Construction Schedual

Front Cover Draft 3

Front Cover Draft 2

Front Cover Draft 1

Music Journalism Practice

 The Fault in Our Stars – Sugar review

The Fault in Our Stars is the story of awkward, nerdy and terminally ill sixteen year old girl, Hazel Grace Lancaster, who after three years of living with cancer has been diagnosed with clinical depression and forced to join a support group. After several truly BORING meetings she turns to find a super-hot boy is staring right at her! (You know when a non-hot boy stares at you and it is, at best creepy and at worst a form of assault, but when a hot guy stares at you well…) Suddenly support group doesn’t seem so bad. Augustus has got everything going for him he’s charming, intelligent, and is all for comparing Hazel Grace to a mid-2000 and totally beautiful Natalie Portman; they seem like a match made in heaven. Could anything go wrong? This novel, by the talented John Green, is a hilarious and moving tale of love and suffering. John allows a huge insight into the lives of terminally ill teens, with characters so deep you feel like you are their best friend; he will push you to the brink of tears and have you chuckling at all the life like awkwardness that is being a teen. This book is un-put-down-able, and a total must read.

 

The Fault in Our Stars – The Times review

This book contains no sorcery, no vampires and no apocalypse, not unless heartbreak counts as the end of the world, for this reason the book will appeal to women of all ages and possibly a brave man who can embrace his feelings, even though it is aimed at a young adult audience. This is Printz-award winning author John Green’s story of lovers who aren’t so much star-crossed as star-cursed, it leans on literature’s most durable assets: finely wrought language, beautifully drawn characters and a distinctive voice. Hazel Lancaster’s lungs have been taken by cancer; she needs an oxygen tank to breathe. Augustus Water’s bones have been taken by cancer; he needs a prosthetic leg to walk. As the tale of their love begins you know that the end will be all kinds of awful, don’t think that you will not cry, because a canyon of tears will spring from your eyes. In this end point you will not be alone; after just one month of being published The Fault in Our Stars sold 150,000 copies, including e-books. Hazel, 16, who narrates the story, reports that she falls in love with Augustus, 17, “the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” As a character Hazel is wickedly blunt about her limitations, which include having “lungs that suck at being lungs.” She’s soulful and she’s a committed, fervent reader. In fact “The Fault in Our Stars” is in no small part about the power of literature itself. Hazel is obsessed with a novel, “An Imperial Affliction,” about a cancer patient much like her. And I’ve encountered no better description than hers of what books in general and one book in particular can mean to someone. “Sometimes,” she says, “you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all humans read the book. And then there are books like ‘An Imperial Affliction,’ which you can’t tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal". For a ‘teen read’ The Fault in Our Stars wasn’t the worst book out there; personally I think that its only hamartia is that it ends.

My Original Idea For A New Music Magazine

My original ideas consisted of a magazine based around musicals and musical theater or a magazine based around the growing sub culture of Nerdfightaria and DFTBA records. I have selected these music genres as I think that both have a niche market and both are un-catered for in current magazines. I am also a fan of both genres therefore I feel that I will be able to not only ask others what they wish to see in the magazine but I can make a judgement myself.

I think that out of the two genres I am going to choose Nerdfightaria as I think that their target audience will be easier to pin down. This is because all different ages of people can be fans of musical theatre and consequently it would be difficult to define what should be in the magazine, even though the audience probably are all going to be of the same class. This idea of lack of definition for the content is reinforced by musicals, especially successful musicals which don’t come out regularly; there are possibly one or two big hits per year. As they are so infrequent it would be difficult to find enough information to make an interesting magazine based around them on a regular basis.

I do not believe that I will run into all of these problems with the audience (Nerdfighters) of Nerdfightaria, this is because they are already a common interest group and a community, which means they share the same norms and values. Nerdfightaria encourages participation; a magazine would be another way of introducing members and in turn, getting them to participate in activities. Nerdfighters are also around the same age, though their class is a wider range, this means that alongside the music they are likely to share the same opinions on other subjects such as politics and fashion.

Rolling Stone Case Study

The Magazine Industry: An Overview

A music magazine is a magazine that is dedicated to particular genres of music, it will generally contain interviews with artists and bands and photo shoots as well as reviews of albums singles concerts and general music based news. In the general UK magazine industry around 2,600 magazines are sold per minute, this adds up to around 3.7 million magazines sold per day. This shows the sheer scale and size of the music industry. The industry appeals to both men and women with around 80% of women and 70% of men regularly reading a magazine. The UK spends, on average, £2 billion on magazines every year, with over 3,300 different magazines in circulation; with the scale of magazine publications like this it isn’t difficult to see how hundreds of these magazines are specifically for music.

For the first half of 2011, the magazine that had the highest circulation in the UK was an “ASDA” magazine closely followed by “Tesco” magazine, this is because they are free and posted to any one near a store or anyone to whom they have details for, you can also pick them up in - store. The highest commercial magazine was “TV Choice”, which placed third with a circulation of 1,354,761. No music magazine featured in the top 50 magazines with the highest circulation in the UK.

