Conventions and LIIAR Analysis - Front cover

Conventions and LIIAR Analysis - Front cover

The image on the left is a front cover to a pop magazine, the central main image of the cover is of pop artist 'Katy Perry' the photo is composed to a traditional pose to indicate the genre of the magazine. Adding to this the lighting of the cover is bright and bold and follows a colour scheme of orange, white and black. The brightness of the photo connotes what type of music Katy Perry is all about, as pop music is quite fun and bubbly and the colour scheme follows this lightness as in comparison rock magazine front covers would be dark as their music is outrageous and bold. The styling of Katy Perry also allows the audience to understand the genre of the magazine as she wearing typical skirt and top with bangles on her wrist showing that she is girly and fun whereas for example rock bands would be styled to wear there her long and wear dark clothes usually associated with leather. The masthead is placed to the left of the magazine and is placed in a speech bubble this also links to the theme of the font style as they use typical text style writing as they place a heart instead of the word love. Also the masthead is in capitol letters this could connote the idea that it shouts out at you like they are trying to put across the imagination that they are talking directly at you hence the speech bubble. The cover portrays many conventional features, such as sell lines, this help to sell the magazine as it makes the audience want to buy it. The main cover line is placed with the main image as it links to the main image, it also follows the colour scheme of the cover as it is in solid orange, it also is in the same font as the masthead as in the masthead the heart is coloured in and in the cover line the circled parts on the letter are also coloured in. At the bottom of the magazine there is a tagline that included various celebrities that will be included within the magazine. On both right and left hand sides of the cover is anchorage text this gives the audience information about the articles that will be in the magazine, this used as a selling technique. Also smaller images are placed around the sides of the cover this is used to catch the readers attention making them want to buy it. Finally the cover follows a typical 'house style' (The specific usage and editing conventions followed by writers and editors to ensure stylistic consistency in a particular publication) this makes the cover look neat and tidy therefore easy to read and direct throughout.

We Love Pop is targeted at 13-16 year old girls obsessed with music, celebrities, fashion and gossip We Love Pop is chatty, funny and informed but never patronising or preachy. We tell you what's hot right now and what's happening next with exclusive backstage access, photos & interviews.

We Love Pop not only has exclusive access to all the top pop acts but each issue is packed with the latest celebrity gossip and unique fashion and beauty features!

http://www.egmont.co.uk/magazines.asp?pane=teen&mag=welovepop

Different groups within the music industry are represented differently due to their choice in music genre and the type of people they are. Pop artists, for example women are represented very sexually, wearing short skirts and dresses whilst dancing provocatively, this interests not only males as they find them sexually attractive but females can also idolize the women. Therefore on magazine front covers pop artists are conventionally portrayed to be idols to generally the younger generation, for example their facial expressions are usually smiling and their body language is friendly whereas taking a rock band for example their usually portrayed as being rebellious and their facial expressions and poses show they hard and outrageous.

Audience Research - Reader profiles

Reader Profiles 

Reader Profiles are very useful in determining the target audience, as they gather specific information about the audience. The main definition of a reader profile is 'Portrayals of readership demographics prepared by magazines.' For example the specific information gathered is the amount of males and females interested, the median of the age and the categories of things the audience are responsive to. Here is an example of 'Billboard' magazines reader profile. 

  

My Reader Profile

My reader profile is similar to Billboard magazines because it is of the same genre, therefore the pictures and information included will be comparable. 

Here is a list of the various things included on my reader profile that are of interest to my audience.

• Music Idols - As my magazine is a 'pop' magazine the music idols that i would include are current top 40 artists such as Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, and current classic artists such as Beyonce and Robbie Williams.
• TV - Various reality TV programmes such as Made in Chelsea and The Only Way is Essex will be admitted because they are popular with young people today. 
• Possessions - Popular brands will be included that are also fashionable with todays young people such as iPhones and iPods, Disney, MacDonalds, Starbucks, Doc Martens (fashion/hair trends).  
• Hobbies/Interests - Festivals, video games, sports, alcohol are also very popular with the youth of today. 

I have created a mood board of all the contents I would include on my reader profile, I could not create my actual reader profile because I did not have sufficient evidence and research to back up my statistics that would be essential for my reader profile. However I have created a mood board of my initial ideas to give a clear outline of what my actual reader profile will consist of. 

