unpluggedsummary

By Shanil Kawol

Background Research

EMIhttp://www.emigroup.com/Social/news.htmhttp://www.emigroup.com/Social/reports.htmhttp://www.emigroup.com/About/Digital+music/Default.htmhttp://www.emigroup.com/About/Overview/Default.htm

Sony BMGhttp://www.sonybmgmusic.co.uk/http://www.sonymusic.co.uk/company_news/http://www.sonymusic.co.uk/news/http://www.sonymusic.co.uk/about/

Warner Music Grouphttp://www.wmg.com/http://www.wmg.com/news/http://www.wmg.com/recordedmusic/?id=8a0af8120da8434e010dadf51524051a

Universalhttp://www.umusic.co.uk/home/http://www.umusic.co.uk/news/index.php

Music Production and Distributionhttp://www.hoovers.com/music-production-and-distribution/--ID__251--/free-ind-fr-profile-basic.xhtmlhttp://www.vocalist.org.ukhttp://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/music-distributor1.htmhttp://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/supplychain/documents/MusicIndustry.pdf

Music Industry Overviewhttp://www.mustard-mg.com/musbiz/overview.htmhttp://www.bemuso.com/musicbiz/labelsandpublishers.html#themajorsandlindieshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/06/musicindustry.sony

Music piracyhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/new_media/1385252.stmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20081013_downloaders.shtmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/07/24/illegal.downloading/index.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1042_globalmusic/page7.shtml

Future of Musichttp://cdhi.mala.bc.ca/test/issue2/essay5.htmhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/inside/cron.html

Mixmag Researchwww.abc.org.ukwww.mixmag.net

Evidence of Construction

Evidence of Construction

Evidence of Construction

Conventions of real media products?

When designing the front cover I used the conventions of Mixmag by making the headline pink, large, and bold, ‘keep the noise down!’ which is on a tilt facing up to the girls face. This technique is used to draw the eyes to the image for male consumption.

I used four different fonts similar to Mixmag to make the text look more interesting. The subheadings are in blue, uppercase lettering to separate itself from the main white text. The least important text, the price and issue of the magazine is in the smallest font because the target audience has low income, and the price shouldn’t be promoted. ‘Ibiza’ stands out because it is written in a large font as it is a clubbers paradise, therefore will attract the target audience.

The selling line is written in pink because it is associated with girls and mainstream representations of clubbing, that drinks are mixed, ‘mix it’, girls dance, ‘shake it’, and boys dance with girls, ‘feel it’. I used the same font styles as Mixmag, which are curvaceous and Sans Serif because it is modern and youthful. I have also used a conventional coloured background, but of two colours, blue and black to create a disco atmosphere. I made the headline pink to make it stand out from the other text. I have challenged the representations of the male gender by using pink because they are usually associated with the colour blue.

Conventions of real media products?

Conventions of real media products?

I have used similar convention to Mixmag for the contents page such as a large picture of boy and girl, where the boy is looking down at the girl, for male consumption. The boy in front of the disco ball is a powerful image describing a clubbers paradise. He has a bottle in his hand advertising alcohol in the magazine.

The layout of the text is similar to Mixmag because it is easy to read. I have categorised my contents like Mixmag, ‘feature’, so it is easy for the audience to find what they are looking for quickly. ‘Contents’ is a modern and Sans Serif font which is attractive to the young readers but is larger than Mixmag ‘content’ font size which is unconventional. I have places an image of the iTouch to represent technology which interests the young target audience.

Conventions of real media products?

Conventions of real media products?

Conventions of real media products?

Conventions I used in the featured double spread includes similar layout to Mixmag, using three columns, drop caps, full page bleeds, and a header and footer. The double spread uses unconventional methods such as the heading because it is highlighted in green, in a solid, uppercase black and white lettering to catch the audience attention by making it tilted.

The headline goes through both pages, starting from the picture drawing your eyes to the stand first. I have only used one large image filling up a page bleeding to the edge, whilst Mixmag used a couple of images. When constructing I had to make sure the layout was appropriate by using margins and columns to make it look balanced.

