Audience Focus Group

Below is my Focus Group for the magazine, all of the girls fit into the category of my target audience (which can be shown in the blog post Audience Research) They will be the first five people to look at all the different aspects of my magazine and they will tell me what they like/dislike about it, the advise will be reliable as if they all like it, then it’s likely the rest of my target audience will as well as they all have the same interests as my target audience. Below shows some basic information about the girls and a short description of their interests and what thing/music they enjoy. 

Just to confirm, on the 16th December I asked all of the girls through mobile devises whether they will be in my focus group and all of them agreed. 

Target Audience

As shown in the collage that I’ve made, my magazines is challenging rock magazines, and so I am making my own ‘feminine rock’ magazines, which is aimed specifically at females. My magazine is going to have a state of sophistication however will be aimed at the younger generation, around 15-30 and would appeal to people in the B, C section. In the life-stage categories, my audience will be either ‘decision pending’ or the older section of ‘kids’ as they will be free to do whatever they desire and have not gotten to the stage of settling down yet, and are just focussing their life on having a good time, hence they would be hedonists. They will also a contrast between traditionalists, listening to some sorts of mainstream music, however also bordering on radicals as they have their own unique sense of music as well, which is rock. As shown on the collage, they will have a glamorous image, wearing lots of makeup, stylish clothing and listening to mainstream music; however they will also have an edgy look about them, to make them unique. They will like to sing along to rock music, on devises such sing along games and I Pods, they will also be attracted to good-looking people and they will like general mainstream things. 

Detailed Research in Forms and Conventions 2

After looking at KERRANG magazine, I then did some research into a different rock magazine, which was 'Classic Rock.' I did this so I could research 2 different types of magazines hence giving me a variety of research into rock magazines, which will help when I come to doing my own. 

Classical Rock magazines don’t appeal to the same type of audience as KERRANG because although they are both about rock music they are aimed specifically at a niche market in that genre, the fact this magazines title is ‘classic’ rock automatically appeals to a more sophisticated and elegant audience, possibly some of the older generation as classics are sometimes very old songs, relating back to their youth yet also updating them on current rock bands and songs. Like most rock magazines, the word ‘rock’ in the title is very bold and clear relating it instantly to the rock music as it connotes loudness and volume, which imitates the rock music, in contrast to this, the ‘classic’ has a more subtle feel to it, as it is in a smaller and feminine font, the ‘classic’ is also in a darker greyish colour and overlaps the bold white ‘rock’, which in a way makes it stand out more than the rock does and making it prioritised even though the ‘rock’ is bigger and more visible. This could relate to the audience as although the main favourite genre is rock, a small guilty pleasure could be the classic side to it, as it could be slightly older and possibly not in fashion any more. Furthermore the title ‘Classic Rock’ appeals to the audience just because of the bluntness that it is a magazine which is about classic rock.

The colour scheme has 3 colours, white, black and yellow; I have noticed that many rock magazines have black and white in their colour scheme with one brighter colour to make the font stand out; in this instance classic rock has used yellow, and this colour is used repeatedly mostly to make the main points on the front cover stand out, for example the main stories down the right hand side. The fact yellow is used makes the magazine cover look very elegant as it complements the other colours in a subtle way, yellow isn’t a colour which is used to harsh standouts tones, although it is very effective in making things stand out subtly, the fonts emphasize this point, especially the ‘Frank’ as it has many flicks which makes it look less like a rock magazine as this doesn’t connote loud harsh rock music, but a more relaxed and quiet feel to it, relating to the ‘classic’ rock. In contrast to this, the cover stories to the bottom right of the magazine are quite bold, maybe reinforcing the idea that it is a rock magazine and still shows the latest rock bands as well as the old. The structure of the magazine cover, much like most of the other rock magazines I have looked at, is that the title takes up a large space across the top of the cover, making it easy to stand out and making the reader knows what to look for when buying the magazine, and making it easily recognisable. The photograph of an artist is then overlapping the title, however not to block the view of what has been written, (so you can still read it even though one letter may be overlapped or covered) most of the time, and in this instance, the main title of the magazine is the only text that the photograph covers.  The main cover story, which is about the artist in the picture, is then written above the middle of the page in quite a large font however no bigger than the title. The other stories are then placed quite low and to the side as not to interfere with the main story and the story the magazine feels can attract most of the audience, enhancing its importance compared to the other stories.

