Ideas For My Own Music Magazine

-          Genre

-          Examples of artists to be featured

-          Target audience (demographics: age, gender)

-          Reader profile (see the K! example in the media pack) You will need to take your own picture of the typical reader

-          Contents

I want my genre to be alternative. This is reflective of my own musical taste and gives my magazine a personal edge. 

Some examples of artists I would feature: Bastilles, Jake Bugg, The Wombats, Twin Atlantic, Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, Birdy.

My target audience is 16-24. i have chosen a wider target audience range as it helps me to be able to go 'all out' on certain aspects.

The typical reader of my magazine, will be a non-conforming young adult. They must have strong individualism and feel the need to stand out- if they are marginalized in society for doing this, the magazine acts as an escape to them. They are opinionated and have strong post-modern views, which are magnified in the magazine. Artists and bands used in the magazine are representative of the angst and uncaring attitude of the teenage audience. However, the magazine is more feminine and women are more likely to read the magazine due to the celebrity gossip element the magazine has.

The contents page will be similar to NME, in that there is a balance of text and photos, and that it has the messy but organised feel to it, perhaps through an obvious house colour scheme/typography.

I generally want to keep readers on their toes. 

Hense the title: Edge Of Your Seat 

Scrap that: UNCENSORED

Analyzing A Music Magazine Contents Page

This is a contents page from the BBC's TOTP magazine. The layout of the magazine is fairly busy and colourful- much like the mind of a teenage girl. This contents page features a mini version of the front cover with arrows and page numbers that directly relate to each story. This could be used to show a 'what you see is what you get' attitude, as there are a lot of featured articles, or could be used as a way to help the reader interact with the magazine more easily.
The general house colour scheme is pink and purple, stereotypically suited to a young female target audience. The colour yellow has also been used as a highlighter for certain parts of the magazine. This acts as a way of drawing the readers attention to those articles, as well as relating to them. By this, I mean that the typical teenage girl is more than likely to doodle on magazines, and highlight parts she likes.

The balance of pictures to text is outweighed by text, however, the pictures are bolder and brighter. The photograph of One Direction, is typical of a female orientated magazine, as girls lust and long for these gorgeous boys to walk into their lives. The celebrity endorsement grabs the readers attention- and creates a way of escapism, through living and understand the lives of celebrities, vicariously through the magazine.

Despite the fairly messy layout, all articles featured in the contents page are grouped into subheadings, again creating ease for the reader when navigating through the magazine.This also gives the impression, that there is a need to be ordered and disciplined despite the hectic lifestyles of teenage girls.
The title of the contents page matches that of the front cover, perhaps showing it to be the 'house font'. The title font is very similar to handwriting, again reinforcing the idea of a teenage girl doodling in class.

The language used in the magazine is cheeky, and tries to be 'down with the kids', through using relatable language. I don't think there are swear words in the magazine, however, words such as 'Phroar' or 'PHEW' are used as colloquial, onomatopoeia, perhaps seen as a buzz word for teenage girls. the use of the word 'we' on subheadings also creates a good reader/writer tenor, and also implies they have similar interests- the magazine in this way acts as a friend to the reader, and helps create a sense of identity.

Contents Page Final

Title Page Final

Final piece for 'The Big Idea' school magazine.