Target Audience

The ideal target audience that I am aiming my Music Magazine at will be young males that range between the ages of 16-22. I have picked this target because I feel that at this age most young males are interested in music and current affairs to do with the music industry, artists, albums and other components inside a magazine. Even though my magazine is male based, this does not mean to say that my magazine won't incorporate will include articles that females won't enjoy reading just as much as I would like my magazine to purvey for both genders, and not be too male based, even though young males are my ideal target audience.

I think that articles about artists, reviews and maybe fashion will play a big part in the production of my magazine as I think this is the most interesting thing to include as I myself find these types of things very interesting to look at. I think the ideal figure to buy my magazine would be someone like myself who enjoys listening to Hip Hop and Rap, and not only takes a huge interest in what is going on in the music industry but having a look at what artists are wearing which is where fashion comes into play. 

School Mag Analysis

As part of the prelim task we had to analyse a school newsletter in order to show our understanding of the different components that make up a magazine front cover etc. Below is my example of an analysis in which I analysed a Deyes High Newsletter, it includes my thoughts on what i think is done well and some of what may not be so good about the Newsletter.

Mood Board

Moral Panic

Moral Panic. 'A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges as a threat to societal values and interests: its nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media: The moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnosis and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to.'

Features of Moral Panic

Concern - Behaviour of a particular group represented as having threat.

Votality -  Short-lived. Panics erupt dramatically but are difficult to sustain. Results in negative consequences for the rest of us.

Hositility - 'Folk Devils' constructed to create a clear division between 'them' and 'us'.

Consequences - Widespread acceptance of the threat posed by this group. Not necessarily reflecting national concern, but the campaigner will be very vocal whilst the opposition will be weak and disorganised.

Disproportionality - Wild exaggeration of evidence. Not only the number of people involved but also the scale of the problem.

Prelim Task: Completed

This is my finished PRELIM task. The task we got set was to produce a finished college magazine front cover and contents page using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. The photos that I used are original photos taken by myself, and because they were taken on a fairly cloudy and musky day, I have used Photoshop to touch up the photos and make them look more appealing to an audience. I aimed to create a magazine that will appeal more toward the parent of students by keeping text very clean and sharp on the cover. Although it is primarily aimed at parents this does not mean to say that students cannot enjoy reading the Newsletter. The masthead is nice and simple, clearly stating the name of the school and pointing out the fact that this is a newsletter, and I have used a small cover story to invite readers in and want to find out more on that topic.

By completing this prelim task I feel that I am now able to go on with my Music Magazine task and have gained the skills and knowledge that I now need to produce a front cover, contents page and double page spread to a very professional looking standard.

Media/Music Mag Terminology

• Masthead - The name and logo of the magazine.
• The Lead - The introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold/capitals.
• Body Copy - Is the text of your written articles. use correct features in body copy e.g. font, font size. Usually written in columns. 
• Serif Font - Fonts like: Times New Roman, or Courier which have little bars (serifs) on the end of letters.
• Sans Serif Font - Fonts like Arial which do not have Serifs on the end of letters.
• Drop Capitals - A really big letter which usually starts off the Article.
• Cross Head - Small sub-heading used to split up large blocks of text.
• White Space - White parts of the page other than text or pictures.
• Mode of Address - How the magazine talks to the audience.
• Sell Lines - Text on the cover that helps sell the magazine to the audience.
• Banners - Text which usually stands out because it is on a coloured background.
• House Style - Magazines distinctive design that separates it from competitors.
• Borders - The gaps at the edges of a page.
• Gutters - The gaps between columns of text.
• Leading - The space between lines of text.
• Kerning - The space between letters.
• Strap Lines - A smaller headline, printed above the main headline.
• By-Lines - Name of the person who wrote the article.
• Picture Credits - Who took the picture, where did it come from.
• Anchorage - The way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and visa versa.

Music Magazine Questionnaire

This is my Music Mag Questionnaire. Please take the time to fill out the questionnaire as the results that i collect and gather will influence my decisions when creating my music magazine.

Ideology

An ideology is a world view, a system of values, attitudes and beliefs which an individual, group or society holds to be true or important; these are shared by a culture or society about how that society should function.

Feminism

Throughout history, women have fought for equality and rights from their male counterparts and through years and yeas of trying they eventually managed to get the right to vote in the 19th/20th century. As women eventually got the vote and were being more recognised for their impotence in society, the debate of feminism widened to a range of issues: sexuality, family and the workplace. Feminism is still and issue in society as we hear of stories of women being victimised at work or turned into sexual objects by the media.

LAURA MULVEY

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist and worked at the British Film Institue for any years. She states that Hollywood cinema puts the spectator in a masculine subject position, with the figure on screen as the object of desire and the 'male gaze'.

Semiotics

What is Semiotics? Semiotics is the study of codes or language and this can include either the written or spoken word. There are a range of codes which we have learned to read over time and this can help us understand what things mean when people do it. For example, we all know that when a person shakes their head that they mean no, or could be showing disappointment. These are just two simple readings of what we can pick up from what a character is doing. Another example is semiotics could be used in films and magazines, if you were to see a very clean, polished looking man driving a very fancy sports car or a luxury car next to a man driving very old banger, you would soon realize that the man driving the luxury car is perhaps wealthier than the man driving the old car. Some things that us as a media audience would look for as semiotics would be: Colour, camera shots, clothing, editing, text and mise-en-scene.
The word 'Semiotics' was invented by the linguist and philosopher Saussure. He was a Swiss linguist and semiotician whose ideas founded many significant developments in linguistics and semiotics in modern society.