The price of my magazine

RnB magazine
This allows the customer to subscribe to the magazine for now only $8.00, I think subscription is a very common choice among most readers, I also found when carrying out my questionnaire that the majority of people wanted a monthly produced magazine, having the option of subscription would appeal to them.

Q magazine
The price of this magazine is £3.70 an issue and you can get a years subscription for £30 which works out at £2.50 an issue. I think this would work well for the company as it would increase more profit for the company as the audience would buy the subscription due to it working out £1.20 cheaper an issue.

NME magazine
The price per issue is £2.20 however the subscription can be bought for £74.99 a year this works out at £1.47 an issue again the strategy is to convince the users to buy more issues by selling them more issues for a cheaper price than a one of purchase.

Vibe
This magazine is the one that's most similar to my target audience and is one I've based a lot of my inspiration from. Vibe subscribers pay £9.95 for 6 issues which works out at £1.60 a magazine, I feel this is a very cheap price for the magazine and I feel I can charge more for the magazine I am going to create, I also when doing my questionnaire asked my audience what price they would be willing to pay and the majority said within the region of £3.50 - £4.00

I feel this research has been really helpful as I have now seen that my magazine could be priced between £1.60 up to roughly £4.00 and I have also seen that offering a cheaper subscription can help to make the magazine more competitive. This means that I should have a price around £2-£3 and offer a subscription so that my magazine can be successful in the current magazine market and eliminates the competition.

How to add broken glass effect

This is a video tutorial I got from youtube on how to add a broken glass effect, I was looking at an NME magazine and this effect was used on the front cover and I thought it looked really attractive and original, it drew my attention to the magazine which is what I want my magazine to do so I looked on a tutorial on how to do it to see whether or not it would work with my magazine. However when added to my magazine I didn't feel that in linked well enough to my chosen genre so I decided not to use it.

My Audience

A demographic profile can be used to determine when and where advertising should be placed so as to achieve maximum results. In all such cases, it is important that the advertiser get the most results for their money, and so careful research is done to match the demographic profile of the target market to the demographic profile of the advertising medium.

My target audience for my magazine will be both males and females aged roughly 15-25 as RnB is mainly based around promiscuous girls and males dominating females, the style of music is also not what would be seen as appropriate for the older generation. The way in which the females present themselves will also have an impact on who prefers to listen to the music. It is both males and females because there is no specific gender is it based around, the females are seductive and behave and look a certain way to be portrayed in a sexual way to gain males attention, whereas the males are often associated with money and power as a way of showing females that they will give them what they want, it also implies to females that males are the ones who should have the money and fame and that women are just sex objects for them to show off and look at. 
I also have used Emaze to make an online presentation showing the results of my SurveyMonkey 

History of RnB

History of R N B
It is a Genre of popular African/American music that originated in the 1940’s, early 1950’s, the term rhythm and blues was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950’s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock n roll, the term ‘R & B’ became used to refer to music styles that developed  from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. By the 1970’s, rhythm and blues was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. 1980’s, a newer style of R & B developed, becoming known as ‘Contemporary R & B’
How R N B has changed over time
1980’s – with the transition from soul and disco to R N B, artists such as MJ were able to achieve crossover appeal in popular music which had previously been dominated by white rock musicians.
1990’s- Though popular in the 1980’s, quiet storm had remained a fixture in there cording’s of popular artists such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston in the dawn of the 1990’s
2000’s – The continued popularity of contemporary R N B is seen in the global success of established artists such as Beyoncé and Usher whose careers began in the late 1990’s and continued to dawn in the new millennium. 

People all over the world have enjoyed Rhythm & Blues (also known as R&B) music since before 1948 when the term was coined by then-music producer  Jerry Wexler. It is a well known fact that many of the European bands such as the Beatles and Led Zeppelin benefited from and were heavily influenced by American R&B artists. There are thousands of songwriters, producers, artists, music executives and distributors that have made their living creating, promoting and selling it. In the last seven decades R&B music has been the soundtrack to the lives of millions. It has been the voice of reason and a moral compass.

Tattoo's added using Photo Shop

By using Photo Shop and looking at a tutorial on YouTube on how to add tattoo's using Photoshop I created this image, I used the tools of opacity to blend the image in to the body so that it looks realistic as a tattoo I also changed the levels and removed the background. I chose to add tattoo's because I think it is a main idea of R n B, when creating my main image for my magazine, I will use what I have learnt here and I will add a selection of tattoos's on to my image. I used a selection of 9 different tattoo's to create this, I also used tools such as transform and the warp tool, to make it look like it is actually warped to the shape of the arm/body. I also used a colour eraser tool to get rid of the white background from the image.

