Target audience

I have decided to do a Music magazine for 18-25 year olds who live in London. This is because i am one of these people and am also surrounded by people like myself. This will therefore allow me to get things such as interviews or questionnaire done quicker and also allow me to have a better basic knowledge of my target audience compared to if I was doing an older generation in Liverpool as i have very little older friends have never been as far as Liverpool, although I may well investigate in other towns/cities/ countries. However I will see if this is something that is done in other magazines to see if it will be suitable for the type of music genre magazine I am doing.

This is the questionnaire I handed out 20 people i knew in london. I used 4 different colleges and universities therefore trying to broaden my demographic whilst still keeping it relatively small therefore allowing me to make my magazine tailor made to certain people.

Demographics- Age range18-25, mainly boys, who are London base who live at home with there parents or are at university, minimal if none income maybe on a part time job.

Psychographics- The type of bands they are interested in would be people such as the Kooks, Artic monkeys, the Maccabees and Kings of Leon. The type of clothes they would be interested in would be the original type of indie wear, things such as checked shirts, polo’s and cardigans, skinny or slim fit jeans. They would often have long hair and non-designer makes or if they do something like Fred Perry and quicksilver. The type of sports they might be interested in would be skateboarding or football due to it being the main sport for young boys.

The questionnaire

This was the results I got:                 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dcXW6VZ03RTlpJsLAe_jz9Ir0ifPjwY7NnajLqQSyqff2zmoEwjrV6fnQOKvzwKNx2uiiNtd16Tx4DrQ-HF1CKShMNhu5I3N30vZ50qQFMABP_MOEr1Gnm42mis-dLVgsvhCe6BnBRHK/s1600-h/Findings.jpg

Basic information on my Music magazine

As my questionnaire has been completed I can now decide on some basic things that my magazine should try and or be like.

8 out of the 20 people I asked preferred Indie music and although i am interested in this music genre it is not my favourite therefore means that I will have to do lots of research into the codes and conventions of the genre.

Razorlight

Razorlight are one of Britain’s famous Indie bands. Indie is an abbreviation of the word Independent. It means that the bands are either not signed up at all by a record label or that the record label they are signed to is very small.

I have chosen to investigate this band as I found out that the band lived and worked near to where I live. Something that i found very interesting when doing some research into Razorlight was that they spent six months rehearsing in a decaying factory space in East London. From research I have done I believe that this epitomizes the indie kind of living. The way that everything is done a small budget yet great enjoyment is made out of it.

The band did end up getting signed by Mecury records in the end. However they are still known as an INDIE band due to their style and fashion. They carried in the same kind of music which is known as INDIE ROCK. The phrase Indie has changed over time as now Indie is not just the way people record their music, but about their beliefs, views, style, style of music, fashion and much more.

 Razorlight is the album when many of the original Razorlight fans lost interest in the band, and some accused them of 'selling-out' by diluting their raw, edgy rock sound to cater for a new, radio-friendly mainstream audience. This is often a problem for bands who are trying to become successful globally that their band changes in order to fit a wider demographic however whilst doing this Alienating the original band followers and fans.

Planning a photo session

Now I have decided all the information about who shall be my model and other things I now need to see what my photo shot will look


Props?

Although I plan to take several photoshots and then decide which ones i should progress I would like to use some props. For example I may try some with a guitar if one is available as a guitar is a vital bit of the Indie scene. I may try other props however i doubt i will put a picture with props on my front cover as looking at various magazines such as NME, Rolling stones and Q very little of front covers with props involved.

Styling

I will be using no makeup on my model as i believe the indie scene is very much what you see is what you get and make up blokes the natural beauty of a face. From my research into Indie Fashion my model will be wearing jeans and probably skinny ones. They will defiantly contain some checks in their outfit probably in the shirt. However i will also try and give a smarter indie look for example a skinny tie and slim fit suit. Hopefully this may also increase the demographics’ to ‘high acheivers’.

Set

As i want to do several photo shoots I will use various settings. I think I will use my school as one option as it is near by and would be quite simplistic as many backgrounds for magazines are as i could do the photo shoot up against a white wall. I would also like to do some photo shoots near some famous indie landmarks or places this could include Top man which is very indie for fashion, brick lane which is very indie or possibly were the old Astoria use to be. I may also get one of the model in a park or garden showing the fact that they like natural things.

