Market Research: Alternative Press

Front Cover

I decided to choose two covers of the same magazine to look at so I can see which aspects the publisher keep the same or similar everytime the magazine is released and also, so I can see what they change and how they change it.
Language: Firstly, the masthead; I can see that it's just the letters "AP" stretched across the top of the page on both covers and then lightly underneath (and slightly concealed by the photo) the actual name of the magazine "Alternative Press" I think the AP could be well recognised and kind of like a logo, that's why it's ok for them just to use the initials. I noticed that the colours of the Masthead are different on the two magazines. I think they've done this because they're trying to create two different moods and an easy way of doing thing is changing the colours, that way you aren't changing too much, so the magazine is still recognisable for the font style and other aspects of the magazine. The font style on the full front cover is all in capitals on both the magazines, I think this kind of gives off a loud impression, and since the magazine is about rock/alternative music which is a big expressive genre, I think this fits nicely. On the first magazine cover, it has a headline across the middle of the magazine, that is tilted, it is in capitals and is the same colour (yellow) as the masthead of the magazine. Around the headline (which is the name of the band featured on the cover of the magazine) it says "THE NEW KINGPINS *band name*  AFTER A NEAR SPLIT THEY'RE BACK TO ROLLING STRIKES" This is a play on words which relates to the photo which features the band in a bowling alley, wearing bowling clothes and holding some form of award. The words "Kingpin" "Split" and "Rolling Strikes" all relate to bowling. I think it's important that the image relates to the slogan or words on the page as it kind of ties the whole front page of the magazine together. The magazine also includes other important information such as; the barcode, issue number, date and price.

Institution: The institution for this magazine is Alternative Press Magazine Inc.

Ideology: From both front covers, you can see the ideology of the magazine is quite bold, and very "what you see is what you get".

Audience: I can tell by this front cover, as it is designed in a specific, bold way, that it would be targetted at a niche audience. Which is basically a smaller audience that would be into this genre and would want to buy this magazine, I would say the audience for this particular magazine would be 15-29 year olds with an interest in Alternative/Rock music. I say this as this genre of music, that includes bands that you may find on, as it says on the second front cover, the "Warped Tour" - Paramore, Gallows, Boys Like Girls, Interpol etc. They're more recent, newer bands with a newer sound that the "older generation" wouldn't necessarily be interested in, in the sense of reading all about them, this makes my audience smaller further still.

Representation: Again this magazine represents bold, out there people. It has a very "different" feel to it, for example - Hayley Williams (who is featured on both these covers) has orange hair and therefore is very different to most people who may not be involved with this genre of music and therefore (stereotypically) would have a more natural hair colour. I think even the expressions on the faces of the people on the covers, represent them in quite an intense "don't mess" manner.

Market Research: RockSound

Front Cover

Language: The housestyle of this magazine is blue and grey, so it has quite an icy feel to it. Then there is a headline that relates to the photo of the front cover. It is in red, which is quite firey and stands out. I think they chose red as it says that "30 Seconds To Mars, back with a vengeance" which is quite a strong, maybe threatening, choice of words. All the writing on the page, again, is in capital letters, which gives off quite a strong, bold impression of the magazine. The photograph is of Jared Leto (from the band 30 Seconds To Mars, which relates to the red headline) the way they've placed the headline in relation to the photo, is almost as this he is pointing his finger toward the headline - they are using the photo to direct the readers attention to it. Which backs up the point that the main feature will be about this band. Another thing about this picture that I noticed, which relates to the headline - is that his expression is quite cold and serious; relating to the "back with a vengeance" as he wouldn't be all smiling and happy as that wouldn't connect and relate to the headline. Other features that appear on this cover are competitions, barcode, a quick snappy tagline "new music first", freebies, date, price, issue number and website.

Institution: The institution of Rock Sound is the French publisher, Editions Freeway.

Ideology: From this particular cover, the Ideology of this magazine comes across as a lot more serious and grungey and maybe aimed are the more hardcore, metal genre of the alternative rock scene. I think the message for this is very "don't mess" which is kind of expected from this genre as, its very loud and bold most of the time.

Audience: For Rock Sound, I think the audience is broader in terms of age - I'd say 14 - 35 years old. But then it's smaller as I think it's more select with the genres. To me, from this cover, it seems to feature more darker bands which will appeal to a smaller audience.