Tattoo Videos

This again is another video I got from youtube on how to add tattoo's using photoshop. I used this video because RnB magazines often associate there models with having tattoo's so I looked for tutorial on showing me how to make it look like my model had tattoo's so that he was more suitable for the genre.

Mood Boards for my chosen Genre

 By doing these mood boards i have been able to gather a range of images which relate to my chosen genre, i have been able to get an understanding of the genre and ideas for my magazine, i have also been able to look at the make up and hairstyles used on the model, the way they dress, jewelry they were, character placement and how they are stood, facial expressions, colour schemes used on the actual magazines and fonts.

LIIAR analysis of magazine

Language

Masthead- this identifies that it is a NME magazine the logo cleverly placed in the top left hand corner as the human eye flow reads from left to right therefore this will be what they first see when looking at the magazine. 

cover lines- summaries of the different acts which will be inside the magazine and explains very briefly what the articles are about picking out key words which would draw your attention towards the magazine and make you wan tot read more. 

headline- much larger font than all the other headings so that it clearly stands out and by looking at that you ca tell who the main image is of without even knowing him/her originally 

house style- all punctuation is italic and all writing is in capitals making it bold and stand out 

strapline- smaller font than the masthead over the main headline 

banner- the font page headline that goes across the whole page 

institution 

NME is currently published in IPC media which is the uk’s leading publishing institution for magazines. it first issue was in march 1952 since then it has been an truly unique and successful magazine 

their award winning portfolio of websites reaches over 25 million global users every month which ensures that the NME music magazine reaches over 1.1 miliion music fans every week.

Ideology

NME promotes the listening of indie rock music 

they focus on bringing people emerging artists that haven’t quite made it mainstream yet. you will very rarely see mainstream artists in the NME magazine. Mike Skinner who is shown on the front cover is an artist who has created music in many different genres such as hip-hop, uk garage, reggae and even country western however has still not yet become mainstream.

audience 

NME magazine targets both male and female however leans more towards males with a 70% male audience and only 30% women. the magazine targets those aged between 16 and 25 who have a strong love for all kids of music but mainly indie, however some of the images used on the front cover and women quite seductiveky placed and dressed therefore reinforcing the idea of women portrayed in a ‘tarty’ way as RnB presents them. 

representation 

this front cover features Mike Skinner who’s looking straight at the camera with a look of shock as if to say that there is something shocking inside the magazine which would entice consumers to read th magazine to find out what is so shocking.

The colour scheme is very just black and white which is very simple colours. This is because they don't want to bring away the attention from the main image with bright colours. Black and white are seen as sophisticated colours which conveys Rihanna's sophistication showing that you can be promiscuous and well as sophisticated. The important names are written in bold black emphasizing their importance especially Rihanna's name as she's what the main focus of the magazine should be. 
The masthead is Rolling Stone which originally means to go and live life to the full. It's covered by Rihanna's head emphasizing her importance in the magazine. The masthead is red, which would be associated with danger or not to be dealt with this is the message of the magazine to be confident and not to take anything from anyone. The masthead has a black border line emphasizing it so that it is still noticeable under her head, it also will be visible from a long distance so that the audience can recognize it straight away and know what the magazine will automatically be about. 
Typography- The font varies with the level of importance the more important words are written in bold black to bring the audiences attention to it. Rihanna's name is the only font with serifs this again emphasizes her 'sass' which is connoted throughout the magazine. The font used for her name is different to the rest of the other fonts showing that shes unique and singulars her out from the other part of the magazine. The rest of the fonts are san serif and seem fairly normal and simple. Some words are still placed in bold emphasizing them but are not made individual. All the words however are in capitals making it seem loud and showing importance. 

