A MEDIA EDUCATION
Gabrielle J. Sellers
rESEARCH & pLANNING
Research: Bauer Media Group
January 18, 2016
The Bauer Media Group was founded in 1875 by members of the Bauer family in Hamburg, Germany. Since its creation, the Group has remained family run, with 5 generations of its founding family having stood at the business' helm.
Bauer manage a wide array of media platforms and products. This includes more than 600 print magazines, 400 digital products and 50 radio and television stations. Along with the physical products, Bauer also control print shops, postal and ‘normal’ distribution and marketing services. All of which are manned by over 11,000 members of staff working in 17 different countries.
However, the organisation had humble beginnings. Bauer was a small printing house in Germany until over a century after its conception when it started up in the UK (headquarters remaining in Hamburg). In 1987, Bauer published its first UK magazine, Bella, under the name H Bauer UK.
There are two main branches of the company running in the UK: H Bauer Publishing and Bauer Media. Between them, these two subsidiaries manage some of the most popular products and services within the entire organisation and within the UK itself.
H Bauer Publishing is the current name for H Bauer UK. It mainly publishes weekly periodicals such as the woman’s magazine Take a Break and TV listings titles including TVChoice which has been the No.1 weekly newsstand magazine in the UK since 2008.
Bauer Media is often considered to produce the organisation's more highbrow and special interest products. This arm of the company is owner of 3 radio stations -KISS FM UK, Magic and Absolute Radio- as well as a number of print magazines such as Empire, Grazia UK and heat. However, these publications are not restricted to the UK. Empire, for example, is available in many European countries and even Russia.
Bauer Media also owns 3 music magazines: Kerrang!, MOJO and Q. Whilst both MOJO and Q explore the realms of Indie and Pop music, Kerrang! is a specialised and popular rock magazine. Bauer Media also owns the respective radio and TV stations for Q and Kerrang!.
On top of these ownerships, Bauer Media also owns 50% of The Box TV with Channel 4. Kerrang! and KISS are two of the channels managed by The Box TV.
Other than the two key UK arms, Bauer also owns multiple radio stations for areas all over the UK through Bauer Media as well as the Bauer Media Group USA. The US element of the company is the publisher of many popular magazines in the United States including, but not restricted to, Woman’s World, ID and J-14.
Like many media organisations, the Bauer Media Group has not been limited by national borders or genres. As a result, its varied and original publications are available internationally through the separate European, North American and Australasian institutions whilst having remained family run for almost 150 years.
Research: Kerrang! Magazine
January 20, 2016
Kerrang! was first published in 1981 by United Newspapers before being passed to EMAP in 1991 and finally, to its current owner- the Bauer Media Group- in 2008. As a weekly serial, Kerrang! is one of the most well known publications within the music genre. Furthermore, it is one of the very few 'alternative' music magazines still in print today.
Due to the weekly publication of the magazine, Kerrang! offers a multitude of platforms upon which the fresh contents can be appreciated when a reader is unable to get to their local shop.
The most common of these platforms is a subscription service. Along with other Bauer magazines, Kerrang! is available through the GreatMagazines service where different subscription deals can be found. For Kerrang! there are three distinct styles: print only, digital only and print+digital.
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On top of the various forms the magazine is published in, Kerrang! reaches its audience through many different platforms including radio, television, concerts, festivals and social media (such as Facebook, Twitter and the website).Allowing what is quintessentially a magazine present on so many different mediums makes the original content to be spread across a wider auidence whilst each individual platfom provides its own material and methods of approaching alternative music.
Research: Analysis of Music Magazine Front Covers
January 25, 2016
Research: Analysis of Music Magazine Contents Pages
January 31, 2016
Research: Double Page Spread Analysis
February 6, 2016
Research: Rate Cards
February 12, 2016
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To further my understanding of how magazine construct creates an audience I have analysed the rate cards for the four magazines I have already analysed in terms of construct; Q, NME, Kerrang! and XXL.
