Music Magazine Research-Target Audience Questionnaire

I decided to create a questionnaire that I could share on my social website such as feedback, so my friends could answer it very easily. It will also help me understand what my readers will want in my magazine and will make it a lot easier when it comes to the production of my magazine. 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Music Magazine Research-Double Page Spread Collage

I decided that since I made a collage for both my front cover and contents pages, that I should create one of various Double Page Spread Analysis. It is clear from this image that both features on Jay Z and Lady Gaga are from the same article because the house style is exactly the same.

Music Magazine Research- Double Page Spread Analysis Rolling Stone

I decided to analyse another double page spread because I wanted to see if they had anything particular in common, or anything different that I could use in my magazine.  

Music Magazine Research- Q Finding

When analysing the double page spread on Q Magazine I found the symbol of the arrow on the bottom corner of the text box on the second page of which I would like to include in my magazine as I thought it was very creative and cool.

Music Magazine Research- Q Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis-Foo Fighters

I decided that when analysing the front cover and contents page of Q Magazine, I should also analyse the Double Page Spread since I will be creating one when it comes to the production of my Music Magazine Task.

The band featured in the article is the Foo Fighters, as we have seen this from the front cover page and from the first page of the double page spread we see a large image of Dave Grohl the front man of the Foo Fighters. The choice of band in the article tells us that the target audience will mainly be fans of the music genre known as rock. The Foo Fighters is an American rock band who have an extremely large fan base throughout the world and especially in the UK, so all the fans will be buying or subscribing to this issue.
The double page spread featuring the Foo Fighters is situated over nine pages with advertisements placed throughout. The first page contains a large image of Dave Grohl , and the second has a large sticker like image saying "Dave Grohls Big Idea" followed by a black text box at the bottom containing a small blurb telling the reader what is going to be featured inside the double page spread. On the next page we see plenty of text and various images. The feature is addressed formally. The text starts off with a small blurb with information of how Taylor Hawkins has started his day, which makes him seem like a normal dad rather than a rock star. It connects with the audience of fathers and mothers who have to do this every morning, and know that not just normal people have to do it, but celebrities too. The writer addresses Hawkins in a formal style asking him questions, of which we cannot see. Hawkins answers in a very informal style saying "Me and the wife" rather than "The wife and I". He also refers to the interviewer as "Dawg", showing the audience that he is a very friendly man, and this pleases the reader as he is not like other snobby pop stars. We also see that Hawkins is not in it for the money or the fame but for the love and for his passion for music. We can also see how he does not care what other people think of him because he uses foul language such as "I always shit the bed!" and "You Dumb-ass!"

Colour is employed throughout in very basic ways. There are no bright colours used to catch your eyes out. The main colours are White, Black and Grey. This goes along with the colours employed on the front cover, but instead of a the large use of red, we clearly see that grey is one of the more dominant colours. These colours go n contrast with the genre of rock as you would usually tend to see dark colours rather than bright.

The font is the same throughout the article. We clearly see that it is a small black sans serif font around size ten. The writing is probably so small so they could fit so much information from the Foo Fighters within nine pages. The font is the same throughout the magazine which tells us that the font must be associated with the typical house style in every issue of Q magazine. At different parts throughout the feature we see large letters at the start of most sections which makes it more accessible for the reader showing them that this is going to be a different paragraph with different information. There are quotes pulled throughout the feature and blow up into a text box at various different points throughout the spread which entices the reader to read on further for certain pieces of information.

The spread is laid out very accessibly with images and text boxes separating different sections for the reader. certain pages like the first one have images that take up to 100% of the page, while others are reduced with ones taking up around 40% or 50%.

The first image used on the first page of the feature show the Foo Fighters lead front man Dave Grohl, shows us that the band are very relaxed when it comes to interviews as he stands against a door leaning on it with his left leg balancing him. He has a red cup in his hand, of which in America is usually situated with alcohol. He is taking a drink to calm his nerves possible, before he goes on stage at the House of Vans, Waterloo, London. WE know this as there is a small piece of text telling us what Dave is doing and where he is doing it. Further on into the article we see nineteen images throughout. These images consist of the band men with their family, performing on stage, drinking and images of their studios where they recorded the songs for their new album released on November 20th 2014.

The writer plans too ask band members such as Taylor Hawkins questions about the future of the band "The Foo Fighters" but Hawkins is under strict orders that he is not to open his mouth. At the end of the article we see a small line of text in italic writing saying "Go to www.Qthemusic.com now to see exclusive video interviews with all the band." This not only entices the reader to see information about the band but it is also good advertising for Q, for the readers to go on and look on their website where they also may find other interesting information.

