Names, Price & Release Ideas

Ideas for Names of My Pop Magazine:

Pop: Short, snappy, links to genre, connotations of happiness, bright
New Tunes:
Hits!:

Pop Hits:

Pop Up:

Music Mix:
The Mix:

Prices, Release & Reasons for My Pop Magazine:

£1.50 - (Weekly), less content in each magazine as it comes out more often, I think that this is a good price to ask for a weekly magazine that is aimed at 14 to 25 year olds because I believe that pocket money and weekly allowances would cover this cost each week. I think that is a reasonable price that people in this age category would be happy paying each week for a good quality music magazine.
£2.00 - (Fortnightly),
£3.00 - (Monthly), needs to be more expensive if it comes out less often, more content in each issue. I still think that this is a good price for a monthly music magazine that will have lots of content, I don't think that it is very expensive for what the reader will be getting in each issue. I still think that the people in my target age range will still be able to afford the magazine. This is a very similar price to existing pop magazines that have monthly publication.


Existing Magazines Price & Release:

We Love Pop: Released monthly at £2.99
Top of the Pops Magazine: Released monthly at £2.99
Billboard Magazine: Released weekly at $6.99

Hand Drawn Drafts

Front Cover:

Here I drew a basic draft of a front cover. I have included many conventions on the draft, including a masthead, skyline, plug, footer, bar-code and cover lines. These conventions will allow the reader to identify with the magazine as they would be used to seeing magazines with a similar style. An issue number and date will also be placed on the cover, this information makes it easy for the reader to see whether the magazine is up to date and new. 

Contents Page:
I have created a basic hand drawn draft of a potential layout of a contents page. I have included conventions such as pull quotes, which come from articles within the magazine, these give the reader a sneak peak of what is included in that article. I also have thumbnails/relating pictures to the articles so the reader can get a visual idea of what the article will be about. A conventional 'contents' title is located at the top of the page allowing the reader to easily see what page they are on.





Double Page Spread:
My hand drawn draft of a double page spread also includes typical conventions of a magazine. For example a main image is included, this will be of the artist on the cover therefore making it easy for the reader to make links between the cover and the article they are featured in. Pull quotes will placed around the page showcasing the most interesting or shocking parts of the text. A clear headline will be placed at the top of the left hand page, spread across onto the opposite page.

Creating Looks

Conventions & LIIAR Analysis: Front Page, Contents and Double Page Spread

This is an example of a front cover from Billboard magazine. I think that this cover is quite different to other music magazines I have looked at. The main image is a close-up and is of Beyoncé, a pop star, who is the feature of the issue. The thing that I find to be quite different is that the cover doesn't have much on it, there are no cover or sell lines. It is very focused on one story which links to the cover image. Having the main image be of a famous pop star would attract her fans as they would be interested in seeing what is being said about her in the magazine.
However the magazine does include some conventions such as a bar code which allows the customer to buy the product and the company collect information about sales of the product. And a skyline is also on the product which gives the reader some more information about what else is going to be in the magazine. The masthead is placed clearly at the top of the page enabling the reader to clearly see what magazine it is they are buying.
L: Beyonce is the main feature on the cover as there are no thumbnails or other pictures, her eyes are staring down the camera drawing the reader in. The image is close-up, therefore portraying strong emotion.
I: Billboard Magazine, 'Billboard': gives the impression of big news, showing something to the world.
I: Beyonce and her new album that are being publicized are personal, this is shown through the use of a close-up shot and eye contact with the reader.
A: I think that this magazine is aimed at people who are fans of pop music, and that are fairly young. I think this because I believe that many young people who enjoy pop music would know who Beyonce is and would enjoy listening to her music.
R: I believe that Beyoncé is being represented as quite intimate and personal as she has been presented in close-up shot on the cover.

The contents page of this issue includes conventions such as overall subjects that allow the reader to get an idea of what each group of articles is about. Some of the articles are presented in bold font which makes these articles stand out to the reader. These articles may be feature articles or may be exclusive to the magazine and are therefore being pointed out to the reader.
The word 'contents' is clearly printed at the top of the page this helps the reader to distinguish what is going to be on the page.
Images are located on the page that relate to stories on the page, these give the reader a visual interpretation of what will be included in the article. These images also have page numbers placed over them so the reader can find the article they relate to.
A music chart has been included on the contents page, I believe this to be a specific attribute of Billboard magazine as I have seen this repeated throughout all of the issues I have looked at.
Page numbers are located next to the articles, this makes it easy for the reader to find the page which has the article they would like to read on. There is a clear colour scheme running throughout the page this helps to show continuation.

