Task 9-Formal Proposal

Before I start my formal proposal I am going to briefly discuss the research I

have discovered and how they are going to influence my magazine.

General Information on Music Magazines

Music magazines must have the right content. You need to find out

what people like, as this is what will make the magazine sell. By giving

the audience what they want, rather than keeping to small niche

markets, allows the magazine apply to a wider range audience. I have

done this already and I have found out exactly what colours and

content should be in my rock music magazine.

Music magazines are often released weekly or every two weeks as they

reflect what is happening at the time. If a band splits up or something

happens in the music world- then the music magazine of that specific

genre would feel obliged to write about it.

My magazine music must have its own style, so that it is original. It needs

to stand out against the others on the magazine rack, I need to make it

look different somehow but maintain the professional aspect.

I need to include informational articles inside, specifically double page

spreads. These need to reflect the tone of the magazine and also

should be based on the most trending artists/bands- this will increase

the sale of the magazine.

Each article must have exciting content. It needs to grip the reader and

involve them. I want my magazine to offer escapism and interest the

reader.

Summary of my research of conventions of music magazines

Front Cover

Masthead at the top of the cover

Coverlines, main coverline anchoring an image, being bolder and

larger.

Striking image of an artist – usually a medium close up.

Rule of Thirds

Bar code

Price

Date

Contents Page

Contents titled at the top to inform the reader

Possibly the date and the issue number

Columns to divide the text

One central image and other smaller thumbnails

Page numbers

Title of magazine at the top

Same Colour scheme as the front cover

Double Page Spread

Main image anchoring the article

Article either Question and Answers or Detailed

Paragraphs are divided to make it easier to read

Dramatic headlines to grip the reader- often play on words.

All of the aspects of the magazine I have just covered are connected. This

is because they all have the same house style; - same colour scheme, use

of font is maintained, magazine title is on all of the pages, varying in size,

the content of the magazine is linked throughout to the specific genre.

My chosen genre for my music magazine which I shall produce is going to

be Rock. After research I have found out a lot about this genre- as I have

never looked or really listened to it before. I learnt about the different

bands and what people like to listen to. I also learnt about the different

conventions and styles for this typical genre- most magazines using the

colour scheme red, white and black. I think this is a good genre for me to

choose as I have all the information I need and I know how to execute the

procedure.

Below are images of magazine front covers of which I would like to base

my own music magazine on.

Contents Pages

Double Page Spread

Target Audience Research

From the results of my questionnaire, I am able to understand exactly what

changes I need to make for my magazine. I now know which colour

schemes appeal to people, in my rock magazine case; red, white and

black. I also know that my target audience is both females and males

aged 14-19 so after my questionnaire I was able to see that they liked

modern content and bands. To conclude, my magazine cover needs to

have an attractive, striking model which dark make up and clothing to

enhance the rock genre. It needs to have be black and white, with a

bright colour to draw attention to striking content (such as the colour red).

The cover lines need to be striking so that they can grip the reader- using

some sort of play on words or alliteration is the most effective way to do

this.

The contents page should include all the correct information, I am using

both information from my Focus group and research of the music

magazine NME to use the idea of the band index. I think that I need to

include images on the contents page to help liven up the page as it will

make the magazine more attractive. I want to maintain the colour

scheme so that it enhances the professionalism of the magazine.

The article which I am going to create for my double page spread should

have language which is personal – colloquial and informal , so that it

maintains the readers interest. Having the article in an question and

answer style helps to divide the information and doesn’t bore the reader.

There should be an image anchoring the article which links with the genre

and tone of the magazine.

The target audience which I researched have already bought music

magazines previously but believed them to be overpriced. The majority of

my results showed that they would like a magazine which is £1.00-£1.50.

The profile I did for my target audience gave me the idea that magazines

were more targeted at males rather than females. I hope to achieve a

magazine which is aimed at both females and males as this doesn’t

restrict the target audience. I am going to use information from both the

focus groups and also questionnaires to successfully create a magazine

which covers what the target audience want.

Having summarised the results I will now proceed with my Formal Proposal

and begin planning the design and features of my own Rock music

magazine.

Formal Proposal

The Title of my magazine is going to be MOSH (MAG). I have chosen this

magazine title because I wanted it to be related to music in some way- so

it was easily acknowledgeable as a music magazine, just by the

masthead. ‘Moshing’ is to do with gigs - a typical action at a rock gig,

which is what genre my magazine is focused on.

The genre I have chosen is rock. I have chosen this genre because I

believe that it is an interesting genre to cover. I have never experienced

anything with this genre and I have found it very interesting to research.

This genre is very popular so I think that it will be applied to a wide range

target audience.

My target audience for my music magazine is going to be focused at

both females and males between the ages of 14 and 18.As this age is

rather young and after the research from my questionnaire I am able to

understand that between these ages they appear to focus at modern

things.

I want my front cover to have an attractive female on the cover, which

will appear to both males and females- females being that they aspire to

be her. I want her to be wearing dark make up with dark hair. She should

be wearing dark clothes- specifically a leather jacket and other studded

items of clothing. The colour scheme for the front cover is going to be red,

white and black as after research, this is typical for a rock magazine to

have- and also what my target audience wanted. I would hope to

interpret NME’s style magazine and develop it in some way.

I want my contents page to be informative and be able to set the tone for

the contents of the rest of the magazine. I want it to contain a mixture of

both images and text to help attract the readers interest and also to

maintain it. At the top, there needs to be a title ‘Contents’ to inform the

reader on what page they are on- also the date and issue number- for

extra information. The colour scheme should remain the same for the

magazine to maintain the genre and tone of the whole magazine.

I want my double page spread to appear simple, yet effective. I want

there to be one main image, taking up the left hand side of the page,

possibly of a long shot of the artist on the front. The article is going to be

an interview of the artist, in the format of a question and answer.