Research: Music Magazines
Introduction
on this page I will research music magazines and the genre each magazine promotes. I will use this information to chose which magazine would introduce the artist and album I have chosen to look at.
History
1894
BILLBOARD'S MUSIC MAGAZINE
'Billboards' music magazine was the first ever. However the magazine did not publish the music charts until the 1930's.
1926
'Billboards' music magazine was the first ever. However the magazine did not publish the music charts until the 1930's.
MELODY MAKER
'Melody maker' was one of the first UK published music magazine. It was originally dedicated to Jazz but over time developed into Rock and Roll.
1952
NME 'NEW MUSIC EXPESS'
'NME' was the first music magazine to release the singles chart. In the 1970's NME became the best selling British magazine. The magazine soon became associated with Punk Rock.
1967
'NME' was the first music magazine to release the singles chart. In the 1970's NME became the best selling British magazine. The magazine soon became associated with Punk Rock.
ROLLING STONE
The fortnightly magazine focused on music and culture that reflected the younger generation and current social issues at the time. The magazine still focuses on music culture such as television and artists.
1980
The fortnightly magazine focused on music and culture that reflected the younger generation and current social issues at the time. The magazine still focuses on music culture such as television and artists.
THE FACE
'The Face' targeted older audiences and therefore includes not only music culture but also fashion and lifestyle. The founder of The Face had previously work with Smash Hits and NME before creating The Face.
1981
'The Face' targeted older audiences and therefore includes not only music culture but also fashion and lifestyle. The founder of The Face had previously work with Smash Hits and NME before creating The Face.
KERRANG!
This UK magazine focuses on rock and punk music. It began as a one off supliment for Sounds newspaper and became the best selling music newspaper in the early 2000's. It is now one of the most popular magazines in Britain.
1993
This UK magazine focuses on rock and punk music. It began as a one off supliment for Sounds newspaper and became the best selling music newspaper in the early 2000's. It is now one of the most popular magazines in Britain.
VIBE
'Vibe' provides multiple forms of entertainment and publishes news about a range of musical artist. After a shut down in production in 2009 the magazine was purchased by a new company and now has a large online presence.
Types of Magazines
The first Music Magazine was The New Musical Express (NME). When this was first released in 1940s it was called 'the accordion and the new music express'. The reason for this was because the accordion was a popular instrument in this era.
This later changed in 1952 to 'The new music express'.
Here is an image of the inside of this magazine, The magazine consists more of text that images which gives in a newspaper image.
Here is the 'NME' re designed for the 21st century.
This front cover clearly shows that it is a new version as it contains colour. The images are more lively and alternative.
WEBSITE- NME
Here is an image of the inside of this magazine, The magazine consists more of text that images which gives in a newspaper image.
Here is the 'NME' re designed for the 21st century.
This front cover clearly shows that it is a new version as it contains colour. The images are more lively and alternative.
WEBSITE- NME
WEBSITE- NME
Recent Magazines
Multi
'Q' magazine deals with a wide range of up coming artist. It doesn't have a pacific genre.
This magazine consist of interns, artist updates, promotion for artist, upcoming artist and photographs of the artist.
The magazine has an extensive review section which features; new release, reissues, music complicators. film and live concert reviews and we'll as radio and television reviews on the artist.
WEBSITE- Q
Edgy/Alternative/classic
'Uncut' is edgy alternative and classic music that interests all ages.
Punk/edgy rock
'Revolver' deals with the strange and crazy artist but still promotes rock.
The magazines name 'Revolver' is covered, this shows that the magazine is popular enough to not show the
name.
Pop Punk/clastic rock
'Kerrang' magazine is dedicated to clastic and teen rock. Even though this magazine deals with punk rock as well it includes the more 'normal' bands and artist.
This magazine includes 6 free poster and this suggest that this is advertised to teenagers more than adults.
Rap
'Mixmag' is completely dedicated to rap music or any music that have some type of rap within the song.
Heavy/death metal
'Metal Hammer' is a well known magazine for teenagers and above. This magazine contains heavy metal- rude and disturbing lyrics.
country
'Maverick' is based on the country and folk music. It promotes artist and bands that hard anyone has heard of unless they listen to country.
Blues/soul/jazz
'The blues' is a creative magazine that base it self around the soul and jazz genre.
This magazine could include reggae, the colours and cartoon image cover suggest this.
Conclusion
Multi
'Q' magazine deals with a wide range of up coming artist. It doesn't have a pacific genre.
This magazine consist of interns, artist updates, promotion for artist, upcoming artist and photographs of the artist.
The magazine has an extensive review section which features; new release, reissues, music complicators. film and live concert reviews and we'll as radio and television reviews on the artist.
