out by the person who is
the main image, drawing their attention more effectively.

3. Take one of the magazine covers and say what type of music magazine it is ,(sub-genre ), and provide four examples of how this is so.
The magazine Vibe is an R&B magazines, meaning it includes music such as soul, dance, hip-hop, etc. This can be seen as the front cover directly refers to the
artists of these various sub-categories of the sub-genre R&B. An example of this would be how it refers to Kanye West and how he says he is rap, which is one of
the many sub-categories of R&B. The same applies to the reference of the Notorious B.I.G. movie, which is about the rapper himself. Another two examples would
be Britany Spears and Smokey Robinson, who are not rappers, but producers of various R&B albums. This is an example of four artists that show how Vibe itself is an
R&B magazine.

4. Who do I think the target audience is and why?
The target audience for Vibe would be quite varied due to the multiple sub-categories of R&B, be it pop, hip-hop, or soul. This means that it could be a very large
intended audience from issue to issue. Overall, I believe the target audience is around 16-30 years old as the way that the magazine is written is quite youthful in
nature. In terms of class, I believe the reader could be working class to middle class, as the sub-categories do vary from issue to issue and music is not selective to
class in most cases. They way in which the cover lines are written is also quite gossipy in nature, leading me to believe the target audience is intended to be younger.
In regards to ethnicity, I believe the magazines target audience is multi-cultural, again, this is due to the various sub-categories that can be seen in the genre of
R&B, meaning the ethnicity is not entirely specific.