House Style research

Kerrang




The cover pages of Kerrang show the mast head is nearly always behind the celebrity. This shows it's a very popular magazine and the label can be hidden but still recognised. The cover also shows that whoever is featured on the cover has the biggest double spread feature. They have the biggest coverline on the front page as well.




The contents has one main image that takes up half the page. It also has black blocks with either white or yellow writing for headers and sub titles. Linked to this the contents page always has a black block in the top left hand corner with yellow writing saying 'contents'. The left side of the page also has a photo of one of the editors with a little message from them to the readers. I haven't seen many magazines have editors connect with the readership which I think is nice. Half way down the page there is always a black rectangle across the whole page. In this black block there is a white 'KERRANG!' followed by a yellow 'THIS WEEK'.



The actual pages of the articles, the pages are styled to suit the featured celebrities. However they maintain the black blocky theme. For the pages though the inner writing is in red. Writing is never placed on the image on the pages. Most pages have a black box in the top. They signal what kind of article it is. News, tour dates, specials and other categories said in the contents page. The feel is edgy and more youth with the constant blocky, sharp presentation.

The language used throughout the magazine is very friendly and direct. Almost as if you were talking to a friend. They use funny captions for photos as if they were mocking whoever was in the pictures. It's a very complimentary style of writing which is good for the artists and readers. There isn't really any negativity in this magazine and it focuses solely on music and people who create it.


Q

On the front cover of Q the logo/masthead is always on the top left hand corner. It's a very distinct logo which people will always recognise so it doesn't matter if the features image is in front or behind because people will still know it. Every issue is slightly different but they keep the same scheme running throughout the issue. The colour red is very prominent, not only on the cover but throughout all the pages. On most issues there is a bottom bar on the cover with just lists some more artists who will be featured in this magazine. There is few coverlines which makes the front cover look eloquent and tidy which is what you would think of if someone were to talk about Q magazine. The main image will not have any writing on unless it's the name of said artist. They try to avoid putting more on the image.

The contents page is column like. It has a vertical list of contents which is easy to read and in a more fancy typography. There are red blocks with white writing inside which is the magazines iconic thing about them. Red and white are still present in the contents page. They are the colours of the magazine so people know it's a Q article if there is a red and white writing colour scheme. They have a few photos but not an excessive amount. Sometimes they create a 3D effect where the people in an image come out of the frame slightly. However that isn't in the example shown to the right.

The articles keep to a black, white and red scheme. It's a simple looking magazine but as they say 'less is more'. They only have one image on the articles The images are often close ups but sometimes mid shots. This allows the readership to actually see the artists. Q's old style was to have a black and white image on the left page and have the writing on the right hand page with a big red letter behind it. This is their unified house style however they have branched off into more modern layouts.

The language Q use is more factual. They do not bother with a chatty style of writing as that is not the type of people they are aiming at. The style of writing is a lot less 'banterous' and more formal. The articles are more like reports and hard facts rather than silly little reviews and funny interviews. They take themselves more seriously which isn't a good or bad thing, just a different style.

Market Research

I carried out a survey and got 8 males and 6 females to answer. The age ranged from 16 to 17 which isn't that varied for a teen music magazine however here is what I found:


This is the final survey that I combined. I gave out separate papers to each individual to do then tallied them on a final extra one.












                                                                         My final analysis

Do you read music magazines?

My results showed that most people do not read magazines. This could be because magazines do not have the features that are attractive to the target audience. For my magazine I will combine the features that my target audience have asked for during my survey. I found 3/14 read both and 3/14 read online creating a total of 6 people reading online magazines. This means that having an online version of my magazine will be attractive to the audience. Then finally 2/14 people read print magazines which brings a total of 5 people reading print magazines. This is under half. With this information I can manipulate my survey results and create a print magazine that people will want to buy and read.


What existing music magazines do you read?

Not many of my participates read print magazines however the ones that did often read more than 1. The majority (well 2 people) read Metal Hammer. I looked up this magazine and it looked like a very hardcore rock magazine. There was a lot happening on the front covers which contradicts the results for the question; 'What sort of cover layout would appeal to you?' in which 13 out of my 14 people chose simple and tidy. Out of my 14 people, 2 girls commented their thoughts and 5 boys. Facebook links and Q were both suggestions from the girls. Q is quite a feminine looking magazine however I could take some features from it and incorporate them into my own whilst still appealing to males. The other four suggestions were from 16 year males. From this I know that my audience has many aspect of different magazines that appeals to them. Now I need to pick the most attractive bits and gather them into a new product whist still staying on target for my audience.


Why do you think people read music magazines?

For this question the results showed the majority thought people read music magazines to find out about events. Most also thought that people used music magazines to read about new artists. To me, this means my audience think the purpose of music magazines is directly about music. New artists, new tours and new dates. I will compare this to what my audience want so we can see why my audience don't buy print magazines.




How often do you buy music magazines?