Music Magazine Research-What is a Music Magazine

I decided to define what is a music magazine so it would give me an insight as what to feature within my magazine.

What is a Music Magazine? from Alice Kelly

Music Magazine Research-Top 10 Artists

I decided to research the top ten artists over the last few weeks to see whether they are a band or a solo artist. I found that the top 2 consisted of two bands. This helps me in my planning, as I now want a band to be on the front cover of my article and featured in my magazine.

Top Ten Artists

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Music Magazine Research-Top 10 Music Magazines

I decided to research what the top ten magazines are in the music industry so I could see what they all have in common, what sort of artists they feature and what people are looking to read about in the music industry. ">

Music Magazine Research- A-Z of Music Magazines

I decided to research what magazines there is in the music industry to see what type mine could be like and see the various different mastheads, fonts and colours they use. Also I wanted to see the different artists who are on a lot of the cover and from this I clearly see that Jay Z and Taylor Swift are top contenders.

Music Magazine Research- Kerrang Contents Page Collage

Here I decided that I would do another version of a contents page collage. It was a lot easier getting contents' pages for Kerrang Magazine rather than Q because it is published more frequently than Q. We can see from these images that there is a particular house style that is applied throughout.

Music Magazine Research-Kerrang Contents Page Analysis

This issue of Kerrang magazine is a different one to the previous one I analysed for my front cover analysis. The reason for this is due to copyright issues within the publishing world, the issue did not have a contents page that was visible on the internet. This issue above is from the 20^th of November 2010.  When researching different images of Kerrang’s contents page I can evidently see that for their content page they use a particular house style.

Throughout we can see various images. The first image that catches our eyes is the large image of the band Alter Bridge. The image is in black and white suggesting to us that black and white may be the bands signature colour, or the images further into the magazine about this band may be black and white. This image is very large and takes up around 45% of the contents page which suggests to us that this magazine may contain a large feature on the band. To the left of this image we see two images of the band 30 Seconds to Mars and I preview of what the article looks like about the artist Craig Owens. Using a preview is very useful for the reader as they do not have to just look for the page number but it entices them to flick through the magazine and read through other articles until they meet the feature on Craig Owens which they have mainly been looking for.  At the bottom half of the page we can clearly see various images of what is featured inside, like posters and artists that are featured in it. At the left hand side we can see a short blurb from the editor Nicola, and a thumbnail picture of her at the top of it. This is usually situated within a contents page of a magazine. Because we cannot see the small text clearly we can’t see if this is an editorial or an advertorial.

We can evidently see that the magazine uses a particular house style when we are researching different types of contents pages within Kerrang magazine. The colours mainly used are black and white, along with yellow highlight behind the subheadings showing us where the articles are in the information box. The colour yellow stands out very well as it is also joined by a bold font which is in capital letters, directing us into different sections which makes the contents very accessible for the reader. The use of red is also very significant as it stands out against the white background. The red font shows us the page numbers for each of the articles which makes it very easy to access because it is in a different colour. In various places we can see a wide range of capital letters used which emphasises to the reader that these are large features or important articles.

There are a total of five different sections which are separated by lines and text and it is extremely accessible for the reader. The section called Kerrang contains information, articles and features that are within the magazine weekly and what the reader expects to see. The section titled “This Week” shows the reader that the articles, information and features have never been in the magazine before and are only in it this once. This entitles the reader in as it may be very exciting news within the rock music industry.

At the bottom right hand corner of the page we can see the promotional feature where the magazine is asking people to subscribe to them, so they will deliver it to their door for just £6 a month, which is very good value for money. Other than that there are no other promotional features on the contents page. On the front cover of this issue there may have been a few to draw the reader in, but from the lack of promotional features this shows us that this magazine is not just about selling products and advertising but they are all about the music and information about artists, bands, festivals and concerts within the rock genre of the music industry.

The magazine logo is placed on the middle of the mage titling a section with the features that are situated in the magazine every week and what the reader expects to see. The logo is not very dominant here, if it was in a larger font with more colour and at the skyline it would be more dominant making it stand out to the reader even more.

Kerrang not only publishes a music magazine, but they have other franchises such as Kerrang! Radio, The K! Awards and The Kerrang! Tour which is a rock concert festival and is held throughout January and February every year. Theses franchises are not promoted on the contents page but they may be promoted within this issue of the magazine.

