Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Questionnaire

Questionnaire
This is a questionnaire about music magazines. It would be great if you could take some time to fill in this questionnaire about pop music.


1. Do you read music magazines?
Yes No


I asked this question because I wanted to find out if people read music magazines if they didn't read them then I would be able to see what magazine they would read if they bought music magazines.


2. How often do you read music magazines?
Daily
Weekly
Monthly

I asked this question because it is likely the most common answer will be the frequency of publication I use in my magazine.


3. How much would you pay for a music magazine?
£2.00
£2.50
£3.00
£3.50
Over £3.50

I asked this so I could find out the price that people would be willing to pay for a magazine. This will give me an idea of the price I will charge for my magazine.

4. Who is your favorite pop artist or band?

I asked this question because the answers will tell me what pop artist or band I should include in my magazine.


5. On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is very important and 5 is irrelevant, how do you rate the following. Please circle your answer.
Pictures 1 2 3 4 5
Competitions 1 2 3 4 5
Posters 1 2 3 4 5
Free gifts 1 2 3 4 5
Quizzes 1 2 3 4 5
Charts 1 2 3 4 5
Exclusive interviews 1 2 3 4 5

I asked the above questions to see what people thought were important in a magazine. I will use the most important ones in my magazine because they are most important.


6. What is your favorite color?


I have asked this question because it will give me ideas of colors to use in the color scheme of the magazine, it is likely I will use the most common colors for my magazine.7. What is the first thing you look at in a magazine?

I asked this because it will give me an idea of what I should put on my magazine front cover, because the first thing the reader will look at is the magazine front page I'll put the thing they look at first there.


8. What do you like about music magazines?

I have asked this question to see what people like about magazines, it will give me ideas on what to put in my magazine.

9. What do you dislike about music magazines?

I have asked this because it will tell me what not to put in my magazine, if it is possible for me not to include it then it will make my magazine better.


10 How do you buy music?
Download
CDs
Make it yourself

I asked this question because it will tell me wether to include a CD as a free gift or if I should include download charts or CD charts.

11. What three words do you associate with pop music?
1
2
3

I have asked this question because it will give me ideas for the name of my magazine, common words related to pop will be used for the magazine.


Thank you for taking some of your time to fill out this questionnaire.

Friday, 15 October 2010

Codes and conventions of a magazine double page spread

There are many different rules that double page spreads follow and these are the codes and conventions. Every magazine has a simple color scheme which means the colors are kept to a minimum.


There is one large image that takes up a whole page and sometimes bleeds between pages which is when part of the image is on the other side of the page which links the two pages together. Sometimes the picture is across the whole double page spread with all text on the picture.


Quotes are sometimes used in the headline, on the picture or in the standfirst or to break up the text. The standfirst introduces the article and is pasitioned under the headline. It is sometimes across the width of the page and often includes the jornalists name. All double page spreads have a drop capital at the start of the article. This shows the reader where to start reading. It is also common for the first paragraph to be in bold, stightly bigger type size, capitals for the first few words.


The headline sometimes uses stylised font. It doesnt tell the reader anything about the article, it doesnt relate to it at all. This is used to draw the reader in without them reading the article. The standfirst tells the reader what the article is about. Headlines are usually songtitles or puns. The byline is were the persons name who wrote the article is written and photograph credit.


A double page spread is layed out in columns, usually 2 to 4. There is a strapline on the top which tells you the subject matter. Articles are written informally and the personality of the journalist comes through.


Example of a double page spread.
The image covers both pages and the text is written over the image.
Simple color scheme is used to create a modern look.
Drop capital to show the reader where to being reading.


Uniqe font for the headline.
Little color used.
Written in 3 columns.
Serif font - makes it easier to read.

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Intial plans for my magazine

Price: £2.90
Frequency of publication: monthly
Issue size: 156
Regular conent: monthly quizz page, competitions every month, free gift or special offer every month, readers comment/stories page    
Feature articles: exclusive interviews, exclusive posters

Using the results from the research I found I have made the following descisions for my music magazine. I decided the magazine i am going to create will be a pop music magazine and the target audience is teenagers from ages 13 to 18 this is because i found that the common age of people who bought pop magazines were young teenagers. I also found that people of the age 13 and above listen to pop music more than any other age group to I chose this as my target audience.

The price of my magazine will be £2.90 because that is an average price from the magazines that I researched. The magazine will be published monthly because all of the magazines I researched were published monthly.

The issue size will be roughly 156 every issue because I found from my research that was a common number of pages in magazine.

The regular content will be a monthly quizz page because I found from my research that most magazines have quizzes and especially pop music magazines. My magazine will contain competitions every month because this makes readers want to buy the magazine. It will have a free gift or special offer every month to draw readers in. This will be a major selling point of my magazine because it attracts the target audience. There will be a page where readers comments of the magazine will be layed out and contact information were they can send their comments in. Similary there will be a story page were readers also send in their own stories.

The feature articles will be exclusive interviews with pop stars because using exclusive and having exclusive interviews with stars makes people want to read it because there will be an article about their favorite star. There will be exclusive posters which will only appear in that magazine of various stars to attract the target audience.

Monday, 11 October 2010

Magazine research

Research

Q magazine

Price: £3.90
Frequency of publication: monthly
Issue size: 200
Regular content: interviews, letters
Feature articles: exclusives












Mojo Magazine

Price:   £4.50
Frequency of publication:  monthly
Issue size:  178
Regular content:  rants, ask Fred
Feature articles:  interviews












Top of the pops magazine

Price: £2.10
Frequency of publication: monthly
Issue size: 156
Regular content: real life, your letters, Don't miss, posters
Feature articles: quizzes, win