WEBSITE- Q
Edgy/Alternative/classic
name.
country
Blues/soul/jazz
'The blues' is a creative magazine that base it self around the soul and jazz genre.
This magazine could include reggae, the colours and cartoon image cover suggest this.
Conclusion
Me and Hannah both gathered information on the different genres in magazines. From this we both think that Matt Corby would be promoted on NME out of the magazines above. We will use this new knowledge when designing our magazines.
Research: The Conventions Of Existing Magazine advertisement
Introduction
This page is to help us get an understanding of what a magazine cover should included. How we set on doing this is by looking at 8 different album cover and comparing them to each other.
This is all the conventions which we found on each of the 8 magazine advertisement. From this it shows what each advertisement include and what they do not include.
These are 2 out of the 8 magazine advertisement which we looked at. As you can see they are both very different. The first one is more common with the artist image and album cover and the second one is more text heavy which is un common.
However, they both have similarities such as, they both contain the artist name and the album which its promoting. Unlike some of the magazine advertisement we looked at they both contain reviews. This allows the consumer of music to get a opinion from a professional level.
This research allowed us to understand which conventions is needed when coming to designing our own magazine advertisement. From doing this we have extended our knowledge on magazine advertisement and have found out that some can be a whole A4 page spread. Some page sizes can be a quarter of a page or a page size at A6.
This is all the conventions which we found on each of the 8 magazine advertisement. From this it shows what each advertisement include and what they do not include.
However, they both have similarities such as, they both contain the artist name and the album which its promoting. Unlike some of the magazine advertisement we looked at they both contain reviews. This allows the consumer of music to get a opinion from a professional level.
This research allowed us to understand which conventions is needed when coming to designing our own magazine advertisement. From doing this we have extended our knowledge on magazine advertisement and have found out that some can be a whole A4 page spread. Some page sizes can be a quarter of a page or a page size at A6.
This is an A4 magazine advertisement. this included the same common conventions as the other 2 however,unlike some, this is just advertising the album release. Also this one has the up-coming tour dates as well as including the album release and where you can buy the album when its out.
Research: Existing Magazine Advertisement for Matt Corby's
Introduction
Me and Hannah have chosen to research into Matt Corby's existing magazine advertisement, however we could not find a source for these magazine covers or find enough magazine covers purely based on Matt Corby.
Magazine articles
Here are some images from magazines that have written an article on Matt corby and his music. We could not find a magazine cover on Matt Corby linked with these magazine, however the article still shows us useful information.
The Brag
Here are some images from magazines that have written an article on Matt corby and his music. We could not find a magazine cover on Matt Corby linked with these magazine, however the article still shows us useful information.
The Brag
Website link: The Brag Magazine Article
Paste
Paste
Website link: Paste Magazine Article
Magazine Covers/Poster Advertisement
Here we have found magazines/poster advertisement of Matt Corby's music. These covers are not like the typical advertisement we have previously researched about.
1
This cover is completely made from artwork created with paints.
This gives the cover a simple but creative effect that matches with the genre of music. W could paint our own artwork from the photographs we will capture when filming. This will hopefully recreated the effect this magazine cover creates.
2
This cover also involves artistic images but with a range of different media. This time the artist name is positioned in the top middle of the cover. We both prefer the title at the top of the page like
the magazine cover above because it stand out and creates a focus point. The words being positioned over the artwork makes the text stand out which is an important feature to achieve.
3
This one is a magazine advertisement which is focusing on promoting tour dates. When designing our advertisement we need to take in consideration about the positioning and colours what we use. As you can see the artwork and colours have changed, this is a more warm coloured advertisement compared to the cold blue. The blue is more suitable for this genre while also creating a more interesting cover.
4
This magazine advertisement is the most different and compacted compared to the other covers.
The artwork is also used on his album
'Telluric' which cleverly links the two types of advertisement together
while promoting the album.
This is a technique we could use to help the promotion of the album, and music video widen. The title is positioned at the top again which still shows us that this positioning is the most suitable.
Other magazine advertisement
Here is a magazine advertisement focused on a different artist however Matt Corby is featured in the cover. This was the only photograph we found that clearly shows a magazine cover and involves Matt Corby.
Here we have found magazines/poster advertisement of Matt Corby's music. These covers are not like the typical advertisement we have previously researched about.
