Uses and Gratifications of Music Magazines

McQuail (1983) classified the following common reasons for media use:

Information

• finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world - in music magazines the readers can gain an insight into the world of music which they are initially interested.
• seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices - the magazines can sometimes allow the readers to help make those decisions that they feel could be important to their lives, the magazines can influence these decisions and choices of the reader.
• satisfying curiosity and general interest - music magazines inform the reader about recent news on topics such as bands and tour dates of interest.
• learning/self-education - music magazines can be read by their audiences to learn about the bands and music style that interests them. People may also buy the magazine to extend their knowledge of music further.

Personal Identity

• finding reinforcement for personal values - people can read magazines based upon a typical musical genre and find within them views which could be used personally and seen as meaningful
• finding models of behavior - music magazines can easily and frequently depict character, such as bands or singers which can influence the readers behavior and ways of life.
• identifying with valued others (in the media) - music magazines containing interviews and personal views by the bands and singers can allow the reader to draw some identification between themselves and the artist.

Integration and Social Interaction

• Gaining insight into the circumstances of others - similar to identifying with them, the reader can read and learn about some of the situations and hardships many artists can endure.
• identifying with others and gain a sense of belonging - others with a similar choice in music can interact with the reader through pages on magazines; knowing they feel similar or some matters helps the reader gain a sense of belonging.
• finding a basis for conversation and social interaction - many people that enjoy similar music often use this as a base for conversation. music magazine articles also allow a thread for conversation; about a band or tour for example.

Entertainment

• escaping from problems - some readers will read a magazine to take them somewhere else. a music magazine containing an article about a recent performance by a band can easily be an escape for music fans
• Relaxing and filling time - readers may see the music magazine just as an aid to relax or fill time due to the fairly easy reading written in them commonly.

Summary of the conventions I plan to use

Throughout my progress I have noted certain conventions which I will follow when creating my music magazine. The first conventions that I will ensure I use within my magazine relate to the front cover of the magazine, I have followed conventions from two music magazines Kerrang and NME. The front cover of these magazines has allowed me to understand what music magazine audiences want from a front cover to attract them, for example the house style of the magazines Kerrang and NME are both similar when considering the front cover. Below are some conventions of the magazines front covers:

• always just one image of the main band in the magazine that issue
• always have the title of the magazine in obvious view (but can be obscured partly by images of band or artist)
• have tag-lines of articles around the edge of the image and one main headline in the centre of the page

The conventions of the magazines inside articles are also similar:

• one large image on one page, may spread across the second page
• the article written either in one area on the page opposite the image or across the bottom half of the pages

I plan to follow these conventions when creating my magazine however I will follow them loosely, meaning that I can add my own uniqueness to my work and to follow through with my aim to be a music magazine aimed more at a female audience.

Ideology and Music

All musical genres have an ideology: a set of ideas and values that fit the genre. Claude Levi-Straus's theory of binary oppositions applies here. in western cultrue we often think in pairs of ideas that oppose each other eg love/hate and war/peace.


General Ideologies

Pop/R'n'B

• more conformist
• slick
• butter produced
• conscious of good image
• less obviously sexual/euphimistic
• nodrugs/alcohol or veiled references
• more passive
• apolitical
• universal messages for all
• mass audiences
• mainstream
• prosocail
• non violent
• no swearing
• conspicous wealth
• about love

Rock/HipHop

• more rebellious
• rawer
• less over produced
• (pretend to) not care about their image
• sexual
• open drug/alcohol references
• more aggressive
• political
• about the artists
• self expression
• self indulgent
• niche audiences
• outside mainstream
• violence
• antisocial
• swearing
• act poor
• less about love

Mood Board - inspirations and ideas

Musicians



Genres

• Rock - Muse, Linkin Park, Kids in Glass Houses, The Killers, Nickelback, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 30 Seconds to Mars


• Pop - Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, Wonderland, Bruno Mars, Kylie Minogue, Duffy, Beyonce


• Dance - Manian, Basshunter, Roll Deep, Eddy Wata


• R'n'B - Rhianna, Chris Brown, Neyo, Jason Derulo, Taio Cruz, Eminem, Timberland

Conventional Camerawork

Front cover and main articles

• long shot of the artist


• no real background scenery on the front cover


• sometimes a lot more background in main articles


• close ups


• tilted angles


• generally straight shots


• some shot at a low angle

Other articles

• mainly close ups


• cropped images


• images similar to 'match on action'

Magazine Titles

Existing

• Kerrang


• NME


• Q


• Rolling Stones

New Ideas

• CentralRock - simple


• Brazen - different


• Quasar - star like object: showing the stars

Fonts

Conventional

• arial
• franklin gothic book
• lucida sans
• tahoma

Unconventional

• bradley hand ITC
• candy buzz BTN
• smarty pants BTN
• weathered SF

Choices

Music Magazine Genre
Rock

Target Audience
Age: 15-19
Gender: Female
Lifestyle: Student, Music Enthusiast
Interests: Music Bands, Tours, Festivals, Music Related Fashion
Socio-Economic Group: C2DE
In some ways this is an unconventional target audience due to that most rock music magazines are prodominently male read.
However, I feelthat there is a gap in the market for this magazine as it will focus more on the female music fans.
I feel I will be appealing to a large majority of the music magazine market, as it will be a magazine not completely unique but enough so that it will be more attractive to female audiences.

