Brand Names For Music Magazine

Feature Article Artist Planning

I have chosen to do a band rather than a solo artist, containing one man and two women. I decided on this because I feel that it doesn't occur very often to have that ratio and is often the other way round, featuring two men and one woman, who is often the lead singer. (Examples of this are: Paramore, Chvrches, London Grammar, Braids, Kate Boy etc). 

Profile 1:

Name: Marshall

Age: 22

Place in band: Lead singer, bass player, and pianist.

Marshall is a mysterious, vain character who prefers to do things for himself and his bandmates over anyone else. Despite being the way he is, he is shown to be very close and caring with his friends. He dislikes the fan community part of being in the band and is only in it for his friends and the music. Although he is seen to be quite serious, he is also sarcastic and has a good sense of humour. He met Kira a few years ago, while Callie is actually his older sister. 

Profile 2:

Name: Calliope; Callie

Age: 22

Place in band: Guitarist, backing vocals.  

Callie is a kind person and is most interactive with fans. She’s bubbly and enthusiastic, spends a lot of time updating her social media (such as Twitter, Facebook etc) and cares a lot for her bandmates. She met Kira through her brother Marshall's friendship with her. She enjoys being in the band and is the most outgoing of all three; often speaking for the band instead of Marshall, who, as lead singer/song-writer, is thought to have been. 

Profile 3:

Name: Kira

Age: 20

Place in band: drummer, guitarist 

Kira is moody and sarcastic and likes to avoid talking to most in person. She finds her fans amusing with their dedication and often engages with them via social media such as Twitter. She is known to be very close with Callie and Marshall, but is seen to be quite talkative with other bands. Kira is shown to have a strong dedication to music, having put up covers of songs on the internet. 

The band is doing an interview because of the release of their second album, Apocalypse Arisen, which they are promoting by doing a UK tour. In the interview they will discuss the upcoming tour, the album - things like what inspired them to make such an experimental album and the symbolism behind some of the songs, talking about any future releases, 

The appearance and look of the band will vary for each member. 

Marshall has short blonde hair and keeps his eyes covered by sunglasses the majority of the time when out in public, and wears dark jeans, dark shirt and dark vest over the top. His outfit has to be dark to contrast with Callie’s light outfit. Callie has mid length/short coloured hair –possibly light pink or blue – and most often wears white/light coloured dresses, in order to contrast with Marshall’s dark outfit. Kira has long dark brown/black hair and wears more coloured clothing than Callie and Marshall, usually wearing jeans rather an skirt or a dress like Callie, to contrast with the other two. Make up will vary for each of them; Marshall will have his face covered by his sunglasses, but other than that, his face will be kept plain. Callie will have more colourful makeup, while Kira will simply have red lips and dark eyes. 

Location for the shoot will take place in a secluded area, most likely outside by a wall. I want it to be in a more open aired space to show them off in their surroundings. The props that will be used will consist of 3 torches to shine under their chins to give them a spooky look, linking back to the genre of alternative. Each will have individual shots. There will be one or more group photos; one being of them with the torches, positioned with Marshall in front, Kira on the left and Callie on the right.

Feature Article Artist Planning - Mood Board

Contents Page Analysis #2: Kerrang!

• The purpose of a contents page is to inform the reader: while the front cover gives some indication to whats inside the magazine, the contents page offers more information and is there to help the reader find a specific page that they might have been looking for from seeing on the front cover.
• The contents page mentions 17 artists and more included in those articles.

• Contents logo: shows humour in the magazine. By making this silly remark it makes the magazine seem more friendly to the reader, as well as showing off that the target audience is a young audience, as magazines aimed at older audiences wouldn't make such a childlike observation. 

• Hello Readers: The contents page includes a small paragraph from the editor of the magazine, sharing his opinion on the cover story band. This paragraph adds to the overall friendliness of the magazine, as well as making a more intimate connection with the reader.

• Instead of making the main image of the cover story band, Kerrang! chose to use an image of another band Paramore, who was featured on the front page in the corner. Paramore is often mentioned in the magazine across the issues, showing that they are widely popular with the Kerrang! readers. The fact that they used an image of them instead of the main band is enough evidence. 

• On the contents page, they include a small sentence or two about the article. This is often written in a jokey style, making the overall magazine seem informal. This makes us, the reader, want to read more, as articles written with a jokey attitude or articles that are dramatic/life changing are often more interesting than those which just feebly express their opinion about a new album.

 

• The contents page 3 main images (not including the image used for the editor's message). The first image of Paramore is rather questionable, seeing as they're in a boat riding a sea of balloons. The boat is enough for you to theorise the story behind it, which makes you want to read the article to find out if you're actually right about it or not. The other images are more simple, but include images of the respective bands and that is enough to draw the reader in.

Kerrang! Front Cover Analysis

Music Magazine Initial Ideas + Final Idea

My chosen idea for my music magazine is to do a rock and alternative magazine (idea 4). The magazine will be aimed at both males and females, with an age range of 15-18. It will include interviews with artists as well as new music reviews. It will also include gig and tour dates as well as posters. The mode of address towards readers will be funny/sarcastic and informal. It will include free posters and the house style will have green, black and dark blue colours with white bold text.

Readership Profile

Audience Primary Research: Survey Results

Audience Primary Research: Blank Survey

Audience Primary Research: Video

Contents Page Analysis #1: Q Magazine