Monday 11 December 2017

Stereotypes

Monday 11th December 2017 - Stereotypes


Write down all the stereotypes you can think for:

Age - 

  • Baby
  • Toddler
  • Teenagers
  • Young adults
  • Middle age adults
  • Elders

Ethnicity - 
  • White
  • Black
  • Mixed
  • Asians 
  • Americans
  • Europeans

Disabled - 
  • Non-disabled
  • Physically disabled
  • Mentally disabled

Sexuality - 
  • Gay
  • Straight
  • Lesbian
  • Bisexual
  • Drag
  • Camp


Exam Questions
  • Mastheadthe masthead of this magazine is a sans serif, white and bold font. This would attract the audience because it is bold just like the audience's taste in music. The main image covers the masthead which is what typical magazines do. Mojo has a meaning of a magic spell, this relates to the magazine because the audience might feel they are under a magic spell while listening to their favourite music.

  • Colour scheme - the colour scheme matches stereotypically rock music colours, e.g. red, black and white. This will appeal to the audience as if they like rock music, they will probably like these colours.

  • Layout - the layout is very simple and matches typical magazine conventions by having the main cover lines crossing over the main image. The other cover lines are also following usual conventions by having them at the side. 


Monday 4 December 2017

Representation

Representation                                    04/12/17

L.O. investigate the ways in which media represents gender.


Male Stereotype Characteristics:
  • Blue πŸ’™
  • Macho πŸ’ͺ
  • Tall 
  • Goes to work πŸ’Ό
  • Strong
  • Brave
  • Boisterous

Female Stereotype Characteristics:
  • Pink πŸ’—
  • Delicate
  • Shorter
  • Stay at home mum πŸ‘Ά
  • Weaker 
  • Multitask
  • Hard working
  • Emotional
  • Sensible


Male Stereotypes:
  • Macho
  • Geek πŸ‘“
  • Gays
  • Straight
  • Alpha

1) Who is in the picture?
  • 7 men in suits
  • A topless man and a possibly topless woman hanging off him
  • A man and a baby

2) What is the advert/magazine cover trying to sell/promote?
  • Trying to promote suits
  • Aftershave
  • Fairy tablets 

3) What can you denote?
  • They are walking at night in a straight line
  • She's pouring aftershave all down him and she's breathing in his ear
  • The baby is sitting on the man's stomach, playing with his shirt while the man is looking at him

4) What are the connotations in the advert?
  • They're upper classed they're in a city
  • They're in love
  • He is looking after the baby

5) How are men represented? What stereotypes are used?
  • They're alpha males
  • Macho man
  • Fatherly figure

6) Who do you think the advert is aimed at? How do you know?
  • Predominately males because women won't want to buy men's suits.
  • Men because women don't wear aftershave.
  • People with delicate skin because babies have soft skin and fairy tablets are delicate.


Women: Media Representation:

Stereotypes:
  • Dramatic
  • Mother
  • Housewife 
  • Lesbian (butch/lipstick)
  • Dumb blonde
  • Business woman
  • Geek
  • Sassy black woman
  • Slutty one


1) Who is in the picture?
  • 1 man (Kid Rock) and 3.5 women
  • 1 woman (Lara Croft) and her shadow
  • Jessica Ennis Hill

2) What is the advert/magazine cover trying to sell/promote?
  • Kid Rock's music and the magazine itself
  • The game (Tomb Raiders)
  • Powerade drink

3) What can you denote?
  • The women aren't wearing all that much 😳
  • She has a gun and a bow and arrow
  • She is working out

4) What are the connotations?
  • He's a bit of a playboy and the women want his money
  • She's ready for battle
  • She is training and is very athletic

5) How are the women represented? What are the stereotypes?
  • As sexual objects/slutty 
  • Fierce and heroic
  • Strong and counter stereotype 

6) Who do you think this advert is aimed at? How do you know?
  • Men and people who like Kid Rock's music because he is on the cover and the women are almost naked.
  • Men and women who want to play Tomb Raiders because it is an advert for the Tomb Raiders game.
  • People who want to do sport because it is an advert for Powerade.