Name of Magazine
Central Rock - This idea is simple and to the point but could attract a nake audience more.
Quasar - This is a star like object giving it a feminine touch, however this could propose a problem with the pronounciation and it can not be abbrieviated because of the music magazine Q which is already in circulation.
Brazan - This is a short sharp word and could reflect the individuality and differences of the readers. However it could appeal to a large male audience.

Research Methods

There are four different types of research methods:

• Primary - research carried out personally
• Secondary - research found from other people or sources
• Qualitative - more to do with smaller numbers of people, this helps to gain a perspective of the persons opinions
• Quantitative - this finds any patterns or trends, it involves asking large numbers of people. generally in a questionnaire

Primary Research Methods include:

• questionnaire
• interview
• textual analysis
• survey
• online poll
• focus groups
• email
• text
• letter

Secondary Research Methods include:

• internet (industry websites and individual websites)
• books (mainly for media theory)
• newspapers and newspapers archives

Advantages of Primary Research

• can find reliable information
• guaranteed to find the responses you require

Disadvantages of Primary Research

• may not get enough responses

Advantages of a Questionnaire

• quick responses
• easy to compete
• direct answers
• easily distributed

Disadvantages of a Questionnaire

• people can lie
• sometimes difficult to get people to complete

Advantages of Email

• free
• simple to use
• fairly informal is okay

Disadvantages of Email

• junk mail
• misinterpretation of questions
• need the internet
  

Research and Planning: Comparison of two magazines

NME

Brief History

• was first published in the March of 1952
• it became the first newspaper to publish a singles chart
• it was initially published in a non-glossy tabloid style

Typical Content

• music charts
• music reviews
• concert dates
• music news
• upcoming bands/artists
• albums and reviews
• movies

Typical Reader

The typical reader of NME magazine is, through analysing data found on NRS (national readership survey), is a male between the ages of 15 and 44 within the socio economic group ABC1. The readership is largely male.

Housestyle
NME magazine has a ypical housestyle which they follow each issue. The front page layout always consists of a large NME in red lettering in the top left corner, which makes it instantly recogniseable. The typical style of the front cover also consists of a one main image of a band or artist with a large headline over the bottom or middle of the image. Taglines are placed all throughout the main page but are mostly placed on the left of the page with then just a few on the right hand side of the page, which can mainly consist of the introducing new acts or competitions.
Inside the magazine the main double page spread that can be seen is a large one side image of the band, artist or depicting the topic, the ight hand side page will then have the article, usually an interview or story about the topic.

Social Groups represented in NME

NME has a very much male following however 26% of the readers are female. Each reader is normally of about 23 years old and are normally huge music fans, they tend to be loyal fans of the magazine and the bands that are normally discussed in it. The readers also seem to be influential people that follow trends or are part of the small groups that influence others.

The general reader of NME got to gigs and live events, and according to a NME reader profile they are huge money spenders; spending £684 on clothing and shoes and £541 on gaming and other items of technology.

Kerrang!

Brief History

• was first published in June 1981
• it was initially a supplement for "sounds" newspaper
• AC/DC was the first image on the cover of the first issue
• United Newspapers sold Kerrang! to EMAP in 1991

Typical Content

• interviews
• new releases
• gigs
• competitions
• music charts
• bands personal views
• fans letters

Typical Reader

The typical reader is a male between the ages of 15 and 44 within the socio economic group ABC1. The readership is largely male.

Housestyle

On the front cover of Kerrang! there is usually just the once large images and the title of just one article, possibly suggesting that they feel no need for more than one main article. There is also just a few tag lines.

The inside pages of the magazine usually have one large image and then the article spread around the page on the left and right hand side of the pages.

Social Groups represented in Kerrang!

The Kerrang! readers are proud of their individuality and typical of modern youth culture they are avid games, music and movies consumers. The average age that reads Kerrang is nineteen.

I managed to obtain the information for this task through using the internet. The readership figures I found were from the national readership survey website (www.nrs.co.uk). Other information was found from ISSUU.com, this website allowed me to see a double page spread explaining and giving details of what NME feels their readers are like; one problem with this is that it is fairly stereotypical.