Music Magazine main article plan

Music Magazine contents plan

Magazine Layout Plan

Font choice experiments

1. Too neat and futuristic.
2. Too plain and thin.
3. The visual effect this text has would be suitable, but it might make it hard to read
4. Good. Bold and easily recognisable, but still suits my theme.
5. Very cool visual effect; perfectly matches my theme whilst still being reasonably easy to read.
6. Similiar to 3, but is probably easier to read.
7. Easy to read, but not heavy enough to be noticeable.
8. Stands out well, but is not easy to read.
9. Too similiar to Kerrang magazine too avoid lawsuit.
10. Good, matches theme well, but the font may be dificult to read.

Final choices for magazine: 5, 6 and 10.

Analysis of Target Audience

For my magazine, I intend to aim for a relatively mass-market, non niche audience. Because the genre my magazine focuses on is dance/rave style music normally played at parties, my audience will be mostly outgoing, sociable people. They should range from students up to middle age, but will mostly be male. They will likely have a relatively unsophisticated diet, and are not above eating fast food. They do like their alcohol though, beers and lagers particularly. In terms of media consumption their tastes are equally lowbrow, preferring mindless action and disaster movies. They watch lots of TV, generally avoiding documentaries in favour of reality TV shows. In general, my audience is often bored by intellectual media, and so the mindless beats of dance/rave is a good choice for a magazine for them.

Music Magazine institutional data

This is the data for NME magazine; the circulation statistics, and audience profile. This shows how the magazine wants to fit into the market.

Key Facts
Price £2.20
Frequency Weekly
Circulation 56,284
Readership 411,000
Launch Date 1952
Male/Female 73%/27%
Average Age 25
ABC1 73%
Target Market Men 17-30
NME Readers are entertainment enthusiasts!
• 80% of NME readers feel that music is an important part of their lives
• 79% of NME readers like to listen to new bands
• 63% specially choose to listen to indie/guitar bands
• 49% specially choose to listen to live bands in studio
• 52% are interested in taking a musical course/qualification
• 36% are thinking of buying a musical instrument in the next year
NME readers are techno savvy
• 72% have a broadband Internet connection at home
• 67% have bought something online in the last 12 months
• 59% agree they like to keep up with the latest technologies
• 93% own a computer
• 96% have access to the internet
• 56% visit NME.com every day/every few days
More about the reader
• 34% are working full time, 18% are working part time and 26% are full time students
• 62% read at least 3 out of 4 issues
• Almost half (49%) have been reading NME for at least
3 years
• 84% think the magazine gives them what they want spending an average of 46 minutes reading each issue
NME readers love festivals/concerts
• 77% of NME readers have been to at least one pop/rock concert in 2007
• 80% of NME readers feel that music is an important part of their lives
• 79% of NME readers like to listen to new bands
The flourishing music scene
• 67% will be attending a festival this year
• Average expenditure on-site: £ 402
• Average expenditure off-site: £ 368
• Live music market estimated at £743 million in 2007 (up 8% y-o-y)
NME readers love the atmosphere of live events
• Over half of adults agree that you ‘can’t beat the atmosphere of a live performance’ and 41% believe a live performance is more exciting and entertaining than watching it on TV
• 70% of gig-goers went for the atmosphere as much as the music
• 55% of gig-goers went after buying recorded music of the artist
• 54% of gig-goers went because of the location
• 53% of gig-goers went because they had a positive past experience

This data shows that the NME is interested in appealing to serious music fans, the sort that go to gigs and fuss over their stereo systems and iPods. The interest in gigs, which are always happening, gives NME a steady market. The readers are also techno-savvy, which shows that NME is keeping up with the wave of new technologies and is interested in its readers doing the same. Because the music that NME focuses on is mainstream music, it will always have a steady audience, while the occasional article for and indie band will draw that band’s fan to the magazine.

Music magazine article analysis

Graphical Analysis

• Large picture showing the subject of the article is at the top of the page.This acts as a scene-setter and helps the reader visualise the text, thereby making it easier to read through.
• Another large picture at the bottom serves to lighten up the barren area of the page. The black border it is placed against also serves this purpose.
• Sidebar is coloured a light grey to help it stand out from the rest of the page. The images spaced along it entice the reader into reading it.

Textual Analysis

• The heading of the main text is larger than the rest of it, which allows readers to know what its about before they actually read it. It lures them in with an intriguing statement.
• Main text is organised into columns for neatness.
• Indented text is white on black, to make it stand out.

Mood Board

Media Journalism

Review of Fallout: New Vegas for the Daily Mail
Fallout: New Vegas is the sequel to the highly popular Fallout 3. A cross between a First-Person Shooter and an RPG, the main draw of the game is the setting; A Watchman-esque alternate universe set in the fifties. Here, technology developed at a faster rate, leading to laser guns, nuclear cars and other crazy creations of science. However, this new technology caused the Cold war to escalate, leading to a nuclear holocaust. It’s a captivating setting; at once detached from reality and yet disturbingly similar. You are thrust into this world, playing as a courier almost shot dead by a mysterious stranger and looking for revenge.
The storyline and writing is New Vegas’ biggest strength. The main storyline is incredibly complex, with many different ways to play through it, and the side missions are equally detailed. Even when compared to other RPGs, the sheer number of permutations in the story structure is staggering. You can play through New Vegas at least five times, and the game can still be different. This contrasts sharply with Fallout 3’s irksomely linear quest line.
Unfortunately, while the writing has improved from Fallout 3, the graphics and gameplay have not. New Vegas reuses so much from its predecessor that it may as well be a glorified expansion pack. Although there are a few new monsters and lots more guns, the game hasn’t moved anywhere in terms of visuals and the faces in particular still have the look of the uncanny valley about them. The combat hasn’t evolved any either; despite a slew of new weapons and controllable companions, the strategy in this game still amounts to blasting apart the enemies before they can do the same to you; those looking for CoD-style gunfights will be severely disappointed. Even so, combat remains fun, if mindless, due to the great variety of weapons you can unleash on your opponents. It’s perhaps apt that a game so clever out of combat should be so dumb when the fighting starts.
Fallout: New Vegas comes definitely recommended if you enjoyed Fallout 3, and if you’re a fan of the series as a whole in particular. The writing is much improved, and the setting remains captivating even with sub-par graphics. If you’re new to the series, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s an FPS. Behind the first person perspective lies a complex game, better suited to exploring than fighting.
[7]

