3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

If I were looking to publish and distribute my magazine, I would turn to one of the larger distribution companies such as  FRONTLINE


My magazine would have to go through a number of stages before being sold in outlets around the country to reach its readers.

PUBLISHER---->DISTRIBUTOR---->WHOLESALER---->RETAILER---->CONSUMER


(BAUER)              (FRONTLINE)       (WHOLESALER UK)   (TESCOS)       (THE READER)


I would choose Frontline as my distributor considering it is one of the most effective media distribution companies. Being the largest UK magazine distributor shows that they are more than capable than distributing my magazine. They have a large spectrum of shops to distribute too, over 55 000 shops tells me that my magazine would reach every corner of the country and to my target audience. Over 8 million copies sold each week proves Frontlines large stature in distribution of magazines, and with promising figures such as these, should my magazine be published I would love this media institution to distribute my magazine. In order to have such a large distributor I would need  a large publisher to compliment Frontline therefore someone like Bauer media would work perfectly with Frontline. I would have both the largest publisher and distributor on the market.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents a niche target audience with a particular social group.

Target Audience

Male - 86%
Average Age - 17
Student or in University - 94%

CONFIDENT HE KNOWS WHAT HE LIKES

Into Indie and Rock
Favourite Radio Station: Kerrang

LIKES TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE LATEST MUSIC
- 83% say it is important to keep up to date with the latest music
- 92% are passionate about music

Here are the social group i am trying to attract to my magazine, and in each image i have used, i have used people who reflect this social group in order to attract readers to the magazine, who enjoy spending money on music products such as Cds, magazines and to go to gigs. I have generally used male artist but there is a female artist too which should help appeal to the younger target audience. It should help appeal to both genders. 

For example my male artist 'Tom Oxley' could appeal to both genders, for his music for the males and females and perhaps his looks for the female audience may attract them to this particular cover. 'Tom Oxley' represents a typical music artist who loves music and therefore would attract those who feel they are in a similar position to him. 

Question one continued... (The contents page)

The contents page has the function to allow the reader to use the magazine in a non linear way. This is the primary way in which any magazine are able to become an active medium. My contents page follows a similar layout of an established music magazine. It is conventional and easy to use. I took inspiration from previous contents pages from Kerrang magazine.

As you can see my contents page is simple and follows the typical conventions of a real contents page. Therefore is effective in doing its job as a contents page. I chose to use half the page for a main image and half a page to contain information. For my image i went for something original, i tried to make the image of my main artist look like he was at an awards evening, to achieve this i had to take a picture of him on a plain white background and add genuine company names such as itv, in after the image had been placed on the page. The main image is of a male, so once again i'd have to say it conforms to the normal conventions of a music magazine in a male dominated industry.  I used two subsidory images on my contents page, one of which I believe is developing the conventions of a music magazine as it contains a lead female artist in the image. This helps promote my magazine by using a variety of artists. Also I made sure to include the name of my magazine once again as it keeps the name fresh in the readers memories, and this conforms to the conventions of a magazine as most magazines tend to do this. My second subsidory image was that of my main article which was used to help advertise what the article was about as it refers to the cover story. On the bottom half of the page I used it to contain the information so the contents page follows its main function of aiding the readers to find what they're looking for, I used conventional headlines such as News, Reviews, Free Gifts and a Band finder. Also I used an example of the symbiotic relationship between the music industry and the music magazine through the power of advertising a new album to win free in the magazine. 

My Subsidory Images

The subsidory image of the band provides an outlook on a developing convention of the female artist as most music magazines are dominated by male artist in mostly male industry, the inclusion of a female artist can be seen as the idea of a developing convention. To create this image I had to take the photo and remove the background using software called paintshop pro. Using a subsidory image on the contents page is once again conforming to the conventions of the music magazine as generally all magazines use one or more subsidory images to help inspire people to read their magazine.

My other subsidory image is of my article and I could argue this could be conforming to some magazine conventions but developing the conventions in comparison to other magazines as not all music magazines create a subsidory image using their magazine article.

Double Page article

I think my double page conforms to the normal conventions of a double page article as there is a main image and an article together, pull quotes make the article make it more inviting and you will find pull quotes in the majority of double page spreads. Also the beginning of the article there is a larger letter to start the article which once again is found at the beginning of most articles.  In general the large main image and article follow the general conventions of a normal music magazine.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (The Front Cover)

I think my front cover helps develop the and use the conventions of a real media product in a variety of different ways. For example the layout of the magazine helps produce a central role for the main article where the main image is placed. Using realistic headlines and pull quotes to support my single subsidory image helped provide my cover with the sort of information a reader would expect to see on a typical music magazine front cover. As you can see my magazine front cover follows a typical music magazine layout. Such as (below). My layout didn't change a great deal throughout the production process, I stuck to the conventional layout of a music magazine as you can clearly see.