Representation: This magazine represents, from this cover, maybe a more serious audience which is interested in bands which are more near the knuckle and edgey. On the front cover, Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars, is an older man and has more life experience so his music and lyrics are stereotypically about more grown up, serious matters. So, I think this magazine is using him to represent everybody who has serious issues with the world and, therefore, he is their voice.

Contents

Language: This contents has the name of the front cover(in the same font as the cover itself) in the top left hand corner. It is quite bold and, as it is white on black, it contrasts really well. There is also a bit of extra information smaller and underneath the title. The picture in the background is a medium close up that fills the page. The actual contents of the magazine has been grouped into a section called "Main Features" which is red and white on black. The little mini heading of what is featured on the page is in bold and capital letters. The information is in normal, smaller writing underneath. There is also a quote relating to the photograph in the bottom left hand corner.
Institution: The institution of Rock Sound is the French publisher, Editions Freeway.
Ideology: The contents page shows the magazine in a less serious way. This person in the photograph is messing around pulling faces. The fact that he's not taking himself seriously makes it easier for the audience to relate to him as a person rather than someone famous.
Audience: I still think this is for a broader audience still 14-35.
Representation: The contents represents the audience in quite a non serious way, showing that they know how to have fun. The fact that he has a shirt and tie on maybe represents that they can be good and take things seriously too. But the hat, facial expression and the fact his tie is loose shows a more laid back side. By using these factors on the man in the photo, it reflects what the audience will be like.

Market Research: Kerrang!

Front Cover
Language: The masthead is white, bold, capital letters. It's also has a kind of coroded, broken effect on it, almost as if it's been cracked or thrown around like people in bands sometimes do with their guitars. I think maybe this is the look it is going for as "Kerrang!"is supposed to be the sound a guitar makes. The masthead is also partially covered by the photo that appears on the cover. I think they have done this as the photo kind of leads you round the magazine to the person's (Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari) hand which is pointing kind of towards the big heading which is in a similar font to the masthead, same colour (white) and in capitals. But it's in a slightly smaller font. It's highlighted in blue which draws your attention to it further. Also, this heading relates to the photograph on the front cover as the two people are from the two bands that are mentioned. All the font is in capital letters and it has a colour scheme of blue and pink. The pink has been put on as this particular issue was realeased round about Valentines day and pink is seen to connote love. I think that they have done this as they want to relate to everyday life and it could possibly make people more likely to buy it as it will relate to their own life more. The magazine also is featuring special Valentines day related posters and an ultimate love guide. Other things that feature on this cover are bar codes, date, price and issue number.
Institution: Kerrang's institution is Bauer Media.
Ideology: In my opinion, this cover has quite a punk feel to it, the alignment of the words is quite wonky and edgy and it's all very bold and in your face - very much like the punk genre. Looking at the expressions on the faces of the people in the photographs (Rou of Enter Shikari and Itch of The King Blues) They have a not serious but kind of enquiring expression on their face. Also the headline "Rou and Itch tell it like it is!" I think this is a very punky opinionated statement to put forward.

Audience: I think the audience for this magazine is likely to be 14-28 year olds with an interest in the alternative music scene. This would be classed as a niche audience as the alternative music scene is pretty much music that doesn't appear in the popular charts and isn't as publicised as much.

Representation: This cover is definitely representing it's audience as opinionated people who maybe "tell it like it is" like the people who appear on the cover. But I think it also shows them as real people with feelings by the way it is featuring Valentines day in this issue. 

Contents

Language: The title of the contents page is big and bold at the top of the page. The house style for Kerrang! is yellow and black and this is the colour scheme for this page. The title is yellow on a black background and then has extra information in small underneath in white. The layout of the page is well structured, the page numbers and titles are layed out on the left in a colum, with heading section like the title (yellow on black) but slightly smaller. and then the information and page numbers underneath in black (page numbers are in bold) also all the page information is written in capitals. Next, all the pictures are in quite a structured way too. They also have the page numbers and a quick snippet of information too. Also, I noticed that there is a quote from someone and the band that they're in and also a page reference. They have a small picture of the front cover relating to that contents in the upper left and corner and a quick note to the reader from the editor.
Institution: Kerrang's institution is Bauer Media.
Ideology: This magazine is really well regimented and it shows all aspects of this genre of music - people doing what they do best and performing, a photoshoot like photo, just a photo of a band being casual. I think they've done this to show that there is more than one thing to this genre of music and that they can do a lot.
Audience: I think from the contents, it comes across as that it could be for a wider audience than I oringally thought as it looks quite grown up. So maybe the audience would be more 15-34 year olds.
Representation: This contents page represents my audience, not so much in a serious way, but in a really grown up way. 

