HISTORY OF MAGAZINES

History of magazines from sofiamazmanidou

WHAT ARE MAGAZINES?

Magazines are a form of publication which is in a printed form or electronically published (online magazines). Magazines are published on a regular schedule depending on their content they are providing their consumers with. They are financed by advertising, by a purchase price or prepaid subscriptions or all three. The word "magazine" refers to a collection or storage location, in the case of a written printed publication it is a collection of written articles. 

Different genre music magazines:

• POP
• Urban
• Rock
• R&B

Content and target audience:

Pop

Pop magazines have the convention of using bright colours. The colours mostly used within their house style is pinks and purples, this suggests that their target audience are mainly young teenage girls. The demographics of their target audience would be mostly in the category E as they are young students possibly unemployed. They are mainstreamers and aspirers who are seeking ways to better themselves through buying goods and following the lifestyles of celebrities. The main image on POP magazines is someone that is well known to everyone, in this case Cheryl Cole. This magazine caters to its audience through conventions used within it like posters, summer hauls and the latest gossip in the Pop world.

Urban

Urban music magazines do not follow any specific colour schemes, they constantly differentiate depending on the celebrity on the front cover. The colour schemes vary from dark to bright. The target audience for Urban music magazines is an older audience due to the language used within the magazine. It is informal due to the type of lyrics that is used within their music, however remains professional and is understood by the target audience which is familiar with the genre. The psychographic of this genre is aspirers who seek status, their target audience is orientated in their physical image. The demographics of this genre fall into the category D as they are semi skilled casual workers. This Urban magazine satisfies its target audience by giving them information on NFL and different tattoos as it is a conventional interest to them.

Rock

Rock magazines are often dark and mysterious. Their colour scheme is mostly black,grey, white and sometimes red. Their front covers often included more than one artist therefore a band and have a lot going on, including bold headlines. The target audience for a rock magazine is mostly mature aged males from the demographic category of E and D meaning that they are semi skilled casual workers. The psychographic of a Rock target audience are strugglers who seek escapism through their dark music.  Kerrang pleases their target audience by giving them free "downloaded posters" and everything that the consumers need to know about punk mega stars.

R&B

R&B magazines are both bright and dark depending on the colour scheme of that specific issue followed by the celebrity on the front cover. R&B magazines are usually aimed at a young audience due to the content that is offered through their music as well as the language that is used within their music as well as the magazine. The language used is also used and understood by the target audience. The psychographic of this genre is mainstreamers and aspirers who seek status and are looking for ways to imitate their image to the celebrities image. The category in which the audience fits into is mostly E and D as they are young and most likely unemployed or students. This specific issue of Vibe focuses on Chris Brown therefore fulfils the latest news on him to his fans and the world of R&B.

PRINT MEDIA

What is print media?

Print media is a form of advertising which uses actual printed media for example magazines,newspapers,leaflets, and posters. These are the types of print media that is used to reach consumers/customers. Advertisers may use other types of media such as digital such as advertising on social media, TV adverts, radio commercials. Due to digital media there has been a decline in print media.

Examples of print media:

Newspapers
Advertisers and companies can select a variety of different types of newspapers. These include local, regional or national and whether to be published daily, weekly, Sunday editions. Newspapers have different target audience depending on the content they provide the consumers with. Content ranges from entertainment papers to sport, fashion, politics. They can also provide different sizes of advertising space meaning that some may display more ads and photographs rather then text. 



Magazines
Magazines offer advertisers a significant choice of readership and frequency. Consumer magazines range their contents of interest, these include sport, fashion, health, current affairs and even local topics. Magazine publishing is typically weekly, monthly or quarterly due to the content that goes into it. 

Billboards and posters
Advertising on billboards or posters gives the advertisers the opportunity to connect consumers. Posters are put in places were there is a mass audience attending daily such as shopping malls, train stations, airports or busy town centers. Billboards and posters can be changed whenever advertisers want to.

HOUSE STYLE ANALYSIS

What is a house style?

House style refers to the specific use of layout of a magazine. This is ensured by following conventions in order to maintain consistency and a distinctive finish. Through a consistent house style, the audience becomes familiar and recognises the magazine brand. This is guaranteed through the masthead, font, image, logo, bar-code and so on.

