1. AS MEDIA
FOUNDATION
PORFOLIO
MUSIC MAGAZINE
KIRSTY SMITH

2. Contents Page :
3-5 – Analysed music magazines
9-13 – Music magazine ideas
14 – Questionnaire
15-19- Research results
20-25 – Techniques used in editing pictures
26-31 – Evaluation Questions

3. The three magazines i was annotating were ‘Top Of
The Pops’, ‘DJ’ and ‘Kerrang’. These three
magazines are appealing to very different target
audiences. Kerrang uses the technique of
onomatopoeia in the title of ‘Kerrang’ the lettering
appears to be smashed up, as if it cannot
contain the music; the sound ‘Kerrang’ is
meant to be produced when strumming a
guitar. We know from the front cover of this
magazine, that it is appealing to an older
audience as everyone on the front cover is
middle aged and also, the very eye catching
picture of a musician on the front cover is
holding his a guitar in a way that is presented
to be an extension of his manhood. We can
see this from the position of the guitar and the
way he is holding it therefore we can assume
that the magazine’s target audience is for
people of an older generation and those who
are into heavy metal. Also, the musician is
very scruffy, untidy and wearing black
suggesting mystery. All this relates to the
heavy metal music genre. There is a large
title with a swear word used but starred (*)
out again suggesting heavy metal is very
intense and this magazine is for an older age
group.
Front cover off KERRANG

4. The magazine ‘DJ’ uses a striking colour scheme
that catches the eye and the colours are very
unisex of baby blue, red and white. However, there
is a large picture of a women in a see through
dress in certain places, this suggest a more male
oriented target audience and it seems that she is
being the sex symbol to get men interested and to
pick up the magazine. Unlike the other two
magazines, this one has no other images bar the
large picture of the female. The topics on the
magazine are very unisex and equal to want
women and men would want to read. the
magazine offers a free bee for the audience. The
topics of plastic surgery suggests a target audience
of people around 20-35. Slang is used on the front
cover and the word ‘heroine’ is used in big
lettering this is another major suggestion that the
target audience is more likely to be in their 20s or
30s. All the magazines have an issue number,
price and date. All have titles and sub titles and
images however they all have different ways off
conveying who their target audience is and all
three have different target audiences.
Front cover of DJ music magazine

5. Top Of The Pops Front Cover
Top of the Pops is appealing to a
completely different target audience. From
the front cover we can pick out things that
suggests it is designed for females in their
teen years. We know this because the
main colour used on the front cover is pink,
and the images on the front cover are
young actors/artists and mainly people
who are popular with the younger girls. The
topics covered in the magazine are easy
for teenage girls to relate to and be
interested in. However there is a topic of
pregnancy on the front page which is a bit
inappropriate for the age of the target
audience. There is slang used on the front
page, again making the age group of the
target audience clear. Also the lettering of
the title is girls with the swirls. The main
picture is of a girl in a well covered up
dress and in a very happy and appropriate
pose. This is another suggestion of a
younger target audience and also of the
female kind because she is not being used
as a sex symbol to get people interested.

6. Top of the Pops is appealing to a
completely different target audience. From
the front cover we can pick out things that
suggests it is designed for females in their
teen years. We know this because the
main colour used on the front cover is pink,
and the images on the front cover are
young actors/artists and mainly people
who are popular with the younger girls. The
topics covered in the magazine are easy
for teenage girls to relate to and be
interested in. However there is a topic of
pregnancy on the front page which is a bit
inappropriate for the age of the target
audience. There is slang used on the front
page, again making the age group of the
target audience clear. Also the lettering of
the title is girls with the swirls. The main
picture is of a girl in a well covered up
dress and in a very happy and appropriate
pose. This is another suggestion of a
younger target audience and also of the
female kind because she is not being used
as a sex symbol to get people interested.
Top of the pops Contents Page:

7. DJ Contents Page:
The contents page for the DJ magazine is
not in keeping with the colour scheme very
much. Its split up from left to right in
different ways of presenting a contents
page. From coloured texts boxes breaking
up the information, to the information being
put in different boxes depending on which
topic it belonged in to imagery used to say
what is on each page. The is a picture at
the bottom of a high tech piece of
equipment suggesting a more mature but
not old age group and it is used a few
times on the page so an informal tone.