The photograph is of a ‘legend’ in rock playing his guitar, this is a good selling point to the viewers as mostly the picture takes the customers attention first, the fact that he is playing guitar which is a rock instrument may make people interested in what the content is about, this is because many people who are interested in rock music may also be involved in a band of their own and so musical instruments could appeal to the reader as they can relate to this. The way he is angled on the page is also affective as it splits up the two parts of writing; this makes them clearer as they aren’t squashed up on the same page, making it more appealing and easier on the eye.

The magazine features different articles including things like new albums from new artists, interviews and stories about rock music, all things that would appeal to the audience of people who enjoy rock music as the magazine is writing and aiming the articles and content of the magazine at people who are interested in rock music. They also give out free CD’s to try and gain more popularity and to convince the buyer to buy the magazine when it is shown and available in the shops, this makes the buyer feel like they are gaining something from buying the magazine, which really they aren’t because they are paying for it, however the fact ‘free’ is emphasised persuades the reader. The language used is very appreciative for the people that are described, praising them in phrases like ‘rock god’ this makes the reader get a vibe of what the writer expects to read when purchasing the magazine. As it is called classic rock all the language is appreciating the artists saying how great they are, people who buy the magazine will be able to relate to this as they aim the magazine at people who also like classic rock musicians, as the magazine is aimed at an older generation, unlike KERRANG, at around 35-50 years of age, when the rock musicians were at their ‘prime time’ this age group would have been going to all of their gigs and been young and big fans back in the day, so aiming the magazine specifically at the classic rock almost brings their audience back to their youth, however also keeping them up to date with the latest on what’s new in the world of rock. Much like KERRANG, the photographs are very formal with little facial expressions, in this one above, it is a very simple shot put in black and white and there is a shadow over half of his face, this enables a slight mystery to the artist which makes the reader more intrigued to read on, it also shows a sense of the rock classics music as although it may be different from the mainstream music, and more mysterious, it is still very appealing to this target market. 


DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD-


This double page spread for Classic Rock is again, very formal and civilized with little detail in the presentation, yet it still looks very impressive to the eye, this is because the picture connotes mystery, 

as he is looking away from the camera, this is made even more effective by the close up shot of 'John' as it makes the reader look directly at the man, without getting to know anything about him, hence why this would make them want to read on. Another way this is done in this article is by making the 'JOHN' stand out from the rest of the text, by making it extremely bigger and placing it on 2 rows, this simplistic method is easy on the readers eye, and the mysteriousness of the text also makes people want to read on. It also shows that the artist feels he doesn't need anything loud or colorful, and this could suggest that he standing alone is how he wants to be portrayed  possible suggesting his music is all that matters, not his image, this could relate to what the readers of the magazine also feel.  The black and white tones connotes maturity as though it is back in the olden day times and this could then bring the reader, which target audience is quite old, back to their youth in a very simplistic and effective way. The photograph takes up all of the one page in the double page spread and this could be to emphasis him, he is emphasized once more as he is alone, to show that he is very important, and he can stand alone and yet still look fine. The way the model/act is quite old and isn't amazingly good looking could relate the audience to him, as the target audience will be sort of the same age, and so they will feel they have a connection with him, enhancing chances that they will read the article. 

Detailed Research into Forms and Conventions

After deciding that I was going to do a feminine rock magazine, I did some further research into rock magazines, as this is the same type of genre, although I am challenging it slightly, it will give me a good inside as to what I should try and do when presenting etc

As I have decided my magazine will be a rock magazine, I am now going to write a 500 word analyses  about 2 rock music magazines to get a good idea of what would be appropriate and good for my own magazine.