Administrive detail - The website is placed on top of the masthead as this is where people will look and most likely see it though it is very small. The bar-code is placed right at the bottom of the magazine, though it's right at the bottom it's still noticeable for the audience to see. 
Main Image- The main is full bleed, it takes up most of the magazine this indicates that Rihanna is the main subject, all the spotlight is on her. The image covers the masthead suggesting that Rihanna is more important than the masthead, it's all about her. The image is the first thing the audience see so it has to be appealing and in your face which this image is Rihanna is looking very promiscuous by posing the way she is. She is making direct eye contact with the audience by staring right at the camera this will make the audience feel that they are connected with her, her body language is very seductive and there is a lot of attitude in the way she is posing showing confidence with herself this will motivate the audience to want to be like her, if the image was her being quite shy and looking uncomfortable it wouldn't be as effective as the audience look up to her almost like a role model and want somebody who's strong and confident in being determined to aspire too. The background is just plain white again this brings the audience's attention to her as that's just plain and boring. Her hair is covering half her face again this is provocative and seen as playful behavior which is what women are portrayed as in the RnB genre. Her lips are also parted and her head is turned, as if she's turned to gain attention, she's still trying to act innocent and shy by acting like she's looking away. They are seen as seductive and sex objects which is connoted in the way they have portrayed Rihanna. 

Conventions of a magazine

When making any media text it is important to follow some conventions because you need to have a structure for your product to work. You want your target audience to be able to identify the genre product as well as the genre. You want the magazine to stand out and for them to instantly know what sort of magazine it is, instead of having to work it out. However challenging some conventions makes your magazine different to other magazines that are of the same genre, you want your magazine to bring something new and fresh but at the same time it still being similar to other magazine of the same genre so your target audience knows what genre it is.
The technical conventions of an RnB music magazine would be to have the Masthead  normally at the top left, it is in bold font that is really visible and straight away you know it is the Masthead. The Masthead is also short and snappy and relates to the RnB genre, A key convention is having strong sell lines that are appealing and relate to the RnB industry. Another key convention is having a price on your magazine this allows the consumer to know the price in which they have to pay, in order to get the price of my magazine i will ask the question in my survey and see how much my target audience are willing to pay. The dominant image is another key convention it is also the main focus on the front cover of a magazine. Normally the dominant image is central and the model is looking into the camera. Looking at RnB/Hip Hop magazine covers I have noticed that Red, Black and White are used quite frequently on the front of RnB/Hip Hop magazines and other music magazines like NME.The technical conventions for an RnB contents page would be to have features and regulars, normally the features and regulars are in a column on opposite sides of the page. Also on the contents page the main story on the front cover is normally in bigger font or made a little more eye catching so as soon as you open up the contents you know what page the main story is on. I really like the layout of the RnB magazine ‘Vibe’ I think it’s really interesting to look at. Also ‘Vibe’ uses Red, black and white as their colour scheme which I also think works really well.The technical conventions of an RnB feature page would be to have a big image of your celebrity on one page with a pull quote that makes the target audience want to read your article. Also it would have an introductory paragraph and another pull quote on the same side as the writing of the article. The symbolic conventions of an RnB music magazine would be the bling/jewellery that the artists wear, which links back to what I wrote in my Genre and Iconography. The poses that the artists are photographed in are normally showing off the female artists flesh and male artists it’s showing that they are dominant and in control and have a good physique which is appealing to women because they find that exciting and sexy. Also the artists whether they are male or female are normally wearing tight fitted clothes or hardly any clothes at all to make them stand out and live up to the ‘sex icon’ name.
Red, black and white are used a lot as the 3 colour scheme, they work well and the red and white links in with the connotations of the artists because the connotation of Red is sexy and dangerous which links in with the reason the artists are known as ‘sex symbols’. Also the connotation of white is purity that is linked to most RnB artists, as they are very humble and thankful for where they are and the red shows their playful side. The dominant image on a RnB magazine is very obvious and the first thing you would look at on the magazine, normally the female artists are posed in sexual poses and revealing clothes and jewellery which would attract men to read the magazine and also women because they might idolise them. Men are also shown as sexy, normally they have tattoos and muscles and are wearing jewellery and clothing to show off their muscles, which is appealing to women because they find them really attractive and sexy. However men are interested because they idolise them also and look up to them almost as a role model or something to aim towards.

Mast head - The Mast head is the main title. It is usually at the top left, as many people begin to read from that side. It will be bright, bold and the largest font on the front of the magazine cover. It is easily placed so that your eyes meet with it, and also to display good advertising so that it will stand clear to other people in, for example: a shop window/shelf. This is because the title exposes itself from the other magazines/newspapers etc, which may be cluttered around that particular magazine, as the title is displayed at the top.


