Evaluation Of Music Magazine (Part 1)

1) "In what ways does your media produt use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real life media products"?

In the beginning of the course before making the final piece of my music magazine, I analysed a 'Heart&Soul' music magazine cover. In this analysis, I evaluated the connotations and denotations of the cover and how the conventions were presented on the front cover. In my magazine, I have included some conventions of this magazine. This is so i will be able to attract my target audience as this magazine has done.


I used the majority of this magazine's style but I also used a bit of my knowledge to create the front cover of my magazine. For example, the barcode on my front cover is also on the left but instead of being horizontal, it's vertical.


The coverlines on my magazine are also on the left side of my featured artist. Because of this, I feel that i have developed the forms of a media product. Most magazines usually have their barcodes on the left in an horizontal way.

 However, my front cover is also different because the image is of only one person; unlike this magazine the image is of two people. I also used different colours (Purple, White and Black) on the front cover of my magazine. This is because when I did my audience research, these are the colours which the majority of those I took my research on had mentioned.
Again, I have developed conventions and forms of usual Gospel music magazines. Majority of the ones I saw online, are in colours like Red, Blue, Gold, Brown, Yellow and White.


On my contents page, I included a lot of pages and maximum 3 features. This is because, in most magazines there are a lot of pages for the audience to read from. For example "Q" magazine includes about 202 pages in its magazines.
"Vibe" magazine also includes 122 pages in it's magazines. Because of this, I feel like i have used another convention or form of a media magazine and included it in my own work.

2) “How does your media product represent particular social groups?”

I made this magazine to focus on one type of music which is Gospel. This is because gospel music isn’t what everybody else chose for their magazines so I wanted my magazine to stand out. I chose something of this genre because; gospel music is different from all types of music. This type of music is also usually associated with soul music and it is not as popular as secular music amongst teenagers.

This is because it is usually directed to adults so most teenagers tend to not listen to it as much. This magazine is made to bring gospel music in a different light; to make it more suitable and enjoyable for teenagers so they will be more interested in it. Below is an image of a teenager that enjoys urban gospel (Gospel #1). I didn’t make this magazine appeal to only one subculture though because I want it to be read by just not a group of teenagers but by everybody at this age group who feels interested and inspired by it.

My magazine is aimed at an urban community; mainly teenagers. I have included majority of the people I took my audience research on. In terms of the colours and themes a large percentage of them had mentioned that they’ll like to see in my magazine; For example most said colours like Purple would be more suitable for a music magazine so I made my magazine with a Purple, Black and White theme. Majority of them also mentioned that they like magazines that are mainly a mix of text and images so I made my magazine to contain a mix of these two things.

I featured someone dressed as a gospel music artist on my front page and they had a happy facial expression (smile). I also made her look directly into the camera. This is because by doing this it will seem as if the model is directly looking at her audience; there will be a strong sense of eye contact between my target audience and the model featured on the front page. This is also because, in most gospel music magazines I saw online, they all had this type of front covers with the artists smiling looking directly into the camera.

This attracts their attention and they will feel more interested in the magazine. The model smiling also gives a warm welcome to my target audience; this is also another way of making them feel connected to the magazine and its content.

Gospel 1#

Gospel Music.

3) “What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?”

The types of institutions that will distribute or publish my magazine are fashion, food magazines as they don’t usually publish magazines with a gospel or musical content or context. For example, The image below (Publisher #1), shows an image of th emagazine publisher that I think would be suitable to publish my magazine. I chose this image because, it appeals to my target audience and it is publishes a different genre to its reader from the genre of my magazine.

  Firstly, I think this would benefit the publishing house because it would show their audience or readers  that they are capable in delivering a variety of issues to them so they don’t just specialise in fashion but other things like Gospel; Music and so on.

Secondly, publishing my magazine through a totally different publishing house will allow audiences to expect more from the company. As they are publishing different issues their magazines become more flexible and applicable to their readers. They are also more likely to subscribe to that publishing house because they know it is worth their money.

I would distribute the magazine in WHSmith, youth clubs and shops where teenagers are likely to be found. This is because my target audience are people of this age so I will ensure the magazine is distributed in places where it will be easily accessed. However, if I was to do this individually, distribution would take longer and would be more expensive.



Magazine Publisher #1.

                                 










4) “Who would be the audience for your media product?”

The audience for my media product will be young and middle aged people. They’ll be interested in gospel music and fashion. Therefore, they will be able to relate to my product and this will encourage them to read more. My audience will also consist of people who feel inspired by artists of their own age (referring back to my audience research). Because of this, I have included entertainment and artists that they feel might represent their age. This will make my audience feel interested enough to read and engage in my magazine.

They would also mainly be a gospel music and fashion group. Teenagers of an urban culture; who feel interested in the magazine. My audience wouldn’t necessarily have a class or social group because the magazine is for anybody who feels interested in it.

 The magazine is mainly directed to people who are interested in Gospel music and Fashion. This magazine is also aimed at people who are confident, bold, and reach out to people. This is because gospel music usually stands out from all music.

People who enjoy it and are interested in it are made to be confident and are made to reach out to people. They are also friendly and welcoming. This is because they usually meet a lot of people and they have to communicate and approach them in a warm and pleasant way.  The magazine also aims to give confidence to teenagers who have lost their self esteem so they will be able to stand up and reach out to other teenagers like themselves.

Image Of Teenagers & Gospel Music.