The title of the magazine is ‘KERRANG’ and this itself imitates a big crash noise, the word kerrang is a onomatopoeic word as when smashing an electric guitar it sounds like ‘’ke-ranggg’ this links to the fact that the magazine is a rock magazine by imitating the genre’s own music instruments. When looking at it, the masthead is in a bold black font with an exclamation mark which again emphasizes the smash shock noise, and makes the title itself stand out from the rest of the text on the magazine cover. Once more to emphasizes the shock and rock look on the masthead, there are small white lines going through the writing which makes it look as though the writing has been smashed, almost like a window, it is also very recognizable and yet unique to the magazine; all of these connotations together link to the rock theme of the magazine as it makes it seem very loud, which ties into the rock music theme.

As said previously, the artists they interview/photograph are usually from the genre of music that the audience like to listen to: rock. This addresses the reader automatically as it could be a favorite band or a popular band member who attracts the audience (this person may usually be stood slightly ahead of the rest of the band, and possibly be wearing a different colour to make him/her separate from the other band members, enhancing his importance in the group) The photographs themselves are usually with the artists looking very serious and almost evil, which could connote a serious dedication to the rock theme as though they are very much into their music, relating to the music magazine itself. The artists aren’t very made up and look rather natural and in normal clothing, so nothing glamorous however the main guy standing in the middle has his hood up which could suggest he is trying to stand out in a simple yet affective way. The colour’s worn also tie in with the colour theme of the magazine, contrasting with their skin tones and hair colour’s making the artists very centralized and the main focus.

The magazine uses pictures of bands that are popular in the genre of music they specialize in, for kerrang this is rock and metal and so it is aimed at people who like listening to that sort of music. The artists are boldly presented in front of the masthead to make them stand out which will attract more people when selling in shops. Most magazines have a colour theme which carries on throughout the content pages , for this magazine it is red, white and black which are quite simple colour’s however when used together with the bright red is very effective and make the writing stand out making it easy to read and easy to catch somebodies attention. The colour’s could also imitate some sort of danger and anger which could represent the rock theme, and which could also make the reader feel drawn towards buying it for a guilty pleasure. The writing style used is big and bold for the main story to draw the attention to their main story that week, which will hopefully help to sell the magazine, whereas the other stories are in a smaller font however they are still very bold which relates to the rock theme of the magazine as many rock artists are big and bold in their image and when it comes to their music. Most of the information about what’s inside the magazine is at the bottom of the cover, leaving plenty of room for the main cover story and like most of the other magazines the masthead is along the top of the magazine.

The language used on the cover of kerrang is very simple and basic, they don’t want to use very intelligent wording as their audience doesn’t tend to be people who know the dictionary from back to front, and are more just care-free and like rocking out, another reason the language isn’t too complicated is that if people don’t understand what’s written they will be less inclined to buy the magazine. So instead they use word’s like ‘massive’ which is still very affective in the contest that it is used in. The cover has as little writing as possible to tell the reader what is going on inside the magazine without giving away every detail. They use capitals a lot, for example ‘FREE!’ which helps emphasize that they are giving something away for free which is a big seller when it comes to magazines. It also makes that small piece of text stand out well with the exclamation mark as it is by itself and so usually wouldn't have been noticed as much. 

The content of the magazine has lots of other types of rock bands, that aren’t there main story, like their cover story however they are still featured in the magazine in things like articles, interviews, photshoot’s, reviews etc.. This is good publication for the band and it also attracts the magazines audience as the bands genre of music is the type of music kerrang is aiming their magazines audience at. They also give away things, for example in this issue they give away a free poster and they are having a download ticket give away.  This attracts more people to buy the magazine because if they like what they get back in return for buying it they will be more inclined to do so.