1
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| This cover is completely made from artwork created with paints. This gives the cover a simple but creative effect that matches with the genre of music. W could paint our own artwork from the photographs we will capture when filming. This will hopefully recreated the effect this magazine cover creates. |
2
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| This cover also involves artistic images but with a range of different media. This time the artist name is positioned in the top middle of the cover. We both prefer the title at the top of the page like the magazine cover above because it stand out and creates a focus point. The words being positioned over the artwork makes the text stand out which is an important feature to achieve. |
3
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| This one is a magazine advertisement which is focusing on promoting tour dates. When designing our advertisement we need to take in consideration about the positioning and colours what we use. As you can see the artwork and colours have changed, this is a more warm coloured advertisement compared to the cold blue. The blue is more suitable for this genre while also creating a more interesting cover. |
4
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| This magazine advertisement is the most different and compacted compared to the other covers. The artwork is also used on his album 'Telluric' which cleverly links the two types of advertisement together while promoting the album. This is a technique we could use to help the promotion of the album, and music video widen. The title is positioned at the top again which still shows us that this positioning is the most suitable. |
Other magazine advertisement
Experiments: Tesing Magazine designs
Introduction
After a range of research Hannah and I feel confident enough to start design our magazine cover. We have also started filming and from some of this footage we have taken photographs along the way and from these images we have experimented with them.
Number one
for our frist experiment we used a photograph we captured during a food colouring experiment for the video. This is a very artistic image which links to some of Matt Corby's 'Telluric' album artwork. After creating these test i noticed i have spelt the album name Telluric wrong and from this i will have to make sure we double check each spelling before creating and finishing the final magazine design.
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| This is the original photograph shot from the food colouring experiments within the music video. |
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| Above is screenshots of us trying different layouts of the artist name and the album title. We prefer the layout number 2 however for this image lay out number 4 is the most suitable. |
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| We tried out a different font to see if it works better and it did so we carried on tesing from this font choice |
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| Here we tried changing the album titles colour by the colours within the image, this helped match the titles with the photograph creatively. However the orange was to vibrant for thecover which will distract the viewer from other important information. |
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| Here we changed the colour from the colour planet within the photograph again and resulted in a light baby blue. This colour choice was mush calmer and subtle which will help match all the features not he cover. |
After choosing the font and colour arrangement we adding in the information needed on the magazine cover. This information is inspired and influenced from research on Matt Corby magazine advertisement and other artist magazine covers.
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| Above are screenshots showing how we tried different ways of laying of the information as well as chaining the album title colour again. However we did change the text arrangement but we resulted back to the light baby blue colour for the album title as it was the most suitable. |
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| Here is the final magazine advertisement that Hannah and I created. We do like the photograph we have chosen however we both feel that there needs to either be more features within the cover or a different layout to created a more realistic and professional appearance. |
Number 2
For our seconded experiment we tried a different photograph that it took of Hannah when we was filming and capturing are for our filming location post.This image captures nature and structure which is an important feature within our music video, this will help link both types of advertisement together successfully.
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| Here we add the rectangle shape along the bottom like the previous design however we turned down the opacity of the shape to allow the image behind to still be seen. This has help the features match and create a smooth appearance. |
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| Here i have added in the artist name at the top right corner. This was influenced by the layout design from the other magazine test as we preferred this layout as it suitably suits this photograph. We found the most interesting font straight away called 'Papyrus' which meant we didn't need to test the other fonts provided. |
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| We then added the album title and experimented with the colour choices. This was very hard to find the most suited colour as the photograph is very harsh and includes a dull colour palate. This resulted in us having the chose the colour white for all writing featured. |
To split up the information needed we added a second rectangles shape and dimmed the opacity to 59%. This successfully allowed the writing to be seen clearly while exposing the photograph behind.
To add more information that wasn't in writing form we placed a image of the album 'Telluric' cover in the top left corner. We both wasn't to sure on this feature however it does add more colour choices while splitting the features apart allowing a less compacted design.
We removed the rectangle to see if the advertisement look less compacted, however the informtaion in the second rectangle is needed and it also does not effect the layout of the cover.
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| Here is the finished design that now features more information placed evenly around the cover. We prefer this test design to the first one we experimented with as this design now has a more creative and professional appearance. |
Number 3
We decided to try another photography for our magazine cover. We took the image from our photography and lighting experiment post of an extreme close up of Ophelia's face. This was a suitable image to test with because the lights and exertion is very creative and leaves room for any colour platelet.
We decided to try another photography for our magazine cover. We took the image from our photography and lighting experiment post of an extreme close up of Ophelia's face. This was a suitable image to test with because the lights and exertion is very creative and leaves room for any colour platelet.
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| here we just cropped the image to suit a magazine templet which will make a successfully margin advertisement. |
Because we have previously tested founts and a range of colours we know now that the Papyrus font and the colour white work well with any image and any layouts.
Also from our pervious experiments we know that a small and low opacity rectangle helps break all the features up successfully, creating a more professional appearance.
