When referring to my main task as the culmination of the researh I have studied, I strongly believe that my product challenges the conventions of the music press by offering a product that has never been offered before to my target audience. Fundamentally, I felt that the success of my product would lie in being able to give audiences and fans something that have not previously had access to. With my product the readers become the critics and I have given them the flexibility to become the journalist and really listent to the opinions of those who share the same musical tastes. Structuraly my magazine follows the traditional conventions of a sophisticated and professional magazine with a lot of my inspirations coming from Q and Billboard magazine, as these magazines targeted the sort of demographic I was aiming for with my product. Looking back at my initial plans and ideas it became clear to m that my product never really changed that much with the fundamental changes coming from text positioning and image selection. Just like GQ and Q magazine I wanted my main image to be a subtle connotation of the integrity and relationship between artists and music I wanted to portray, hence why my final decision to have no eye contact in the main image came about. My text choices and mast head decisions were pretty much unedited from the original plan as I managed to find the perfect font face to tie on with the overal effect of my magazine as well as being appealling to my traget audience, as a more youthful and stylistic effect is created. Colour played an important part in my overal production and I felt that this is one of the reasons my product came out the way it did. The sustained use of similar colours helps to promote the stylistic and professional quality to my work and it allowed me to really focus of making the look of my magazine right. I would like to think that my product has taken the traditional role of the music magazine and turned it on its head by using the readers as a base for the main articles. By doing this my USP was formed and slowly my magazine became about creating that strong link between audience and product as now the readers have a chance to express their opinions in a widespread format.
The key to making this work was using the internet and social messageing sites to allow my target audience the opportunities to put forward their views. From lookign at my case studies and market research I found that it was common place for a music magazine to have a webpage as this allowed for technological convergence and a more interactive element to their products. By designing and producing a webpage this gave me the opportunity to really involve my audience in the decision making, as well as adding another aspect to my brand. In terms of style and layout, I followed the same principles and conventions I learnt from studying sites such as NME and Q magazine to make my webpage have some chance of success within the industry. I also discovered that simplistic yet informative layouts were important as they ensured all ages could be able to use the website, as well as a large degree of sponsorship helping to fund the projects that target specific audiences more accurately. With regards to sponsorship I felt that having backing from the Glastonbury Festival would send out the right message to my audience as, after all music is the focus of my product, as well as more closely targeting my audience as I found out that the majority of my audience would participate in such events and find a common interest in the 'festival world.' This was important in terms of targeting the right audience and how I acheived this.
In regards to my target audience, I decided to go away and really take a closer look at the workings within the cultures they associate with and the types of day to day things that interst them. I knew from the start I wanted to create an Acoustic Music magazine and I felt that inorder to really make it work I needed to understand what my audience would expect from such a product. I came to learn that my audience had no loyalities in the manufactured world of pop music but instead focused on the integrity witin the music and the raw talents that came out of relatively new social scenes. I decided that my magazine would have to be a detraction from the more mainstream press inorder to really attract my target audience. In order to do this I decided to use artists that have in a sense been 'homegrown' from fan support and social sites such as Myspace. By doing this my magazine has an edge over the music press because by keeping a close eye on the undeground music scene I would be able to provide audiences with the most up to date and current information on artists and music generally to new for the mainstream press to recognise. My product is a representation of a social scene that is not bothered about the 'celebrity' of the music world but instead the talents and the art of making music. I believe that my choice of images, layout, colours and use of text help to represent this same belief to audiences. My focus group also helped me to stay on track as they were able to give me useful advice and insight into whether or not my product would work in a competitive market.
As well as taking into consideration the views of my audience, the institutions making these products are also an important element to the world of the music press. I looked at the media publishing house of Bauer media which produce and distribute endless media products and noted magazines. A company such as this would be responsible for the distribution of my product as they have the contacts and the foundations to reach large audiences.