Research: Questionnaire
February 15, 2016
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Research: Questionnaire Analysis
February 22, 2016
The questionnaire I developed was split into four key sections: personal information, music taste, magazine readership/qualities and physical properties of my construct. The following analysis accords to these separate sections.
Meanwhile, the questionnaire opens with a declaration. I decided to include this as it provides an introduction to the subject matter and thus the responses required. Furthermore, it guarantees that the participant is taking the research seriously and will therefore promote them to not provide false or socially influenced answers.
Personal Information
60% of the people I passed my questionnaire on to were male. This was done to make sure I had a firm grasp on the expectations and desires of a demographic which is essential to the audience of an alternative magazine such as Q or NME. Furthermore, 67% of the questionnaire participants were within the ages of 19 and 35; an age bracket which forms the majority of the audiences of alternative music magazines.
To develop my insight into the mind of my target audience of male 15-35 year olds, I asked all participants to describe their music taste in three words. Within this demographic, popular choices were ‘varied’, ‘low-key’ and ‘quality’, implying that whilst the tastes of this bracket may vary across genres and styles there is a running thread of good-quality/crafted music that would not necessarily be defined as popular.
From this small piece of research I have developed the opinion that Echo must be created in a way to advertise under-the-radar artists and musicians that appeal to both the young and mature ends of my target demographic. Furthermore, the language must be professional and crafted like the music desired by its audience whilst the magazine as a whole appears masculine. This is due to the fact that devoted music fans will follow the music onto any platform, regardless of their identity or that of the presented medium. Meanwhile, men are attracted to objects of masculinity which means that Echo must be constructed to interest members of the demographic who would not just read the magazine because of its content.
Music Taste
I developed my third question to include specific genres, definitions and representation. Within my target demographic and those excluded by it, the rock genre was considered most popular. This is probably due to the spread of music included under the masthead of ‘Rock’ and the variation it allows whilst still having generic similarities. After rock music, indie and pop were favoured which reflects the popularity of broad genres that cover a seemingly limitless array of different music styles and artists. These preferred genres often cover music considered alternative (a genre I find to be a collection of different subgenres that find themselves on the fringes of mainstream headings such as rock or pop). These findings represent how the content listed within Echo should not stick to any one genre or subgenre and instead look at the music that appears castoff from the main hub of an institution. An example of such music would be alternative hip hop/electropop/indie pop duo Twenty One Pilots who struggle to be classified under any particular genre.
Next, I asked the participants how they would define ‘Alternative’ music. The results showed a mixed view varying from indie and soft rock to hardcore emo-rock. This array of answers demonstrates that the alternative genre cannot be simply defined. Rather than one specific style of music, it encompasses the extreme edges of every genre. However, there was a common answer regarding the rock and indie genres. This reflects how, whilst alternative music is a mixed bag; the majority of musicians who fall under its title are quintessentially rock or indie artists. To represent this finding in Echo, the artists featured will be diverse but have the unconscious connection to rock and indie music running throughout.
A key factor in the music industry is gender representation. From my brief analysis of alternative music magazines I found that the men are vastly more physically prominent in print media than women. This was seen predominantly on magazine covers where women were rarely featured and at the times they were the page was far more cluttered- as if to distract from the female artist on the cover. To investigate this gender gap further, I asked the participants whether they felt men or women were equally represented in alternative music, with options to declare they through the split was equal or they did not truly know. The questionnaire found that men are typically viewed as more represented within alternative music than women. This accounts for how the majority of alternative music artists are male- female artists tend to stick within the bounds of genres like pop, RnB and country with occasional, temporary deviations from their personal style. From this I know that there must be a greater male than female presence within Echo, especially on the contents page.