8. Kerrang Contents Page :
Kerrang’s contents page is in keeping
with the colour scheme on the front
page. Its in a more formal format but still
very simple and easy to read and
understand. At the bottom, there is a
comment from the editor of the
magazine with a personal message
saying thank you and he has signed it
using a hand written font. This gives it
the more personal touch. There is a
chance to subscribe online so its
promoting its online website. This
magazine would be for someone who
was very interested in their music and
has an interest to know the details of
artists. They offer a free poster to the
readers so gives them a freebie. The
pages contents are split up with bold text
boxes to categorise the subjects in the
magazines and also images used to
show what’s on the certain pages.

9. Double Paged Spread
The Kerrang's double paged spread is pact with information and plenty of detail for the reader to read. This suggests the
readers of the magazines are very interested in their heavy metal music a more mature age and are dedicated to the
magazine . They've used drops tags/caps to break up the amount of text used in the article. All of the images used on the
page is off middle aged men, so its appealing to the people generally interested in their music as there's no females
drawing people into reading the article/magazine and also suggests that the people who read this magazine are defiantly
into their music and are interested. The facial expressions of the people on these pages have very serious expressions
suggesting that the article is serious and also that the people who read it will be serious about their music. There's a red
information bar used on the left hand side of the article and the colours keep with the colour scheme.
Top of the pops double paged spread backs up with the idea that the target audience are young teenagers. We know this
because the information is very little, and it is a simple answer and questions format which is simple and easy to read
through. They promote jls’s website and slang is used at the top in the subtitle again suggesting a younger target audience.
They have big circles with quotes from members of the group which are not music related but humorous for people to read.
This article is more of a joke and to make people laugh rather than the Kerrang's article where it was serious about their
music. The large image of JLS behind bars links in with the title used. The colours used are in keeping with the colour
scheme.
The double paged spread in the DJ magazine is very different than the other two. Its an article about art in music, and
designs and other ways to be involved in music. This is a very artistic page where it shows different types of art and
different ways of being involved in music and different ways of expressing your self. This backs up the idea of the target
audience being in their 20s-30s looking for a way to express themselves in an artistic way. This magazine would appeal to
people who are very artistic. The text is quite a lot of information so would be for people who was interested in this topic.
Its very bright and colourful and very informative. Different fonts used and it seems to suggest a way of different people
coming together and creating something great.

10. Conventions of a music magazine:
• Colour schemes
•Bold titles
•Strap lines
•Master heads
•Bar codes
•Cover lines
• Photography
•Alliteration
•Rhetorical questions
•Date/issue number
•Price
• Mainly the same text style used

11. Front Cover Photography Research
After looking and many music
magazines, near enough all of them use
a front cover with the model on the front
directly looking straight on making eye
contact with the audience. I would like to
incorporate this into my music magazine
because i think it will be the most
effective way to get my readers/ target
audience drawn to my music magazine.
It also looks the most professional when
its done like this. Q magazine is a well
known successful music magazine and
this issue especially to me is most what i
would like to have my music magazine
look like. However it is portraying the
idea of a women on the front cover being
sexy, dark eye make up, lips open, hand
positioned softly on her face. I am
sticking with this idea of having a women
on the front cover however i don't want it
to portray ‘ sexy’

12. Ideas for front Cover lay out
On my music magazine i would want my barcode
discrete like this, with the price and issue number
inside it.
I like the bold text for words and
the use of two different colours.
Also how it is listed. It works
well.
I again like the uses of the colours
and making text bold to get it to
stand out more, also how its listed
on both sides of the model.

13. Ideas For My Contents Page
I like the use of photos in both of these music magazines
and think it would be ideal for my music magazine. I would
want my contents page to be similar to these however have
separate columns for different events and types of topics
set out.
I like the colour
scheme used in this
contents' page and
how busy it looks. I
would want to
incorporate the use
of the separate
topic boxes into my
music magazine.

14. Double Page Spread Ideas
I like the idea of having one
page of a good picture and
the other half full off
information.
It looks clean and tidy and
also the first word being
made big, and a different
text style grabs the readers
eyes into the start of the
text.