According to ABC figures, “classic rock” was the only paid for music magazine that did not drop in circulation in 2010; however they did not increase their circulation either, this shows that magazines were struggling to keep the interest of their readers, this could have been due to the new technological input.

The average price of a magazine in 2008 was £2.25, with the average price of a music magazine currently averaging between £2.50 and £3.00 for a monthly magazine.

There are currently no magazines that cater to the genre of Nerdfighter (an up and coming music genre produced without labels), therefore I will use this gap in the market to produce my music magazine.

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_magazines_by_circulation#United_Kingdom

http://www.foliomag.com/2008/magazine-newsstand-sales-delight-and-confound

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/

http://www.brandrepublic.com/go/news/article/1022008/magazine-abcs-kerrang-high-note-music-film/

Questionaire Results

From the results of my questionnaire I can tell that my magazine will mainly be aimed at females aged 14 to 18. Around 50% of my target market already buys a music magazine this suggests that there is still a big market of who do not currently buy music magazines. I will aim my magazine at this niche market. From my question ‘Would you be interested in buying a Nerdfighter music magazine?’ I established that around 70% of my target market would be willing to buy a Nerdfighter music magazine. This means that 20% of the people who said that they already bought a music magazine would be willing to buy another magazine proving that there clearly is a market for this genre of magazine. When asked how much my target audience would be willing to pay for a magazine half of them said that they would be willing to pay £3 to £4.99, this implies that my target market will be middle class as they will have money to spend not only on supporting the artists but on buying the magazine. This will help me when I come to deciding on advertisers, as having the right advertisers in the magazine will encourage the target audience to buy the magazine. The audience were divided between the magazine being published fortnightly and monthly, 40% of the target audience voting either way. I got the same result with my next question ‘How would you like to be able to contribute?’ with 40% voting for with photos and 40% voting for with email this suggests that my audience will be technologically based and inspired. It also suggests that they have opinions and want to be heard this means that they will be an active audience. When asked what would interest them the most about the magazine my target market replied with articles about the artists, this suggests that they are literate people who are intellectually stimulated. However, this was contradicted when they were asked what would attract them to the cover, they replied with the picture, signifying that not only are they intellectual but creative. The final question that I asked them was ‘Do you check your emails regularly?’ 90% said yes, this reinforces the idea that they are influenced by technologically this means that I could use the internet to communicate with and to advertise to my target market.

Target Market Mood Board and Analysis

Font Mood Board and Analysis

Colour Mood Board and Analysis

Advertisers Mood Board and Analysis

College Magazine Questionaire Analysis

From the response to the questionnaire I can say that the current college magazine is not reaching its target market because 100% of students asked did not read the magazine and that currently it would have to be a free magazine for them to do so.

 This was evident because 70% of students who responded said that they would not be willing to pay for the magazine, so it would have to be free to appeal. My questionnaire was not gender specific as 45% of students asked were males, this insured that both genders had been represented therefore they should both be happy with the end result even though it wasn’t an equal split of  a male/female representation. Of the students questioned 50% said that they would like to see a new magazine come out monthly; containing music, discounts, free things and college information. 25% of students said that they would be happy to contribute to this magazine, both with pictures and articles; this ensures that there would be an active audience.

 Music was the most popular response recorded when we asked the students what 3 things they would like to see in the magazine, closely followed by current events, gossip and sport. Other responses that came up to be included were interests in politics, local news, competitions, college information and discounts.

By carrying out this market research we found out what the students would like to see inside the new college magazine.

We also found out that the majority preferred bright colours and students’ photography, as well as photos of students to attract them to the front cover. This would encourage more students to engage with the product.

Preliminary Task Contents Page

College Magazine Questionaire

College Magazine Questionnaire

1.      What gender are you?

Male ……                                            Female ……  

2.       Are you happy to pay for a student magazine?  

Yes ………*                                                           No ………. 

*If yes, how much are you willing to pay?  ………………………………………. 

3.       What would encourage you to buy a student magazine?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 

4.       How often would you like the college magazine to be published? 

Fortnight ……..                   Month ………..                    Half term …………               Term ..……….

5.       Would you be interested in contributing to the magazine? 

Yes ………*                                                           No ……….

*If yes, how? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

6.       List three things you would like to see in the college magazine:

·         ………………………………………………………. 

·         ………………………………………………………. 

·         ……………………………………………………….

7.       What would appeal / attract you to the magazine cover?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 

8.       Do you read the college magazine? 

Yes ……….                                                             No ………….. 

9.       Do you regularly check your emails?

Yes ………..                                                           No …………….

Preliminary Task College Magazine Cover

College Magazine Cover Analysis

Feature Article Analysis 2

Feature Article Analysis 1

Contents Page Analysis 2

Contents Page Analysis 1

Magazine cover analysis 3

Magazine cover analysis 2

Magazine cover analysis 1