Magazine Readership and Qualities
Of the 30 people I asked, 100% of them claimed to have read a magazine across any of a number of given platforms (i.e. print, online, phone app). From this statistic I determined that it is not that heard to get someone to read a magazine, so then why doesn’t everyone read them? In the following question I asked how often they read magazines to answer this question: 57% of the participant said they read magazines monthly with the number of people reading magazines more or less often forming very small populations. The high level of readership within the ‘Monthly’ bracket suggests that if Echo wishes to maintain an audience, it should be released monthly. This allows for the magazine to be read in full and enjoyed without people forgetting about the next issue, the content being out-of-date or the reader being overpowered by the sheer number of issues published.
Next, I asked the participants to list the names of any music magazines they were aware of. The most well-known amongst the sample was NME, an alternative music magazine based in England. NME was not the only alternative music magazine listed; Kerrang!, Mojo and Q also found themselves in the line-up with media all-rounder Rolling Stone also popular. The prominence of alternative music magazines within the British music industry indicates how alternative music in Britain is both varied and popular as there are so many publications dedicated to its broadcast. Therefore, a key element of my construct will be differentiating Echo from every other music magazine on the market. However, I will not deviate from the codes and conventions entirely. The popularity of magazines such as NME indicates that certain elements of these magazines work very well as attracting and maintaining an audience. Echo, therefore, must be individualised through other means such as content style and design.
Another important element of a magazine is its price. As the audience of Echo is aged at an average of 25 years old, the price should be a comfortable cost for full time workers and some students. The sample of my target audience for my questionnaire all responded that they would be willing to pay upwards of £2.00. This reflects the prices of many current media magazines (Q and Empire both cost about £3.90) of the size and quality I intend Echo to be. From this I can confirm that I will cost my magazine at around £3.00-£3.50.
Physical Properties of my Construct and Typeface Ideas
The preferred typeface for an alternative music magazine masthead was a block capital, sans serif font. This is a common choice for many magazines as it is simple and doesn’t distract from the cover content. Therefore, it is a clear choice. The second most popular typeface was also sans serif and in block capitals but is also featured a slightly more decorative element on the ‘O’ in Echo. The popularity of this typeface makes it a perfect choice for the title of the contents page.
For other elements of text such as coverlines and anchorage text an elongated serif typeface and a bold, italic sans serif typeface were popular. However, when asked what two typefaces looked good together they were never paired. Therefore, whilst both of these typefaces are popular and therefore suited to the magazine, I doubt they will be used on the same page. Upon further analysis I believe the sans serif typeface is more suited to the cover with the serif better suited for the double page spread.
Research: My Audience Profile
February 23, 2016
Planning: Mock-Up Designs
February 25, 2016
My first cover mock-up is slightly different from the typical alternative magazine. Instead, this layout is more suggestive of a film or fashion magazine due to the central placement of the masthead and headline with the coverlines running down either side of the main image.
The image on this page will be a mid shot of a male musician. This is where the cover will differentiate itself from the magazines it better resembles; as men are not typically seen on the covers of fashion magazines and film magazine covers often feature a character rather than an actual person. Resultantly, this layout is a mix of alternative music magazine conventions and the conventions of other magazines on the whole.
Although these may not be the exact typefaces than end up being used in my construct, the application of a sans serif, capitalised masthead and italicised coverlines is customary of alternative music magazines as it echoes the modern and edgy origins of the music. Meanwhile, a seemingly handwritten headline suggests the magazines content to be the product of the artist on the cover, rather than a publisher. The subject of the cover image will take centre stage, overlapping the masthead and filling the available space. Thus, the name of the magazine appears as a vehicle for the feature artist's success instead of being successful itself.
The masthead and headline will ideally be coloured in red and the chosen feature colour respectively. This will make them stand out against the backing image which will most likely be quite busy (the subject in subdued yet eye-catching clothes to reflect the popular, alternative fashion style and the background will have an urban appearance- such as exposed brick or metal- to resemble the environment of alternative music's origin.
Ultimately, the layout will feature an artist as the focus point of the page with the centralised masthead and headline made to give the aforementioned artist the credibility and fame of models and celebrities which often feature on the pages of fashion and lifestyle magazines.
