27TH FEB 2012

QUESTIONNAIRE 

- I devised a questionnaire to ask various people from my target audience to find out what they want. 

1. Who's your favourite Indie Rock band?

• Charlie Simpson
• Ed Sheeran 
• The Killers
• One Republic

2. What would make you buy an Indie Rock music magazine?

• people I like, new bands
• someone knew
• bands I like, girls, festivals
• a good band

3. Who would you like to see inside?

• a mix of really famous and really new upcoming artists

4. What's your impression of Indie Rock fans?

• individual
• just trying to be different
• a bit weird
• fun

5. What do you expect to find inside?

• posters
• interviews with bands
• reviews
• festival events 
• concerts
• horoscopes
• music
• line ups 

6. What adverts would you expect to see?

• upcoming concerts and festivals
• music vouchers

7. How often would you like it to be released?

• majority said fortnightly 
• minority said monthly

8. How much would you pay?

• £2.50
• less that £5
• up to £5
• £2

To summarise my findings, the people I interviewed generally all wanted the same thing. 

Like any other magazine they expected to find posters, charts, upcoming events and interviews. It being a Indie Rock magazine led them to want a mixture of both new and original artists to keep the magazine current and up to date. I will probably have the magazine be a fortnightly one as this option came out most popular, and put the cost at £4 because from the answers I received it was obvious people would pay this amount. 

24TH FEB 2012

RESEARCHING A NICHE MAGAZINE


ABC : audit bureau of circulations 


A NICHE magazine is a magazine about a sub-genre of a major genre which as a lot of depth to it. Niche magazines have many different pros and cons which drive them publication.


PROS: 

• the audience they are targeting will be far more loyal and committed to buying the magazine each week
• the magazine will have more specific content

CONS:

• niche magazines means their target audience will be smaller
• smaller audiences means smaller income
• can't include much variation

I am now going to look and study a niche magazine and look at the sales, marketing and publications. 

Cross Stitcher is an example of a niche magazine. It sells around 38,684 magazines ever six months and last years sales decreased by -18.7%. Sales probably dropped because one; this is a very niche hobby and so will have a small target audience and two; because it is such a rare hobby and we're in a recession people wont be able to spend money on leisure activities. Another reason cross stitching magazines are going "out of fashion" is because people will be spending more money on the equipment they need and not wasting it on magazines when all the information people can pay for from the magazine they can get for free from the internet. 

However, although Cross Stitcher is decreasing in sales, two similar magazines; The World of Cross Stitching and Cross Stitch Crazy, both owned by Immediate Media Company, sales have increased. 

Immediate Media Company also own many other magazines, some associated with the BBc therefore although they are publishing a niche magazine, have a huge backing which will able to publicise the magazines more, making people more aware of them. This therefore explains their sale increases. Future Publishing, on the other hand, own Cross Stitcher who have decreased. Future Publishing owns a lot of computer and television based magazines and so wont be "showing off" cross stitching as much. 

The magazine to the right is the cover of the magazine I have been discussing. Its typical niche target audience is going to be women and that is most probably the reason the colour theme is based around pink and yellow and is covered in flowers and girly fonts. There are  several sale lines and promotional images which they could be doing to bring in and interest new readers. 

10TH FEB 2012

MOOD BOARD:

10TH FEB 2012

I have decided to change the genre I want my final magazine to be to
                      INDIE ROCK.
This is because I believe this genre has a much more broad variety of artists and routes I can take with it. 


INDIE ROCK is a genre of rock and was born in the UK and USA in the 1980's. It has many different genres within it such as indie pop and grunge and includes artists like Ellie Goulding, The Fray, Snow Patrol etc. It was originally a term used to describe record labels however then went on to identify "outsider" artists, not many people had heard of. 
INDIE ROCK describes small and relatively low-budget labels which has a do-it-yourself attitude of bands and artists involved. 