Mojo Cover
  • Gender is represented in this cover by the colour scheme having aspects of  blue and red. Dave Grohl represents males to look very serious and having facial hair.

  • In this lesson I have learnt that gender representation is used using stereotypes, stereotype characteristics. 


Extended Learning
  • In this cover, Katy Perry is represented as being a stereotypically 'girly girl'. As pink is linked to a more female colour, the use of it being in the background shows that the magazine want to represent Katy in a very feminine way. In the cover, Katy is also wearing a floral dress and is holding flowers, both are associated with females. The font of the main cover line is a serif font that also looks quite feminine.





  • In this cover of Vibe magazine, Eminem is posing in a stereotypically 'macho' way by folding his arms and flaunting his tattoos. The use of colour is mainly white, red and black which can be associated as quite masculine colours. The sans serif font makes the magazine look quite modern. Eminem has a very serious expression on his face which also fits in with the fairly macho pose.




Monday 20 November 2017

Music Mag Covers

27/11/17

L.O. Make a music magazine following genre codes and conventions.

TITLE: RECORD
FONTS USED: Georgia, Impact


Peer Assessor - Freya Piper

  • WWW - I like the way your main image is in between the shadowed mastheads. I also think you did well at blending the main image into the background.
  • EBI - Add more cover lines and pick a colour theme.

Self Assessment
I think I did well at blending the main image into the grey background and cutting Freya out. I also did well at adding in details.





Improved Magazine Cover
I have added a lot more cover lines and chosen a colour theme to go with it. I think I matched the genre codes because of the use of dark colours like grey and red.


Thursday 16 November 2017

Cover Analysis

Thursday 16th November 2017

Cover Analysis


L.O. Analyse the cover of a magazine, linking it to genre and audience.

  • Babyboomer generation = descriptive term for people born between 1946 and 1964.
  • Diversification = the action of making or becoming more diverse or varied.
  • Audience address = where the audience liveπŸ˜† / how a magazine addresses the audience to get their attention.
  • Discerning = having or showing good judgement.
  • House stylea company's preferred manner of presentation and layout of written material.
  • Intertextuality = a text refers to another piece of media with it.


Codes and Conventions - Music Magazines
  • Masthead - block capitals, sans serif
  • Dateline
  • Coverline
  • Main image - mid shot if its a band, close up for an artist.
  • Main coverline - relates to the main image
  • Barcode
  • Freebie - something nostalgic


  • Shot type = Mid shot
  • Star Vehicle = Dave Grohl (American singer in Nirvana and now the Foo Fighters)
  • Colour palette = Blue, yellow, red, white
  • Bands/Artists mentioned =  Dave Growl, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Elvis, Ian Drury, Cat Stevens, Lou Reed, Sparks, David Gilmour, Ringo Star, Urge Overkill, Pavement, Melvins, Afghan Whigs, The Jesus Lizard, Rocket From The Crypt, Jawbox, The Lunachicks.
  • Masthead style = Block capitals, sans serif
  • Main coverline style = serif, relates to main image, block capitals
  • Minor coverline style = some block capitals some aren't, bold colours
  • Puff = 159 reviews
  • USP = Free CD
  • Placement of text = around the main image at the sides and top of magazine

  • The magazine Mojo has used a medium close up shot for Dave Grohl's picture. This goes against magazine code and conventions as if an artist is being photographed it is usually a close up shot, whereas for bands it is a mid length shot.
  • The star vehicle Dave Grohl is a good celebrity to use as he makes the same genre of music as the magazine writes about


Monday 13 November 2017

Magazine Ownership & Regulation

Monday 13th October 2017

Magazine Ownership and Regulation


L.O. research ownership, regulation and institutions involved in music magazines.


Time Inc.

  • NME Magazine
  • Uncut

Bauer Media
  • Mojo
  • 4Music
  • Q

Conde Nast
  • Pitchfork

Immediate Media
  • Radio Times

Hearst
  • -

BBC
  • BBC Music Magazine
  • Top of the Pops

Magazines are funded by their publishers that pay the costs. The best way magazines make money is by advertising and sales. They get sales by subscriptions and people buying their magazines in a shop. Magazines will also have adverts for their publisher's other magazines so the publisher can advertise for free.


