Questionnaire

Questionnaire Music Magazines

This questionnaire is for research for my AS media coursework and i would appreciate it if you took the time to fill it in for me. Thank you.

1.        How often do you/would you buy a music magazine?

Weekly

Fortnightly

Monthly

Other (please specify)

The reason i asked this question is so it can help me decide what the frequency of publication will be.

2.        How much do you pay/would you pay for a music magazine?

£1 - £2

£2 - £3

£3 - £4

Other (please specify)

The reason i asked this question is so i know how much to charge for my magazine.

3.        Do you currently read any music magazines? If yes please specify, if no please specify which magazines you would consider reading.

This question helps me realise what other magazines are popular with my target audience

4.        Who is your current favourite pop band or singer?

This question lets me know who my target audience is interested in

5.        What do you dislike about music magazines?

The reason i have included this question is so i know what not to include in my magazine

6.        What do you enjoy about music magazines?

 I have included this because it will help me choose what to include in my magazine

7.        On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being very important and 5 being irrelevant, how important are the following thing’s in a music magazine;

Pictures               1   2   3   4   5

Free Gifts            1   2   3   4   5

Competitions     1   2   3   4   5

Reviews              1   2   3   4   5

Interviews          1   2   3   4   5

I have asked this question because it helps me realise what to include in my magazine

8.        What are your favourite 3 colours?

I have asked this question because it will help me decide the colour scheme for my magazine.  

9.        What words come to mind when you think of pop music?

 I have asked this question to help me decide on a title for my magazine

10.     How do you purchase your music?

     Download

     Albums   

      Singles

 I have asked this question so i can relate to the audience in how they purchase music in my magazine

11.     Do you regularly attend gigs/concerts?

If yes please specify which artists you’ve been to in the past year.

If no please specify the reason, if any, you haven’t attended any.

I have asked this question so i know what sort of up and coming gigs/concerts could be mentioned in my magazine

Thank you for taking the time out and completing my questionnaire.

Codes and conventions of a music magazine front cover

• Main cover line goes with main image
• Main image (band/singer)is direct address and conveys attitude
• one word title
• strip - at the bottom
• simple colour scheme

The main image of the magazine is a well known star, Lily Allen who is dressed in a way that's fits the colour scheme of the magazine, red and black. Also there is a strip at the bottom which states which bands/singers are featured in this particular issue of NME. The title of the magazine is one word, short and snappy it is also boasting how well known it is by covering part of the title with the main image. The main cover line is related to the main image and also a quote from the feature article is on the main cover which is slang which relates to the target audience.

Codes and conventions of a music magazine contents page

• same colour scheme as front cover
• image/s of band/singers/music venues
• columns - usually 3 or 4
• categories- features, regulars
• main picture relating to feature article
• sometimes image of the front cover
• page number/issue date/web address/magazine title
• words that intrigue the reader
• competition

This contents page is simple and easy to read/follow. The colour scheme from the front cover remains consistent on the contents page as suggested by the codes and conventions. It splits it’s contents into sections such a ;features and news etc, so the readers can find what they are looking for easily. The white background works wells because it allows the reader to not be distracted and to keep there attention on the text. Also the main image relates to the feature article of the magazine and has the largest sub line on the page with it. Also there is an competition on the bottom of the page which fits into the codes and conventions of a music magazines contents page.

Codes and conventions of a magazine double page spread

• one large image - usually direct address, sometimes bleeds between pages
• smaller image about something in the article
• large quotes - on pictures/in headline/in stand first/to break up the text
• Drop capital and bold text - show where to start reading
• Byline - gives credit to journalist/photographer
• large headline - doesn't say what the articles about
• simple colour scheme- magazines' colours
• easy to read font
• stand first - introduces the article, positioned under the headline
• articles in columns - usually 2 - 4
• strap line - very top, including subject matter
• personality of journalist comes though - informal.

The headline of this article is a quote from the text, which draws the reader in, also the image of Lily Allen is very striking and direct address which makes the audience very interested and want to read the article, also her posture is very demanding and is almost demanding attention off the reader to read the article. The article is split into 4 columns which is started by a drop capital so the reader knows where to start reading.The article is aimed at teenagers because it is out of NME magazine which has a Target audience of teenagers, so there is a very friendly mode of address. The stand first tell the reader what the article is about and the by-line tells us the journalist and photographer.

