Research and Planning: Distribution

The difference between major and independent distribution strategies of magazines in the UK such as Vice being independent and Q being major are that you tend to find more smart and funny young people reading Vice whereas with Q it’s a much older audience. Another difference between major and independent magazines are that you would find a major magazine like Q distribute in big supermarkets like Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrison’s for quite an expensive price whereas you would find a independent magazine like Vice for free distributed through the living, breathing fashion boutiques, bars, record stores, galleries and cafes where our audience actually shops and socializes. Vice magazine do not just distribute in the UK they distribute Worldwide and they have 15 different editions in 15 different Countries. The audience profile for Q magazine are older people who have a big passion for music and who are aspirers, and who are also C1 or C2 on the Jicnar Scale. The Audience profile for Vice magazine are people who are young, trendy and smart people who enjoy listening to music. I think they are a mix between achievers and succeeders and who are between C1 and C2 on the Jicnar Scale.

Detailed Research into Forms and Conventions

The genre i have chosen to focus on for my magazine is R&B/Hip-Hop. I did not really challenge the forms and conventions of different magazines as i researched magazines each with similar genres which obviously made it easy for me to choose the genre i will focus on. My genre for my magazine will mainly be aimed towards students between the ages of 16-25 and who are aspirers looking to be one of these artists , i also think the genre will be for people who are D on the Jicnar Scale which is semi and unskilled workers. The reason why people buying this magazine will be D on the jicnar scale is because they will mainly be students who have or do not have part time jobs.

How these 3 magazines appeal to their audience.

These 3 magazines are very similar as they are based around the same genre or similar genre which is Rap/R&B/ Hip-Hop. The front cover of each magazine appeals to their audience straight away as they have a well-known artist on. This gets the readers attention before they have seen anything else as they may be a fan of that artist. As well as this, all 3 titles are bold and in a similar font style. XXL magazine and True magazine is more of a dark title which may not stand out as much as The Source magazines title as that’s bright and bold which catches the readers eye instantly.

The contents page in all 3 magazines are both similar and different in different ways. All 3 magazines have the page numbers and page information going down in a list which makes it easier for the reader to read and to see what’s on each page. Both on XXL and True magazine there’s pictures of artists who are being featured in the magazine whereas in Source magazine there’s many different photos which match up with the information on the contents page which gives the reader an idea of what that certain page is about. All 3 magazines have similar titles on the contents page as they are bold and quite big at the top of the page.

The double spread pages in both XXL and True magazine are similar as they are interviews with different artists. Whereas the double page spread in The Source magazine has different advertisements on and also has double page spreads on different sports like American Football.

Why i had to do this Reserach?

I did this research so it i would get a good idea about different R&B/Hip-Hop magzines and see how similar and different they are. I think this research may affect my final ideas because i have see different ideas from each magaziens which i could put together to make one big idea to make my magazine stand out and appeal to the audience.

Initial Research into Forms and Conventions.

What am I doing it and why have i been doing it?

I have been looking and researching 3 different magazines which have 3 different genres and which are all different in certain ways. The reason for doing this is because it gives me an idea of what genre to choose for when i create my own magazine.

The first magazine I decided to look at is XXL which the genre is rap. I think the audience of this magazine is quite a young audience between the ages of 16-21. The magazine is all about the latest raoppers and rappers lives with features such as latest songs and featured interviews. I would say that the brand identity to the magazine is aimed at students who consider themselves trendy and cool. The image on the front cover also relates to the name of the magazine as he looks quite a broad man who looks like a rapper because of all his chains around his neck.

The second magazine I looked at was called Pop Star which had the genre of Pop music. I think the audience of this magazine is intended for teenagers from the ages of around 10-14 as its all about the pop. The magazine is about the latest popstars and the pop World which instantly relates to manily female teenagers. The brand identity for this magazine is for younger audiences that want mainstream commercial pop acts. These images fit in well on the front cover with the genre as its got young pop stars on which also fits in with the targeted audience.

The final magazine i looked at was called Vibe whos genre is Hip-Hop and R&B. I think the target audience for this magazine is both for males and females between the ages of around 16-21. The main contents of this magazine is different interviews with different artists such as 50 Cent, theres also different posters of the audiences favourite R&B and Hip-Hop artists. I think the brand identity of this magazine is aimed at students who consider themselves trendy and cool.

After i researched each of these 3 magazine with different genres it has gave me a clearer idea of what genre to use for my final decision for my magazine.

Main Task: Magazines

The task we have been set is to create an magazine that appeals to a target audience which we have chose. We have to get our own photos and our own genre which we think would appeal to a certain audience. In order to pick what genre i want to choose, i need to look up different magazines. If i am going to complete the task successfully theirs some key dates which i must follow. These are the 4/01 in which the deadline for the research and planning is, the 15/01 in wgich the production deadline is and the 12/02 in which the post-production deadline is.