I have included items that would appeal to both female and male audiences, as the magazine would be available to both genders. However pop magazines are traditionally targeted more to the female gender, therefore my target audience would be mainly to females aged between 13-24 because the images I have included above are primarily associated with teenagers. The reason my target audience would be female teenagers is because they are the majority that listen to chart music, even though the magazine would be available to both genders the age appropriate target audience given is also addressed to teenagers older generations are also able to buy the magazine.   

Audience Research of Billboard Magazine

Audience Research

Taking 'Billboard' pop magazine as an example,  I have researched their audience research to understand how they come to the conclusion who to aim their magazine to.

 

Looking at Billboards website I came across a page on their target audience it included information on the readership. Here's an example of their readership page;

 

 

This page gives an example to the right of what would be included on a possible Billboard magazine front cover. To the left they have listed a breif overview of the magazine, and the gives a total readership and that what is included in the magazine to appeal to the selected audience.

 

Market Research

Market Research - Existing Magazines

'Top of the Pops' is a iconic pop magazine which features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizzes, song lyrics and posters. It is a supplementary magazine for the TV show 'Top of the Pops'.

'Billboard' is an international news magazine devoted to music and the music industry, it maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis. 








The top two magazines are of the same genre that my magazine will be. The first magazine 'Billboard' is a pop magazine, the main image on this magazine is Lady Gaga who is icon of pop, typically the magazine includes all the necessary conventions of a magazine a masthead, sell lines, a skyline and a main cover story that links to the main image. The magazine follows a simple colour scheme of black and grey. The second magazine is also a pop magazine 'top of the pops' similarly to 'Billboard' magazine it also includes the conventions mentioned above and additionally, the main image includes Tulisa who is a icon of pop. In contrast to the first magazine the second one includes other various images of other pop artists.


Contents Page Example


Here is two examples of music magazines contents pages, both contents pages include one main image and a few smaller images, these images are used to pull the reader in to buy the magazine as it gives them an idea what is included within the magazine and it may appeal to them more as it might be images of bands/artists they like. There is a specific layout to the majority of contents pages, as the features and page titles are placed down the left hand side of the page and then placed in chronological order from the beginning to the end of the magazine. The page titles are given numbers but the word 'page' is not included as this is not the conventional way to layout the page. Also additionally added to the contents page is the date and the title which is generically placed as the top of page usually in a different font and is bold. To create structure for the contents page sub headings are used to help the audience navigate the page easily. 

Double page spread Examples

The above images are examples of double page spreads, each example is unique in its own right as they focus on one specific artists/band which are specific for the genre of music that magazine promotes, all three examples place the main image on the left hand side of the double page spread this creates an eye catching affect. Another scheme that is followed on all three examples is that the first letter of each article is enlarged and coloured in a specific colour that is followed throughout the spread as the colour scheme this is known as a 'drop cap'; another format that is followed is 'house-style' this is the company's preferred manner of presentation and layout of written material making the spread not look messy and unorganised. The article traditionally first begins on the second page, however on the second example the article begins on the first page this does not follow the classic conventions of a double page spread. Taking the third double page spread as an example it includes a pull quote, which would be the first thing the reader would notice and read, as this quote is quite unusual it would make the reader want to read on. Also the spread has included more than one main image compared to the second example spread, this makes it more visually intriguing.  

History of my genre

The History of my Genre

 

Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of "popular") is a genre of popular music which originated in its modern form in the 1950s, deriving from rock and roll.

 

As a genre, pop music is very eclectic, often borrowing elements from other styles including urban, dance, rock, Latin and country; nonetheless, there are core elements which define pop. Such include generally short-to-medium length songs, written in a basic format (often the verse-chorus structure), as well as the common employment of repeated choruses, melodic tunes, and catchy hooks.

 

Throughout its development, pop music has absorbed influences from most other genres of popular music. Early pop music drew on the sentimental ballad for its form, gained its use of vocal harmonies from gospel and soul music, instrumentation from jazz, country, and rock music, orchestration from classical music, tempo from dance music, backing from electronic music, rhythmic elements from hip-hop music, and has recently appropriated spoken passages from rap.