15. 5) If you said no why don’t you?
Questionnaire
11) What is your post code?
12) How old are you?
0-18 19-25 26-36 37+

16. Target Audience
The target audience of my music magazine will be people who are interested in POP
and INDIE as it was popular with the audience.
Interview 1
I buy probably at least one music magazine a month. Things i look for is decent
headlines and articles on things i want to know about, the top celebrities and also
interesting pictures.
Laura Jackson 20
Interview 2
The main things I look for when buying music magazine is the genres of music it covers.
If it just covers one type of genre I tend to stay away from it because i like a range of
different music, Also the titles and subtitles , if they don't seem good or interesting I
never buy the magazine.
Elliot Francis 19
Interview 3
I do enjoy music however I don't buy music magazines as they don't tend to interest me,
I feel like most of things inside the magazine aren't relevant and probably aren't true are
just made up. I'd be more likely to buy a music magazine if it was real music people in
there not just celebrities.
Jessica Hogan 18

17. Questionnaires Results
From this research it shows most people don’t buy
music magazines.
Quite a lot of people don’t buy any however 11 people buy at
least one.
Most people who bought the magazines paid no more
than a pound. Some paid between £1-£2 and some £2+
A lot of people listen to music.
Do you buymusic magazines ?
12
18
0
5
10
15
20
yes no
yes/no
numberofpeople
Series1
How many music magazines do you buy a month?
17
11
1 0 0
0
5
10
15
20
0 one to two three to
four
five to six seven +
magazines per month
numberofpeople
Series1
What is the average you spend on a magazine?
17
2
10
0 0
0
5
10
15
20
0-£1 £1.01-£2 £2.01-£3 £3.01-34 £4.01 +
amount of money
numberofpeople
Series1
Do you listin to music?
28
2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
yes no
yes/no
numberofpeople Series1

18. Questionnaires Results
If you said no why don’t you ?
No comments were made.
The small amount of people who didn’t listen to music couldn’t state a reason why they don’t.
There's a wide range of music listened to by people but most
people enjoy all different types of genres.
Quite a lot of people don’t go to music concerts. Majority of people would like to see adverts about the
music gigs going on to make-up and perfume and
clothing adds.
What type of music do you listin to ?
25
28
10
108
28
7
26
2
pop
hip-hop
rap
indie
rock
rnb
grime
dance
other
Do you go music concerts?
9
21
0
5
10
15
20
25
yes no
yes/no
numberofpeople
Series1
What adverts do you like to see?
18, 63%
2, 7%
5, 17%
1, 3%
3, 10%
music/tickets/gigs
perfume
make-up
clothing
other
How much money on average do you earn a year?
8
2
8
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
£0-£4,999 £5000-£8,999 £9000-
£20,000
£20,000+
money
numberofpeople
Series1
Average People earn either £0-4,999 or
£9,999-£20,000

19. Questionnaire Results
Again a wide range of different genres of music and most
people would be happy to see them all in a music
magazine.
It is clear the front cover has to be appealing and the images
as it is seen high with the public for reasons to buy the
magazine.
What type of music do you like to read about or see
pictures of?
10, 9%
20, 17%
10, 9%
10, 9%
8, 7%
27, 23%
11, 9%
20, 17%
0, 0%
pop
hip-hop
rap
indie
rock
rnb
grime
dance
other
What attracts you when buying a magazine?
20
7
2 1
0
5
10
15
20
25
front cover images freebies the headings
and titles
Things that attact you
numberofpeople
Series1
Whats your postcode?
10
9
1
5 5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
B27 B10 B9 B44 B68
Postcodes
numberofpeople
Series1
How old are you ?
9
18
4
0
0
5
10
15
20
0-18 19-25 26-36 37+
Age
numberofpeople
Series1
I found there's a variety of areas people will be
seeing my music magazine.
The majority of people i asked were aged 19-25

20. Analysis
From my research of 30 people doing my questionnaire i found out quite a lot of
people don't buy a music magazine but they do listen to music. The people who did
buy the magazines were buying them of the prices between £1-£4. I will make my
magazine £3 so it fits in with the average that the people pay for them. Most people
said that the titles and images on the front cover of the magazines are the main
reasons why they buy the magazine therefore i need to bare this in mind when i
make my magazine as it will be the main reason why people would buy my name.
The majority of people enjoy and would want to see all different types of genres in
the magazine so i will have to make sure i cover the different genres but i think I'm
going to concentrate my magazine on the genres pop and indie. The adverts that
attract most people are adverts of music concerts/gigs, seeing how these are the
most popular adverts i will make sure they are inside my magazine. Because a lot of
people don't buy music magazines i will try make mien very eye catching and
containing things people generally want to read about and see pictures off
.Hopefully by doing this it will attract people into picking my magazine and maybe
even get them into buying music magazines. The people who don't buy music
magazines didn't give me any feed back into why they don't, so that didn't help me
when making my magazine. The majority of people i asked were aged 16-25 so i
will be aiming my magazine to these age group.

