How does your media product represent particular social groups?For the three models that featured across my four pages, all three of them were white, male teenagers so this immediately suggests that this group of people is my primary audience.

Gender

Arguably, the music scene, I feel, is dominated by men. This means that when a sample of musicians is taken to appear in a magazine and represent the industry, it is likely that there will be a higher proportion of men. In addition, the market research I performed was primarily answered by men, so the results of my survey reflected a mainly male opinion, meaning I should target them as their contributions mostly influenced the decisions I made regarding the magazine. The most effective way of targeting a particular audience is to represent them in the magazine therefore I have used only males. However, my intention was never to completely exclude females from my magazine. These are just three models that appeared in four pages out of an 80 page publication so it is an unfortunate example. Throughout my magazine I would have had an ideal ratio of 3 male models for every female. Another more practical reason is I didn’t have much access to female models as they aren’t any suitable candidates in my friendship group. As for the way in which I presented my product to epitomise males in the media, I chose not to in anyway sexualise the models as it is instead often done with women models for the male’s gaze- had I included women artists then it could have been a possibility. Instead I focused more on their abilities and actions rather than looks which is a typical representation of men in the media. Furthermore, the style of the article on the double-page-spread reflects the interests of a male as there is less focus on feelings/ emotions linking into escapism, which is more likely to be found in a gossip tabloid for women, and more concentration on facts and field-specific terminology. Also, on my front cover I used semantic fields, for example: Samu.L.Bond ‘erupts’ back onto the scene with ‘Vesuvius’ and he ‘spills’ all, ‘Second Heist’ ‘steal’ the show, there is also a link with ‘wanted’ artists and a picture of one having a mug shot taken. These semantic fields (crime, natural

disaster and police) have more masculine connotations and are more appropriate for a male audience.

Ethnicity

Once again I have represented only one ethnicity with the use of my models and this is White British. Generally, in music there is quite a diverse range of backgrounds- we see a lot of African American artists especially in genres such as R&B and Pop, however the ethnicity holds less of a share in the Indie/ Alternative category I went for. It is a similar situation as with the gender where I would use minorities elsewhere in the issue but my three examples do not fairly embody what would feature in the rest of the magazine. My survey did not include a question about ethnicity so I cannot identify any other than the obvious White British. Representing only one race could be problematic as it fails to connect/ relate to others therefore deterring them from buying the product. Realistically, the only other commonly reoccurring ethnicities for this genre are African American and Scandinavian. I would have included models with these backgrounds but unfortunately there is not much diversity in York so it is difficult to get hold of models. This lack of diversity may not be a problem depending on where the product is distributed though. For example if it is only to be distributed locally then it may not be as big a problem as if it were dispersed nationally to large cities which have much higher levels of ethnic minorities (London, Birmingham etc.). The language I used is Standard English, rather than any kind of slang or American variety as White Brits are generally presented as being more educated and therefore using more Standard English than perhaps those of African American descent who are seen as stereotypically being part of an embedded speech community.

Age

I have used teenagers for my music magazine to directly represent the audience. The magazine’s USP is the focus on young, upcoming artists which to some extent goes to explain the young ages of the models. I don’t have access to more mature models (21-35

years old) as I am in a college environment, however if I did, I would have featured them. This is because regardless of the fact I have a young target audience, some of the most successful Indie artists are older and I concluded you would want to hear about a big musician in your favourite genre despite age a 10 year age difference. It also gives them a mature figure to look up to. Considering my young audience I have challenged many representations by deciding to use a sophisticated approach and treat them more as if they are adults. It means I use more complex lexis and grammar as I feel they have been educated enough to understand it. The design is also sleek and simplistic whereas many others publishers would have chosen an intense, packed style with lots of content piled on. I have challenged the stereotypical representation of teenagers by showing them as successful with one being the main feature of my magazine, and also reflective on their past experiences with his quote “Fame had distorted my view of what was genuinely important”.

Social Group

My magazine is aimed for those who do (or want to) belong in the indie culture. This social group prides themselves on being individual and are represented in the media as quite cool and sometimes eccentric. I have represented this eccentricity with one model wearing a sheet of paper with holes for the eyes and mouth, over his face. It is this quirky style that provokes curiosity and has become an almost unconventional convention for the Indie lifestyle. They’ve also got a reputation for being highly knowledgeable about music to the point of being arrogant so it is important to use lots of terminology and show a knowledgeable understanding of music. Consequently, because of their concentration on content there is no need to sexualise models unlike with Pop. Instead, models are posing in a way which shows a confliction of emotions as Indie followers are stereotypically seen as being more open with their emotions and would be more enticed by someone they can relate to. My use of black and white photography on the front cover is another stylistic feature commonly used for/ by an indie demographic as it connotes an abnormal attitude or outlook on life. As Indie is all about avoiding the mainstream and being the first to discover artists, I have included mainly unknown acts and put great emphasis on the potential side of things (my tagline epitomises that, as does the cover line regarding wanted artists). Indie followers thrive off of this exclusivity. I represented this social group by having a concentration on emotions.

Class

It is difficult to assign a class to my young audience as it is likely they do not have a full-time job and their status is instead based on their family. However, generally Indie fans belong in the middle class, this is supported by their tendencies to have expensive, unique fashion and an educated but pretentious approach to music. The middle class is represented in the media through: use of Standard English therefore less dialect and colloquialisms, a witty tone if the topic is not serious as they enjoy more sophisticated humour (rather than slapstick gags) and fully dressed models though not necessarily formally dressed as long as it is stylish. I feel I have conformed to these representations with my final product. Furthermore, the colour scheme of black, white and red that I exercised is a classy, tasteful, mature palette rather than the garish yellows and blues commonly found in publications aimed at a lower class of people. The hidden positioning and small size of the price on the front cover shows it is not trying to be sold through low prices as this can give the brand a cheap image which I wanted to avoid.