Updated article

Abby, you’re new to the music industry, how are you finding it?

Abby: it’s great so far quite intimidating but I just can’t wait to get my music out there.

So how did you get into music?

A: Well when I was about 12 people started telling me I had a great singing voice and I just loved singing so I started entering in school talent shows and stuff to see what kind of thing I could do. I just love it really its great fun and it makes other people happy. I did used to be part of a band called Rubix with my friends Ella and Danny and that’s when I started doing gigs. We were together for about a year but then we just kinda drifted apart so I went back to singing solo. It was a good experience though and it meant I felt better about doing gigs instead of just singing to my family and friends.

It must have been good to start out in a band with your friends. Did it give you more confidence to deal with suddenly being thrown into the music business?

A: Yeah it really did actually. I don’t think I would have been able to deal with it if I had tried to do this by myself. It’s a shame the band didn’t work out but I still reckon Ella and Danny could make it big. I’d certainly hire them if I need a backing band!

What was it like when you got signed?

A: Crazy! I was doing a gig at a local bar and there was this guy who approached me afterwards who said he was a talent scout and he thought my music was great and then he asked if I was interested in being signed and I was in shock for a couple of minutes before I said yes! I never expected it.

That must have been pretty cool! So you write your own songs?

A: Yeah I do I’ve been writing for a while now. I wrote songs for Rubix as well which was cool. I find it’s a great way to express myself and I often write about things that happen to me or things I want to happen to me. I also write a lot of songs inspired by rock and roll. It was a big part of my childhood and I just love it and I want to be able to write similar songs.

Is rock and roll your main inspiration then?

A: I guess it is one of my main inspirations but I also get inspiration from other people I listened to while I was growing up. I really liked listening to bands like Busted and Queen and recently I recently rediscovered my love of scouting for girls and McFly. I often get my inspiration from my surrounding and people I’m with. I also have little spots I go when I write songs that help me think. My favourite is a spot on the beach near where I live where I go a lot to help me write songs. I wrote quite a lot of the songs from my first album there.

That’s pretty cool. When is the new album out?

A: April 3^rd. I’m really looking forward to getting my music out there.

Yeah it must be exciting! I look forward to hearing it. So what kind of music do you listen to now?

A: I like looking around and finding new unknown artists so I can support others like me that are just starting out in music. I really like Ed Sheeran he’s a great singer and I like that he plays guitar as well. I try and listen to a range of music but I try and keep away from big trends. I don’t like the way people only like music because it’s cool not because they actually like it or can relate. That’s why I try and write songs people can relate to. I also like to make my songs different and exciting not just the same things repeated for three minutes those songs I find really boring and annoying because they are just so repetitive.

Yeah it’s good to give less well known artists a chance. Do you have any hobbies when you’re not writing or doing gigs?

A: Well I spend a lot of my time walking around the area I live but I also like quad biking and I love skiing. I went on holiday to France a lot when I was younger so it’s something I have always enjoyed. I do spend a lot of my time relaxing and watching films on Netflix just to help me unwind.

Well it’s been great talking to you Abby I hope everything goes well with your first album!

7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I have learnt quite a lot since the preliminary task. I have learnt to use a range of different technologies such as Photoshop and blogger and have also learnt a great deal about magazines. I have learnt a lot about conventional magazine layouts and how to make my magazine look realist and like a professional media product. I think I have learnt lots on how to lay out a magazine.

Photos and mise en scene- when doing the preliminary magazine I had little control over the photos as I chose to be the model. I had the picture taken in the school studio against a plain white background. This made it easier to cut around the image in Photoshop.

Photoshop and editing- when doing my preliminary magazine I had little knowledge of using Photoshop so my preliminary magazine was much simpler than my final magazine. I gained very basic knowledge from my preliminary magazine as I only used a drawing tool for the coloured stripes down the side and the text tool so I can add text to the cover.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?

While making this product I have used a variety of different technologies to help make my magazine. I have used blogger to track the progress of my magazine and I have learnt how to use this as I went along having no prior knowledge of this technology. I have also used Photoshop for the creation of my media product. I had very limited knowledge of this program before using it to create my magazine so I was learning how to use it as I was making my product. I found that some aspects were quite hard to learn and others were relatively easy. I have also used simpler technologies such as my phone for communication and camera for taking the photos.
 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by appealing to things they are interested in e.g. fan girls like popular artists so my magazine includes articles etc. about them. I also appealed to young alts and indie scenesters by including content on new artists as they like to stay ahead of trends so my magazine meets the interest of a wide range of people and can have a larger audience than other existing magazines will have. I have made sure my magazine has a range of feature that will attract my audience to help keep them engaged and interested in the magazine and its contents.

Masthead- I think the masthead of my magazine appeals to fan girls as it is bright and bold and stands out which is similar to other magazines they read. I think the name of my magazine appeals to my audience as it is short snappy and easy to remember.

