standard conventions

Standard convetions of an indie magazine

 

 

This magazine follows the standard conventions : masthead, cover lines, main image, main cover line, cover lines, bar code. This is what almost all magazines follow when making their magazines, and you can witness is it when you look at all front covers. This makes is clear for the audience what the magazine is called, what's inside of it and what genre it is.

 However, a producer names David Carson had a magazine series called Ray Gun which went against the standard magazine coventions completley. As there is no way of identifying a house style because the conventions change each time. Ray gun was an American, alternative rock magazine and was first published in 1992 in Santa Monica, California

 

 As you can see from looking at the front covers, theyre beyond unsual and unique. if you wasnt a loyal customer, and was new to the magazine you wouldnt know that it was music related unless you examined it closley. The bar code is placed randomly in the middle and inbetween the text, where as it would usually be placed in the bottom right corner. Also, on the bottom half of the magazine, all the artists are listed in long line with no spaces between the words, making it unclear who the magazine is about as you have to look closley to make it out.

 
 This magazine has the image upside down, which is a rare occurance and confuses the audience and the text is also plotted randomly across the page going against the standard conventions.

fit's clear that David Carson was very artistic and creative and put a lot of thought and time in to his front covers. However this wouldnt be appreciated by everyone, and they may be confused, therefore he has a querky, indie audience that match his magazine.

 

mood board

Mood board of indie magazine

NME magazine analysis

NME magazine analysis

Semiotics and Representation

 

‘Semiotics’ is a study of signs and how we read them. Every feature of representation has some significance, the consist of several signs with meanings. The Signified is a mental concept, the actual thing itself.
In photography and art, signs are generally iconic. This means that they look like the thing they represent and are therefore more universally understood.  Therefore, the images on the front cover of a magazine maintain a look, which consequently reveals what genre of music the magazine is about.

 

In this image, Rhianna has a lot of skin on show by wearing revealing clothing, similar to underwear and is also pulling a seductive face and pose. Consequntly, this suggest that there may be more expicit images inside the magazine, and that the music is for 16+ as it may have inapropriate langauage in it, similar to what image Rhianna is giving off. This image therefore represents an rnb magazine, as it has all the features that represent a sterotypical rnb song.

Effect models for magazine

Effect models for magazine

The hypodermic needle theory

This is also known as the ‘direct effects’ approach. This is when the intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the reciever. This is an outdated view of media effects. Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media.

It is a basic model and suggests that audiences submissively receive the information transmitted via a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or read it.

Therefore, based upon what my magazine will look like, the audience will know what its about due to the direct, obvious images, colours and font.

Two- step flow

This is when the people with most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content of others. This is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model. Notice how ‘cool’ people will be the opinion leaders and the ‘uncool’ people the opinion followers.

An example of the two step flow would be someone seeing another individual reading a music magazine, and this leads to them wanting to read it themselves. This may be because they don’t want to seem 'uncool' by others who read the magazine. Once one person starts reading a magazine, others may 'follow the leader' which is a positive multiplier effect for the magazine company as they get more sales.

The 'Obstinate Audience Theory'

This is about the audience actively selecting what messages they want to receive and comprehend from the media. The media often responds to its audiences by seeing what they like and what they want, however this is often just what the media think we would want to see and hear, therefore not always correct.

The Drip Drip Drip Effect /Cultivation Differential

This theory is the most mainstream and recognized media effect. It believes that the mass media does affect our attitudes through repetition of messages received by audiences. This applies to music magazines. An example would be when they advertise a new band in their magazine a lot, and write about them each week, this affects the readers as they will gradually begin to like them as they learn new things about them and as they’re being advertised frequently the audience will then assume that they’re good, and the next big thing.

Uses and gratifications

This is used in music magazines and it lets the audience know new things about the bands they listen to. An example of this would be someone telling another person a fact about a particular band and feeling good about knowing it because the other person doesn't. This effect can also be recognised as the ‘dominant model’.

 

 Reception Theory

This is the meaning of a 'text' with in the text itself. This theory relies on the readers cultural ability and media knowledge and the audiences overall opinion of the media. For and indie magazine, they have a wide audience of mixed ability, as the grammar wouldn’t be too complex as there would be use of slang words throughout texts.