My first cover mock-up is slightly different from the typical alternative magazine. Instead, this layout is more suggestive of a film or fashion magazine due to the central placement of the masthead and headline with the coverlines running down either side of the main image.
The image on this page will be a mid shot of a male musician. This is where the cover will differentiate itself from the magazines it better resembles; as men are not typically seen on the covers of fashion magazines and film magazine covers often feature a character rather than an actual person. Resultantly, this layout is a mix of alternative music magazine conventions and the conventions of other magazines on the whole.
Although these may not be the exact typefaces than end up being used in my construct, the application of a sans serif, capitalised masthead and italicised coverlines is customary of alternative music magazines as it echoes the modern and edgy origins of the music. Meanwhile, a seemingly handwritten headline suggests the magazines content to be the product of the artist on the cover, rather than a publisher. The subject of the cover image will take centre stage, overlapping the masthead and filling the available space. Thus, the name of the magazine appears as a vehicle for the feature artist's success instead of being successful itself.
The masthead and headline will ideally be coloured in red and the chosen feature colour respectively. This will make them stand out against the backing image which will most likely be quite busy (the subject in subdued yet eye-catching clothes to reflect the popular, alternative fashion style and the background will have an urban appearance- such as exposed brick or metal- to resemble the environment of alternative music's origin.
Ultimately, the layout will feature an artist as the focus point of the page with the centralised masthead and headline made to give the aforementioned artist the credibility and fame of models and celebrities which often feature on the pages of fashion and lifestyle magazines.
My final cover mock-up is entirely different for alternative music magazines and music magazines in general. I believe this swap from common conventions will make Echo stand out and thus appear as alternative as the music featured within its pages. This diversion from the norm begins with the masthead. Whist it is still placed to the left of the page, it vertical rather than horizontal placement gives the cover a far more postmodern appearance. Furthermore, this placement makes the masthead slightly more difficult to read and exaggerates the featured artist rather than the magazine as an institution.
Like the second mock-up, the headline and its explanation is placed in the bottom right, where the eye is naturally drawn. This headline will be written in the style of handwriting to make the cover slightly more approachable.
On this layout I have also included slightly unusual cover features like backed coverlines to add depth to the page.
Generally, the layout of this cover is built to stand out as much as possible from other magazines on the market. The minimalist design and use of unusual angles makes the magazine interesting to look at as well as read.
Serif typefaces will be used throughout as they appear sophisticated and mature which is a reflection of both the audience and the featured artists.
The page on the right is entirely filled with an image. This is effective as an image of this size will immediately draws in the reader and promotes them to read the respective article.
Putting the image on the right page is also effective as it is the first thing the reader will see when turning on to the article.
This image will feature no caption and will have nothing overlaying it. This suggests that the image's subject is important and thus does not need to be explained or identified for the reader.
The top of the left-hand page will be filled by the name of the featured artist, written in capital letters. Names are more recognizable than faces in the music industry. Therefore, using a large title such as this will immediately identify the artist to anyone who didn’t from their picture (which is the first thing they will see on the page) alone.
An enlarged opening letter an a pull quote within the page of text will break up this half of the spread and prevent the page from appearing blocky, repetitive or boring.
Furthermore, these large pieces of text attract the passing reader's eye, making them more likely to stop at the page to read the article featured there.
The page featuring text will be footed by the page number and magazine's web address. This improves navigation of the print magazine as well as its digital counterparts.
Overall, this layout gives the impression of a title page for an article which is reflective of feature articles in Q and NME.
Unlike the other mock-ups, this page is split in half horizontally rather than vertically. The top half of the page is occupied by a full width picture whilst the lower half is separated into four columns of written content.
Within the written content there will be four distinct text sizes/styles. The title will be written in a bold serif font across the bottom-left of the image. Meanwhile, the main text will have an introductory paragraph in a medium sized, sans serif font and will also feature a large pull quote amongst the small, serif typeface of the main text.
