What kind of institution might distribute your magazine and why?

The type of institution that might distribute my magazine would be National Magazines due to its lack of music magazines currently distributed by them. The genre I have chosen there are no magazines based on them at this current date therefore this will be a new, fresh approach rather than using IPC Media or Bauer Media who distribute ‘Kerrang!’, ‘NME’ and ‘Q’. Nat Mags tend are known for distributing lifestyle or fashion magazines such as ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘Esquire’ and ‘Company’ and because of the success and originality of these magazines, may appeal to my magazine as it is aimed at a specific audience, therefore a larger chance that it will be distributed correctly attracting the largest amount of people, including people who are outside my target audience.

            In addition, I feel Nat Mags is appropriate for my magazine is the fact the scene I have chosen is still upcoming and original compared to the other magazines out there, therefore they can generate the most sales over a long period of time as they would be distributing the ‘original’ Bass Music magazine, therefore able to ensure the marketing campaign is stable and the budget is suitable to ensure that most of my target audience are covered and approached in one way or another. Furthermore, Nat Mags are known to distribute magazines for both genders, some being more gender specific than others, which will ensure both genders will be able to relate with my magazine. I think Nat Mags would benefit by distributing my magazine as it would bring in a complete different target audience as to what their current magazines appeal to at this moment in time.

            Lastly, I think Nat Mags would be suitable distributers for this type of magazine is that they have taken risks with other independent magazines before and they have all paid off, displaying that they have the experience to work with what they’ve got and know how to distribute it successfully. This is projected by the amount of success they have generated with other magazines over the years. Therefore my magazine will also have an advantage over other magazines starting out, leading to a greater success rate.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I feel that I have represented the social group within my target audience throughout my magazine and by looking at the front cover; the images and text clearly show it what kind of genre it is. It displays the readers are casual people and prefer a picture based magazine rather than lots of text. This is shown through the major use of images and the picture like text I have used, as well as the colour scheme I have chosen. I have tried to avoid as much black and duller colours throughout my magazine as it does not represent the energy and mood that is represented with the genre. The abstract ‘urban’ background on my front cover represents the scene in its entirety portraying to the audience that the magazine is ‘fresh’, and understand the scene as they do. I have although used black in certain areas for effect and to make things bolder and to stand out more or darker, therefore representing more mysterious content.

            The males featured on my front cover look serious, successful and dedicated signified by the props shown, both expensive pieces of equipment. They fill out most of the page and are dominant over the other sell lines involved around the images. This signifies that they are a main feature of this issue, attracting their fans and people who are interested in them, and will be the USP of the magazine. In addition, the facial expressions and body language of the pair are contrasting; one is opened up with his arms open starring straight into the camera, the other, closed up and covering part of his face with the headphones. This represents how their personalities could possibly be conflicting as well, therefore creating a question in the audience’s minds and wanting to pick up the magazine and read on. They are wearing casual clothes and nothing too special or expensive, displaying how they are like every day people and don’t want to be classed as anything more than a normal human being. They do not have any cosmetic products on them to reinforce the idea that they are normal people and do not need special treatment just because they are known by a variety of people.

            In addition, I have ensured that the artists are wearing unique clothes, and nothing with a brand or logo on, displaying they are individual and not conforming to any stereotypes. I have also displayed a MIDI Controller (Keyboard) and headphones on the front cover, displaying that anyone can enjoy music, and even enjoy making it, as the cover models are normal people like them.

            I see my readers being heavily involved in the scene, who are keen to find new artists and don’t just go for the mainstream headlining acts that everyone knows about. Although, I do predict that if there are major artists featured, they will help the issue to sell better than those which only include underground artists that not as many people would’ve heard of. For this reason, I have decided to include a few A2/A3 posters every week of one of the bigger names for those people who are artistic and like to decorate their bedrooms. This will also help identify the readers of my magazine as you can identify the posters with the magazine due to the masthead design on the posters.

Proposal

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My Magazine, Sub Conscious, focus’ on the Bass Music genre, (e.g Drum N’ Bass, Dubstep) as I felt it was the genre I could relate to most closely. I used magazines such as NME for inspiration and included ideas taken from them and edited them to fit my genre, making it look and feel as realistic as possible. When I began drafting my magazine I tried to stick with the typical codes and conventions of NME, and laid it out similarly to an Indie/Rock magazine, as they have similar characteristics (rebellion, heavy music, and youth) as the Bass Music scene. I referred to my similar product research Prezi that I had made throughout the tasks to ensure I was including as many of the common conventions as I could.

Before I began creating my magazin, I drafted ideas of a unique name for my magazine, and an eye-catching masthead allowing it to stand out to its audience and all the other magazines on the shelves. I created several designs on Adobe Photoshop CS3; bold, distorted, battered, faded and colourful. Although because of the long title name it was hard to find a fitting font. In the end I found a don’t that suited, although I don’t think it’s bold and eye-catching enough. I plan to edit this and make sure it’s looking as good as possible before I finally submit my work.

The first thing you notice when you look at a magazine is the main image on the front, followed by the masthead, seeing whether either interest you because of the high reputation they have. I added to my masthead by stroking it in black as well as putting an outer glow around my two main images on the front which had been put on together. This contributes to the colour scheme held throughout the magazine and is consistent to allow the reader to keep focus throughout the magazine. I came up with original sell line ideas, and listed several artists featured in the magazine which attracts the audience’s attention straight away and allows them to easily see the big names that most would be attracted to, helping sell the magazine. This slightly subverted the conventions as NME have never had an artist index on their front covers that I have seen, as this is normally displayed on the contents page. I have also included a banner at the bottom with a larger ‘10’ in a circle in the bottom left corner to attract the attention of the reader further, a barcode, the date, issue number and price as these are all features that always found on the front cover of any magazine.

My contents page has a similar layout the NME magazine, although I have made mine into a double page spread. The page is split up into several sections, some more eye-catching than others due to images or brighter colours. The column on the right hand side includes heading such as ‘News’, ‘Radar’, ‘Features’, ‘Reviews’ and ‘Exclusive’. These are all common headlines you would find in music magazine. This is likely to appeal to my target audience as it is easy to look for the desired section and page number, so they can navigate their way through my magazine with ease. The left hand side includes artist names and page numbers next to them, again helping the audience navigate to the page of their favourite artist easier. The main image is of ‘Faperace’, which would draw in the audience who are interested in him. Above him are also ‘RVM’s Essential Items’ catching the readers eye with the bold ‘WIN’. This is suitable for this issue as he is on the front cover, therefore people who buy this issue are probably interested in him. Each page is accompanied by page numbers so my target audience can quickly go to the page of interest. I have included features such as the issue number, date, editor’s note and Facebook/Twitter icons to show the audience they can have our services and up to date news 24/7. As these features are all included in magazines such as NME, I am following the typical conventions of music magazines.