I used a textbox for the pull quote which I highlighted in green to separate it from the main body text. The tone I used to write my feature was colloquial to suit the young readers. I did not use complicated words because the young audience are not likely to read magazines which include a lot of difficult words to understand.

On the right hand side of the spread in Mixmag a footer has not been used therefore in my product I did not use a footer using the conventions of Mixmag.

Unplugged represents a particular social group through the use of language because I used colloquial language to target a young audience because they talk slang and informally. I also represented a particular social group through the dance genre by the use of imagery that goes to nightclubs, drinks and likes to socialise.

I used bright colours to represent the social group as young, energetic people. I used Sans Serif, curvaceous, lowercase typeface to represent a modern up to date with fashion, informal representation of the audience. The social group is also represented through the choice of characters used in the images are young college students. An Asian and White British person is used on the front cover have been used to represent a multi cultural social group to target a wider audience.

Representing particular social groups

Distributing unplugged

Unplugged is an independent company who will release their monthly magazine on the first Thursday of every month similar to Mixmag. Unplugged can be bought directly from the website at unplugged.net where the consumers can buy the product on an annual subscription at a cheaper price or monthly. This is an easy method of distribution because it is direct and the quickest ways to get the product to the consumer, less cost are involved through this method of distribution.

Independent newsagents would sell Unplugged as they have a large collection of independent magazines to target a wider audience although this could mean more competition. Clubs in the UK can stock Unplugged like Mixmag therefore directly reaching the target audience can enhance profits.

When the magazine establishes itself in the market the major retailer will be willing to buy in stock, such as Borders, WHSmith, and Morrisons therefore the company can grow and the scale of operation increases. Supermarkets will buy the magazine once it is established because by selling an established magazine attracts that social group to come to the store and purchase their items as well as the magazine.

Music stores such as HMV and Zavvi would stock the magazine next to the dance genre in the shop because it will promote their products and the target audience will reach the magazine. Unplugged will print the magazine and distribute themselves because the rival major labels own their own channel of distribution therefore they will not promote or sell a competitor’s product.

Target Audience

The target audience for Unplugged are young adults aged between eighteen and twenty three year olds who are predominantly male and single at college or university. They like to listen to music therefore own MP3 players or iPods and like to socialise with other people. They like to keep up with the latest fashion trends but do not earn a high disposable income. They like the dance genre of music and like to go clubbing.

Addressing the audience

Unplugged magazine addresses the target audience because I have used a DJ article as the headline, which is dominated by men as there are no or few female DJs therefore DJs are an example of an hegemony, this addresses the male audience.

Also there is an article to win a trip to Ibiza, this is attractive to the male audience because men are competitive. I have attracted the target audience also through the imagery on the front cover because there is a beautiful girl for male consumption.

The bright blue and pink writing are attractive to the young audience. The large text, ‘keep the noise down’ is as if a secret is being told, and there is a leak in gossip which attracts the target audience to tell their mates the latest gossip. More space is used up by images than text because the target audience does not like to read a lot.

From the preliminary task I have learnt the process in how magazines are created and the difficulties in getting the magazine to the customer through distribution channels. I have learnt to use Photoshop and InDesign to produce a professional magazine. I can now analyse semiotics from magazines and understand their messages.

The initial plan was the key document that kept my project together because I stayed organised and worked extra hours when I knew I was behind. In the preliminary exercise I used a digital camera, then progressed onto using a professional SLR camera, and planned a photo shoot which was enjoyable. Planning was an essential stage which I discovered from the preliminary exercise and did it in detail in the main task because the ideas are on a page which can be referred to such as the box plan to create the layout on InDesign, which wastes less time.

I have notice I have developed my skills greatly in Photoshop because the image in the preliminary exercise was not edited at all whilst in the main task all images have been edited with effects. I feel I could have improved on the music magazine images by practicing taking pictures with an SLR and taking better quality pictures. The body text on the double spread could have been more balanced if I had more time. Also I would have re printed the final product because the quality of the print is not very good. Overall I received positive feedback from the target audience, therefore I have achieved the brief to produce a music magazine for the target audience.

Progression to the full product

Thank You for reading my presentation

unplugged