Breaking up the written content in this manner makes it easier to read and far more interesting to look at than just a single block of text. Thus, readers glancing over the page are far more likely to stop and read it.
Splitting the page horizontally is a break from the traditional conventions of alternative music magazines. However, as alternative music revolves around the manipulation of traditional genres and forms, this particular break from tradition is apt of the genre. Furthermore, avoiding the vertical convention makes the page eye-catching and suggests the featured artist to be unusual at the same time. Both of these factors will promote a greater readership for this page.
The concept for this double page is a music review. Reviews are a regular feature of all music magazines and therefore the unusual layout will remove this spread from the mundane regularity of review-based articles.
Overall, this layout breaks away from the traditional conventions of double page spreads and review articles to improve readership and prevent the reader from becoming bored or uninterested in the magazine's content.
This mock-up layout for a double page spread is inspired by Q magazine. Like the first possible layout, this spread features a vertical split of image and written content across down the central line of the page.
Unlike the first mock-up, this layout features an image on the left and text on the right. As the right-hand page is always seen first, placing the text on this side suggests that those reading the magazine will be genuinely interested in the written content and not just the pictures.
This layout is therefore supportive of my audience's desires for the magazine; a source of information to support their passion/hobby.
As the text is the first thing the reader will see upon opening the page it is important to secure the readership of that content will both fans of the featured artist and general readers. People will respond to an interesting or controversial quote regardless if they like the featured artist or not. Therefore, the page of text will feature a number of pull quotes to capture the reader's attention and hold it long enough so they can read the respective article.
In extension, pull quotes will break up the three columns of text and give the page a more interesting, less repetitive design.
The title of this double page spread is simple and less ostentatious than those of the first and second mock-ups. This exaggerates how fame, fortune and reputation are not necessarily important to readers of the magazine who are quintessentially fans of music, not everything that accompanies it.
Overall, this layout aims to keep focus on the written content and exaggerate the importance of physical music over reputation and fame.
my chosen layout
*Certain typefaces, sizes and placements may change.
Planning: Colour Scheme Ideas
February 26, 2016
Feature
Colour
Primary Colour Scheme
My primary colour scheme is predominantly monochrome. This minimalist design is common of the postmodern genre within which alternative music falls. Furthermore, the muted colours allow the images and content to take centre stage with there being little to physically distract the reader from their desired content.
Magazines such as Q and NME regularly employ this form of colour scheme as it allows feature colours to individualise each issue for a specific artist, genre or time of year (i.e. red and green are often using in the December issues of magazines such as Kerrang!).
Why red?
On top of the monochrome I will use a bright, but also non-aggressive, red. Red is often used in magazines for its bold, eyecatching nature. Many magazines, such as Q, NME, Kerrang!, and XXL use red for their mastheads as it is easily distinguished from the often-monochrome backing. Furthermore, red carries many connotations of the alternative genre including those of violence and British culture, from which punk and indie music stems.
I will be using red as a sybol of such Britishness as well as to demonstrate the common convention of the many alternative music magazines I have let influence my own construct.
Feature Colour
Many music magazines, particularly Q, use different feature colours in each issue of the magazine. For example, in The Smiths featuring issue in 2014, the cover used pink with their monochrome colour scheme to relate the cover to many of The Smiths' albums which employed the same house style.
In Echo, I wish to use this same technique and therefore I have developed a range of colours that I believe will work with the content. The colours I have selected are: blue, orange, pink, green and yellow.
What colour I eventually pick will reside upon the content of my images (i.e. the colours and editing used in them should accord with the feature colour). However, I have chosen this selection as they are a mix of colours I have and have not seen in/on music magazines. Notably, blue, yellow and pink are often seen on the covers of music magazines whereas greena and orange are far less common. At the moment, I favour green to be by chosen feature colour as its unconventional nature will differentiate Echo from other music magazines whilst representing the current increase in country and urban-jungle inspired alternative music.
Planning: Shooting Schedule
February 26, 2016