21. Lasso Tool
On the left
hand side of
your screen
you will see
an icon
called lasso
tool. Right
click on this.
Click on the
area you
want to get
rid off and
draw an
area.
Once you have drew an area you want getting
rid of press delete on your key board and the
area will disappear.

22. Changing the colour in the background
On the left
hand side of
your screen
you will see an
icon of colours
click on it and
pick a colour
you want.
Press the ‘Fill’ icon.
Click on the background and the area will be
made the colour you selected.

23. Magic Wand
Click on the magic tool icon and click any
area around the image you have taken.
All of this will
appear and on
your keyboard
press delete.
The background around
your image will disappear
and you can change the
background to how you
want it.

24. Changing the Brightness and contrasts.
At the top of your
screen click on
‘filter’, then scroll
down to ‘adjust
colour’ and then
brightness and
contrasts. Right
click on it.
This will then
appear on your
screen and you
can play with the
arrows to how
you want your
image to look
like.
Once your happy
click ‘ok’.
You then are left
with your edited
picture.

25. Auto levels
To change the auto levels of a picture go to filters,
adjust colour and click on auto levels.
You will then be left with the picture haven been auto
levelled automatically.

26. Hue/ Saturation
At the top of the screen click on ‘filters’ then go down to
‘adjust colour’ and then go across to the ‘hue/saturation’
and right click on it.
Use the arrows to change the saturation and hue to
what you like. Then press ‘ok’
Once you press ok, you will be left with your edited
picture.

27. Audience Profile
Age Groups- Between 16-24
Male/Female- Mainly aiming at females but not discouraging men to read the
magazine.
Food- i would think the people to buy the magazine would eat well. But eat a good
few take away foods.
Job- I would think they would have part time jobs in music or fashion sides of things.
Education- People who buy my magazine will be educated. May not be on A*s but
would be educated enough to understand and appreciate my magazine.
Area- They would live local to Birmingham in a standard area.
Style- They will be dressed in a scene or Indie style. With people aspiring to dress
like the people in my magazine.
Future ambitions- To work in the music or fashion industry.
Driving- Most people who by my magazine would be in part time jobs and students so
most will not be driving.
House- Standard terraced house.
Hobbies- a range in playing instruments, and into fashion.

28. •How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I am planning for my music magazine to
represent young females mainly aged
between 16-25.
My main aim is to make sure females are
represented fairly and positive unlike far to
many interoperations of young women today
in the media. I have tried to do this through
my double page showing a very strong
confident female who has made it in the
music industry. Also through my photography
of my front cover, i didn't want just a picture of
female being ‘sexy’ because i think its wrong
how women are portrayed. So i did use a
women on my front cover however i tried to
turn down the idea of women being ‘sex’
symbols. I tried to show women strong,
independent and proud.

29. •What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and
why?
I would like IPC to be the media institution of my music
magazine to distribute my magazine. IPC only currently
produce one music magazine being NME which is a very
successful and well known music magazine. Although my music
magazines target audience is different to NME i think my music
magazine will do the company good and benefit them . I also
think by having IPC media distributing my music magazine it
would ensure my magazine to be successful because its history
of well known very professional and well liked current magazines
they produce. IPC media distribute fashion magazines such as
‘LOOK’ and this is a very popular up to date magazine full of the
latest celebrities that are well known. In my music magazine i
think it relates to this magazine as i have picked an artist very
well known in the UK and now America, also my music
magazine will include some of the same conventions this
magazine has.
I think my music magazine will help the company and give it
more variety in its distributions and also will help my music
magazine be well known.

