Questionnaire on Audience Research...

This is the questionnaire I have done for my music magazine audience and this will help me decide on the genre of my magazine and the overall house style. I decided to keep this short and simple as I did not want to bore my surveyors.

Photoshoot / Photography for Music Magazine....

 Model(s):

 My models for my magazine photoshoot were myself (Masum), Albion, Arti and Norik.

 Location/Time:
 The locations in my photoshoot was South Camden Community School Studio and Camden Town - Ampthill.

Props / Costume(s) needed:

My models had casual costumes on which DJ's normally dress in such as a gilet, jackets, hoodies and snap backs. Even though DJ's earn alot of money from their gigs they still dress casually like normal people as they aren't to picky or selfish so my models represent how an ordinary DJ looks like. I also noticed in existing magazines, the models do not wear expensive clothing as costumes or jewellery unless they are selling the product so I referred to this when deciding on my costumes. The only props I used in the photoshoot was a pair of Dr Dre Headphones, a Snapback, A BlackBerry phone, an iPod and a Scream Mask.

My Music Magazine Masthead...

The title of my music magazine is Defused and this is the masthead I am going to use for the magazine cover because it looks destructive and dubstep is related to breaking all rules and bass drops. This font looks distorted and erratic as if it has a scratchy effect and the name Defused connotes a bass drop where the mood becomes defused and everyone goes crazy and excited as soon as the bass drops as I mentioned in the masthead research. The genre of my magazine is Dubstep because I have noticed that not many magazines have been produced by the genre and dubstep isnt the topic of conversation in the media as Gossip and celeb news spreads around so this magazine will help familiarise dubstep a lot more and bring the reign of dubstep back into the UK.

Sell lines...

What kind of stories will your audience expect?
The stories my audience will expect in my magazine are events such as parties in clubs and competitions to win free tickets to parties. There will also be stories on famous dj's such as Skream, Joker, Flux Pavillion, Doctor P, Jakwob, DJ Raph etc. where they will be performing so fans can book their tickets in advance. Other stories will include a brief description of Dubstep, the history of it, just some key facts to express the sensation of dubstep to entice customers to take interest in my magazine. The stories will revolve around the genre of the magazine and fashion as people would like to look good when they go partying. I just explained a few stories that will feature on the front cover of my magazine.

Can you write out 10 ideas for potential sell lines that will feature on your front cover?

1. Snow Rave sponsored by KOKO Camden, Including elevated dubstep artists such as: Flux Pavillion, Doctor P, Skream and more...Book Tickets NOW!
2. Joker collaborates with Skream to record Top Boy's Mixtape! Check it out!
3. Enter Mini Mac's DUB competition to win free VIP tickets and backstage passes to the opening of the new club in London, Mayfair - Tiger Tiger!
4. What is Dubstep? The history of Dubstep? Find out how dubstep went from a niche underground sound to mainstream worldwide genre!
5. Lies Heal: RT SPEAKS MUSIC
6. Christmas party with Afrojack as he reveals his latest album release featuring Example and Romanian Singer Inna.
7. Who will be 'The UGK' of 2012? You Decide.

How much is your magazine going to be?
My magazine will be at a price of £1.99.

How often will it come out?
My magazine will be released annually so on a monthly basis and it will come out a month before the pre-release date which will be stated.

What is your slogan?
My magazine slogan will be 'The Underground King of Dubstep!'

Do you have any other ways of attracting your target audience?
I can advertise my magazine in local newsagents or supermarkets by a point of sale display so as customers pass by the magazine/newspaper aisle, they can notice my magazine as they will be familiarised with the rest but will be fascinated by my magazine which will make the readers want to know about my magazine then purchase it. Rather than customers taking trips to their local newsagents plus advertising costs are immensely expensive, I wouldn't really go over the top to attract my audience in advertising so I would allow people to subscribe to my channel online and they would recieve a free issue annually to save advertising costs and customer payments. This could work as the more subscribers I have online, the more sales I can produce.

3 Different Examples of Magazine Designs...

I think this magazine is effective and creative because it is very amazing and enticing as it is visible and uses special effects to make the cover more effective and noticeable. This magazine also follows the typical conventions of a magazine. This design influences my design because I would use fluorescent colour schemes to make my magazine appeal to my audience so they cannot differ between existing magazines.

I think this magazine is not effective and creative in any way because it doesn't follow many conventions apart from a bar code, masthead and a few cover-lines. The colour schemes are not effective as they are neutral and universal.

This magazine is aiming to be different even though the conventions of the magazine doesn't follow the typical conventions of a magazine. The masthead covers the whole of the centre of the page and not many magazines do that. The main image in the background relates to the theme of dubstep and clubbing. People drink and have fun.

4 Masthead Designs for My Music Magazine...

I chose this masthead for my Dubstep magazine because it looks technical and very trendy. It possibly connotes the genre of my magazine and this typeface looks very definitive and it may appeal to the target audience.

This masthead is effective because it looks destructive and dubstep is related to breaking all rules and bass drops. This font looks distorted and erratic as if it has a scratchy effect and I'm considering this masthead for my magazine because it relates to the vinyls/decks/turntables when they mix with a scratchy effect and the name Defused connotes a bass drop where the mood becomes defused and everyone goes crazy and excited.