Music Magazine Research-Kerrang Front Cover Collage

I decided to create a collage of the magazine that i previously analysed. We can clearly see that there is a typical house style and that there is a particular genre of music like punk that they stick to.

Music Magazine Research- Kerrang Front Cover Analysis

Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on a distorted electric guitar, Kerrang! was initially devoted to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper.

The latest issue of Kerrang magazine is published on a weekly basis. Issue 1533 features “the extraordinary journey of Laura Jane Grace” who has been awarded the Kerrang Woman of the Year. Laura Jane Grace (born Thomas James Gabel, November 8, 1980) is an American musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!.  

From the front cover of this magazine we can clearly see that the target audience is a young group who are interested in the likes of punk or rock music. We can evidently spot this through the use of dark colour's in the background, excluding the yellow, white and pink and from the clothes that the woman in the main image is wearing are of a rock/punk type.  The various images throughout the cover page like the one of Alexandria are of a rock type, as he holds his guitar up in the air and sticks is tongue out, which is typically what rockers do.

The image of Laura Jane Grace is a straight on look, drawing the reader in with a relaxed approach. If she was looking down with a low angle shot, the reader would feel intimidated and if the shot was from a high angle and the Laura Jane was looking up the reader would feel too superior over Laura Jane.

From the cover lines surrounding the main image we can see that there is going to be a large feature on Laura Jane who has received the woman of the year award. We can see that Laura has had a tough life from the line above her name saying“I have my daughter and my band... everything else is gone”. The use of bold font on the words, daughter, band, everything and gone implies that the first three things are very important to her and everything she used to have is out of the picture. It implies that these are also the only people she needs in her life .

The font used throughout is of a paint like type, so we get the funky kind of vibe, kind of like paint used for vandalism. The use of capitals shows us that the cover lines are very important and it makes them stand out ot the reader as the various colour's used throughout are very eye catching.

We can see from the left hand side that the magazine have a free enticement of a pull out poster of the artist Gerard Way. From not displaying the poster stuck too the outside, this is a very good way of drawing the reader to look inside the magazine, and focus on whats on the inside rather than whats stuck to the outside. Gerard Arthur Way is an American musician and comic book writer who was the lead vocalist and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance from its formation in September 2001 until its split in March 2013. This shows us that with the genre of My Chemical Romance being rock, the magazine aim for an audience of people who are interested in rock music.

The slogan of Kerrang magazine is “Everything That Rocks” is not displayed anywhere on the front cover, which is not expected as we usually expect to see the slogan under the masthead or symbol in most magazines. This shows us that Q magazine may not particularly have a typical house style. 

Music Magazine Research- Q Magazine Contents Page Collage

Below, I have created a contents page collage. I found it difficult to create this collage, as there is not a lot of contents pages posted on the internet due to copyright purposes, so that is why there is a limited amount compared to my front cover page collage.

Music Magazine Research- Contents Page Analysis Q Magazine

Contents Page Analysis

Below I have analysed the corresponding contents page to my front cover page as they are both from the same issue.

Throughout the contents page we can clearly see that there is a variety of different images throughout the page. When we start off at the top right we clearly see a large image of Noel Gallagher. The large image is fitted with very neutral colours like blue and white. Noel has no particular facial expression, but we can tell from the image that he is a serious man because of the straight face he is holding.  With the image being quite large, we can see that this is another feature within the magazine, as it is also featured on the front cover as a large cover line.  Further on down the contents page, we directly look at the left hand side of the page, as the images go in height and page order. The second image is a picture of Dave Grohl singing during one of his performances. the image stretches out of the border as we see his hand moving up into the box above. From the front cover we can clearly see that the magazine is going to have a large feature about the Foo Fighters, and this next image directs us to where we will next go to read about the band. To the right of the Foo Fighters image, there is another picture of a female singer names Kate Tempest. Below is Jack White, followed by Lucinda Williams on the left and Prince in a cut out form to her right. At the right side of the page we see an image of FKA Twigs in a separate section called “The Q Review”. There are plenty of images on the page leaving it very accessible. In my opinion if there was any more the contents page it would look very cluttered and the reader would find it harder to access information as there would be a reduced amount of words in the blurb, pulling the reader into certain articles.