Formula Format Frame and Function (The four FS)
Format - This format includes the basic size and shape of the magazine plus typographic constants and physical features that remain from the same from issue to issue

Formula - This is the combination of different elements which make your magazine - editorial content, photographic style; length and type of articles featured etc. This should be consistent.

Frame - This is the standard for outer page margins and gutters

Function - Objectives of the magazine - what does it want to project, achieve? Target audience etc.

These are significant features that all magazines follow.

 

analysis of magazines

Top of the pops magazine: 

. Give a brief history of the magazine?

Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly publication published by BBC Magazines. It features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizzes, song lyrics and posters. It is a supplementary magazine for the TV show Top of the Pops until the latter was cancelled in 2006.

The magazine was launched in February 1995 and is famous for giving girl group The Spice Girls their nicknames. Alongside a revamp of the TV show, it was originally marketed as the missing link between Smash Hits and NME, but its format was gradually changed, with less music content and a demographic shift to young girls. It is still in publication despite the cancellation of the TV show.

The title has had several editors over the years, including Peter Lorraine, Corinna Schaffer and Rosalie Snaith, and contributing editors including Adam Tanswell. Its current editor is Peter Hart.

. What is the typical content?

The magazine is mainly focused on pop music. Published after the TV show. The main content of this magazine includes "celebrity" gossip, cringes, fashion and beauty advice, articles on pop and movie stars, quizzes, horoscopes, posters and song lyrics. The brand identity of this magazine is a happy, cheery, pop music, commercialized, innocent pre-teen magazine. It conforms to dominant ideology and is aimed at a younger market interested in celebrities and &quote; teen stars" It is published every month It was originally marketed as the missing link between Smash Hits and NME , but its format was gradually changed, with less music content and a demographic shift to young girls.

. Who is the typical reader?

You girls from age 11-15

. What is your chosen magazine house style?

The house style is blue, pink and black- which together connote winter and create an icy feel to the cover. This relates the winter edition of the magazine as it’s a November to December issue. By using a lot of pink on the cover, immediately suggest the target audience is young, girls. The fonts used throughout the page are bubbly and has a lot of flicks in them, suggesting the target audience is for a females. Main image- The main image is of a pop boy band, One Direction which suggests the magazine is aimed at a pop music genre. Also the frequent use of images suggests it’s for young girls, as they’d rather look at images instead of reading.

. Who produces and distributes your magazine?

BBC produces and distributes the magazine

. How are your social groups represented in your magazine?

There has recently been controversy around top of the pops magazine along other big publications sexualising young girls; however I personally don’t see much of this in the magazine. I think that the magazine is a sort of ‘shine’ to celebrities as the young girls who read it look up to these types of people, so if often represents celebrities in a good light.

 

Indie magazine analysis, e.g. ‘nme’

 

A magazine based on independent music differs massively from a mainstream, commercial pop magazine. Here are a few comparisons of what the bands will look like on the covers.

Indie music magazine	Commercial pop magazine
-casual, black, tight clothing. -scruffy hair -going against the norm, e.g. smoking, drinking or swearing on the cover -black and dull coloured clothes -natural and reprehensive of a teenage life	.artist will usually be wearing, expensive, designer clothing .immaculate hair .smiley, happy poses .bright clothing

 

 

The New Musical Express, popularly known by NME, created by Theodore Smythson, is a music journalism publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952 and is based on alternative rock and indie music. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 199. Mike Williams was named as NME editor on 31 May 2012, taking over from Krissi Murison on 25 June 2012.

“NME” Music Magazine has a target audience for NME is mainly teenagers, both male and female, we know this because there are always male and female musicians on the front cover. The main readers of this magazine will be the teenagers because it largely focuses on today’s music and their lifestyle, as photos such as them drinking and smoking is usually visable on the front cove. However, NME won’t appeal to all teenagers, only the ones that like music, which is underground and independent, so it therefore doesn’t have the largest audience as this genre doesn’t appeal to everyone, hence it being individual.. NME has a simple colour scheme. It uses colours such as red, blacks and white, which are colours related to both genders.