Tuesday 10 May 2011

EVALUATION - How does your Media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents social groups mainly from the story of the main artist. She was a working class girl who worked in a clothing store and had an experience in musical theatre. She rose to fame by winning a singing competition. This article relates to middle class people as the artist previously worked in a clothing store.

My model connotes an indie/rock magazaine which is what I aimed to do. She is wearing a modern, indie top with brown skinnie jeans. The skinnie jeans tends to be worn by indie/rock performers. The statement of leading our own lives has started to give women a chance to wear what they want and express their personalities throughout clothes. The stereotypical divide between men and women has declined over the years. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, the music industry is mainly male orientated, but more and more women are becoming interested in the topic and are playing important roles in magazine distibutors and companies, also editing. My music magazine is aimed towards both genders which goes against the stereotypical views of music magazines being majorly aimed towards men. Doing this will create a wider spread of audience and women could inspire to be like the model on the front cover so they will be most likely swayed into buying the magazine,

EVALUATION - How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted and addressed my audience by using typical conventions of a magazine and I have exploited uses of gratifications.I have attracted my audience by using a big picture for my front cover of the artist which is eye catching. Also, I have added free give aways and added a competition which tends to be a main persuasion why people buy magazines. I have addressed the audience by trying to create a magazine that would appeal to an audience of 14-30 year olds.

On my front cover, I have used a woman model on a music magazine. Music magazines main audience tends to be aimed towards men. I have exploited Naomi Wolf's theory of insecurities to some extent. Although my image is not erotic, it will appeal to women as well as men as they will prefer a magazine with a woman on the front apposed to a man. The age of my model is within the age range for my target audience. This makes it more appealing to my target audience as they could relate to their stories.

Monday 9 May 2011

EVALUATION - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

EVALUATION - Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my product would be male & female, aged between 14-30. The groups I have included have been heard many times by anyone in that age range. From my audience research, there isn't a group nobody has heard of in my magazine. I have chose the age range 14-30 as indie music is more popular amongst the younger generation. The age range I have chose does not mean that people under 14-over 30 don't like the music, anyone can buy it! Just the bulk of the artists are heard more amongst the age range I have chose.

EVALUATION - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think  that the distribution company 'BAUER MEDIA COMPANY' should distribute my magazine. This company distributes the music magazines "Kerrang" and "Q". These two magazines are mainly male orientated, so the reason they should distribute mine is that I have a female on the front cover. This would keep the male audience interested, but it will also bring in the female audience as they could aspire to be like the model on the front cover. Doing this means it is matching all my target audience which will generate more sales of the magazine as the female audience will also buy it. 

EVALUATION - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My product challenges forms and conventions of real media products throughout my magazine. For this evaluation, I will compare my front cover with a font cover by "Kerrang".


I have a strapline at the top of the magazine giving ther website of the magazine. Kerrangs' magazine has a strapline also, but a free giveaway which is where I got my idea of a competition from. The side story on my magazine, "I'm so glad I took guitar now" shows that there is more to the magazine than just a main story which is a typical convention that I have used. I have also included a free poster giveaway of a certain artist in each issue which is the main free giveaway in music magazine industry. The 'Plus' section is another indication of using conventions from real magazines as Kerrangs' maazine also has a 'Plus' section of bands that fit into their genre to show what the magazine has in store for the customer. 

EVALUATION - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?