When deciding on what and who my magazine should be aimed for, I had to first consider a genre to work in and what ideas to base around my music magazine. The decision to work in the music genre of ‘Rock n Roll’ was taken as I myself enjoy reading and listening to this genre of music, so I felt this would help me through my planning and through my production. Like many other magazines out there, the step has to be taken to decide on a specific audience for my magazine and whether or not they are going to be a mainstream or independent audience. I decided to aim my magazine to a mainstream audience in particular, as I personally felt this would get the wider reading and this kind of audience would enjoy this genre of music a lot than say an independent audience would. Another advantage of aiming my production work at a mainstream audience is that then I could include more items within the magazine, I felt I had a wider range of things to discuss as it would be going out to a wider audience. The magazine dealt with many issues and topics that could appeal to many, which in the long run would be better for a mainstream institution as it means more sales.
In my research and planning, I explored many different magazines and distributions that could influence my own design work, as they also all appealed to the same audience type and social groups to which I wanted to aim my own work at. Of course, all my main influences were from a mainstream institution, as then I could see the best techniques to draw that audience type in. Although I aimed my magazine for a mainstream audience, I also wanted to aim it for a niche audience, specific to the genre of music and the genre of magazine that I was working in. The genre of music I was working in is quite specific, yet it also appeals to many, this made it a lot harder to decide on what content to use and how to set it out.
Two of the main influence magazines I picked out were ‘Kerrang!” and “NME”, which were both great help when it came to deciding on how to plan and produce my own work. These two magazines are both quite mainstream magazines, as they both appeal to a wide reading; yet work in a specific genre of music. Both used the same kind of house style and layout to which I wanted to use for my own work, the same colours (red, black, white) were used in both, which is another reason why they were both influences to my work, as they showed how use the colours to their fullest. Although, unlike “Kerrang!” magazine, “NME” used a more professional layout and house style, which would obviously attract a higher end market, yet still attracting the music fans they wanted. Both these magazines also use Media 2.0 to a great advantage, as they both have their own websites and they are both involved within other media production (radio, TV, ECT).
I would want my magazine to be sold in a quite well known, main stream institution, as it would fit into the genre of music that I am working in. Like “Kerrang!” and “NME”, my magazine would appeal to a high end market, yet attracting a wider reading as it includes a very well known genre of music. The technologies available allowed me to make my magazine stand out and look a lot more appealing, which is what I wanted to achieve with my magazine. The decision to distribute my magazine through main stream institutions would bring a positive outcome, as it would enable my magazine to sell to a much wider, mainstream audience, bringing in more profit. Obviously, the same principle would go for my advertising, I’d want it o be advertised in the same mainstream way, getting out to as many people as well. The advantage of doing this is that independent artists are able to then promote themselves through the mainstream magazines, which would be something that I would want to do with my magazine.
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