Price - It is hidden on the magazine, an extremly small statistic. This is because the brand does not want to attract the reader to, for example: an extremly high price, as some people may disagree with it. The person could change their mind about purchasing, which could lose a lot of the magazines main audience.

Barcode - Every magazine contains a Barcode, so that the reader can purchase the magazine.

Feature Article Photograph - This instantly clarifies that it is the top story, as it has it's own large advertisement. It immediately explains to the reader that it is the main article throughout the whole magazine as it stands out the most, above the rest of the information that the reader is given on the front cover, explaining that it was obviously slapped on the front page for a specific reason. This can be to attract the key audience. For example: A large photograph which covers the front page with Batman, to promote 'The Dark Knight'. The Batman Saga is highly popular, and this could connect the fans of the audience to the magazine, as they're attracted by the photograph.

Main Cover Line - Bigger/brighter fonts with less information, to give you a quick overview of what the magazine will contain from that certain weeks main issues, and gossip etc.

Cover Line - Extra information which is added onto the front cover, to show the reader that there is more that you can do, e.g puzzles and quizzes. Although, the cover line is presented smaller, as it is less important information. The magazine would tend to concentrate mostly on the main article, however the extras may still intrigue some of the audience, so they would have to keep other options availabe to acheive a broader and successful audience.

Plug - Is a selling point about what else could be in the magazine. For example: the magazine cover could contain a quote, which ends as a question or with an exclamation mark. This leaves the reader feeling engaged, wanting to purchase the magazine to find out more about that certain topic.

Puffs - Using powerful and attractive words, which will atrract the reader to the magazine. For example: 'exclusive', 'hot', 'new' and 'incredible'.

Strapline - This gives more information about the brand, to promote it.

Typeface/Point sizes - Fonts, colours etc.

Sans Serit - Smooth and formal writing.

Serit - Points, and sharper writing. Found in e.g. Newspapers.

Music Magazines Within My Genre

XXL is an American hip hop magazine, published by town square media, founded in 1997. The magazine's past editors include Reginald C. Dennis, Sheena Lester (former editor-in-chief ofRapPages and Vibe music editor), Elliott Wilson and Datwon Thomas. In May 2009 Datwon Thomas resigned from XXL and executive editor Vanessa Satten, who had been with XXL since 1998, was named the new Editor-in-Chief. In August, 2005, Eminem and XXL teamed up to release a special issue titled XXL Presents Shade 45, and was designed to give maximum exposure to Shade 45 as a radio station, and at the same time give maximum exposure to the Shady records label as a whole, as well as the radio DJ's and G-Unit records' artists. XXL executive Publisher, Jonathan Rheingold, stated that typically magazines based around particular artists were not favorable, but "since Shade 45 is a truly authentic and uncensored rap radio channel, the marriage with the XXL brand made sense," with the feeling that it is what would interest rap fans. In November 2008 XXL released XXL Raps Volume 1, which included music from 50 cent, G-unit, Common, Jim Jones, & Fabalous. In September 2006, XXL put a special 90 minute DVD called XXL DVD Magazine Vol. 1, which featured exclusive interviews and content with big name rappers such as 50 cent, Ice Cube, Fat Joe, Paul Wall & Mike Jones. On August 20, 2013 XXL released its 150th issue, also celebrating its sixteenth anniversary. The issue featured the first solo cover on the magazine from Drake, and rappers such as Kendrick Lamar and B.O.B reviewing classic albums. XXL also releases an annual Top 10 Freshmen list. The issue features the ten picks of whom to watch out for, and on the cover of the magazine and showcases new rappers that aren't well known, but are considered to be on the rise. The list has become known to create buzz and is credited for giving many artists their first taste of fame. There are only 6 editions published a year so therefore produced every 2 months. The magazine therefore will contain a lot more content then what a weekly magazine would. XXL is priced at £2.39 or to subscribe it is £9.56 for 12 issues which works out at £0.80 per issue. 

Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. Quincy launched vibe in 1993. On June 30th 2009 it was announced that Vibe was shutting its doors ceasing publication immediately. 2 years which was 12 issues was £14.95 and 1 year which was 6 issues was £9.95. The target audience is ages between 18 and 34. Vibe's circulation recent statistics show that in 2007 it was approximately 800,000. Vibe is currently owned by InterMedia partners which is private equity. They distribute their magazines through their online website which provides some articles form the magazine. Also the magazines get distributed to a variety of shops ranging from corner shops to big supermarkets.  Vibe magazine draws their audience's attention in by adding images of key RnB artists on the front that the audience will recognize and instantly want to read about. They think this approach is more effective than having upcoming artist's that the audience know nothing about. 

