My three pieces defy the codes and conventions of existing R&B magazines such as Vibe and XXL. Typically female cover models are presented as sex objects, wearing little clothes in sultry poses. They are not acknowledged for their musical talent but instead for their bodies. Surprisingly an issue of Vibe inspired me it was a cover featuring Rihanna only using a headshot as it was related to an interview on her relationship with Chris Brown and the domestic violence she suffered. This contrasts with other covers such as a Beyonce cover, it shows her in a sexualized way with the teasing sell line “Beyonce strips down”. I decided to go against the usual codes and conventions as existing magazines are aimed at mainly a large male readership. I changed the way the cover model is presented as my magazine is aimed at women, instead of presenting women in a sexual way I have presented the cover model as beautiful, successful and down-to-earth someone the target audience aspire to be like. They share their passion for music with the cover model and gain in insight into the music industry.
Another key difference is the fact that my magazine is aimed at a younger T.A ranging from 16-25, as well as being avid music lovers they may well be musicians themselves. In my questionnaire I conducted, I listed a series of features I considered of including in my magazine. The most popular feature picked by the participants was a front cover featuring a reader trying to make it into the music industry. So I decided to present my cover-model as an upcoming British artist. There is a large interest in new young artist’s ‘real people’ who have made it on their own, such as the music industry’s latest recruit Jessie J who was discovered through her You-Tube channel. There are now so many new platforms and opportunities for artists to be discovered one of the top music channels that was listed in my questionnaire by participants was channel AKA a music channel which focus is on showcasing upcoming U.K urban and hip -hop music and giving undiscovered talent a chance to shine. Like this the aim of my magazine is to showcase new talent.
My three pieces represent youth in a positive way, in other media texts youth are represented negatively. Youth in Britain are often related to crime, binge drinking, and teenage pregnancy. An example of this was when controversial TV Drama Skins made the headlines when a teenage girl hosted a skins-themed party at her house, leaving her home sabotaged. Unlike this typical representation the cover model of Harmony contrasts to this negative rebellious representation acting as a role model to the readers. The cover-model is young, ambitious, and talented. However my magazine does follow the layout conventions of other R&B magazines, using bold fonts and eye-catching colours.
The media company I would choose to own my magazine would be the Time Warner Company as they already own the successful music magazine NME. Although my NME is a completely different genre to my magazine being Rock/Indie, the Time Warner handles a variety of different magazines showing it is flexible such as woman’s own and the TV time’s.
Since beginning this project I have learnt how to use more of the tools on Adobe Photoshop extending from the knowledge I already had. I also learnt how to create my own blog and upload and share pictures and videos helping to demonstrate my coursework. I also learnt about the types of shoots that look most sophisticated for use in a magazine.
Since the preliminary I have learnt how to plan more effectively and how the layout of a magazine should be to be professional and sophisticated. I have also learnt about the type of readership existing music magazines have and the gap for music magazines aimed at women there is.