HISTORY OF INDIE ROCK
In 1986 NME, the main music magazine producing indie rock articles, was a document of the UK indie scene. This then gave a major influence to the development of the British indie scene as a whole. Significant labels then included CREATION, SUBWAY and GLASS. In the 1990s major changes were bought into the alternative rock scene. A lot of the smaller bands of the sub-genres of indie rock like the grunge bands PEARL JAM, SOUNDGARDEN and ALICE IN CHAIRS broke into the mainstream achieving chart success on a widespread scale. Bands reviving the punk genre, like GREEN DAY and THE OFFSPRING, also became more popular and grouped in the "alternative" genre. 
Throughout the next few years different artists emerged and genres changed and more became grouped under the alternative grouping. 


Finally in the year 2000 to present day, indie rock presents its self in mainstream charts. Because the changing music industry has cause the decline in record sales, the growth of new digital technology and increased use of the internet as a tool for music promotion has allowed indie rock bands to achieve mainstream success. 

1ST FEB 2012

Investigate at least two music magazines currently on sale in Britain and answer these questions


A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MAGAZINE
SMASH HITS -
was founded by Nick Logan in 1978. Nick had previously edited other music magazines like New Musical Express during one of the most creative periods. A test was released in September 1978 with Plastic Bertrand on the front and the first issue was published in November 1978, featuring Blondie on the cover. After only three months the magazine went from being a monthly release to a fortnightly. In its early days its major selling point was the publication of Top 20 song lyrics. It became a "phenomenon" in the 1980s and helped launch the careers of now major journalists who went on to produce Q, Mojo and The Word. 




KERRANG! - 
It started as a magazine supplement  which came with "Sounds" magazine. It proved so popular that it became an independent publication in its own right. Kerrang! got its name from the sound a guitar player makes when he throws his guitar. 

TYPICAL CONTENT

SMASH HITS - 

• usually a count down of the "hottest guys" or the top songs 
• free posters or gifts
• prizes 
• often a "battle of the bands" 
• sob stories
• personal stories of artists
• gossip
• often some free themed extras

KERRANG! - 

• poster
• often sale lines portraying an uproar or rioting 
• usually more based on mature articles about different new and popular rock bands
• contains sex, love and drugs articles
• personal articles about artists growing 
• agressive photography
• major band on the front cover as main image. eg, my chemical romance
• festival information
• album reviews
• lesser brands in the strip and the bottom

TYPICAL READER

SMASH HITS - 

is usually aimed at young girls, probably no older than  8 -16. However, the secondary reader is therefore going to be parents. They want to know the magazine is safe for their children

KERRANG - 

readers are a lot older. Generically 20 year old, greasy, long haired men. Also the girlfriends and girls from this "clique" would read it. The consumers would probably be aged between 16 and 30. 

MAGAZINE HOUSE STYLES

    SMASH HITS - 

• fonts usually big and bold. Often continued capitals to show how important and interesting the articles and sale lines are supposed to be
• the colours of smash hits magazine are almost neon in every issue. They don't tend to follow the convention of having three similar colours throughout and instead make them contrast and stand out.
• the models on the cover and throughout the magazine are usually current popular pop artists. They are nearly always smiling and "messing around"

KERRANG! - 

• fonts usually take the form of being bold and clear and don't often use any crazy effects or different font styles to make the magazine seem more exciting. However they do use a smashed glass effect in the master head font. This is to appeal to its audience of protesting adolescents.
• KERRANG! usually has one main image with smaller, less important images to the edges of the page.
• in KERRANG! they normally use two or three main, contrasting, bright colours that fit in with their sale lines or artist on the front
• the models in the magazine are nearly always important, major bands whom usually have a new album or tour coming up. 

6TH FEB 2012

THE 4 F'S

FUNCTION: what are your magazine objectives?

FORMULA: elements that make up your magazine, amount of articles eg length, type of                              photography

FRAME: margins and gutlers for printers

FORMAT: presentation