media evaluation

1. EVALUATION
TONI LOUGH AS MEDIA

2. QUESTION 2 - HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?
My magazine uses lots of representations such as age, gender, class and sexuality. A majority of bands
featured in indie magazines are male, so I decided to go for an all female band and have an image of them
on the front cover as this represents sexuality as well as femininity. The women are portrayed in a feminine
way as they look directly into the camera and with the pose they are doing to draw in the audience. They're
the typical girls you would think of as they're wearing make up, have long hair and are wearing fashionable
clothing which attracts you to the magazine. The way they have been portrayed shows they are of a
middle class as they have used well known brands to get this look. My product has challenged the common
use of a magazine being predominantly about males, but I do still have male indie bands within my
magazine. They're included on the contents page, along with the female band and another band which
includes 2 females and a male so this balances it out to make gender me equal throughout.

3. QUESTION 2 – HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?
The age group I have decided to focus on is young adults, but my magazine does still appeal to those of an
older age as its sophisticated. I have included young adults in my images so that the audience can easily
relate to them. My target audience being young, I know that indie music will appeal to them due to it being
popular. As I am a young person myself I know what my friends and I would like to read or what we would
like included within the magazine so this helped when I was taking my images as I just thought about what I
would like to see. I based the price on the age group as well as young people can't afford a magazine
which costs about £5 so I decided to lower this price to make it more affordable so it appeals to young
people as they will then be able to buy it.
In my magazine I have used all white British people due to the fact that indie bands are predominantly
white middle class so I wanted to stick to this. I think I should of represented ethnicity more by using a
range of different models so that my magazine came across as more diverse. My audience is dominated by
white British as they enjoy indie music and buy indie magazines more than any other ethnicity.

4. QUESTION 2 – HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?
My magazine doesn't have a particular social class as its hard to define and I haven't represented this
throughout my work but the most likely social class would be middle class. Indie bands or artists tend to be
middle class due to the clothes they wear which can be expensive and the lifestyle that they lead of going
out can also be costly. They are also most likely to pay the price for the magazine regularly or the
subscription fee as they have the money to do this. Middle class people may be attracted to the magazine
due to the young, fashionable models as they relate to them as they may lead a similar lifestyle.
The way in which I have represented social class is through my tag line of my magazine being a
sophisticated indie magazine but I don't want it to just appeal to middle class but also those of a higher and
lower class. People from different backgrounds and classes can still attend festivals and concerts and
enjoy indie music too, so I have represented this in my magazine as people off different classes may chose
to go to a different festival.

5. QUESTION 2 – HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?
The colours which my models wear are black and burgundy which are linked to royal colours and are also
associated with my target audience of middle class people. This can draw middle class people in as they
will associate with the models. The title of my double page spread ‘up close & personnel’ shows that its
aimed at girls due to the feminine vocabulary.
There is a subscribe section on my contents page which will appeal more to women as they like to keep
up-to-date with everything new and exciting. The double page spread is mostly writing which appeals more
to women as men like to have more visual effects such as images and short lengths of text. Due to the
magazine been aimed more at women, men may think that this is unequal however the bands which have
been included are bands with both sexes in them so this should still appeal to both men and women.

6. QUESTION 3 - WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT
DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?
Time Inc. is one of the largest branded media companies in the world reaching more than 120 million
people each month across multiple platforms. Institutions are organisations which are responsible for
marketing media products including television, internet and radio as well as magazines. I would want my
magazine to be distributed from the major companies in the UK, such as Sonic Publishing, BBC, Sky,
Bauer Media Group and Time Inc.
They are all well known companies who are known for publishing magazines which are deemed as
successful. Whilst I was researching different magazines I found that NME, Q and Rock Sound were all
published by different institutions, but I have based a majority of my magazine on NME so I would like my
magazine to be published by the same company: Time Inc. They have a high reader circulation now the
magazine is free, but this was also high previously.

7. QUESTION 3 - WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT
DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?
Time Inc. is an American New York-based publishing company. It publishes over 90 magazines, most
notably its namesake, Time Other magazines include Sports Illustrated, People, Instyle, Essence and
Entertainment Weekly. Time inc is well known for distributing the popular UK music magazine NME. They
aim to make readers enjoy music even more by bringing them exclusive interviews and information. I’d like
to publish my magazine with this institution as they already have a magazine released which is similar to
mine so this will be a good competition.
However the institution may not want to distribute my magazine for that reason. This institution is big so my
magazine would be well known all around the country. If my magazine were to be published, I’d also like
there to be an online version so that more younger people will take interest as they are able to view it on
the go on their phone, tablet or laptop. Therefore this also attracts a more varied audience.