However the only difference to the layout in my opinion would be that of the main image doesn't obscure the main masthead and therefore could be considered to be not seen as an established product, therefore breaking the stereotype of a normal convention of a music magazine, however i believe that with out the obstruction of the masthead it provides a clear name which is easily seen and the front page then avoids clutter. The layout remains important on the front cover using a sell line as a main feature of the page helps sustain the symbiotic relationship between the magazine and the music industry through the power of the sell lines advertisement.  Also as you can see in the above image there is a banner which advertises a competition. This could be said for most magazines and this general idea in the magazine industry i have tried to mirror in my own magazine front cover as you can see.  Once again, you can see the break in typical conventions on my own front cover, there is only the one subsidory image whereas on the majority of music magazine front covers there are a number of subsidory images as seen below. 

Colour scheme also provides an insight to the codes and conventions of music magazines as the majority of magazines tend to stick to a basic colour scheme of perhaps three colours therefore i decided to use green, red and white as my colour scheme. I think the audience will be familiar to this sort of colour scheme and therefore can relate too it.  My barcode is also situated in the bottom right hand corner of the front cover, this seems to be the preferred place of all magazines. Most prices and dates are situated with the barcode however my front  cover breaks this convention as my price and date are situated in the top right corner of my magazine.

MY SUBSIDORY IMAGE

My subsidory image for the front cover was placed in the conventional area on the front page, which was to the left of the main image on the front page, this technique is widely used across the magazine industry. You'll notice the majority of artists in both the main image and the subsidory image on a music magazine will be male, this is because predominately the music industry is dominated by male artists, although you will find female artists on covers of music magazines, for the most of the time there will be male artists this where my subsidory image conforms to the typical conventions of the music magazine.  My subsidory image on the right displays the typical convention of an artist/artists portrayed on the front of a music magazine. 

This is my finished front cover. I went with the masthead XTC because it has connotations with excitement and therefore went with the slogan 'addicted to music' . I also used a banner at the top of the page as it is most likely to be the first thing that a reader is likely to read. I kept to a basic three colour, colour scheme of green, red and white which mirrors on similar magazines such as Q and Kerrang. I used a unique idea for my main headline, using a different font for the name of the artist, i planned to try and make it look like a signature of the artist to add originality which i think succeeded. I also used a second banner at the bottom to help promote an award ceremony for the magazine. I wasn't happy with my original subsidory image and therefore decided to change it to a more unique studio shot. To make the Front cover look more realistic i have also added a bar code, date and price for the product. I also used the idea of pull quotes to entice the reader to buy the magazine and help make the magazine more appealing. The main image was my first idea and i felt no need to change it as i am extremely pleased with the result of the idea. 

Double Page spread

For  my main image i changed it from a close up 

portrait to a more natural image so that the photo

would relate to the  article better.  I used a medium

close up with connotations of creativity and perhaps

links with the artists hometown. I used pull quotes

to also show the reader what the article is about

and to help encourage the reader to read on. I wanted

to portray the artist in a creative way which i think i have done successfully.

The colour of the pull quotes also fits in well with the image and the colour scheme. 

For my article i used a green colour for my 

my mast head stand out and also it fitted in with

the colour scheme for the rest of my magazine. I 

used a red border to help the article stand out on 

the page and so it could be separated slightly from 

the main image which goes with it.

I used pull quotes to show the reader the general 

topic of the article and what the artist is talking 

about.I also used a capital letter to begin the 

article which in my opinion added a more 

professional touch. 

 I finished the article with references to an

author and a website to make the article look more

realistic.

Contents page

This is the final draft of my contents page, As i have previously stated I have based my contents page on a similar layout to a kerrang contents page. I have kept to the same main colour scheme that i have used on my Front Page of green and red. My main Image is meant to show the cover story artist at music awards ceremony for the magazine, hence the itv2 banners and the fanta banners. I also used a subsidory image of another band to show readers another band featured in the magazine. I also used an advertisement to an album, enticing the reader to buy the magazine and compete in the competition. I also made references to News, Reviews, Free Gifts and a Band finder to help the reader find the magazine pages easier to access. I also made an effort to show an image of the main article to give the readers an idea of what it looks like. Overall I am incredibly happy with my contents page and I think if my magazine was in production this contents page would hold itself in good stead in the current market place.