Facial expressions

When analysing nearly every magazine I looked at I found that in the front cover image the Artists stairs into the camera allowing a connection to be built between them and the audience. I will therefore ask my model to look into the camera for several pictures especially the one that will go on the front cover, however in other photos the model may not look into the photo as the connection between the two has already been achieved.

Lily Allen in NME

Lily Allen was chosen by NME as the cover star as she would instantly make people want to read NME as she is a famous artist who many people respect and enjoy listening to. She has a great deal of 'star persona' - in the news for things such as her 'bad girl' reputation, her sense of rebellion and anti authority image. Tis would appeal to the audience as they are young and may be anti authority already. Teenagers my target audience may look up to this as they have less responsibilty in there lives and are free to do what they want in their lives. Teenagers are also trying to find their selves when they are teenagers and their identity, they may want to follow in the steps of Lily Allen. They are free from responsibilty and belief in there independance and ability. People are also intrested in her musical and creative ability. She appeals to the psychographic categories of 'anti-authority rebel' as much as 'creative/experimental.' She was famous for wearing interesting clothes such as dresses with trainers, she challenges society. She is very outspoken a lot of the time and does not worry about offending people making her the ‘anti-authority rebel’.

The red, white and black feature throughout the front cover, contents and double page spread. This is to keep in line with NME and its colours. In the scanning the barcode was missed on the front cover however this is a key convention of a magazine. Lily Allen covers most of her body up therefore there is no titillation in the photos. This is to show Lily Allen as a woman who does not feel that she has to act in a way that is not her or show off her body to become famous. The shirt which is clearly a man’s shirt is worn by Lily Allen in order to show her as yet again someone different from the stereotypical women who is girly and promiscuous, the colours of the shirt fit in with the NME colours.

Indie Fashion

This is like Indie fashion. I think in order to get my music magazine pictures right I must understand what a typical indie person would wear therefore allowing me to replicate it on the model that I will be using whether that is myself or somebody else.

The Cardigan is used by many indie bands to create a retro type of look. This one is blue to make him seem slightly more modern but a simple grey or black cardigan is often used as well in the indie fashion world.

Hoodies. Although Hoodies are normally associated with Rap many indie people may wear them for casual appearances such as walking down to the shops or going round a friend’s house. There are clear differences from type of hoodie that an Indie person might wear compared to gangster rapper. An indie one is normally slimmer and a tighter fit around the body compared to a gangsters who would have theirs loose. An indie hoodie often is simple patterns for example this one is chequered or it could be plain.

Checks are very important to the indie fashion. We see checks in the man’s scarf and also on the boy’s hoodie. Check shirts are worn by many indie people.

Jeans are the most common type of trousers worn by indie people however chinos are sometimes worn. Most Jeans worn by Indie people are skinny jeans. The main type of shoe i found out was the converse, however the plimsole is also worn by many Indies, the boat show also seemed to be in fashion.

The whole Indie scene is very retro and things such as cardigans, boatshoes and checkered shirts have been re-introduced into the fashion world by Indie after stints in the past.

The long hair in males is something that is around in many different types of genre however Indie is one of these, hair is often wavy and made to seem out of control.

http://lookbook.nu/look/121962-Orchestra-jacket

http://lookbook.nu/look/373619-Novelty-Wannabe

Control 2007

As mentioned earlier I know little about the actual Indie magazine. In order for me to gain a deeper understanding of what happens in the Indie industry i watched the film named “Control” it was written about a famous INDIE band named “Joy division” who released the very famous song “love will tear us apart”.

Ian Curtis the lead singer of joy division he is epileptic and works as a civil servant in the employment exchange.  Ian quits his job to tour with Joy Division, leaving Debbie to work and take care of the baby. Joy division also end up touring to America. Ian Curtis continues to have an affair with a Belgium women lying to his wife telling her it had ended.

Ian tries to commit suicide and tells his wife in a suicide letter to send his love to the Belgium lover. However doctors save him.

 Ian tells Tony that he believes everyone hates him and that it is his own entire fault. His wife demands for a divorce after finding out that he is still having an affair and not coping well with Ian’s mood swings.

After the America tour Ian comes home and tries to force his wife not to divorce him when she refuses he gets angry and kicker her out of the house. He then drinks alcohol by himself and has an epileptic fit. When he wakes up in the morning he hangs himself and when his wife returns in the morning she sees him dead.