30. Who would be the audience for your media product?
I have tried to target my music magazine at people ages 17-25. Mainly aiming it
at females but tried to keep it as unisex as i could because i don't want to lose
readers because of colours/imagery.
I have used a female on my front cover which stereo-typically should attract a
male audience however i haven't had her in a ‘sexy’ position or heavy make up
however the red lips and slight eye make up could seem as a sexual thing.
My double paged spread is a well known female English artist that anyone who i
interested in pop/indie would be interested in. However she fits in a range of
different genres of music so it could appeal to many music fans. A typical pop
magazine has very little text in there double page spread and because my music
magazine slightly fits in with this genre i thought its only right to point out the fact
my text in the double page spread is quite formal how ever keeping the simple
question and answer format I'm adding ‘ more meat to the bone’ by including
some history and more detailed answers. So my age group of target audience
raised. The primary target audience of my music magazine will be females aged
17-25 years old with an acorn classification as anything as i think people from all
areas and back grounds would be interested in some part of my music magazine.
However i think my secondary target audience would be people ages 14-17 as i
think they would be interested in what their family members would be reading like
older brothers or sisters and cousins.

31. How will i attract or address my audience?
I have attract my audience by visually pleasing them, i will do this by using the bright
colours, colour scheme, bold text, attractive professional pictures and organised easy to
read information throughout my music magazine.
I have focus on making sure my colour scheme is constant through out my magazine.
My front cover picture will have the model looking straight out with eyes wide open so
looking for eye contact drawing my readers in. It will be eye catching and strong so it
brings readers in,.
I have tried to ensure on the contents page is easy to read, simple lay out easy to read
and not a big change in font style, also include some pictures.
On my double paged spread i will use on side for a picture to draw a reader in and them
detailed text but not too much as i could los e interest in the reader. However i have kept
it in the simple question and answer format so it s easy to follow and read.
By doing these simple but effective things i am sure i will hit my target audiences desires
and get them attracted to my music magazine and successfully appeal to them.

32. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
I have done a lot of research into different styles of music magazines and also magazines
that are similar to the target audience i am focussing on. Although i hope I’ve challenged a
few of the conventions of typical pop/indie music magazine i want to ensure my magazine
isn't so different that it doesn't appeal to the target audience and also i don't want it to look
amateur. The magazine i have produced incorporates a lot of conventions as a typical
music magazine. The masthead is bold and is easy to see and very eye catching. You
would expect to see a masthead and this convention used on most music magazines. I
thought this was an important convention to stick to because you very rarely see a music
magazine with a mast head hard to see or not clear. With the content of my music
magazine i tried to set it out as if a professional did it because i wanted it to look
professional and appeal to the target audience. Typical music magazines have a female on
the front cover of their music magazine and i have done this also however i have tried to put
her in a position so it isn't seen as a sexual thing to draw male readers in. I have tried to
appeal to women by using a women on the front cover but as a natural look . Also on the
double page spread i have stuck to the simple question and answer format however i have
tried to add more detail and background information to aim for an older target audience but
to also show that young people have moved on, and they're not as stupid and naive as what
people give them credit for.
Overall i would say i have developed my music magazine in the conducts and conventions i
have used rather than challenged.

33. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of construction of
this product?
When starting AS media i had no knowledge nor experience with any programmes
other than PowerPoint. I had no idea how time consuming making this magazine
would be and how much research and work goes into trying to make a successful
magazine. It was a difficult leap to go from making my college magazine on publisher
to producing a music magazine via fireworks and Photoshop. Luckily it wasn't
expensive to use these software's as school had them, however it took hours playing
around with different colours and lay outs etc. It was good to use as i could make a
number of drafts and it was very quick and easy to change things. I found it difficult at
times getting use to the software and had to ask for support but eventually got the
hang of things. The things i found most difficult was getting pictures for my front cover,
as it was near enough impossible to get a picture for the front cover that was suitable.
In the end i had to create a studio with lighting and ask a student to be a model for me
in order for me to get a suitable front cover picture. If i had more time i would have had
time to go and get a picture without having to create a studio but time was short and i
had deadlines to meet.

34. My magazine compared to the ones on the market.
I reinforced all the typical codes and conventions used in an Indie music magazine.
I kept to using the colour codes, certain layouts, barcodes, websites and the use of
apps. On the front cover i kept to the typical lay out of an Indie music magazine
and used the same codes and conventions found on most magazines. On my
contents page the things i did slightly different were i put my websites address on
their and carried it onto my double page spread where as most music magazines
don't do this. I used Photoshop which most professional editors use to conduct the
magazine. I think my music magazine is as much as it could be up to standards.