Ownership
  • The majority of magazines are published by 9 companies but there titles make up nearly 75% of the market. This means they have a massive influence over audiences and their companies will only get bigger as they control most of the market.

Media Regulation and Law 

  • IPSO stands for Independent Press Standards Organisation. It was established on Monday 8th September 2014 following the windup of the Press Complaints Commission. It is an independent regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK.

  • IPSO do: 
  • We make sure that member newspapers and magazines follow the Editors' Code.
  • We investigate complaints about printed and online material that may breach the Editors’ Code.
  • We can make newspapers and magazines publish corrections or adjudications if they breach the Editors’ Code (including on their front page).
  • We monitor press standards and require member newspapers and magazines to submit an annual statement about how they follow the Editors’ Code and handle any complaints.
  • We can investigate serious standards failings and can fine publishers up to £1 million in cases where they are particularly serious and systemic.
  • We operate a 24-hour anti-harassment advice line.
  • We provide advice for editors and journalists.
  • We provide training and guidance for journalists so they can uphold the highest possible standards.
  • We provide a Whistleblowing Hotline for journalists who feel they are being pressured to act in a way that is not in line with the Editors' Code.
  • We work with charities, NGOs and other organisations to support and improve press standards.

  • IMPRESS is a regulator for the future of media. It stands for Independent Media for the PRESS.

  • IMPRESS:
  • Award a ‘Trust in Journalism’ mark to publishers that meet our standards for membership.
  • Maintain a progressive Standards Code, and assess any breaches of this code by our members.
  • Provide an arbitration scheme which is free to all parties and protects publishers against the risk of court costs and exemplary damages.
  • Support the development of news publishers, through partnerships and collaboration.



The Future of Magazines
  • The biggest change in the industry over the past 20 years has been digitalisation.
  • This means everything is done by computer meaning it is cheaper, faster  and easier.
  • Technology has impacted the magazine industry because of the digitalisation of most things. I think that eventually print will not be as popular however there will still be some magazines that do print.

Monday 16 October 2017

Genre and Target Audience

Monday 16th October 2017

Genre and Target Audience

L.O. Identify target audiences for a variety of music magazine genres.


 
Clash
  • I think that this magazine is aimed mostly towards females aged 15-30. Because of the cover lines / menu strip, it looks like the magazine focuses on alternative music. The hobbies of the target audience may include listening to music and fashion because the girl in the cover looks like she is into fashion. As it is a British magazine, i think there magazine is aimed at young British females. The psychographics for this magazine's target audience is people with quite a vibrant and outgoing personality, values and is interested in alternative music, and with quite a fashionable lifestyle. This links to the genre because the people who read this magazine would be interested in alternative music which is what this magazine looks like it writes about. The Young and Rubican classification for this magazine's readers could be a mix between The Explorer and The Reformer. The lifestyle category for the readers could be the Rebels , Innovators and the Trendies.

MixMag
  • This magazine is aimed at people aged 18-30 in an urban area because people in a rural area are less likely to listen to the type of music this magazine brings. People in an urban area are also more likely to go out clubbing and listen to dance music. I think this magazine aims at both male and female. The audience may go out clubbing at the weekend or listen to music, which is why the magazine appeals to it. The psychographics of the readers could be that they have a good personality and are maybe considered 'cool' for their age, maybe quite a moody attitude and a party lifestyle. This links to the genre because of the celebrities moody appearance and the fact he specialises is dj-ing and dance music links to the party lifestyle. The Young and Rubican category for this magazines target audience could be being The Aspirer or The Reformer. The lifestyle category for the reader is being a Drop-out, Cowboy or a Trendy.
