Writing style- I tried to use a relaxed writing style for my article to try and appeal to my audience.

Font- I think the font my magazine uses will attract my audience because it is quite a casual and relaxed font so will appeal to teens and young adults.

Photos- I think the photos I used for my magazine will attract my target audience as it is more realistic than other magazine photos where the model is against a plain or block coloured background and have lots of makeup. 

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product is teens and young adults aged 16-25 from various social groups such as fan girls as my magazine includes well known artists they will already be fans of and it also includes artists they may not have been interested in if they hadn’t read my magazine. My magazine is also aimed at people interested in staying ahead of the trends such as indie scenesters and young alts. I think my magazine will attract a wide range of people as it doesn’t only focus on artist who are already well know or artists that are yet to be discovered but both at the same time and think these two aspects put together will mean my magazine is open to a larger audience than a magazine focused only on one of these aspects. I wanted my magazine to be different from other existing magazines so I could attract a different audience and make a magazine that addressed a variety of different parts of pop and rock music in one product

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

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

“Bauer Media Group is a large European-based media company, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany that manages a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. The portfolio extends to include print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services. Bauer Media Group has a workforce of approximately 11,000 employees in 17 countries.”

A media institution that might distribute my product would be Bauer media group as this institution already publishes music magazines such as Q and Kerrang. This means there is more chance of them publishing my media product as it is similar to other successful magazines. I think that this will be a good company to use as they are well experienced in distribution so will be able to sell my product to the target audience. Bauer is one of the largest media companies in Europe and I believe it would be perfect for distributing my magazine as it will be able to attract a large audience.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine is a pop/rock magazine featuring a mixture of mainstream artists such as Ed Sheeran and lesser known artists that are just entering the music business. I think this gives my magazine a wide audience as it will attract the large fan bases of popular artists and helps give smaller artists a boost into the music industry. I think this will appeal to a large audience and make the magazine more interesting than existing magazines that only focus on mainstream artists.

I believe the content of my magazine has aspects similar to the content of Q, Billboard and Top of the Pops however I believe it is most similar to Billboard as Q is aimed more at a male audience and Top of the Pops is aimed at a younger audience. My magazine is aimed at a similar audience to Billboard and uses a similar colour scheme however it also has differences such as the font and the age of the artists featured on the cover. The artists in my magazine are similar as it is likely both my magazine and Billboard would include artists such as Ed Sheeran or Jessie J. my magazine is also similar as it follows a similar layout of having one main picture on the cover with cover lines to tell you what is in the magazine whereas in other magazines such as Top of the Pops will have one main picture and a few smaller pictures on the cover. I felt that the style of my magazine should be simple and eye-catching as this is what my audience will prefer.

My magazine is aimed at a range of people such as fan girls and indie scenesters as there is content to appeal to a range of people. The fan girls will like the articles on mainstream pop artists but will also be given an opportunity to find new pop artists they may not have found if they were to read another mainstream pop magazine. People such as indie scenesters, young alts and trendies will like this magazine as it helps them keep ahead of the trends.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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

My magazine uses other magazines such as Billboard as style inspiration as this means I can be more certain of it reaching the right target audience as my magazine and Billboard are both aimed at similar people. I also believe that a magazine will look better if it follows conventions that real media products use. My magazine uses conventions such as a masthead and page layouts to make it look professional. I used a Z layout for the cover of my magazine as this is used on many other magazines so looks professional. I used this as it meant the text and picture did not get in the way of each other so you can clearly see what is on the cover. I also used cover lines to let customers know the major articles in my magazine. I think this is a good feature to use as it captures the interests of the audience and interests them in the magazine. I used a masthead which is used in most real media products as it tells you the name of the magazine and grabs the attention of the audience. I believe this is a vital part of a magazine as it helps people to identify and raise awareness of the product. My masthead uses Iskoola Pota font as it is similar to font used on other magazines such as ‘Elle’. I wanted my masthead to be bold but I didn’t think it would suit the style of my magazine so I went with a thinner more delicate font. I used the same font for the cover lines as I wanted to keep my cover simplistic so it doesn’t get too crowded with lots of different fonts however I did use a different font (BIO_HAND_CRE Regular) which I downloaded from Dafont.com for the cover artists name to make it stand out as the main story in the magazine. I also made the cover line text different sizes to show the importance of the story. I used a bold colour for my masthead instead of a bold font to make sure it stands out. The masthead is also spaced out as I want it to go across the whole page but I didn’t want it to obscure the artist on the cover so I made it more spaced out instead. I also added a thick line behind the masthead to draw more attention to it.

2nd photo shoot

First photo shoot

 

Artist profile

Name: Abby

Age: 19

Music style: Pop/rock

Inspiration: Mcfly, Scouting for girls, Rock n' roll music

Style: Simple. Dresses, skirts, t-shirts, skinny jeans