The headline of the article is placed at the top of the page in large font, this can give the reader a quick interpretation of what the article is going to be about. Next to the headline is the by line, telling us who wrote the article.
The main image is clearly displayed on one side of the spread along with the name of the artist telling us about who she is if you were not familiar. A small paragraph is placed over this image giving us information about the artist and the article.
The spread has a clear colour scheme running throughout, yellow, orange and black. The article is written in black, easily readable against the white background. I think that the orange colour is in relation to the image of Janet Jackson on the right side of the spread.
Page numbers are also included this allows the reader to locate the page through using the contents page. A drop cap is also used on the right side of the page to easily display to the audience where to start reading.
A pull quote is located on the right side of the page, it stands out as it has been placed in a brightly coloured box. As it stands out the reader will be attracted to it. Pull quotes are usually interesting quotes from the article, so if the reader sees these first they will be more intrigued as to what is included in the whole story.
A caption is located underneath the headline, this short sentence gives the reader a quick overview of what the article is about.
image info

Ideas for Colour Scheme, Font & Costume

After researching the interests of my target audience I have now tried to gain different ideas about potential colour schemes and fonts. I have also been researching costumes and dress that is typical of my genre.

This image board that I have created is made up of images of different pop stars on magazine covers and magazine photo shoots. I have looked at all these images because I wanted to look for similarities between costumes and dress within the way pop stars are presented in the media.
I have tried to get my images from magazines that have a similar target audience as I can get inspiration and ideas about how to present my 'pop star' on and in my magazine. After looking at these images I have found that these celebrities are usually presented in a positive way, the images do not give bad ideas or connotations I think this is because many of these pop stars are known by and have many fans of a younger age and they can be easily influenced. I think that depending what age range the music stars fan base is has an impact on the way they are presented in a magazine.
I also think they are styled in a way that fits the particular issue of the magazine, for example I don't think you would find a cover star in a vest top and shorts when the issue came out in December.

These are the fonts used for existing music magazines that are of the same genre mine will be.

The image board above I have made out of potential fonts I could use for my music magazine. I look at the fonts used on the front covers of music magazines that had a  similar target audience to me. Also when I was collecting images for my costume mood board I noticed that most of the magazine names where written in capital letters, I think this effect is used so that the title stands out on the page. Out of the three existing fonts I have placed above I believe that Billboard magazine is the most similar to what I want my magazine to be. I think that their masthead font is effective because the letters are sharp and stand out on a page. They have used primary colours to fill empty spaces in the letters which I think appeals to a unisex audience. 

I have looked at fonts that would appeal to my target audience, ones where the lettering is big and can be made out clearly.  

When I looked at existing magazines I noticed that most of them had three main colours throughout the magazine. here I have created three different colour schemes that each have three colours, as my magazine is unisex I have tried to avoid having the majority of colours in a scheme be pink or blue as I think that this would make my magazine be seen as just for one gender.

Audience Research: Reader Profile

After looking at the audience demographics of Billboard magazine, I have decided that I am going to target my magazine at a unisex audience and aim it at people above the age of 13 and lower than 26 because I think this allows me to think of a wide range of ideas that will appeal to this audience.  Most of my target audience will be in the socio-economic group E or D because many will be students and therefore relying on parents or a small, not well paid job for money.

I have created a mood board to show interests of my readers. I have included images of role models, possessions, hobbies, TV Shows they would watch and music idols.

Role Models: Because my magazine is aimed at a fairly young audience they probably look up to people who they see often in the media and would recognise them easily. In the image board I used a picture of Lauren Conrad to show a role model because I think that many young girls look up to her, and see her as inspiration. She has written books and been on TV so people would recognise her.
TV Shows: People between the ages of 13 and 26 tend to have free or leisure time in their lives so they are able to watch TV a lot. I have included popular TV Shows such as 'The X Factor' and 'Made in Chelsea' for the reality side of TV, also the X Factor has a music element. The reality genre of TV appeals to this age group, as people find them entertaining and comedic. There are many other popular TV Shows that fit into this category such as 'TOWIE' and `The Voice'. Shows such as 'Homeland' may be popular to the older people i the age group because of the dramatic element they have, and these types of shows are shown past 9 O'Clock and may not appeal to the younger people in the age group because they contain violence and bad language.
Possessions: Young people often have the latest technologies, mobile phones and iPods are very common now to the younger generation. Digital cameras are available readily to consumers and cameras are now part of the everyday smart phone. Social media sites such as Tumblr and Instagram allow people to share their photos online.
Hobbies: As mentioned before I believe that people in my target audience will have quite a bit of free time as many of them will be students. Many students like to take part in an out of school activity, whether it be them joining a dance school or learning to play a musical instrument. These activities often become hobbies. In the image board below I have included a photo of the popular book 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' as I think reading is a hobby enjoyed by all ages, therefore applying to all people in my target age group.
Music Idols: As well as including role models in my image board I have included popular music artists such as Beyonce and Justin Timberlake as I think that many young people like their music and look up to them. They are big in the industry and represent their genre as they are recognisable to most people and their songs are often played on the radio and in the charts.