The typical house style is carried throughout where we can visibly see that the colours of red, black and white are applied very well on both the front cover and the content page. The contents page also features a range of different colours such as blue, orange, pink, yellow, green and turquoise to fill in the speech bubbles where the page numbers are placed. These colours are eye catching, but not as eye catching compared to the colours of red, white and black as they stand out more to the reader.

The information is extremely accessible in this issue. You clearly see the direction that they want you to read, starting from the top of the page, to the left hand side down and then to the right hand side down which is the typical way that you read anything in a newspaper, text book, or magazine. The different sections are sectioned off by lines or text boxes. The main thing that we can see that is sectioned off is the Q Review, as it has a very thick bold black line surrounding it. The format of the contents page tells me that this is a very formal magazine.
Within the contents page there are no promotional features, but when reading the front cover page and opening the magazine you open up to a large double page advertisement of males Chanel aftershave “Bleu de Chanel”. We then move to another double page advertisement of Hugo Boss aftershave which shows us that this is quite a male dominated magazine as both advertisements are for men. After the two advertisements we move to information about the enticement which was attached to the front cover. The next page is a single page of a new film set to be released in 2015 called “Black Sea”. Then we have the contents page. This is usually not expected in a magazine as you would usually turn the front cover and see that there is an advertisement and the contents page.

The Logo is placed in the skyline of the contents page along with the issue date and beside it saying contents. This is usual for Q Magazine. The other brands that Q has are not promoted on the contents page which is usually not expected. This shows that the magazine does not promote anything on their contents page and sticks to what the readers really want to see, which is information about music and artists. 

Music Magazine Research- Front Cover Collage Q Magazine

Music Magazine Research-Front Cover Analysis Q Magazine

Below I have researched the latest issue of Q Magazine, and analysed the front cover and contents page. I am then going to create a collage of all the front covers I like that Q magazine has published.

Originally named “Cue”, Q The Music Magazine changed its name for the fear that readers may get confused with the popular snooker magazine. Q Is published widely throughout the UK by Bauer Media, and is the most popular music magazine published monthly. First published in October 1986, the magazine has a large readership of 339,000. It has a typical genre of rock and pop music, which are the main types of popular music today, which would increase the readership even more as it would affect more people. Published on a monthly basis, Q costs £4.99, which we cannot see on the image above, but on the actual magazine it says it at the bottom along with the magazine’s web address and the issue number and date saying “December 2014”. Not only does Q have a magazine, but it is also well known for its Radio Station and TV Channel, broadcasting throughout the UK. Annually, Q Magazine also hosts a range of awards called the Q Awards showcasing the talent of today and awarding them for their success.

When you first look at the front cover, we can see that it has a young look to it, and that the target audience is ranged between late teens and early thirties. Not only can we tell this from the style of the cover, but with a large image of the Foo Fighters we can tell that the audience would not be older in their fifties as they would not be interested in the Foo Fighters genre of music.  The relationship with the reader from the mode of address is even, as Dave Grohl, who is the Foo Fighters front man is not looking down at the camera to make us feel intimidated, nor is he looking up at the camera from a high angle making us feel the stronger character. But he is looking at the camera at eye level, making the reader feel comfortable and drawing them into the magazine for them to read it.

The magazine’s appearance is well known as it has a signature masthead that never changes. The large “Q” and the top right hand corner is a symbol to all people as it stands out with its large white sans-serif font against the bold red background. The magazine has a typical house style which we can see when researching different images of front covers from previous issues. The main colours in every issue of q are red, white and black. These colours are significant to q, with two of them situated in the mast head. The colours are not used to have an effect on the reader, but they are colours that are sophisticated and formal for a music magazine. For example, a teenage girls magazine would have girly colours such as pink and purple, while a boys football magazine would have green and blue, which are quite masculine colours. In this issue there are a range of different cover lines in different sizes but what is very noticeable is the fact that they are all in bold writing and capital letters. The Cover lines are very noticeable and easy to read, in some there are coloured background which makes them easier and more eye-catching to the reader. On the right hand side, there are four cover lines that include additional information below them, with one in italics to emphasise to the reader if Noel Gallagher is really talking to his brother Liam. A strap line at the very top of the issue about Prince is also very eye-catching as it has a puff in purple saying “20 Page Special” and Prince’s symbol. This stands out as purple is not a usual colour for Q Magazine, and it attracts the reader. The reason that Q has used the colour purple for the puff is significant as Prince’s most famous single is called “Purple Rain”.

