1. In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I feel that my product makes use of many forms and conventions of music magazines in the sense that I have focused my attention upon small details (such as barcodes, price and date) as well as the more crucial conventions such as the masthead pull quote and coverlines.
I did not model my product solely on one inspiration magazine- I instead chose to extract conventions and different features from several music magazines e.g. MOJO, Q and NME. I have focused my photography, editing and font style upon MOJO covers, as my intentions were to create a classic music magazine that focused mainly on music from the past. It was therefore helpful to have issues of MOJO to refer to when constructing my front cover, contents page and double page spread. In my opinion, my front cover does not directly reflect the graphology of my inspiration MOJO cover, but I instead used it as inspiration for the music genre I wanted to focus on. For instance, MOJO magazine is centred around classic artists, and celebrating vintage sound. Due to this, I chose MOJO as my inspiration as it gave me a clear idea of what I wanted to achieve in terms of the ‘feel’ of the magazine. In retrospect, I would have made my masthead and all other text on my front cover far bigger in order for it to stand out to potential readers and to fill the page more effectively.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In terms of my front cover representing particular social groups, I feel that it targets both vintage fashion and music enthusiasts. For instance, the cover model reflects a ‘retro’ style in the clothes and make-up she is wearing. These aspects of the mise-en-scene, in some ways, present a stereotype of the audience that my magazine is aimed at. Due to this, it cannot be said that my magazine front cover is representative of a range of social groups- it is , ultimately, aimed at a niche audience. The fact that my cover model is a strong representation of the social group my magazine is aimed at shows that it supports dominant ideas surrounding this classic/retro social group. Furthermore, it is evident that I have somewhat conformed to some other representations within my genre (I have featured a retro music artist on my cover, which is a common feature of classic music magazines such as MOJO).
In terms of appealing to different racial, religious and age groups, I believe that my front cover could appeal to almost any specific groups within these social categories. This is because my cover model is not dressed inappropriately (so would not cause offense to the vast majority of religious/racial/age groups). However, my main coverline is focused upon LUCEE’s “life-long battle with alcohol” which could be interpreted as a ‘taboo’ subject by some of these social groups- e.g. certain religions do not condone alcoholic consumption. Therefore, in order to appeal to all social groups, I would have to adjust my coverlines and stories to suit the values of certain religions, for instance.
3. Who would be the audience for your media product?
When considering the audience for my music magazine, I originally felt that it should be aimed at young males and females that took an interest in classic music. However, now that I have created my product, I feel that the audience could be far wider than just the young people interested in retro artists. For instance, my magazine could be enjoyed by a wide range of ages (as long as they are interested in this particular music genre). Also, any racial group would be able to appreciate my magazine as classic music can be enjoyed by anyone- unlike genres such as ‘R&B’ and ‘gangster rap’ that maybe appeals more to specific racial groups more than others. However, in terms of fashion social groups, my magazine would be more likely to appeal to ‘indie’, ‘hipster’ or ‘retro-throwbacks’. In this way, my magazine does limit the audience to certain social groups. My magazine is ultimately aimed at a niche audience, although this does not necessarily mean that people outside of this niche audience cannot appreciate the artists featured within it. The reason as to why I chose such a specific target audience is that I felt there was a significant gap in the market for magazines aimed at classic music fans. Apart from MOJO magazine, there are virtually no other magazines that celebrate the music of past artists, and I feel that it was an innovative idea to add to this genre of music magazines.
Portfolio for a typical member of my target audience...
Name: Rose Edison
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Nationality: British
Background: Rose lives in a suburban appartment along with two housemates, and attends Chichester University studying Fine Art. At weekends, she works as a fragrances sales assistant in John Lewis, and volunteers in a local charity shop when she can. She also gives occasional performances of acoustic guitar at a nearby cocktail bar.
Likes: Shopping, ballet, Etta James, hand embroidery, interior design, herbal tea, playing acoustic guitar and painting.
Dislikes: Sport, rain, night clubs, spiders, R&B, and neon tights.
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