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| Adding the real album front cover on the magazine cover helps match the two media platforms cleverly together. |
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| Here is the finish outcome from this experiment. There was less testing step with this advertisement because of our pervious experiments working well and suiting the image we wanted to create. |
Overall
We will continue to use Photoshop when making the final design and outcome of our music magazine advertisement. We have found these experiments useful because now we know the most suitable and artistic techniques that we will re create in the final design.
Final Design
Introduction
After collecting and exploring a range of research on existing magazine advertisements and our own designs Hannah and I have now created our final design. We chose the Number 2 design as a starting point because we liked the aesthetics and outcome as well as feedback from the target audience ,however we will have to change certain features to achieve a higher standard advertisement as well as adding our own completed CD album cover to enhance the promotion of Matt Corby.
Target Audience Feedback
To understand which advertisement apeals to our target audience at the moment we have asked a range of our tagerted audience to chose which cover they find the most interesting and unique.
Number three
Conclusion
From this we now know that number 2 was the most popular due to its aesthetics and layouts. We are now ready to progress on our final design and complete it. We will continue to use Abobe Photoshop to allow is to enhance the advertisement and result in a big quality finished magazine advertisement.
Final Music Magazine Advertisement
Introduciton
After the research we have gathered and the experiments we had trailed we are now ready to complete the music magazine advertisement. We was going to use images from the music video hoovered we decide to keep it to the photograph of Hannah that we tested with previously.
Number 2
Steps
Here we have screenshoted each step we took to complete the music magazine. We did not need to carry out a lot of steps due to the number 2 magazine advertisement that we have only adapted to create the final outcome.
1
We started with the chosen pervious experiment with the magazine advertisement. We looked back at our research and concentrated on what was missing and what we need to add to improve the design.
2
We noticed the we needed to add logos from other social media sites to explore and highlight the range of contact the viewers cn make the Matts Music. Here we have chosen the Facebook logo and we were just playing around with the positioning which we resulted in the far left corner where the other information is positioned. This was the must successfully positioning because it doesn't over power the advertisement but it doesn't become noticed either.
3
Here we wanted to add more media logos so we chose Twitter which from the Facebook logo positioning we knew to also place it at the bottom but this time in the bottom left corner to split the logos apart.
4
Here is a blow out picture of the whole advertisement at this stage in the making. Not much has changed but we have added certain features to improve the promotion of the album and the artist.
5
The next step was adding an image of the finished CD Digipack which has been place in the top left corner which attracts the viewer but does not distract them from other features.
We chose the front cover image only because all four panels was to busy and distracting when placed onto the advertisement.
We then did change the months for a longer tour and the word beautiful to spiritual which strongly connects to this music.
We also checked all spelling mistakes to make sure the final version is professional. and correct.
Final Outcome
Here is the final outcome of our magazine advertisement which we have created from researching and experiencing a range of techniques and ideas. We have included the artist name, the album title, contact information/social media sites, persuasive text and a image of the front cover CD digipack.
Target Audience Feedback
Number 2
1
We started with the chosen pervious experiment with the magazine advertisement. We looked back at our research and concentrated on what was missing and what we need to add to improve the design. 
2
We noticed the we needed to add logos from other social media sites to explore and highlight the range of contact the viewers cn make the Matts Music. Here we have chosen the Facebook logo and we were just playing around with the positioning which we resulted in the far left corner where the other information is positioned. This was the must successfully positioning because it doesn't over power the advertisement but it doesn't become noticed either.
3
Here we wanted to add more media logos so we chose Twitter which from the Facebook logo positioning we knew to also place it at the bottom but this time in the bottom left corner to split the logos apart. 
4
Here is a blow out picture of the whole advertisement at this stage in the making. Not much has changed but we have added certain features to improve the promotion of the album and the artist.
5
The next step was adding an image of the finished CD Digipack which has been place in the top left corner which attracts the viewer but does not distract them from other features. 
We chose the front cover image only because all four panels was to busy and distracting when placed onto the advertisement.
We then did change the months for a longer tour and the word beautiful to spiritual which strongly connects to this music.
We also checked all spelling mistakes to make sure the final version is professional. and correct.
' From looking at your final magazine advertisements and research I like how you have included the essential of what you usually see on Magazine advertisements, such as contact information, title and name of artist and their album. What I thought worked best was how you have your CD Digipack in the top corner to link the both together.'
' I like how your Digipack image and magazine advertisement image and the same positioning. There is a clear link between both CD Digipack and Magazine advertisement as you have used the same style of font and font colour. The positioning of the text by using the darker areas in the photograph. It works well.'
Overall, our target audience thought that this music magazine advertisement worked well and both thought that the idea of having the digipack in the corner to show and advertise the music of our chosen artist.