 

In my magazine I will include artists from todays modern pop genre and how they are progressing and new upcoming albums, also I will include features on the artists lifestyle and other types of media they are involved in such as films or TV shows.

 

 

Past vs. Present

 

Comparisons between todays pop artists and past pop artists from the previous decades, has shown the versatility of the genre, but how the genre has progressed and the popularity of the genre is still very vast. Here are some examples of previous pop artists and modern day pop artists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above pictures are of current modern day pop artists, first is Justin Bieber, Ellie Goulding and Lady Gaga, just from their pictures you can immediately see the versatility within pop and how each artist expresses themselves differently. Below are two pictures of two 80's icons, Boy George and Madonna, their styles have carried to modern day pop and have influenced the artists of today.
 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Videos - Pop artsist

Videos - Pop artists

 

 

Katy Perry - California Gurls (2010)

California Gurls is a popular song from Katy Perry's album 'Teenage Dream', the video for this song represents Katy Perry's signature style, the video is very bright and colourful she follows the scheme of that everything is candy and that they are living in a 'candy world' hence the bright colours. As mentioned before the use of the icons within her video such as the bright colours, the quirky outfits and the alternative story line indicated that she is associated with the genre pop and not another genre like rock for example, as the video would tend to be dark and follow a more generic narrative. Katy Perry's bold character is shown within her music and the way she dresses, within my magazine I will incorporate the ideas of which Katy Perry has used in this video of using a 'candy world' as a main idea for the cover and the look in which I am going for.

 

 

Rihanna - Only girl in the world (2010)

Linking with Katy Perry, Rihanna is also an inspirational female pop artist who also in her video of 'Only girl in the world' that reached number 1 in 10 different countries, uses bright bold colours that link with genre pop. The video mimics the carefree lyrics to the song, which suggest that she is the "only girl in the world. The video uses the simplistic theme of predominantly focusing on Rihanna frolicking on a hillside with life size flowers placed near her with an array of artistic sceneries and props. Other scenes include Rihanna surrounded by multi-coloured balloons, riding on a swing that hangs from the sky, lying in a bed of flowers and then dancing in front of a tree covered with blinking lights that adds to the surreal imagery.

 

 

Chris Brown - Yeah x3 (2011)

Chris Brown is a male pop artists who has had various hits, within his video of Yeah x3 it includes Chris Brown directing a mob of kids, teenagers and  residents down a street and then cuts to a dance scene, that is choreographed creating a scene which is not of real imagery.

 

From researching the above pop videos I have come to the conclusion to include in my own magazine a sense of surreal imagery on the front cover, such as for example Katy Perry uses a 'candy world' theme, Rihanna uses a surreal setting of her been 'the only girl in the world' and Chris Brown choices a mob dance crew within a city. 

 





Official top 40 chart

Official top 40 chart 

1. OneRepublic - Counting stars
2. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
3. Lawson - Juliet
4. James Blunt - Bonfire heart
5. Eminem - Rap God
6. Katy Perry - Roar
7. Eminem - Bezerk
8. Wilkinson - Afterglow
9. Cornor Maynard - R u crazy
10. Iggy Azelia - Change your life

Above is a list of the current top 10 singles from the top 40 chart, most of the artists in the above list are all from the genre of pop this shows how popular the genre is and the wide market range for a music magazine it has. At number is OneRepublic who are a rock/pop band that have had previous success with their hit 'apologize' even though they had their hit in 2006 they are still topping the charts.

Miley Cyrus is in the charts at number 2, she is an upcoming pop artist, from her album cover you can immediately tell that the genre that she is connected to is pop because the colours used on the cover are bright and bold that are associated with pop music. 

Also within the top 10 chart are other upcoming pop artists such as Cornor Maynard and Iggy Azelia, one main artist that has a variety of pop hits is Katy Perry. 

Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter, businesswoman, philanthropist, and actress.With influence from early artists in the pop genre from the 1970's and 80's, Katy Perry has become very influential herself in this music genre pop through her albums 'one of the boys' and 'California Gurls'. If pop music was a popular in the 70's and 80's and if today's generation still listen to pop music from that genre and artists like Katy Perry are already becoming influential artists themselves it proves that pop music is very popular.