8. QUESTION 4 - WHAT WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?
My reader profile shows who my audience will be for my magazine: The readers of my magazine are quite
upmarket, with readers having quite high disposable incomes with them spending money on gigs, clothing
or on family and friends. The average reader is a student, however the average reader falls between the
ages of 16 and 25 years old. Readers who purchase this magazine like indie music such as Foals, Two
Door Cinema Club etc, but also like artists such as Adele and Beyoncé. Nearly 60% are women with just
over 40% being men with 75% of these being students. This was also shown within my survey when the
question asked ‘what is your age?’ brought back a response from young people. I have also stuck to this
age range throughout my production.
96% of readers use the
internet daily on their
smart phone, either on
social media or clothing
websites.
Readers spend an
average of £300 a year on
gigs and festivals. They
spend a lot of money on
clothes especially
expensive brands and
they also like to try new
drinks.

9. QUESTION 4 - WHAT WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?
Within my magazine it is very clear who the audience is. This is shown through the informal writing style
which carries on throughout the whole magazine. This will engage younger people with the text being
exciting and interesting to read. This creates a relationship between the writer and reader as it makes the
reader feel like they’re involved. The colours burgundy, black and grey create a warming feel but also an
informative and entertaining feel too the magazine as well. The outfits my 'artists' wear match this colour
scheme to show continuity. The pictures I have taken are a mixture of studio shoots and live pictures which
suggest that the readers like to keep up to date with all new fashion but also like to see photos of artists in
action.

10. QUESTION 5 - HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS THE
AUDIENCE?
Within my magazine, I have attracted the audience in many different ways. For example, I have done this
within my photography. On my front cover I have used direct address with the girls looking directly into the
camera which will make the reader feel involved. I have also made the photos look more exclusive to make
them look more like celebrities by using different editing tools on photo shop. The shot I used on my front
cover is a long shot which can make the reader feel influenced by what they are wearing or how they look.
Another way I attracted my audience was with use of a pull quote. On my double page spread I used the
quote ‘Absolutely amazed’ as this attracts the audience by making them want to find out more about what
is so amazing. It suggests the magazine has entertaining content.

11. QUESTION 5 - HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS THE
AUDIENCE?
Another way I attracted my audience was by advertising things that they could win. On the front cover I have a
plug which announces Arctic Monkeys new tour and how you can win tickets to go see them. I used Arctic
Monkeys logo so that the audience could relate and recognize who they were. This can also attract the audience
due to how popular they are and how it’s a once in a lifetime experience.
From my research I have found that most people would like interviews and gigs included
within a magazine. Therefore I have included this within my magazine. My double page
spread features an interview with the new and upcoming band Wolf Alice and also listed on
my contents page is exclusive pictures from a Scars on 45 gig. For my interview I have used
a clear structure by having the questions in a different colour to the answers so this is more
readable.
From my research I have also discovered that a majority
of people would spend between £2-£3 on a music
magazine so I went right in the middle and have priced
my magazine at £2.50. Therefore a lot of people will be
able to afford it and its an appropriate price.

12. QUESTION 5 - HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS THE
AUDIENCE?
To address and attract my audience I have used young and fashionable models as they represent those in
the music industry and their clothing also represents this due to it being trendy and modern. The females
were usually wearing skirts which are associated with younger generations. The vast majority of my models
were female which allows females to relate to them. I also have some live pictured of males playing in a gig
who will be considered as good looking by females and will be seen as role models by males, therefore
attracting a male and female audience.
I attracted the audience through the colour scheme, which was burgundy, grey and black. These are quite
gender neutral colours so appeal to both men and women. The background for each page was white which
set a blank canvas for all the entertaining information and images. I used a mixture of burgundy and grey to
display most of my text as they are simple colours which are
easy to read and worked well against the light background. I
used black mostly as an outline for text so this contrasted well
with the white background and the words were made clearer
and grabbed the audiences attention which is something the
audiences wanted.

13. QUESTION 5 – HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS THE
AUDIENCE?
I attracted the audience by the various fonts I used which were sophisticated and matched the genre of my
magazine. For my masthead I used a font called ‘Aural’ which had a young sophisticated feel to it so it
showed the audience what to expect from the magazine. The other fonts I used were more basic as they
were used for subheadings and for the article on my double page spread. These fonts still had a
sophisticated feel to them but were slightly more basic and I felt like this font matched my masthead and
contrasted well with it. I used different fonts as they interest the reader and lets them focus on the important
words.
The words I’ve used have also helped me attract the audience as I
have used well known and interesting band names such as ‘Wolf
Alice.’ On my front cover I used the words ‘your new, sophisticated
indie mag’ so people know what the magazine will be about. On my
contents page I used the words ‘subscribe now’ as it interests the
audience and it also involves them more in the magazine. On the
double page spread I used the words ‘up close & personal’ which
involves the audience in the article as they feel like the magazine is
taking to them.