Review of Fallout: New Vegas for The Sun
Fallout 3 made quite a splash last year, with its mutant-blasting RPG/shooter action in the ruins of Washington DC being an eye-catcher for those of us who were tired of other brainless FPSes. It wasn’t an easy game to play, mind. Combat as a whole was too simple and the graphics just weren’t up to scratch at times. But along comes New Vegas, hoping to solve those issues. Unfortunately, it fails to solve or even improve the graphics issue; in fact the game has pretty much THE SAME graphics as Fallout 3. For shame, developers! At least make some effort to make the game LOOK DIFFERENT, if not improve it. But no. Never mind, hopefully the time spent NOT improving graphics went into controls and combat? Once again, I’m disappointed. There are lots of new guns, true, but this doesn’t mask the fact that combat is still the same as Fallout 3’s. Enemies are still borderline retarded, charging blindly at you. Healing is still a matter of jamming syringes into your arm. There’s no EVOLUTION, is what I’m getting here. The missions are boring, most involve too much talking and not enough action, and even when there is combat, the enemies are either a walkover or overpowered. The game gets really frustrating at times. I’m sure a more patient man could get more out of this game; apparently the writing has improved, but if this simply leads to all the effort being spent on dialogue screens, count me out. For me, this game leaves a nasty taste in my mouth; I feel like I invested a good deal of money in a glorified expansion pack, and not a good one at that.
[3]

Music Magazine contents page analysis 2

Graphical Analysis

• Simple colour scheme of black, red and white. Similiar to previous magazine, the red helps to pick out important features and otherwise brightens up the page.
• Large centre picture with captions draws attention to the magazine's main article.
• Reviews section has a grey shading to set it apart from the rest of the page.
• Page is very neatly organised; unnescesary decorations are trimmed back to make room for the contents.
• The Oasis special has its own colour for the headings. This colour is a light gold, which highlights the section and shows that it's special without standing out too much.

Textual Analysis

• Easy to read, bolded font, as in the previous magazine.
• Text is neatly sorted on the left side of the page.

Music Magazine contents page analysis

Graphical Analysis

• Simple colour scheme of yellow, black and white keeps the page uncluttered and easy to read.
• The most noticeable colour, yellow, is used for the title, the page numbers and the article headers. This makes is easier to pick out an article to read.
• The more important the picture, the larger amount of space it gets on the page. This identifies the magazine's important feature article.
• The pictures have shading around their edges to make them stand out.
• The images are arranged on the page in numerical order.

Textual Analysis

• The text is bolded so as to be easily readable.
• Editorial section is short and out of the way, so it doesn't get in the way of finding articles.
• Text and pictures are separated.
• The pictures have captions so people can find what the corresponding article is about and where to find it.
• Contents are in an easily readable list.
  

Music magazine cover analysis 2

Graphical Analysis

• Refined colour scheme of red, white and black suggests a sensible, refined magazine. The red is also remeniscent of red carpets of the sort found at concert theatre, which reinforces the Classical Music theme. The quiet white background suggests a less brash genre of music than brightly coloured magazines.
• The white background allows the elegantly fonted text to be read easier, while it might be overlooked if the background was coloured.
• The cover is crowded with images and text, perhaps showing off its sophisticated nature.
• The lady in the main image is wearing an pink outfit which complements the red colour scheme.
• The other people on the front cover slide nicely into place; they don't invade and clutter up the space of the rest of the cover.
• A red box in the top left corner outlines the important free offer.
• The lady in the main images is slightly in front of the magazine title. This helps her to stand out. Kerrang did the same with Morrissey.

Textual Analysis

• Elegant font suggests the magazine's sophisticated qualities.
• Differently fonted red "f" helps people remember the brand. Having both letters of "fm" this way may have looked too flashy, but having just one negates this effect.
• Name of the main feature is right below the magazine title in massive red letters.
• Non-hyperbolic text reinforces the magazine's sophisticated air.
• Free items and the mgazine's proud boast as the UK's favourite are right at the top of the cover.

Music Magazine cover analysis 1

Graphical Analysis

• Magazine title uses a different font style, unique colouring and a contrasting black and white border to make it easier for fans to identify it.
• Use of two main colours for the rest of the text; white and yellow, both warm, positive colours.
• Main image is not brightly coloured, allowing the text to stand out.
• The text frames Morrissey's face, making him easier to identify.
• Promotion for free posters is present at the top of the cover and easily noticeable.
• Free posters are shown in the top right corner so potential buyers know what they're getting, but don't clutter up the cover.
• Bold fonts stand out well.
• Morrissey's head is slightly in front of the magazine title, which draws attention to him.

Textual Analysis

• Important words are coloured yellow eg "Kaisers", "The Mozfather". This helps draw attention to the magazine's features.
• Text is brief and to the point, allowing a casual reader to easily identify the features of the magazine.
• Information about the free promotion is located close to the title, so people will notice it quickly.
• Band names get the largest amount of room on the cover.
• Test showing how large the promotional items are is also present and easily noticeable.