Metal Hammer
  • This magazine is aimed at mainly males aged 40-65. The magazine focuses on rock and heavy metal music, which is why the band on the cover appeals to their audience. The target audience of this magazine may have hobbies like, getting tattoos and listening to loud music. I think the employment status of most of the readers is either unemployed, retired or have a low class job. The psychographics of this magazine's target audience may be that they have quite a dark personality, a moody attitude and a 'rock and roll' lifestyle. This links to the genre because of the type of bands and music this magazine writes about (rock, metal, heavy metal). The Young and Rubican statues for the reader could be The Struggler. The lifestyle category of the target audience may be being a Cynic and Drifter.



















Kerrang!
  • I think that the genre of this magazine is alternative music like rock, metal or folk. I think the target audience for this magazine would be predominately males and aged 18-40. The hobbies of the target audience may be listening to music and going to concerts. The location of the audience could be people who live in Britain because of the cover line saying 'Inside their biggest ever UK tour' as only British people would be interested in that. The psychographics of this magazine's target audience may be that they have quite a fun personality and are interested in music and festivals/concerts. This links to the genre because the concerts the audience might be may be the same genre of music this magazine specialises in. The Young and Rubican status of the reader could be The Mainstream and the lifestyle classification is a Rebel and Traditionalist.



















We πŸ’— Pop
  • I think the target audience of this magazine is mostly teenaged girls. I think the magazine writes about pop music as the clue is in the name. The hobbies of the target audience could be listening to pop music and keeping up with trends in things like fashion and music. The psychographics of this target audience might be that they have a bubbly personality, interested in modern and trendy things like the most popular band for example, and have quite a fun loving lifestyle. This links to the genre of the magazine as it looks like quite a modern magazine and has cover lines that trendy teenagers may have been interested in at the time. The Young and Rubican status of this reader could be The Aspirer and lifestyle status an Innovator, Egoist and a Trendy.





















Q

  • The target audience of this magazine looks like it is males aged 25-60. The target audience may be interested in rock, folk or brit-pop music which links to the cover as this is what Oasis' music genre is. I think the employment status of the target audience is people with a working class job and then go home to listen to slightly alternative music. The psychographics of the readers of this magazine could be that hey have quite an average personality for their age, interested in music and have an average lifestyle. This may link to the magazine genre because of the music genres Q writes about and the man on the cover looks like a pretty average man. The Young and Rubican status of the reader could be being The Mainstream. Lifestyle category of the reader is a Groupie and Puritan.

Billboard
  • The target audience of this magazine could be mainly females aged 18-30. I think the readers of this magazine are interested in mainly pop music but also dance music. The employment status of the target audience could be students or people just starting a job that they want to get promoted in. The psychographics of the target audience could be that they are quite trendy and have a 'cool' personality, they may value pop music and current trends and have quite a popular and stylish lifestyle. This links to the genre because the magazine is called 'Billboard' and that is American for 'charts' so it could focus on pop music as this is what is in the charts the most. The Young and Rubican category of the readers could be being The Aspirer and The Succeeder. I think the lifestyle category could be being an Egoist and a Trendy.


Vibe

  • The target audience of this magazine is mainly males aged 16-25. The genre of the magazine is hip-hop, rap and R&B music. The readers race is probably mainly black as rap music is listened more to within that race- however other races may still read this magazine and be interested in these genres. The employment status of the readers could be that they are unemployed or have a lower class job. The psychographics of this magazine's audience may have quite a gangster personality, values rap, R&B and hip-hop music and may have quite a hard attitude. This links to the genre of the magazine as it writes about these types of genre music and the celebrity on the cover looks quite tough because of his pose and frowning facial expression. The Young and Rubican classification of the reader is The Struggler but also a little bit The Explorer. The lifestyle classification is a Groupie and a Rebel.

Young and Rubican Categories:


Lifestyle Categories:

Thursday 12 October 2017

Music Magazines and Audiences

Music Magazines and Audiences          12/10/17

L.O. Identify and analyse a target audience using demographics and psychographics.


I think that this magazine is aimed at men age 40+ who like pop and rock music. I think that it is mainly aimed at white, British people as they like that kind of music. I think the social class of the readers would be ABC1. 

Demographics = Male, 40+, Caucasian, mix of married and single, ABC1, went to school, got quite a good job.