My Music Magazine Genre

The Genre I chose to do is R n B, I chose this because I enjoy listening to this style of music and so I thought that I would therefore be able to generate better ideas for my magazine. I can also ensure that my magazine is aimed at the correct target audience and ensure that colour schemes and images used suit the target audience. I will also be able to refer to my target audience easier as I will be part of it. In my opinion R n B is associated with gangsters/rappers and the 'thug' style, such as the gold chains and a lot of chunky jewelry. The main sort of people to appear on the front of the magazine would be stereotyped as black men, fairly big built. There's also never any smiling in the photo's, it's all quite sly/mysterious. The colours used also connotates this as they are mainly dark colours such as greys/blacks. The main images are also mainly men, there is sometimes women but if women are used then they are pursued in a seductive way, making them look quite provocative which I think is to draw in the male's attention. The women mainly wear red lipstick and smokey black eye make-up, the colour red represents love and passion it could also represent danger which could connotate that the women are dangerous, and that the men shouldn't fall for them, the colour black also connotates the idea of danger as its symbolized with mystery and hidden meaning, it is also just a plain colour and is often related to as a shade or tone, which could symbolize that the women could have 2 different shades to them, the black mysterious side, trying to lead the men in and cause trouble or the red emphasizing the love and passion they have for the men.

This is an example of a current R n B magazine, this backs up all the points that i previously made, the women has her lips spaced in a seductive manner, and has red lipstick and dark black eye make up on, trying to draw attention to herself. The colour scheme to this magazine is also black and red which are the 2 main colours which seem to crop up in the majority of R n B magazines.





Artists for this type of genre varies because over time our understanding of what R n B is has changed form artists such as Aretha  Franklin, to current artists such as Drake, Kanye West and Usher. After doing a lot of research in to the current R n B music videos i found that in each video there is always the idea portrayed of women trying to get the male's attention, it is also always the male who seem to have the power, but the women who try and distract the men to gain the power. For example ion Nicki Minaj and Nelly's video Nicki is wearing a lot of dark make-up, again symbolizing the mysterious side of her, her hair and make up is all done perfect and the outfit she wears is quite provocative, the way she's placed throughout the video is always in seductive positions. Nelly is also the main focus throughout the video and there's a lot of high angle shots of Nicki been down and Nelly quite high up, symbolizing again the idea of male power.

I also looked at current albums of R n B as well as music videos and current magazines to get a detailed understanding, and i found an album called 'Black Panties' by R Kelly, the image on the front of the album is R Kelly playing a women, who's dressed as what we would stereotype as being slutty/tarty, as a violin. There is also other women around him reaching out trying to get him, the idea of him playing her as a violin also again connotes this idea of power.

This is an image from Nicki Minaj's music video I looked at, this shows Nicki as i pointed out earlier, dressed seductively, and is wearing mainly dark clothing and dark make up, she's also wearing the gold jewelry and has knee high black leather boots on, the whole outfit she's wearing would be stereotyped as slutty and the purpose of it is to gain male attention.






This is the front cover of R Kelly's music album I mentioned earlier,the fact that half of his face is covered in a black mask and the lighting on that side of the photo is quite dull and dark could connotate the hidden personality's that he has, as well as what the women has.

Music Genre Images

I think this image represents the genre folk.

Music Genre images

I struggled to find an image which i thought summed pop up as it is such a diverse genre, however when you think of the words pop music you instantly think of colourful, cheerful, bright and bold, so i thought that the band 'Girls Aloud' summed all of this up in this photo.

Music genre images

This image represents classic music genre as there is violins and men wearing suits which is what you would relate to this style of music.

Music genre images

I think this image represents the genre of dance

Music genre images

I think this image represents R n B

Music genre images

I think this image represents the genre Rock, as he has dark make up on and dark clothing, he also has excessive dark eye makeup on, and a snake round his neck which symbolizes he has no fear or boundaries.

Music Genre Images

These images both represent the genre Indie.

Evaluation

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 
• How does your media product represent particular social groups? 
• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• Who would be the audience for your magazine and why? 
• How did you attract/address your audience? 
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? 

Brief of main task

The front page, contents page and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.