Evaluation

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of realmedia products?

When researching other pop and R'n'B music magazines, I found there was a lack of magazines for this genre of music with Top of the Pops the only magazine for this genre. However, this magazine no longer focuses on artists musical careers but its emphasis has shifted to the interests of young teenage girls such as fashion and the private lives of celebrities. I wanted to create a pop and R'n'B magazine that focused mainly on the musical careers of artists, therefore my pop and R'n'B magazine challenged the forms and conventions of other magazines in this genre. However, I also analysed other existing music magazines for different music genres such as Kerrang and NME which I found focused much more on music rather than the private lives of artists like pop magazines such as TOTP and Smash Hits. I wanted to use this form in my music magazine so it would appeal to both female and male readers interested in that genre of music. My pop and R'n'B magazine 369 develops existing media products but also challenges the forms of other pop magazines such as Top of the Pops.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents the social group of teenagers aged 15-18, especially focusing on female teenagers and the pop and R'n'B artists they will aspire to. The photo on my front cover shows a band of two female sisters, smiling and pulling a friendly pose and I also used bright colours and fonts. This is a contrast to the forms and conventions seen in rock magazines such as Kerrang and represents my target audience as friendly, happy and sociable.

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

To distribute my music magazine I would use a media institution such as IPC media or Bauer Media as they are well known magazine publishers for many popular magazines including music magazines. IPC media publishes a wide variety of magazines popular with my target audience such as Look and Now as well as music magazines such as NME. Bauer media publishes similar popular magazines such as Heat, More and Kerrang as well as radio stations and music TV channels. Publishing my magazine with this company would associate it with the channels and radio my target audience may be interested in and therefore it will gain a bigger audience for my magazine.

• How did you attract/address your audience?

I used questionnaires and my focus group to help me find out what my target audience were insterested in and would expect from a music magazine of their favourite genre, pop and R'n'B music. I found that most people wanted the magazine to focus solely on music and so I ensured that my magazine contained only music features and articles. In the interview with the band Stargirls I only asked questions regarding their musical career unlike magaziens such as Top of the Pops which tend to revolve around gossip surrounding artists personal lives rather than their music. I addressed my target audience informally, using chatty language that would appeal and relate to teenagers.

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Comparing my preliminary task of a sixth form magazine to my music magazine, I feel I have developed my sense of layout and presentation of creating magazines using photoshop. I feel that my music magazine generally looks more like a publishable magazine than my sixth form magazine, and one that would have a wider audience. I have also improved my photography skills in my full product and my awareness of lighting and framing of a photograph.

Music magazine cover

Contents page

Double page spread

Questions for my focus group

To help me make my final decisions before designing the music magazine, I asked my focus group some specific questions to help me choose titles and covering artists.

I asked my focus group what title they would prefer for a pop and R'n'B magazine out of:

369,Beats,Hits

All 3 of my focus group voted for the title 369 as it is memorable and refers to an R'n'B track by artist Cupid so I will use this title for the magazine.

After asking whether people would prefer a male or female artist on the cover of the magazine, I found that most people had no preference so I asked my focus group to help me to decide.

Nicki said; 'Most pop magazines have boy bands or popular male singers on the front as mainly girls buy these magazines but although I am a fan of boy bands like McFLY, I think that a girl band or female singer should appear on the cover as I also really like music from artists like Girls Aloud and The Saturdays.'

Lisa said; 'I would prefer and I think most young people my age would too, a male artist on the front of a magazine as they appeal to both girl and boy readers. A band like Kings of Leon for example would appeal more to both genders than a female artist.'

Jason said; 'I disagree with Lisa as I think that people who are into chart music generally would listen to female artists as well as male. Female artists like Rihanna and Katy Perry are often high up in the charts but do not get as recognised as male artists who feature regularly on magazines for both genders. Female artists should be on music magazines and not just on the covers of women's magazines.'

As two out of three of my focus group said that they would prefer a female artist on the cover of a pop and R'n'B magazine as it would challenge the conventions of other magazines that tend to only feature male artists on the cover, I will use a female artist on the cover of my magazine.