Codes and conventions of a magazine double page spread

• one large image - usually direct address, sometimes bleeds between pages
• smaller images around - relating to the article
• large quotes - on pictures/in headline/in stand first/to break up the text
• drop capital at the start of an article
• by line - giving credit to the journalist and photographer
• simple colour scheme - same as front cover usually
• easy to read font
• standfirst - to introduce the article
• articles in columns - usually 2 or 4

Researching the market place

TOP OF THE POPS

Price: £2.20

Frequency of Publications: Monthly

Image goes with main cover line

Very colourful and girly

Main Image: Star/Stars who are currently ‘popular’

Regular Content For Pop Magazines:

Posters

Articles on top stars

Competitions

Reality tests

Advice columns

Celebrity secrets

Chart Information

Star gossip

Feature articles:

Interviews

Inside scoop on new music videos

I have found that most pop music magazine that are already out in the market are generally priced between £1.50 and £2.50, they are out monthly and usually contain similar content, listed above. 

Q

http://www.qthemusic.com/

£3.50

Monthly

Image goes with the main cover line

Popular star as the main image

Few colours

Direct address

Famous popular stars names are on the cover

Features:

live concert reviews

new releases

film

music video analyses

music compilations

ranks and ratings of current albums/songs/artists



Initial Ideas

The type of magazine that i am going to produce is a POP magazine. This is because i enjoy this genre of music and i shall be in the target audience of the magazine, which is teenage girls, so i can include my ideas of what i would enjoy to read in a pop music magazine to produce a good and succesful magazine.

MUSIC MAGAZINE

Evaluation Of School Magazine Front Cover and Contents Page

My front cover and contents page of the school maagazine use the conventions of real media products as i folllowed the codes and conventions to what i believe to be a high standard although i did miss out a few key devices such as the use of puffs and buzz words etc. The conventions such as containing a picture of a student, having both pieces very colourful and having the contents page full of images to attract the reader where followed closely so that i could produce a professional looking magazine.

To make my front cover image of the school magazines a used a new media software Adobe Photoshop. This software allowed me to edit my image, edit texts and add many effects to different images although i did not use many of these features due to time. Photoshop was very good at making my magazine cover because I was able to use some of these features in the hope that my school magazine would look professional. A weekness with Adobe Photoshop was that making a contents page on it would be very difficult as there is no columns on it. There are also many strengths such as how easy it is to use and the features it provides to make professional looking work. To make my contents page i used Quark XPress because it had columns on which would make it easier for me than photoshop. I found this programme more difficult as I had not previously used it but it was easy to learn the features on it. A disadvantage with Quark Xpress is that it does not allow you to resize images properly without changing the image dimensions. This problem was overcame by adjusting my images so that they could still fit in the area and look the same to how they did in the first place.
The strengths of my front cover are that they meet all the requiremants given in the brief, it fits in the codes and conventions and it looks professional, the weaknesses of it are it is quite plain and my coverlines are not very imaginitave or creative. Furthermore the strengths of my contents page are that it looked very prefessional with a range of different images and texts, the weaknesses are that i didn't do many articles which made the magazine as a whole look quite un-professional.

School Magazine Contents Page

School Magazine Front Cover

School magazine photographs

This picture was used on my contents page

This picture was used on my contents page

This picture was used on my contents page

This picture was used on my contents page

This picture was used on my contents page

This picture was used on my front cover

This picture was used on my contents page

Photography

 a medium long shot

 an over-shoulder shot

a high angle long shot

 an extreme close up of someone using a phone

 a long shot conveying isolation

a close up of someone in nature

Rough sketch of the contents page

Plans for Contents page

Articles-
Features
Top revision tips
high school musical
lunchtime bordeom
beat the bully
earn as you learn
Regulars
Student of the month
teacher of the month
school of th month
advice
extra clubs
art award of the month

Pictures-
Student on computer over shoulder
medium close up of group of sixth formers
over shoulder shot of student working
HELP ME sign
Medium close up of the teacher
group of students at lunchtime
small image of front cover

Rough Sketch of front cover

Plans for front cover.

Title - Uniform
Coverlines-
Cure lunchtime boredom
Student of the month
Revision Tips
Teacher of the month
Beat the bully
Main Image -
Female student
In uniform
Medium Close up