My magazine is going to be a Rock and Roll Metal magazine. I have chosen metal as the type of music my magazine will cover because it is my favourite type of music and the best in the universe. Plus Metal Hammer is my most commonly purchased magazine, excluding Bizarre, therefore the type of music I already have plenty of access to already.
I researched several magazines of the same or similar music type and came up with many conventions:
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Nearly every music magazine I found had one band on the cover as the focus. However several had a montage of band names mixed together designed over an image. This was usually when multiple bands were releasing an album around the same time or when a festival or tour was taking place.
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- A lot of the magazines seemed to have the title behind the main image and in some cases it was almost completely covered. However there is usually enough the title remaining in sight so the reader can recognise the title logo.
- A common trait of some of the magazines is that the background of the cover image is completely blank as not to distract the reader from the artist.
- There are several other bands mentioned on the covers. Usually placed at the top of the page.
- The price is usually placed close to, or with, the bar code.
- Most covers have the bar codes on the front.
- All the covers have the issue month on them somewhere.
- The issue number of the magazine is usually placed by the bar code.
- The artist/s on the cover are always starring straight back at the reader.
- Usually there is a small sentence around the bands advertised to describe what the review is about.
The magazines target their audience by putting recognisable people on the covers that their target audience would be interested in and keep their attention by having more articles on other bands that are similar to the ones portrayed on the cover.
I looked at a couple of online rock magazines (Split-magazine.com and Blistering.com) and looked at the differences between them and the magazine I have here with me. Essentially they’re the same except with less adverts and it’s a lick to get where you want rather than flip. One think I wasn’t too keen on was the that in most of the articles the related pictures where on a separate part of the website under the gallery section, and under further inspection the online magazines are not nearly as well put together or interesting as the actual magazines. A good explanation why I myself and everyone else I’ve asked has never heard of either of them. Neither of them even have forums or a message board and oddly enough not even a comment box anywhere.
I did some audience research by making a short questionnaire asking questions that were more relevant to what you’d expect to see in a music magazine. Here is the questionnaire and the results of the twelve people I handed them out to:
Gender: Male = 5 Female = 7
Age: Under 16 = 0 16-18 = 7 19-21 = 4 22-25 = 0 26+ = 1
What is your favourite type of rock music? (Circle, more than one if appropriate)
Metal = 6 Soft = 4 Classic = 7 Heavy = 4 Punk = 7 Industrial = 2 Goth = 0
Do you usually buy rock music magazines: Yes = 5 No = 7
Do you use the magazines to see what concerts/gigs are coming up? Yes = 3 No = 9
What would you like to see more in a magazine?
Articles on bands = 4 Articles on albums = 5 Pictures = 2
Ads for events = 5 Free giveaways with the magazine = 6
How much are you willing to pay for a music magazine?
Under £1 = 0 £1-2 = 5 £3-4 = 7 £5+ = 0
I have learnt from my audience research that:
- People enjoy freebies with the magazines.
- They are willing to pay around £3-4.
- Magazines are used commonly as a source for information on upcoming gigs/events.
- Peoples taste in bands usually changes regularly.