The house style of Q magazine is evident,as their masthead is located in the left top corner. Although, this is an unconventional way of presenting the masthead, the audience is aware of the magazines brand. The "Q" is the largest font in the cover which immediately assures the audience what it is, also the serif font against the red background is bright therefore grasps the audience attention. The conventional way of presenting the masthead is usually at the top in the center. The house style of Q remains consistent through the colour scheme. It never changes as it remains red in all their issues. The image of the celebrity is always in the center, this is because that is what appeals to the audience first. Also, the camera shots are always close up or mid close ups, perhaps this is used to show the facial expressions of the celebrities to the audience and engaging them with the magazine before it is even bought.

PRE-PRODUCTION PAPERWORK

 Why is it important to use, include and create a pre-production paperwork?

Pre-production is the most important part of all the production stages. This is because it consists of research tasks, location scouting, risks assessments. This is time consuming as it is very important, however this is what makes the product successful in the end. It is important to include all these forms to avoid any ethical issues with anyone taking part. If any issues do arise then the creation of these forms could prevent them or have proof of.

What is a location recce form?

A location recce form refers to the pre-filming visit to a location which will be used for a shooting. Through this form it determines whether the location is suitable for the shooting by seeing if there is access to facilities and carrying out an assessments needed. A location recce form is important because it gets planned before hand to avoid any issues occurring on the day of the shoot. The form gets given to everyone who will be present on the day of the shoot.








What is a risk assessment?

A risk assessment is the process of evaluating whether there will be any potential risks that may arise during the activity. This form is then given to everyone who is part of the activity like a form of consent, this is done to let them know that there is a likelihood of something happening.

What is a Mise En Scene/ Prop List?

This my prop list, which is a breakdown plan of everything that I will follow and complete when shooting with my artists. I have included the use of cinematography, hair and make up, setting, lighting, body language,facial expressions and iconography. This will be useful as it shows that I am organised, therefore I will have a successful shoot.

CONCLUSION:

This planning will help me during the production progress a lot. It will save me time, as I will reflect back on my notes from the prop list. If any issues arise unfortunately, I could look back on my risk assessment.

HAND - DRAWN DESIGN OF MAGAZINE

My front cover has a conventional layout. The masthead is located at the top and it is the largest font size on the page. The reason for this is because the audience will immediately look at the brand and recognise the magazine. The strap line will be positioned under the main image, also in large font to give the audience an idea of what the main feature will be about therefore it will appeal to them making them want to buy it. 

The contents page will be in two columns in which I will have an image of an artist in each one. This will appeal to my audience as they wouldn't just have texts to read. The use of two images is due to the fact that my magazine is aimed at both females and males, therefore by using an image of a female and male, I am able to guarantee an appeal to both audiences. The content that will be presented to the audience is conventional to my genre of Hip Hop as the features link to the genre.

Finally, my double page has been influenced by Rolling Stone. An image will be situated on the right page which will be related to the interview on the right. The interview will conventionally be split by the gutter- into three columns. This is done purposely to make the text easier to read. The title of the article will be the largest font on the page followed by the subheading as the audience will be able to get persuaded and continue reading it. I will make sure to add a pull quote somewhere to 'pull' the audience into the interview. 

MAGAZINE PARENT COMPANIES

What is a parent company?

A parent company is a larger company that has substantial ownership over a smaller company. These smaller companies are controlled by the parent company however, all parent companies, for the most part, own more than 50% of a subsidiary's voting stock. The importance of a parent company is that they have experience with working with different music genres therefore would be able to address your target audience successively. Also, through parent companies there is greater promotion rate and success.

IPC Media is in charge of the biggest magazines such as Marie Claire, NME, and Golf. These magazines are all categories of different genres and sub-genres which tells me that IPC Media are a successful company. They are able to distribute promotion and continue the reputation they hold by the success of other smaller companies/magazines. Also, through the stability of subsidiary companies they are able to invest and help these companies as well as maintain their success and the high content they produce for their target audience.

 

Time Inc is an American mass media company which owns and publishes over 100 magazines. Magazines which they publish are Travel Leisure, Food&Wine, Time and many more. Although, Time is their most successful magazine their success is still evident. Time Inc has multiples of global offices around the world working in synergy with each other. This means that they are able to distribute their products to a mainstream audience and have a greater promotion.

Bauer Media is another excellent parent company as they have headquarters in Germany and Hamburg. They publish some of the most popular magazines such as Kerrang, Q and Mojo. Through their excellent distribution they have achieved success for best-selling British music newspaper in the early 2000s for Kerrang. Their success still continues today. 

The parent company which I would like my magazine to be part of is IPC Media.  I know they work with music magazines and in particular with the same genre as mine, therefore I am guaranteed to do well. Also, as they have similar magazines to mine,so my own product wouldn't be a threat to any other magazines, and vice versa as it would work as a sister company.