Double Page Spread
Language: The house style for this page is red, white and black. Also, they used black and white images which really suits the housestyle nicely. It makes the red font stand out really well and as its bold and in capitals it's the first thing you see as it is really eye catching. It has one A4 main image on the left hand of the lead singer in action. It then has some photos along the bottom of the band in a recording studio. This could imply that there is a new album to come out and gives a bit of insight as to what the interview might be about. It also has a block on the left with some extra information in it. Extra news maybe?
Institution: Kerrang's institution is Bauer Media.
Ideology: The ideology for this page is simply showing a band at work, doing what they do best - performing and recording music. 
Audience: I think from the double page spread this would appeal to a niche audience who is interested in finding out news and information about My Chemical Romance.
Representation: I think this page represents the audience as quite dedicated people. "We're being the best MCR we can be". This could be reflected back as the audience being the best people they can be.

Music Genre

For the magazine that I am going to produce, I decided that my music genre would be alternative rock as there are a few examples that I can look to for inspiration on how to go about different aspects of my magazine. I also think that this would be a good genre to go for as I believe there is a lot of interest in my target audience range for that genre of music.
In this genre you find that the artists play their own instrument, write their own music and lyrics and are really passionate about music. They can range from a two piece band like The White Stripes to having a grand total of nine members like SlipKnoT. But normally you would find that it's a five piece band made up of a singer, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bassist and drummer. They tend to dress in quite an edgey way, normally not highstreet fashion - skinny jeans, other bands tshirts, big trainers or sandshoes. The females tend to have very distinctive hair - black, white or as bright coloured as possible. It's hard to define what their lyrics are generally about, but you could say a lot of the time you could say they are about hope, a huge range of feelings including rage, sadness and happiness. I think a lot of the time, bands in this genre tend to write about real life experiences that their fans can relate to. Fans of bands of this genre look up to the musicians a lot, and if they don't play instruments themselves, they take image ideas from them and develop a similar style and dress sense.
The magazines that are currently in publication that cover this genre, in my opinion are Kerrang! and Rocksound in England and Alternative Press in America.

LIIAR Interpretation of the Brief

Language: My magazine cover will include a masthead, headlines, puffs, banner headline, price, date, issue number, photos of a band/artist, slogan and competitions. For the front cover of a music magazine, I could use many different camera angles, for example; extreme close up, medium close up, long shot etc. The contents page will include, an introduction to the magazine from the editor, a title "contents", a list of page numbers and what will appear on each page, a lot of photos with a caption and a page number with the article that it relates to and maybe a quote from a band that appears in the issue. The double page spread should include; numerous photos of the band/artist it is featuring, maybe some captions on the photos, an interview with the band/artist themselves, the page numbers, an eyecatching title and maybe a section with some background info of the band/artist. Also another thing that is included in a magazine is that it has a house style throughout - the same font/colour scheme throughout.
Institution: This is the label that produces the magazine. For my magazine, I am going to choose an existing label. My chosen label is between Bauer Media and Sonic Publishing. I decided to do one of these as I would like to produce a magazine alike to Kerrang! or Rocksound and those are the publishers of these magazines. But, on the other hand, since these publishers already have a magazine aiming at that genre, I figure maybe I would be better off going for IPC Media as they only produce NME which is a more indie based magazine.
Ideology: The messages I want my magazine to convey about my chosen music genre, which will be the more alternative rock scene like magazines such as Kerrang! and Rocksound, and target audience is that
Audience: My chosen audience is both genders, mainly aged from 14 - 20 years olds because I believe that they are most likely to be interested in the bands that I will be putting in my magazine.
Representation: I would like to represent my audience in a positive way and show them as quite bold, different individuals.

Brief

Main Task: Using DTP and an image manipulation programme produce the front page, contents page and a double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.