This chart shows that half hardly but magazines if any at all. This could be a bit of a struggle when it comes to getting a print magazine to attract the sector of audience who don't actually buy print copies. On the other end of the spectrum, only 1 of my 14 buy music magazines every week. The rise of internet has decreased sale of print magazines drastically so I need to make sure I use the right visual features on my cover to attract them. Then two people are monthly buyers and 4 maybe once a year. I feel like this has something to do with price. Why would people buy information they can get for free on the internet? From this question it tells me I need to have exciting and exclusive information that no other magazines or online articles will have.


What do you want to read in a music magazine?

Leading on from what people think others read music magazines for, the important question of what they want to read it vital. My results showed that up and coming events are a very popular choice of readable material. Gossip placed second. I can combine these two things within an interview piece. Therefore I can have an artist talk about their tour and all the things that have happened surrounding it. This will appeal to my readership as it is what the majority wanted from a double page spread in a music magazine. I had one person suggest puzzles and competition however nobody else seemed that interested.  I feel that puzzles are quite childish in a teenagers music magazine. However competitions could work. I have come up with an idea of a very cheap music magazine however having a huge competition that people have to pay to enter, which they will if they are things such as tour tickets and signed merch. This is just a rough idea so it is not definite. However for my double page spread I will focus mainly on up and coming music events.


What genre of music would you like featured?

This is a very intricate pie chart full of all the suggested genres. I had a total of 15 different genres suggested. Pop, metal and alternative were most popular with three votes each. However I had 12 other genres suggested. I will have to stick with the most voted for as people still listen to them. I could possibly have an article about an event featuring many different genres. Rap and Rock came into second places with 2 votes each. The rest only had one vote each so I can rule those out of the running. I will focus mainly on pop, alternative and rock as I feel they can all lock in pretty well with each other. Not only would they link nicely the would attract a wider audience for more than one genre is being featured in the music magazine.


What colour scheme attracts you?

Bright colours won this by a landslide. I can mainly have bright colours with maybe laces of dark or pastel. I can work on colour schemes that will attract my audience. I was thinking of having two bright colours and a dark colour to complement each other. Pastel colours however do not ave a place in my magazine. Red seems to be a prominent colour in successful music magazines. Navy blue, red and turquoise is one of my colour scheme ideas but I will think of more so I can test them out and ask some people in my target audience for their opinions.

How has the internet changed music press?

Ways of listening to music:

Before the internet people would be very dependent on Vinyls which progressed to tapes, with even further progression to CD's. To get music, listeners would have to go out to the shops and buy physical hard copies that were tangible. Then the internet became a big thing and people could download music onto their PC's. At the beginning it took a painfully long time and you were lucky if it was good quality. However the internet then progressed, downloading music is easier than ever! With apps such as deezer and the much loved Spotify the money no longer goes directly towards the artists, but through plenty of other companies and people before the artist gets money for their songs.


Sharing Music

Before the internet, all music news came from magazines, rumors and word of mouth. It was difficult to get straight up information without having to look tirelessly through magazines and asking many people. However the internet has introduced many platforms. An example is YouTube. Music is publicly shared on this site which also means it can be promoted on the site as well. Online streaming is a big issue for the artists now as well. It is much easier to access their music for free online which means less people are going out and buying hard copies. There is also the option of burning old CD's onto laptops and computers which you can access on your phone. As for the purpose of music magazines, you can get all that information much faster by looking it up on the wide web. This is also, usually, free information. So if you had the option of quick, free and easy over having to spend money and leave your house for one piece of information why wouldn't you choose internet?


From Print to Digital

The rise of the internet and free e-magazines has resulted in the downfall of print magazines. Some celebrity brands have dropped print readers by an example of 29.7%. The web introduced easy features that are easier and quicker to follow and pick out information than print magazines are. This has encouraged music magazine brands to create their own websites. Most sites have an archive of old issues so readers can go back and read out dated articles. This benefits the reader AND the magazine. They will still get their money from online advertisements featured on their website. However you will still get readers who appreciate the authenticity of a tangible object, however as the modern world rapidly develops new technology, so will the way music is produced. It is much easier to push an album over the internet. Adverts can pop up anywhere on any website, especially music websites. Also google tracks what things you look at so it can tailor the adverts to your need, if you're looking at, for example, Rihanna merchandise, the adverts and suggested searches will focus on her and any news to do with her. Video adverts will pop up before YouTube videos which is where a lot of people go as YouTube is a very big deal at the moment.

Overall I think that the internet has changed music press, but for the better. It is much easier for both fan and artist to do what they want with ease. The internet has an endless supply of information for anyone to see. As for the artist, it is easier and more effective to promote themselves with social media and online advertising.

Most music magazines have moved online such as NME, Kerrang and Q. They maintain their original house styles but add exclusives onto their website. You can also but digital copies of the magazine so the audience doesn't have to go out and buy it, they can access it in their own homes.

Rolling stone have a huge online presence as they have moved away from just sticking to music and have articles about fashion, films as well as music.


Convergence and Synergy

The music industry has been shown to help other media industries at crucial stages of their development. It has provided opportunities for synergy that have been used by radio, television and cinema and more developing media platforms. An example is that in 2002 the ease and gratitude of online presence and radio in the UK over the voting for ITV’s Pop Idol led to the release of the winner’s first single which showed benefits for television, phone companies and the music industry.