Because Kerrang specialize in a small sector of the music industry they have a niche market of people who are interested in or like listening to rock and metal music. Because of the fonts, presentation, set out and colour’s it could be apparent that it is aimed at the younger generation however this is only an opinion.

Kerrang is published by Bauer Consumer Media which is a worldwide publishing company, they do not only own Kerrang, but also some other huge magazines such as FHM, ZOO, Heat, Q and so many more, along with TV and radio stations worldwide which makes them part of a multi-national conglomerate. They started as just a rock magazine and when the rock industry came to a low they added some metal into the magazine as well,  this shows that the ownership structure of the magazine accounts for it’s success as they are good at adapting to change yet still selling the product to ensure they get a good profit, there ownership may also be a big reason as to why the magazine has become so successful as many popular rock acts have been featured in the magazine which could have come about through their ownership. The magazine is now the worlds biggest selling weekly rock magazine and the cost of the magazine is £1.99 which could suggest the ownership values their customers as they want to sell their magazine for a decent price. 

‘Kerrang! identifies its audience as ‘individually minded, independent of thought and musically experienced, an audience defined by attitude, passion and loyalty’. Kerrang distinguish their identity as a world ‘where Jackass meets Play station and Skate culture meets IPod’

At the top left of the contents page is a small picture of the front cover of the magazine and a short paragraph written by the editor, describing what inspired them to put the things they put into the magazine, what they like about the music, and what they are trying to achieve by the magazine that particular week. Many magazines, not just music, have an editors column  and this just helps the reader to connect more with what is going on in the magazine.

This contents page has a lot of pictures which illustrate what the features inside the magazine will be about, and it also helps to catch the readers attention, because of this, they take up the majority of the page, the bigger images suggest that they will be the bigger stories, so perhaps are more important.  

Content is clearly visible in bold and bright writing to make it stand out from the rest of the writing on the page, and this is simply to tell the reader what the page is doing, (telling them what is in the magazine, and where to find it.)

The photographs are also labeled which shows the reader a small clip of what may appear in the magazine, it also gives them the opportunity to find them in the magazine if they are unfamiliar with the artist and want to find out more.

Down the right hand side of the page it tells you specifically where everything is by page numbers, and it also splits each section up so it is even easier to find what you are looking for, they do this by putting small titles above each different section which are contrasted on a different colour background, and they are also in capitals and a bright yellow colour, for example, ‘NEWS’

This double page spread is about the All-American rejects.

Some of the pictures are black and white and have a red line around each of them which makes them all look very effective as it makes them stand out a lot compared to the writing. In those pictures, it is almost 3D as they are coming out of the ‘frames’ which looks really good for the audience and it makes it feel more interactive. 

The spread is split pretty much in two by photographs and writing, the writing being an interview. There is more than one picture, and this is done so that the bigger picture shows you all of the members together, and the others showing smaller separate pictures of each member, this helps you to get to know each member individually, helping the reader to relate to them. 

There are a few quotes in reversed out cover lines, and this helps emphasize what he says, usually this is a funny or interesting point which makes people want to read on.

The colour scheme is the same throughout the spread, a red purple and black theme, and like the cover, the photograph links in with this theme.

The dirty little secrets is the bigger and more interesting font, as the fonts are different, contrasting the feminine ‘dirty little’ with flirty fonts, and the ‘secrets’ with a bold scruffy font which suggests something really secretive is about to come out in the interview. The test is all interview, and talks to the band  about their private lives, what’s gong on with the individual members, and the band a as group., basically anything that will get the audience gripped and wanting to read about.

Time Management

Above is a time line in text form showing when I plan to finish each of my tasks for the Planning and Research section of the project, below shows the time-line, this is so I can make sure I keep up to date with what I plan to do.

Initial Research: Genre

I started my research by looking at all the different types of music magazines that were available and what each magazine specialised in so I could then find a gap in the market for my magazine, I made a Prezi to show what I found out, and what I plan to base my magazine on.