Magazine Research & Planning

I am going to produce a magazine which features brand new unsigned talent. This magazine will include some of the features explained in magazine below and will be for people which like brand new music, who like to be up to date and modern, and for people who are unique. The magazine will target people with a relatively low income and will help to inspire certain people’s musical tastes. The magazine will be targeted toward people aged between16-27 and will be viewed by a male and female audience.


The use of camera shots and techniques are important for my magazine cover as this will be the most important aspect of the magazine which will grab the reader’s attention due to the fact that it Is the first part of the magazine that will actually be looked at. The magazine featured shows a medium close up of artists which are included In the magazine. The photo is eye catching due to the Mise en scene, including the colour contrast which features the photo including black on white. This gives the effect of the front cover being eye grabbing and thus giving the effect of the cover standing out. This will be one of the effects which I will include on my magazine. The mid-shot of the artist represent a youthful up to date representation of modern music. It features a wide range of different talents which I will also include on my magazine. There is also the use of bold colours which make certain texts standout and also the use of modern Sans Serif Font which represent the magazine as being cool. This therefore denotes the magazine as being youthful and modern which is also represented by the type of artist’s featured. The content of the magazine is also clean, meaning that it will encourage a younger audience and also encourage parents to buy the magazine. Therefore i will also make my magazine clean and interesting to make it more appealing.

The artists featured on the magazine are also relevant to the type of magazine genre. This meaning it gives the reader a sneak preview of the type of featured content which will be featured on the mag, due to the genre of music not being given away by the title. This aspect will also be included on my magazine cover.



The Picture also shows artists which look unique and interesting, this connotes that the music they create is good and enjoyable to the listener. This aspect i will also include in my magazine by showing picture's which include certain artists that are not mainstream but more unique which connotes untapped talent which is what i hope to achieve. The use of Mise En Scene of the magazine will also help to draw the viewers eye towards the artist due to the contrast being black on white. The Artist's wardrobe shown is also different to what would typically be worn by a normal person. It helps to represent them as unique and individual.


This Magazine also shows a unique aspect of Musicians by showing them as being rebellious and unique. However the layout of the magazine is shown to be more formal compared to the NME magazine shown above. The use of this layout connotes to the readers the type of genre and target audience of the magazine. In this case it feature’s an artist taking up the whole of the front cover to give a large impact of “in your face” to their target audience, this as a result helps to determine the genre of the magazine cover. The Magazine represents the artists as being unsociable and against standard formality. The ideology of the magazine gives the aspect of being cool and up to date with music. The use of only 3 colours throughout the magazine as an effect creates a contrast between the writing and the photograph. This as a result makes them both stand out.


My Magazine will include the latest talent. The genre of my magazine will feature Indie/Rock/Alternate artists. It will feature the latest news and Information on brand new talent. It will allow the general public to discover new artists and as a result for the Artist, allowing them to become more known and even as a result signed to a record label.

I will also include the use of Sans Serif Font. This will help give a modern effect to my magazine. As a result this will help encourage the correct target audience to buy my magazine. It will also contribute to the layout and appearance of my magazine.


For my main inspiration i will use the "Q" magazine featured on the right. For a while this magazine has been successful and as a result even has it's own TV channel as a result. This meaning that the format of the magazine is correct. The magazine fits into its target audience by the use of its Photograph, Font type, and genre by the type of band featured in the photograph. The magazine has been released every month since 1986. i will also copy the release style of this magazine by releasing my mag every month too. I feel this is a good idea as it allows my magazine time to find new bands and information about them as i feel less time than this would create more pressure for my magazine to preform well. Thus as a result the magazine sales would drop meaning the magazine would go bust just like the magazine "Smash Hits".

In order to prevent my magazine following the same route as Smash Hits i will therefore have to make sure that the genre and content of my magazine is up to date and fits the time period of which the magazine would be released in. In order to find out if my content and time period both fit i will then have to carry out research to be sure that no mistakes are made, especially when the magazine is starting up as this is when the magazine is most vulnerable.

As my magazine specialises in the latest music, it is therefore important for my magazine to do it's research and to cator for the majority market. it will also be important to get the balance of music types and styles correct, so there is then a maximum market for my magazine. There are are hardly any magazines that purely specialise on the latest bands so i believe i have found a gap in the market. This is useful as I have limited competition as a result. This means i can spend more time focusing on the magazine's needs rather than whether or not we are beating the competition. This also as a result means that my magazine will get all the profits instead of it being split with other competition.

The Ideology and representation that will featuring in this magazine shows the artist being up to date and being at the top of the world as well as represented as being cool. For my Magazine i wish the ideology and representation of the artist to show them as being up to date, cool and modern as well as being conceived as being the next greatest thing.


The Jincars scale for the Q Magazine looks as if it is between C1/C2. For my Magazine, i wish the Jincars scale to feature between C1/C2/D. I wish to target these type of people as it gives a large range of which the magazine can cover. It also allows people of all types to experience and find out the information featured in the magazine. People on this scale can also afford to pay for my magazine on monthly basis and is relevant to all the social standards.


The Main message i want my magazine to give across to my readers is that it is up to date with the latest music. It should also give across that it has factual and interesting interview's and articles. It will include the latest articles but should also give across the fact that new music is moving into current times. it should also inspire other people as a result. I also wish my magazine to show the good aspects of music rather than just the side involving drugs and alcohol. This is why i feel the magazine can apply on the Jincars scale up to C1 as it appeals to parents as well as other people. It is an advantage if it appeals to Parents as then they can pay for people in the age range which might not be old enough to get a job or who don't have one.


All of the Front Covers above appeal to their target audience which i think is important in order for my magazine to sell. therefore I Will need to plan my front cover carefully in order for my magazine to sell.


All of the magazines above include

• "Strap lines"
• "Slogans"
• Interesting story
• Eye grabbing "Main Sell"

In this magazine it features the "Main Sell" in a crazy artistic Font. This effect represents the band as also being crazy rebellious. This is backed up by the photograph in the background.
It might therefore be a good idea to base the "Main Sell" Font type in the magazine to the type of artist genre.











In this Magazine's Double Page spread the main focus of the eye is drawn towards the Photograph. It takes up has the page and has a main title of the top to explain what the double page is about. It then features the text on the side of the page which goes on to talk about the band etc.


Overall therefore i will need to plan and analyse which styling i will use for my magazine. I will also have to explore the use of certain Fonts and i will have to get a picture which will fit the style and genre of the magazine

Representation is the form of how a certain featured article etc gives a reflection to what the reader will the the article is about. For my Magazine it will represent the bands in the magazine as untaped talent, which is bursting for media attention. it could give the effect of making readers think that they could be the next biggest thing. This is done in the way in which bands are show to be like, which could be done with such things a critc reviews etc.

It can also represent them as unsigned talent which could be the latest band. In the way in which they are unknown to their target audience. Shown to be people which like music which they have not heard before. It Represents these people as being up to date, fresh modern and different by people of all genders and types for the purpose of creating an effect of music which anyone can like. It shows the audience as being in a different non common social groups which just likes to follow other music tastes.