Music Magazine Case Study

Genre Research- RnB

This is a music magazine called RnB and it is obviously based on the music genre RnB. Also on the front cover of this magazine it features the artist Bridget Kelly who is widely known for being in this music genre and by doing this then the magazine will sell more since nearly everyone who is interested/associated with this type of music knows her.
Furthermore, the masthead of this magazine catches the eyes of the public because it is orange  which makes it stand out from anything else on the front cover as the rest is dark.

This is another type of RnB music magazine called VIBE and it features another very famous musician Chris Brown and just like the other magazine they used an artist that everyone knows in order to sell more copies of this magazine. 

This is a contents page (shown on the left) from an issue of VIBE. The contents page consists of Chris Brown yet again but he is dressed in a more formal and sophisticated way which is different in the front cover. Also, the page is mostly taken up of the image of Chris Brown even though there is a lot of text but the size of the text is small and this shows that the magazine is organised and neat. Furthermore, the colours used in this contents page is very plain as it is just black and white, however by putting these two colours together then it makes each of them stand out as they are of different contrasts. 

Moodboard & Analysis

Analysis

This moodboard represents the R&B music genre, it includes images of some of the people who are widely known and mostly associated with this particular genre such as Justin Timberlake, R.Kelly and Chris Brown. Also, the other people that are used in this moodboard are people that R&B is targeted at which are teenagers and young adults and this shows these kinds of people dancing or just hanging out.

Music Magazine- Planning Sheet

• What genre/s of music will your magazine cover?

 The genre of music that my magazine will cover is R'n'B.

• Who is the target audience? How old are they? Where do they live? What are their interests?

The target audience for my music magazine will be aimed at male and female teenagers aged16 and over.

• What is the name of your magazine? Why? Connotations?

The name of my music magazine will be 'Flow'.

• What will your masthead look like? Do you have any ideas for fonts? (this should be accompanied by sketches)

The masthead of my music magazine will be a bold font with the use of the colour gold as it represents the music which is being produced within this genre.

• What will be the focal image for your front cover and why?

The focal image for the front cover of my music magazine will feature a popular musician that everyone will easily recognise such as Chris Brown.

• What photography will be required? Give details of shot type, angle and composition.

The type of shot that I will use for the image for the front cover of my music magazine will most likely be a mid-shot of the artist with them being placed in the centre in front of a plain background so that they are able to stand out and catch the target audiences attention.

• What mise en scene will be required? Location? Clothing? Make up? Lighting? Use of colour?

The mise-en-scene that will be required is smart or casual clothing that R'n'B artists will usually wear, also the location that the image will be taken in will be in front of a plain white background with minimal make up and a bit of lighting to emphasise the artist.

• What would be your sell lines? How will you entice your target audience?

The sell lines for my music magazine front cover will try to persuade the target audience to pick up the magazine and will include important and recent information relating to the main musician being featured and other artists so that they know what is happening within the genre.

• What items and feature articles would you need on your contents page?

The items and feature articles that my contents page would need is the artist performing and also a banner that is a competition for the readers where they will be able to win tickets to see the musician perform.

• What is the focus of your double page spread? (interview? feature? reviews? etc)

The focus of my double page spread will be an interview of the main artist being featured on the front cover which will talk about their new album and other projects that the person is working on.

• What photography will be required for the double page spread? Give specific details.

The type of photography that will be required for the double page spread will be focusing on the main artist but will also include a group of artist that is in the same genre and will also give minimal information about them as well.

Analysis of Two Magazine Covers- Michael Jackson

The image has been cropped to show the artists top half of the body. Also, the type of shot that has been used is a mid-shot and this is to present Michael Jackson's body language which looks like he is very calm and relaxed.

The type of costume that is being used is quite simple as the artist is just wearing a striped t-shirt and this could suggest that he is just a normal person. 

There are no props being used.

Telling by the background, the setting could probably be a studio as it is just plain white which could mean that he is not very outgoing in terms of his personality and that he wants to remain an ordinary person.

The colours that are being used on this front cover are red and white, this can reflect the artist as being very calm.

The image has been cropped around Michael Jackson's face and the type of shot that is being used is a close up, this is to show how the musician is feeling and the readers are able to see his facial expression which shows that he is depressed.

Since we cannot see Michael Jackson's full body, we can only see from his neck upwards and it looks like that he is wearing a type of scarf which is the only part of clothing that is being presented. This could suggest that he is feeling insecure as he is trying to cover himself up.

Just like the first magazine there are no props being used.

The setting of this image could possibly be outside because the colour of the background is green which can represent nature, also another thing that could suggest that this is outside is that his hair is being blown across his face which is being done by the wind.

There are only two colours being used and they are black and green. These colours were used because it is another way on how the person is feeling and also this was published after his death which was his final and darkest days.