Evaluation Question 2

 

 

How Does The Media Product Represent A

Particular Social Group?

 

 

When I began my research for my music magazine, I discovered that I wanted to champion the legends of Indie/Rock/Brit Pop scene. I wanted to bring them to a younger market of roughly 16-25 year olds. My magazine would also focus on the modern equivalent of these idols, bringing them to market of 38-48 year old, which I felt would also appeal to the younger target audience at the same time. Ultimately the publication I would produce would provide a comprehensive view of the genres selected. Therefore I would have to represent a variety of ages and social groups in my magazine, which I felt I did in a number of ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 The Front Cover appeals to the target audience in the same ways that Q Magazine does, as the text is largely informal, details of a variety of features & artists appear, and universally popular contemporary artists appear as the main focus of the Cover. I chose to deviate from the latter by extending the coverage to "older" artists to appeal to both ends of my target audience.

 I took inspiration for the facial expressions of my models from the Q Cover featuring Jay Z. as it is a Close Up of his face, the emphasis is on his facial expressions. We can see here how he's frowning, suggesting he's unhappy about something, or perhaps he is displaying his famed cocky care free "c'est la vie" attitude which could arguably display how he's become comfortable with his surroundings and where he is in his career. The Models featured on my Cover give off the same cocky, care free vibe which represents the constant partying attitude of my younger target audience.



Through the body language of the models I displayed a "bad boy" image to the group. The band are seen smirking, showing they have little or no respect for authority. They also have their arms crossed, suggesting impatience, showing a boyish arrogance to the group. This attitude, and one's described in the above paragraph are also reciprocated throughout the genres of BritPop/Rock &Indie, in the bands as well as the groups of fans who follow them. I believe therefore that the facial expressions and the body language of the models represent the social groups that follow Britpop & Rock music.

 

 

 

 The colour schemes of both "MELODY" and Q Magazine represent the genre and subsequent social groups. One colour scheme (usually focussing around red and black) is selected, and stuck to across the cover. This perhaps shows the "no nonsense" approach to music and life in general of bands and the music enthusiasts that follow this genre. This idea is followed through in the organised structure of the Cover, however this is more seen in MOJO Magazine, where it possibly represents how their target audience (roughly 35+) prefer to listen to music in it's purest form (often seeing bands live), using more traditional forms (on records, without modern developments such as iTunes).








Artists of both genders also appear on the Cover. This appeals to the politically active nature of followers of Indie music, who are concerned with a number of social issues such as equality for example. The fact that there is an equal representation on the Cover "MELODY" and other music magazines on the market shows how social groups and followers of music are concerned with identity.





The clothing of the models on my Contents Page are equally important in the representation of the target audiences of my music magazine. The prop of the acoustic guitar suggests connotations of singing songs round a camp fire, maybe on a beach. This idea represents freedom; a popular image for younger generations, which therefore represents my target audience. This idea is carried on in the provocative "War Is Over" prop. Here this represents how young people question social issues around them as they become more enlightened through education.









 The clothing of this model is fashionable and therefore appeals to the vanity of the younger generation. The clothing here represents again how fashion is equally important in the modern era, as it was in the sixties and seventies.







I have also appeared to the a younger target audience through the promotion of social networks and websites. This inclusion benefits the brand as it makes it consistent with other titles on the market adopting a similar approach in becoming multi platform brands. Therefore this expansion of services with the technological boom represents the needs of the younger, computer savvy, generation who could be considered a technophile. Practically every other music magazine on the market has had to move towards an inclusion of social media and modern technology for their product to attract and maintain readers in order to survive in a cut throat market place. Examples include Kerrang & Q introducing their own TV Stations.







The wide variety of artists and bands covered in the Contents Pages appeals to the "music enthusiast". These types of fans are ordinarily identified by their love of live music, necessity to collect B- Sides as well as live recordings as well purchasing high volumes of records outside their preferred genre. "Music Enthusiasts" are typically in the ABC1 income bracket and are described as a more "mature music fan". Therefore this diverse selection of bands on offer represents my older target audience. Kerrang also include a wide range of reading materials in order to cater for their younger target audiences thirst for knowledge, particularly with their favoured genre.














The props of the blazers represent the importance of fashion in social groups such as Mods &  Rockers. The band t-shirts also displays how the youth feel the need to assert their musical tastes on their surrounding environment, therefore representing followers of the Punk Scene for example. I felt also that the fact that their pictures appear as four individual close up shots represents the individuality and need to express personality of my younger target audience. The Mod target symbol also represents the older target audience of my publication as it pays homage to the sixties London scene as well as the Mod movement. MOJO magazine often pays tribute to iconography in this way, mostly through references within interviews and props in photoshoots to represent their target audience.









The mode of address through out my magazine pages was light and informal, using with & humour to engage with the target audience. Q Magazine use this technique to give the impression that the reader is equal to the journalist's intellect, can match their music knowledge and their opinions are as equally valid. I used a number of colloquialisms, slang and expletives to engage with the target audience further as it represents the way they speak and address one another, particularly friends. This also personifies the rock and roll lifestyle and attitudes of amny of the bands featured in "MELODY" and other magazines on the market such a NME and Q. Examples of this can be seen throughout my pages. Kerrang adopt a similar approach in their mode of address to engage with a similarly youthful target audience.