The image itself is taken of the band the Foo Fighters. The front man Dave Grohl, and standing behind him are his band members Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jafee and Pat Smear. The left hand side Cover Line is the cover line that focuses mainly on the band, “I had another life 25 years ago, it was turned upside down...” This entices the reader in even further to the magazine, as from this pull quote we can see that the feature inside isn’t just going to be about their career in music, but what their life was like before they hit the big time, and what it was like during it. I clearly shows that Q is not just a magazine about music, but a magazine about the artists. With the picture of the band-mates slightly overlapping the title Q, the fact that the magazine is obviously well established and recognised by fans is conveyed – they will have no problem distinguishing it on the shelf even though the corner of it is covered. In this issue the slogan of the magazine is not shown under the masthead, which is unusual because you would usually expect to see the term “Discover Great Music”. 

Music Magazine Research-Q and Rolling Stone Research

Next in my Music Magazine Research Task, I am going to research two music magazines so I will be able to get a better insight as to what a music magazine looks like, if each magazine has a particular house style etc. The two music magazines that I am going to research is Q Magazine and Rolling Stone.

 

 

 

Q magazine research from Alice Kelly

Music Magazine Research-Publisher Research

Music Magazine Research

I decided when researching different types of music magzines, Iwould try and find who are the people behind it. I then researched what where the three main publishes, where I found that they were EMAP, Bauer Media, and Time Inc UK. Below I have outlined interesting facts and information that may be useful to me in the future when creating my own music magazine.

EMAP is a content, subscription and net-working business that connect influential people and organisations to a high- value network of decision makers, data and ideas through our industry-leading portfolio of brands including Retail Week, Health Service Journal, MEED, Architects’ Journal and Drapers.

Their purpose is to connect professional communities and inspire them to know, to grow, progress and win. Brands such as Health Service Journal and Retail Week create deep relationships and unparalleled reach, to increase value for our customers.

They deliver this through senior networking events; industry leading awards; online data products; social media communities; headline conferences and, of course, critical insight, news and analysis. EMAP hear the market agenda, and create innovative solutions and better ways for our advertisers and sponsors to connect with their audience. They also provide highly valued subscription services and are rewarded by a following.

“Always independent, relentlessly inquisitive, EMAP embodies quality, market-leading journalism. We act as the ultimate industry insider, and strive to always be the trusted authority. For our customers, EMAP provides the best possible way to connect with their world. We are their competitive advantage.”

Source: http://www.emap.com/

Time Inc UK (formerly IPC Media) has content built on amazing relationships and inspired conversations with millions of consumers. They engage with almost half of all UK adults in print and their award winning websites reach over 28 million global users every month.

Time Inc. UK is one of the world’s leading media companies reaching more than 130 million consumers each month across multiple platforms through influential brands such as Time, People, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, Real Simple, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Wallpaper and NME. With 50 editions of Time Inc. magazines licensed in more than 30 countries ranging from Germany to Turkey to China, the Time Inc. global portfolio touches all corners of the world. Time Inc. connects audiences through shared experiences, celebrated events and franchises including the Fortune 500, Time 100, People’s Sexiest Man Alive, Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year, the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and the Essence Festival.
“Our mainstream women's brands include famous women's titles including Now, Chat, Woman and Goodtoknow; TV entertainment brands including What's on TV, TV Times and TV & Satellite Week. Our specialist portfolio, has a wealth of leisure brands including Country Life, Horse & Hound, Rugby World and Decanter, as well as lifestyle brands including Mousebreaker and NME. We also publish a number of women's fashion and luxury brands including Marie Claire, InStyle and Wallpaper lifestyle titles including woman&home and Essentials and home interest brands including Ideal Home, Livingetc and housetohome.”

Source: http://www.timeincuk.com/

Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. The Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.

Bauer Media joined the Bauer Media Group in January 2008 following acquisition of Emap plc’s consumer and specialist magazines, radio, TV, online and digital businesses. Collectively, the Group employs some 6,400 people.

Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies collected around two main divisions – Magazines and Radio -widely recognised and rewarded as being industry innovators.

“Our business is built on influential media brands with millions of personal relationships with engaged readers and listeners. Our strategy is to connect audiences with excellent content through our broad multi-touch point brand platforms, wherever and whenever and however they want. Our wide portfolio of influential brands gives us advantages over pure play magazine or radio competitors. Our magazine heritage stretches back to 1953 with the launch of Angling Times and the acquisition in 1956 of Motor Cycle News, both still iconic brands within our portfolio.”

Source: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/