I decided it would be wise to define my target audience in a way that would allow me to acheive focus for my product. I looked into gathering statistics into the media habits of my target audience aged between 17-35 as well as looking at what they expect from media products. My findings were incredibly fascinating as they told me that most teenagers and younger adults are extremely 'plugged' into the tricks and conventions of the media press and will reject any product that questions their intelligence and wrongly represents their beliefs and views. From a survey taken in 1999 music was defined as the most influential and pervassive medium, it can define teen experiences and is culturally significant. This told me that music was an extremely important part in my audiences life and to create a product that didn't do their beliefs justice would be an insult on their own tastes. I was very careful to consider this in the construction of my product.
Audience research and Statistics
How I was to address my audience became the one most important element to my production as I needed to create the right balance between content, tone, and mode of address. I also found from my research that the most successful magazines don't just rely on music to fill their pages, aspects of the news, sport and entertainment also added an extra flare to their products. This was something I was really keen on reproducing in my own product. Due to the age range of my target audience I found it hard to determine the areas in which I should also include but I went with the generic conventions most magazine use which is to include news and entertainment as this appeals to all audiences. I was careful not to patronise my audience yet at the same time I wanted to put across an appropriate tone for a sophisticated magazine. This was perhaps most poignant in the double page spread as I was unsure how to write the article. After a lot of thought I decided to make the article entirely from the readers perspective adding upon the participation element, meaning that he basis of my article was formed from questions produced by my readers. An unconventional stance to a main article in any music magazine, readers now become the journalists and are able to find out the information that they really want to know.
Taking the entirety of both my Preliminary task and my main task into consideration I feel that the one thing I will take away from this whole process is the importance of planning, because a good plan and market research will ultimately mould a successful product for you. Audiences should always be considered and never underestimated because they have the ability to conrol the success and failure of any product. On a more technological level I have learnt about the basic principles of blogging and built upon my photoshop and photography skills which I will take with me into new projects. My preliminary task allowed to explore different ideas with text and image placements that helped me in my main task as well as giving me the ability to make more decisive decisions about layout, structure and tone. I fully enjoyed both tasks and have learnt some invaluable lessons that will always remain with me. I have a new outlook on the music press and I have gained a new resepct for different cultures and audiences. Finally I strongly feel that my progression from the premliminary task to the main project is indicative in the initiall stages of development and how I came to form my final product. The preliminary task taught me to plan properly and I am very proud of the final outcome.
How I was to address my audience became the one most important element to my production as I needed to create the right balance between content, tone, and mode of address. I also found from my research that the most successful magazines don't just rely on music to fill their pages, aspects of the news, sport and entertainment also added an extra flare to their products. This was something I was really keen on reproducing in my own product. Due to the age range of my target audience I found it hard to determine the areas in which I should also include but I went with the generic conventions most magazine use which is to include news and entertainment as this appeals to all audiences. I was careful not to patronise my audience yet at the same time I wanted to put across an appropriate tone for a sophisticated magazine. This was perhaps most poignant in the double page spread as I was unsure how to write the article. After a lot of thought I decided to make the article entirely from the readers perspective adding upon the participation element, meaning that he basis of my article was formed from questions produced by my readers. An unconventional stance to a main article in any music magazine, readers now become the journalists and are able to find out the information that they really want to know.
Taking the entirety of both my Preliminary task and my main task into consideration I feel that the one thing I will take away from this whole process is the importance of planning, because a good plan and market research will ultimately mould a successful product for you. Audiences should always be considered and never underestimated because they have the ability to conrol the success and failure of any product. On a more technological level I have learnt about the basic principles of blogging and built upon my photoshop and photography skills which I will take with me into new projects. My preliminary task allowed to explore different ideas with text and image placements that helped me in my main task as well as giving me the ability to make more decisive decisions about layout, structure and tone. I fully enjoyed both tasks and have learnt some invaluable lessons that will always remain with me. I have a new outlook on the music press and I have gained a new resepct for different cultures and audiences. Finally I strongly feel that my progression from the premliminary task to the main project is indicative in the initiall stages of development and how I came to form my final product. The preliminary task taught me to plan properly and I am very proud of the final outcome.