This masthead looks effective as it has an oscilloscope effect where the heart can be monitored and when people often go to clusbs, they want to have fun and they have a high pulse rate ad this masthead connotes this.

This masthead is appealing because it looks as if the font has exploded and this is the aftermath. In Dubstep, when dj's do a bass drop, adrenaline kicks in and it creates goosebumps and everyone starts to dance so its exploding and this font is connoting  that. 

Research on UK Magazine Industry cont. 2...

5. Which publishing house (EMAP, BAUER etc.) do you think would be suitable for your magazine and why?

The publishing house I think is suitable for my magazine is BAUER as it collaborates with the sub genre of my magazine which is Dubstep which also links to media and rather than collaborating with the existing magazines such as Closer, FHM etc. it also relates to music magazines which would be suitable in my position.

6. How do you expect to generate sales and gain a share of the market?  What is it about your magazine that is different?

To generate sales and gain a share of the market, I would aim to look at the interests of my audience as my audience must be enticed by the magazine to keep them subscribed to my magazine so I would create a survey to find out what my audience like to or prefer to read in magazines and what interests they have in magazines. I would also sell merchandise for free to evaluate how many sales I can make. If people can subscribe to my fan page which I will possibly create, they can be entitled to having access to the magazine and subscription to receiving the magazine annually. As Dubstep is used for special occasions, I will organise events to house parties and clubs where famous music artists come and perform, I would also organise competitions for 10 lucky winners to get free tickets and VIP backstage passes to the events. To advertise my magazine, I would use posters, advertisements, blog posts etc. which is a low-costing yet effective way to reach out to my audience and make them aware of what's new.

The concept of my magazine will be totally different to existing magazines as my advertising methods will differ by complex ways. I would vary between different techniques such as creating a website which will at the beginning have a snippet of the magazine but then as more subscribers come, it will expand to full exposure.

Research on UK Magazine Industry...

 1. How healthy do you consider the UK magazine industry at the moment? Have there been any recent trends in sales figures?

The impact on the UK magazine industry has collapsed greatly in the retailing of magazines which has caused the UK magazine industry to be unhealthy. Furthermore, looking at the table above, the magazines presented have made an huge impact on the income in the years 2008-09. Another factor that is affecting the sales of magazines is technology. Technology is improving as people are now using the Internet to read the magazines online and applications for mobile phones are now releasing so magazines can be read on mobile phones as well as the Internet. The sales figures may be decreasing as the magazines are aimed at a more niche market. For example, NME and Kerrang! are two magazines that used to be very popular but unfortunately these two have decreased in sales because many people now use the Internet to read magazines online as I mentioned above.

2. Do you foresee any problems in creating a new music magazine for the UK market?  

The problems that I can foresee is that magazines are under pressure from positions both online and offline. If I was to create an original magazine and this was to be published now in the UK, it would clearly be a very reasonable and enticing market  due to the impact on magazine sales. When creating new magazines it must be enticing to a wider audience as you must think about their interests as well as being competitive. Incidentally, Magazines have become more expensive to launch and the cost of attraction and keeping subscribers has increased. In an article on The Economist website mentions that "America and Europe magazine publishers have a common lament: total circulation is either flat or declining slightly as people devote more time to the internet, and an ever greater share of advertising spending is going online." Creating original magazines must include unique concepts to differ from existing magazines. In addition, there are many music magazines so it is difficult to find the gap in the market as Internet is the new trend to locating information which is why sales are decreasing by a downfall.

Research on UK Magazine Industry cont...

3. You are making a music magazine - What sub genre of music magazines do you plan to produce? Who would be your biggest rivals in that market sector?

The sub-genre of music magazines I plan to produce is Dubstep music magazine because Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, England. Mixing and Dubstep is associated in the UK which is the origin of this type of music which is why I decided to do this as I live in London. Its overall sound has been described as tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals and I will use these sounds to create the denotation and connotations of the magazine. Dubstep is not very popular than other magazines and not many people interact about it and choosing this genre will help me get involved with this sub genre but also advertise to the real world and entice them. My biggest rivals in the market sector are RWD and Get Darker because Get Darker is more of an online magazine whereas RWD establishes fashion, music, sport, gaming, films etc. Get Darker is an online magazine which is advertised on TV to get more sales. It includes articles online as well as a TV channel. I must compete with these rivals and make my magazine more appealing and saleable than theirs but also accomplish their bad points.

4. Can you give some reasons why you have decided to create a magazine in their sub genre? Is there a gap in the market? Is it well established?  

I decided to create this genre of magazine to enhance dubstep within UK and to enhance Dubstep in general as Dubstep is not a topic of conversation so my magazine can enhance it more and interest the wider audience as well. There is a gap in the market because Dubstep is not advertised as much as other genre of magazines such as fashion, Dubstep is not based on lifestyle activities but on special occasions which could be a reason to why it is not spoken about as much. Besides knowing that there is a impact in these magazines this makes me want to create a music magazine that is different from other existing magazines and more appealing to the public. As magazines are more expensive to launch due to cost of attraction and keeping subscribers. Dubstep is not very established which is why I decided to create this magazine to reminisce the sensation of Dubstep.