Research and Planning: Initial Analysis

My task for the main coursework is to produce a music magazine, including a cover, contents page and double page spread. At first I had no idea what genre of magazine I was going to create and so I researched a variety of different types of magazines to help me decide.

I first looked at NME, which stands for “New Music Express”, and is an indie/ rock magazine whose target audience range from teens to 30 year olds. The reader is probably one who is quite intelligent, but has a slight rebellion about them. The magazine appeals to its target audience by using ‘angst’ colours like black and red, and a mix of colloquial and standard English.

BBC Music is a classical music magazine whose audience are likely to be people who have a specific interest in classical music or they may play an instrument themselves. Generally the age of the readers will be older, late 40s/ 50s, however any age group may read it if they have a specific interest in it. The reader is likely to be middle or upper class and is likely to be intelligent. This is someone who is a hard worker and got good, consistent grades at school. To appeal to this audience BBC music has included a sophisticated main font and a well dressed and poised model.

Scratch is a HipHop magazine aimed at 16-25 year olds, the listeners of this genre of music are likely to be males who go out drinking in the streets with a gang. They are most likely to be from a working class background and would wear hoodies. To appeal to this audience the magazine has a main image of a rapper star wearing a hoodie

Blender is a general music magazine, which includes a variety of different music genres to appeal to a wider audience. The magazine is aimed at young men who have a general interest in music. The magazine appeals to the target audience by using seductive pictures of celebrity women and including information on many different artists.