Psychographics = (young and rubicam) the mainstream and explorer, (lifestyle category) cowboy and egoists, (VAL) esteem seekers.








The difference between demographics and psychographics is that demographics is more life facts and psychographics is more peoples behaviours.


Identifying the audience:

  • Gender
  • Age
  • Ethnicity
  • Nationality
  • Sexuality
  • Interests
  • Class
  • Salary
  • Where they live
  • Religion 
  • Ideology

Demographics:
  • Age/Gender
  • Race
  • Location
  • Employment Status

Psychographics:
  • Personality
  • Values
  • Attitudes
  • Interests
  • Lifestyle

Reader Profile
  • Q magazine readers are the males that are over 40 but have a good taste in moosic. Interested in pop and rock music, Q magazine readers are the British men who appreciate the good things in life?



Monday 2 October 2017

Magazine Cover Analysis

Monday 2nd October 

Magazine and Cover Terminology, Layout and Analysis

L.O. Analyse music magazine covers using appropriate terminology.



1. Mojo means a magic charm, talisman, spell, or influence by magic power. Billboard is a large outdoor board displayed for advertisements and the American word for 'charts'. The magazines may have used these names because they both link to the genre and the contents of the magazine.

2. Both of the magazines have a celebrity in the middle using a mid length shot for both. The mastheads are written behind the celebrities and the cover lines are written on the sides. The choice of celebrities and cover lines both fit the genre and will appeal to the target audience.

3. The required information on the cover is the celebrities, masthead, dateline, cover lines and main cover lines.

4. The main headline on both of the covers is the celebrities names, so 'David Grohl' and 'Katy Perry'. The use of the celebrities will appeal to the target audience because of the genres of music they come from.

5. The cover lines used are the main cover lines and normal cover lines including teasers and quotes.

6. Both of the magazines use serif fonts however the masthead of both have a sans serif fonts. The use of the serif font and block capitals on Mojo's masthead appeals to the target audience because it looks masculine. The use of fonts on Billboard's cover appeal to the target audience because it looks quite modern and the serif fonts make it look quite feminine.

7. Graphics used in these covers would be the celebrities pictures and the picture in the bottom left corner of the mojo one. The graphics have both been purposely put there to link to the genre.

8. The main colours on the Mojo cover is blue, black, yellow, red and white- this is aimed more at men. The main colours on the Billboard magazine is pink, black and yellow and these colours are aimed more at women.

9. There is more text on the Mojo magazine than the Billboard magazine. Billboard may have less writing because it is trying to come across with a more modern theme.

10. The images that have been used is the picture of the celebrities and non-verbal communication like facial expressions are neutral and David Grohl's pose is also neutral whereas Katy Perry's pose is more feminine.

11. Yes, there are freebies that come with the Mojo one you get a free CD or something to go with it.

12. There is no menu strip on either of the magazine covers.

13. In Mojo, the main genre is music focussing on rock, country, folk, etc. In Billboard the main genre is pop music.

14. Mojo appeals more to men because of the colours and the celebrity whereas as Billboard is aimed at women because of the different colours and celebrity.

15. They both appeal to their readers because of the contents, celebrity cover and genre.

16. The USP of Mojo is that it comes with a freebie and the USP of Billboard is that it doesn't stick to the same music genre each time and has a colour theme.



Monday 18 September 2017

In Depth Study - Mojo

Monday 18th September 2017

L.O. analyse the target audience for music magazines.

  • Publisher - Bauer (since January 2008)
  • Circulation - 79,345
  • Target Audience demographics

My Improved Mojo Magazine Reader Profile:



















Monday 11 September 2017

The Music Industry

Monday 11th September 2017

The Music Industry

L.O. identify and explain different music genres.


