Researching Genre (Indie Rock)

By Lewis Maguire

Genre

• ‘Genre’ is “a style or category of art, music, or literature.”

• A genre identifies pieces of music by putting them into categories that share different conventions and types of music.

• There can be more than one type of genre in a piece of music (for example pop-punk) many artists are trying to create a sub genre because it will attract more people and will have a much larger target audience.

• This also links to hybrid genres where there is more than one genre in a type of music, this also has a larger target audience, therefore attracting more people.

My Genre (Indie Rock)

• Indie Rock is a genre of alternative rock.

• It is extremely diverse and originated in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

• Indie is now used to describe a type of music, however it was originally used to describe record labels.

• Indie Rock used to be used alongside alternative rock.

Examples of Indie magazine coversHere are some examples from the front covers of indie magazines. As you can see, they share many of the same conventions even though some of them are completely different magazine companies.

Three Colour Pallet

The front covers from the magazines that I have researched and put on this PowerPoint, they all have the same ‘three colour pallet’ that mainly consist of the same three colours: black, white and red. In every single front cover. Red is also used as the third main colour on each magazine, this is used to show the passion and rebellion shown by indie artists. The colour is used to emphasisethe passion as the red will mainly be on a black and white background, therefore it will stand out much more.

Clothing

• All of the artists are wearing black and white; I need to make sure that I stick to these conventions when I complete my own magazine front covers. The reason they wear these colours is because it’s known as the ‘indie style’ as they don’t usually wear bright colours and stick to the simple black and white. Indie artists are also known to wear simple clothing, such as plain white T-Shirts and black skinny jeans, usually ripped. I need to make sure that I stick to these conventions when I make my own music magazine.

• The clothing also fits in with the facial expressions. All of the cover examples that I have used show very similar facial expressions. The facial expressions used are very serious and rebellious; this reflects well with the red colour and the muted colours they are wearing.

• The props included are usually musical instruments that indie artists use, for example a guitar or drums, however on the examples I have used, there aren’t many props shown. The only prop used in any of the examples is a cigarette, which also links in with the ‘rebellious’ connotations of indie artists.

Summary of what my work should include

My work needs to include all of the main conventions seen in these magazine front covers. For example the colours used, black and white need to be the main colours of the photos, maybe using a black and white filter, as the photo should cover the background of the page. Moreover, with the clothing used, I need to make sure that whoever is on the front of the cover is wearing black and white clothing. In addition, the main colour for the text should be red as this is used on most indie magazines; this shows the passion and rebelliousness of the artists. These all link together to give a very rebellious look to the character on the front and the whole magazine. It shows off the personality and conventions of a typical indie magazine as the main connotations of an indie artist is rebellious, but also passionate about their music. I should also use a musical instrument so that the reader immediately knows it is a music magazine. The main reason why my examples don’t include magazines are because it is a familiar character on the front, for example Alex Turner; most indie fans will recognise Alex Turner as the lead singer for Arctic Monkeys, so therefore don’t need a musical instrument to show to the reader than it is a music magazine.