The reader of my magazine would be similar to those who read Billboard magazine, because it is aimed at a unisex, young audience. I think that my target audience will want interesting and easy to read articles in the magazine because it is about music, I don't think they would like articles that contain heavy themes as I don't think that young people would enjoy reading those articles and they may not be able to mentally handle them. I also think that my target audience would expect to see images of famous artists, articles and columns about these artists in my magazine that they find to be entertaining and informative. I am going to appeal to this particular target audience by having my magazine include exclusive interviews with famous pop stars that my target audience would know, by including freebies such as posters that would make people want to buy the magazine, by making my magazine look aesthetically pleasing to a unisex audience by choosing a colour scheme that would appeal to both genders.

Audience of Billboard Magazine

To analyse the audience for pop magazines I am going to look at Billboard magazine.
Reader profiles are very helpful when looking at the audience of a magazine as they can tell you a lot about them, for example whether the majority of readers are male or female, or what their average income is.

Billboard: (example, Taylor Swift)

Billboard manages to appeal to a wide audience, they make their content available to all ranges of people due to the use of social media. They have expanded their brand to be available on all different media platforms.

Billboard is owned by Prometheus Global Media, a diversified company with leading assets in the media and entertainment arenas, including: Music (Billboard and its related conferences and events, including The Billboard Latin Music Awards), Entertainment (The Hollywood Reporter, Backstage, ShowEast, Cineasia, and CineEurope); and Advertising & Marketing (Adweek, Adweek Conferences and The CLIO Awards)


After looking on the Billboard website I found information about the audience of the magazine:

The information below is what I found on the Billboard website about who they believe thier audience to be and some statistical information about them.

Now bigger, more beautiful, and more culturally expansive than ever before, Billboard magazine—the authority on all things music—is the only music publication that reaches a highly influential audience that sets pop culture trends.

With a total readership of 48K*, the magazine is read with keen focus every week by the business leaders and power players who are driving the music business—and the culture—forward, including:

• Chart-topping artists
• Powerful artist managers
• Influential film & TV music executives
• Top record stats-label executives
• Award-winning songwriters
• The hottest producers

• Fortune 500 brand executives
• Major promoters
• Leading digital/mobile entertainment executives
• Key venue operators
• A-List agents

COLLEGE GRADUATES

68%

POST-GRADUATE DEGREE

25%

SENIOR/UPPER MANAGEMENT TITLE

49%

AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD INCOME

$212K+

AVERAGE NET WORTH

$1MM+

ENGAGEMENT:

TOTAL READERSHIP

48K

60%

of readers receive their copy of Billboard at home, an excellent environment for engaged, in-depth reading.

After looking at the information about the audience of billboard magazine I think that I will be able to produce a good reader profile for my own magazine. 

45%

of readers save their copy of Billboard, keeping it close at hand to refer to throughout the year.

71%

of Billboard readers spend 30 minutes or more per week with Billboard media.*

*Billboard magazine, Billboard.biz, etc.

Market Research

Existing Products:

• We Love Pop (UK)
• Top of the Pops (UK)
• Billboard (International)

About the products:

Top of the Pops: Is a monthly publication published by Immediate Media Company. Generally aimed towards younger girls, it contains less music content than when first published in 1995, and now features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizzes, song lyrics and posters. Went along with Top of the Pops TV Program until it was cancelled in 2006.

We Love Pop: Egmont UK Ltd. We Love Pop is a monthly mag for pop loving teenagers, or anyone with very good tastes in magazines.

'We have the best free gifts, the funniest interviews, the coolest fashion, ten gorgeous posters each time, a different celebrity agony aunt every issue and loads more general pop amazingness that you won’t find anywhere else.'

Available in all good newsagents, supermarkets, WH Smiths, Boots, Superdrug and Easons in Ireland



Billboard: Founded in 1894, was originally used for advertising and it's original name was 'Billboard Advertising', in the 1930's after the development of the jukebox it began publishing music charts and was re-named 'The Billboard', at the start of 1961 it was re-named to 'Billboard Music Week'. 1963, was called 'Billboard'

Other music magazines:

• Q
• Mojo
• Entertainment Weekly
• Vibe