Since early 2000's the rise o downloading was shown to mainly males over 15 whereas now anyone of any age can download music if they know how. The music industry were threatened by many illegal file sharing websites but then apple iTunes was released in 2004.  There has been a rise in purchases of the iPod and iPhone and other apple products. Now, downloading is big business, with the participation of huge brands & companies from both the music industry (e.g. Sony/BMG) and the computer industry (Microsoft and Real Player as well as Apple).

Double Page Spread Analysis

Contents Page Analysis

Music Magazine Readership Anaysis

Rolling Stone
The readership profile for Rolling Stone is both genders. The font is bold which will attract men but it's also not a very masculine font. The colours are bright and stand out which would entice a male audience. But Rihanna, a female, is featured on the front cover, she is an icon for young women so would gather a wide audience. The age range for Rolling Stone would be 18-25 as there are stars of different generations featured on the front cover. On the one hand, Rihanna is featured and she is very popular with the younger sector of adults, there is also Billy Joel, who is very popular with the older crowd. Having stars of different ages and generations will collect a broader audience. The occupations of the readership is ABC1 as the magazine is quite pricey. It is affordable to people with stable jobs but also university or college students. The money would still come from their parents majority of the time. Rolling Stone feature musicians of Rock and Pop or who is most popular at the time of magazine issue. They want to attract as wide an audience as they possibly can. so using pop singers and musicians who are relevant at the time will attract the widest audience possible. People who spend money on this magazine will also be spending money on music, either it be CD's or more likely downloading music on their portable devices.
People who buy this magazine will take up most of their time listening to music or producing their own. Mainly of the pop rock genre as that is the genres Rolling Stone is based around. The readership will most likely be big internet users. They will use websites such as YouTube and audacity as well as music blogs to keep up to date with music news. As the readership is mainly quite young. they won't own any flashy sports cars or extremely expensive. The younger section of readers will have little, cheap, second hand cars such as ka's. The older section of readers will have cars which have music devices in such as Bluetooth connections with phones, CD players and aux cables. They are probably very sociable people, who go to parties and concerts often because they enjoy the pop and rock music. Activities they enjoy are most likely clubbing and 'lad' holidays.

NME
The readership for NME is majority male based. The bold, sharp typography combined with the black and white. male cover photo creates a sense of masculinity. This isn't to say females aren't attracted by the cover, some of the audience would be female but most of the readership is made up of males. The age range for NME would be between 18-30, average age being 24. 29% of the audience is still in education and 52% are full time workers. The other 7% are part time workers. People who read this magazine will listen to music in their spare time. Mainly punk and rock, maybe steam punk. The front cover has a slight grungy feeling with the black, white and red. They would spend a lot of time making music, either original or recreating existing rock punk songs. People who buy this magazine will also invest in music equipment such as software such as audacity, in which you can piece together bits of music to make any type. The people who but this might have very political beliefs as shown in the cover line "don't write slogans, write truths." This will attract a wider audience because the young adults buying these are very influenced by what people like them have to say about anything. The readership of this magazine will like going to parties and probably raves as well. The word "rebels" suggests the readers of this magazine are free spirited and like to bend the rules a lot. I would say any music magazine readership would be huge internet users because of the age range of readership. The younger section will spend hours on the internet and social media. They could have a limited taste in music and stick to the same genres of pop and punk. The readership of this magazine could have any sort of car. The younger portion having smaller, cheaper and probably second hand cars whereas the older portion would have semi cheap cars with aux cables and a music system.

Billboard
Surprisingly printed copies of the Billboard magazine have a readership of  of 77% male. The other 23% being female. They have a total of 115k readers, the average age being 47. This surprises me because the Taylor Swift is very popular among younger girls. So surely putting her on this magazine would make no sense? However she is a pretty young female which would attract males more. Also in this issue the cover is dark and black and white, apart from the unmistakable colour pattern of the Masthead. The sharply edged typography and dark colour scheme of this cover makes it more attractive to men because stereotypically women go for brighter, softer colours and lines. The occupations of the readership would be ABC1 as the issues are quite pricey. The jobs that the readership will have will be more stable and pay well so the can afford things such as this. Billboard is a pop music magazine so anybody who enjoys that genre can also enjoy the magazine. Avid music listeners and readers of the magazine will be listening to music featured in the magazine and downloading music onto their phones, tablets, ipads and more. People who love music will either like staying at home and listening to it or like going out and be sociable, there isn't really much you can say about people who listen to pop music as a whole because everyone who listens to it are very different people. They will spend their money on CD's, digital albums, spotify and other music app subscriptions. As the average age for this magazine readership is 47 I can't imagine them being big internet users, maybe for work and business but not to the extent the younger generations use it. The readership of this magazine can probably afford nice holidays away to hot countries or around Europe. They'd also have more expensive cars as they are much older. Their cras could be anything from fords to Audi's and BMW's.