When I finished watching the film it helped me gain a greater insight into the Indie magazine. I learnt that it is not as glamorous as other industries such as Pop and R‘n’B. Rock is often known for sex, drugs and rock and roll. Indie is very similar to this as we see the man drinks a lot, has an affair and obviously music is very important to him and his way of life. However unlike rock there are a lot more negatives things, for example although Joy Division was a pretty big English indie group they still didn’t live in expensive houses and found it hard to pay for everything. Although being relatively big for a lot of the time Ian remanded in his other job in order to have enough money and only when forced to due to touring did he quit.

Although this was an extraordinary case it did make me realise that this could be why many of the indie artists wear what is deemed normal clothes to them compare to someone like lady gaga who purposely tries to be abnormal clothes. I also found out that in Indie music the songs are a reflection of the persons problems and experiences for example when He learns that Corinne Lewis has died of a seizure, and writes the song “She’s lost control" about her.

Colours

I have now decided that I am doing an indie based magazine and will focus my demographic on anti-authority rebels and Creative, experimental. I now need to see what colours will work with these type of people:

Red is a colour that evokes a powerful emotion of passion, lust, sex, energy, blood and war. Red is a good colour to use for accents that need to take notice over other colours.

Orange is a bright and warm colour. It represents fire, the sun, fun, warmth and tropical images. It is considered a fun light colour that has appetizing qualities to it. As a citrus color, orange is associated with healthy food and stimulates appetite. Any design relating to the tropics, something fun, easy going and youthful should incorporate some type of orange into the design. A darker, richer shade of orange can be associated with autumn.

Yellow is the brightest colour to the human eye. It represents youth, fun, happiness, sunshine and other light playful feelings. It is a cheerful energetic colour. Yellow is often hard to read when placed on a white background so designers must be careful when using yellow, that it isn’t too difficult to read or notice. As yellow starts to darken it, however, quickly becomes dirty and unpleasant. Yellow can also be associated with being scared and, cowards. The term "yellow belly" is proof of that.

Green is the color of nature and health. It represents growth, nature, money, fertility and safety. Many pharmaceutical and nutritional companies use green in their logos and material to advertise safe natural products. Dark green is commonly associated with the military, money, finance, and banking. However it can also be associated with being new or inexperienced. Green is becoming a very popular colour in design for web sites and such like

Blue is a cool calming color that shows creativity and intelligence. It is a colour of loyalty, strength, wisdom and trust. used to represent the sky and the sea. Blue is a popular colour among males.

Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Associated with royalty, nobility and prestige. It symbolizes mystery, magic, power and luxury. Purple combined with gold can be flashy and portray wealth and extravagance. Light purple and pink is good for a feminine design and is a popular colour among teenage girls. Bright purple gives the appearance of something that is fun and easy to do.

Black is often a color used to portray something evil, depressing, scary or even death. It has negative imagery with it at times such as "black mail" "black market” etc. Black is also a very powerful colour that also portrays one of class elegance and wealth.  Classy clothing is designed in black from the "power suit" to the "sexy black dress" to formal "black-tie attire". Black combined with other colours can have a very strong statement.  Black is a color that can fit into almost every design to add contrast. Is used to show someone a defiant person.

White is often associated with being pure, clean, fresh and good. White is a commonly used as backgrounds as it is easy to read black or dark text on it. When used with a design using lots of negative space it gives a very clean look to it. White usually is associated with being pure and almost heavenly.

Basics of Indie bands and the Artic monkeys.

Many Indie bands relied on word of mouth and touring in order to get there selves well known and make people want to listen to them. New technology has allowed this easier with Artic Monkeys for example who were an independent band for their first two albums they publicised their selves on the internet. I may therefore in my magazine talk about how the artist had made their sleves big through putting their music on sites such as myspace or other internet sites.

. The history of Indie Music dates long back in 1960’s. The format of the music then was pop, rock and roll and a slight dash of R&B. The lyrics of the songs were inspired by peace, love and anti-war thoughts. 

Indie music has been around much longer than 50 years. The main type of music that was associated with pop, rock and roll and every now and then little bits of R&B. This gave indie music a different type of style to what had been before. The lyrics of Indie songs were often about love, peace and anti war thoughts. This gave the indie style a kind of hippy style who loved many things. This therefore means that they were normally not associated to much with violence. However recent Indie bands such as Artic monkeys have challenged that notion with songs like Balaclava where they talk about doing illegal acts for fun and Ritz to Rubble when they talk about anti-social behaviour of a bouncer.