Research summary

After carrying out various methods of research I have found out about the interests and expectations of older teenagers aged 15-18 to design and create pop and R'n'B magazine aimed at this audience. Firstly I bought and analysed other music magazines for various genres of music to see how fashion, style and colours were used to appeal to certain audiences and subcultures and found that they seem to differ greatly between different music genres, for example, dark colour schemes were used in rock and metal magazines such as Kerrang and NME whereas bold bright colours were used in pop magazines such as Top of the Pops and Billboard. I chose to create a pop and R'n'B magazine for 15-18 year olds as there was not a magazine for this music genre for this age group as TOTP is aimed at young teenagers and Billboard is an American magazine. I also found that most music magazines, despite the genre they represent are dominated by male artists and bands and rarely feature a female artist on the cover. I am going to challenge this common convention of music magazines, as 2 out of 3 of my focus group also said they think a female artist or band should appear on the cover to make the magazine stand out from others.

I then created questionnaires which I asked 30 people in this age group to find out more about what they would expect in a pop and R'n'B magazine and what magazines they already read. I found that most older teenagers do not read a music magazine with the main reason being that there is not one for pop and R'n'B music. I also found that the audience consisted largely of female readers so I will design the magazine with this in mind. I also found that most people would prefer the magazine to focus solely on music and the musical careers of artists, however, some teenage girls said that they would like other features such as fashion and celebrity gossip to also be included.

I also used my focus group to find out more about teenagers fashions and interests and found that pop and R'n'B fans generally shop in popular high street stores and follow the latest fashions. I will make sure that my covering artist wears clothes from popular stores like these.

Focus group

I created a focus group to represent my target audience of 15-18 year olds for my music magazine and as the audience for a pop and R'n'B magazine appears to consist mainly of females, I have chosen 2 girls and 1 boy for my focus group. They will help me to design the magazine to address their expectations and interests in music as well as other interests and hobbies. I also asked them what shops they regularly buy clothes from, to give me an idea of what fashions and style pop and R'n'B fans follow and to ensure that the artists featured in the magazine also adhere to the expected fashion.



Nicki is 18 and is currently at Keele university studying educational studies and psychology. She mainly listens to pop music and her favourite artists include McFLY, Take That, Katy Perry and Rihanna. She buys Now that's what I call music Cd's which include the latest chart hits over three months and follows the hit40UK chart which she downloads from itunes. Although she purchases music legally, Nicki says that most of her friends download music for free from websites. Nicki reads magazines such as Heat and More although she can rarely find magazines which feature her favourite artists. She says, 'I think there would be a good market for a pop magazine as most people are in to chart music and apart from Top of the Pops which is not for my age group, there isn't a magazine for pop and R'n'B on sale'. Nicki shops in high street stores such as New Look, Primark and H&M where she can buy fashionable clothes for cheap prices and says that she usually wears 'girly' clothes and colours.


Lisa is 18 and is currently working full time at high street clothes store TK Maxx. Her favourite style of music is R'n'B and she is a big fan of artists such as Rihanna, Ne-yo, Chris Brown and Beyonce. As these artists are regularly in the charts, she also downloads other chart hits from various websites. Lisa often uses social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook and thinks that these would be good places to advertise other bands; 'There are many unrecognised bands on Myspace that are not in the charts and as most people from 16-20 are members of sites such as Myspace, I think that the music magazine should promote some of the bands on Myspace that pop and R'n'B fans might be interested in'. Lisa regularly goes to gigs and would like to see a gig guide in a magazine to update her on upcoming shows. Lisa also shops in high street stores, mostly in Topshop, River island and Republic where she can afford the latest fashionable clothes.



Jason is 16 and is currently studying for his A levels in college. He listens mainly listens to chart music, including pop and R'n'B and although he generally likes most artists in the chart, his favourite is Kings of Leon. Jason downloads the hit40UK track list weekly and so is always up-to-date with the newest releases, however he says; 'I rarely buy CDs any more because its so much easier to download songs straight to your computer so I think it would be a good idea to give away itunes vouchers or free track downloads to encourage people to buy songs legally'. Jason agrees with Lisa that there should be a gig guide in the magazine as he enjoys going to see live bands and artists regularly. Jason also shops in high street stores such as Republic but says that fashion is not very important to him.