Music Genres:

  • Pop
  • Rap
  • Rock
  • Alternative
  • Christmas songs
  • Heavy Metal
  • Country
  • Electronica
  • Dance
  • Metal
  • Classical
  • Opera
  • Jazz
  • Reggae
  • Grunge
  • K-pop
  • Techno
  • R&B
  • Drum and bass
  • Guitar
  • Dubstep
  • Blues
  • Folk

Rock

1- What the stars look like:

Rock stars tend to wear a lot of black leather. Some wear sunglasses, jeans and metal studs. Rock stars tend to be male and also wear a lot of gothic clothing with images like skulls on.

2- How the music sounds:

Rock music typically sounds quite loud and sometimes involves shouting. A lot of rock music uses instruments like drums, electric guitars.

3- Things they sing about:

Lots of rock songs are about life, problems and current affairs. Many are also about love just in a very expressive way.


Pop

1- What the stars look like:

Pop stars usually wear new and the latest trends. Many of the female artists tend to wear perfect makeup and done up hair and the mail artists usually wear their hair like the latest trends.

2- How the music sounds:

Most pop music sounds quite upbeat but generally has a variety of different sounds. Pop music tends to be quite fast pace but some songs are slow. A lot of chart music comes under pop music.

3- Things they sing about:

Mainly pop songs are about love and relationships but can also be about other things like friendships and current affairs.


Dance

1- What the stars look like:

Like pop artists, lots of dance artists look up to date with current trends when it comes to their appearance. Many male artists tend to wear quite casual t shirts and jeans.

2- How the music sounds:

Most dance music is fast pace and has a loud beat in the background. A few dance songs have little words and usually a DJ that makes a beat for people to dance to.

3- Things they sing about:

Most dance songs are about love and music.


R&B

1- What the stars look like:

Most female R&B singers have stylish hair and wear little items of clothing and usually high heels. Many male R&B artists wear items like baseball jackets, ripped jeans, high top trainers and sunglasses.

2- How the music sounds:

R&B music is intended for black people but anyone can listen to it. It is a mix of jazz, gospel and blues. R&B music is slower than hip hop and most R&B songs have electronic or acoustic backing tracks.

3- Things they sing about:

Most R&B songs are about love, relationships and life problems.


Rap


1- What the stars look like:

Typically, rappers have lots of tattoos everywhere including their face and wear gold jewellery like rings and chains. Some of them also wear quite baggy clothing and most of the time it is branded. Lots of male rappers have beards, moustaches and dreadlocks.

2- How the music sounds:

Rap music is very fast paced and the rappers 'spit' lyrics out very quickly. Most of the time there is a bit of swearing but its ok because the music is so fast you can't hear it.

3- Things they sing about:

Lots of rap songs are about problems in the world like crime and racism/equality. But can also be about love and relationships.



14/09/17

Pop


1- Target audience:

In general, the target audience are people around the age of 13-25 and mainly aimed at white females because of the love and relationships theme- however all genders can listen to pop music. Pop music can be aimed at any social class as it is such a broad genre.

2- Magazines:

Some pop music magazines include i-D and Paper who often put pop stars on their covers. Magazines whose content is mainly pop is We πŸ’— Pop, Pop and Top of the Pops. Pop magazines are very brightly coloured and aimed at girls and young women.

3- Pop Example Link:

https://vimeo.com/147736999




Rock

1- Target audience:

Rock music is generally aimed towards middle aged, working class men who may be having a hard time in life as this music could relate to them. I don't think that rock music is restricted to a certain ethnicity or nationality.

2- Magazines:

The most popular rock music magazines are probably Classic Rock, Rock Sound and Kerrang! The covers of these rock magazines have a lot of dark colours like black and grey.

3- Rock Example Link

https://vimeo.com/57766800



Rap

1- Target audience:

I think that rap music is a very diverse genre in terms of gender as there are more and more female rappers aiming their music at women. I think the age of the target audience varies but mainly around 16-30 years old. The ethnicity of the target audience is mainly black people however more and more white people are listening to rap. I think that in general rap music is aimed towards lower and working class as like rock, people of these social classes can relate to what the artists are saying.

2- Magazines:

Popular magazines that focus on rap music can be Vibe, XXL and Hip-Hop. These magazines are not very colourful and the people on the covers don't look overly happy.

3- Rap Example Link:

https://vimeo.com/81020423