Finished Product

Below is an image of my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

What I Feel I Have Learnt In The Progression From Preliminary Task To Final Product

Progression From Preliminary Task To Final Product on Prezi

Audience Feedback

In order to see how successful my product is I asked two people who are representative of my target audience to judge it. Below is a video of their feedback.

What I Have Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing My Product

During the creation of my text I have developed my understanding of a number of technologies which is important as it allows me to understand how media texts are created and allows me to create my own.
Below is a wordle representation of what technology I have used.

What I Have Learnt About Technologies From Creating My Product on Prezi

Attracting/Addressing Audience

When creating a text it's imperative to attract your audience and plan how you will address them. I have used Prezi to explore how I have attracted and addressed my target audience as well as developing my technical skills and incorporating new ways of uploading posts to my blog. 

Attracting Audience on Prezi

Product Distribution

As part of my evaluation it's imperative to see who would theoretically distribute my product, where it would be distributed to and how it would be distributed.
Below is a presentation which explores distribution.

Distribution of Media Product

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Representation of Particular Social Groups

As another part of my evaluation I've explored the representation I have contructed within my three pages or my re-presentation of society. Below is a power point presentation which evaluates my representation.

Representation of Particular Social Groups

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Evaluation of Final Products

As part of my evaluation I have explored how my media product has used, developed or challenged conventions by comparing it existing products such as NME and Q. It's imperative to compare my products to real products as that would be the market that my publication would be part of so I need to understand where and how it would fit into it. It also indicates how successful my product is and whether it uses conventions of magazines successfully whilst simultaneously challenging some to create a USP and brand identity.
Below is a powerpoint presentation evaluating my media product.

Evaluation of Final Products

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Product Placement

In order to assess how well my finished product fits into the industry I have placed my product within an environment where it would be sold. I have placed it on a shelf in a shop surrounded by other music magazines, especially Indie and rock ones to see how it looks within the market.

Below is an image of my product in the shop. 

Spotify and Napster

Again to further my understanding of the music industry to see what type of industry my product is becoming part of I have researched how people consume music now, especially digitally and on music streaming sites.

Spotify is a music streaming service set up in 2008 which is now available across much of europe and America. It offers a wide range of music to stream on a variety of devices such as PC's, Mac's, Ipods and Android phones. It includes music from both independent music publishers and the 'big 4' and has a free limited version, a unlimited version for £5 a month and a premium version for £10. This means that music producers now have to distribute music through others companies so loose vertical integration. Spotify also has approximately 10 million users, 2.5 million of whom pay as of 2010 which shows that it is widely used and again connotes how the industry has changed from vinyl to CD to digital in the last 30 years.

Napster is a peer online file sharing site which started in 1999 developed by John Fanning, Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. It's main emphasis when it started was the sharing of audio files for MP3 downloads but the original company ran into legal difficulties over copyright infringement. Then in 2003 it was reconfigured as a paying online store by Roxio and was later acquired by Rhapsody in 2011. It now offers a monthly subscription which offers unlimited listening to a wide range of songs for $5-7, an MP3 store and a pay-per-track store. This again shows how the industry is changing from physical copies of music to digital and online downloading. 

Creation Of My Double Page Spread

Below is a slideshare presentation outlining the processes I went through to create my DPS and explaining why I have created the page in the way I have.

Creation of my Double Page Spread

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Double Page Spread

Below is my double page spread for my magazine. 

Changing Music Industry

The music industry has changed drastically within the last 20 years and continues to develop at an incredibly fast pace due to the creation of new media technology and Web 2.0. 

The jif above (please click to see) is one I found online which essentially sums up the change the music industry is going through from gradual change to cassette to CD then rapidly to digital. Music producers have to keep up with the advancements in technology and in the case of Apple and Itunes often drive the change aiming for vertical integration. 
The growth of digital music has also led to the contentious issue of illegal downloading and piracy which is much easy and is one of the main problems facing the 'big four' companies resulting in many of them making losses. To combat this Sony has for example developed Music Unlimited and Universal Music Group has co-developed Vevo which both show how they are trying to adapt to the rapidly changing industry. 

Music Industry Case Study

To further my understanding of the music industry I have created a case study of the four main music producers in the world; Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group. It's imperative that I have a understand the music industry as I am making a product that would theoretically be part of it and I cannot make a new music magazine without knowing how the industry works.
Below is my case study.

Music Industry Case Study

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Contents Page Production

Below is a slideshare about the different aspects of my contents page and why I have created them as I have. Contents Page Production

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Contents Page

Below is an image of my contents page thus far.

Double Page Spread Photo Shoot

For my double page spread I again differed from my original plan as I thought the shots may be to similar as I was planning to use the same styling and clothes. I therefore changed the clothes and hair as it's now shorter and straight instead of long and curly. This as well as the change in shot type with all of these long shots should help to create a new and interesting image to use on my double page spread to engage the reader and grab their attention.
Below are a number of usable shots that I got from the shoot. As I had no set pose in mind I tried out a number of different poses and experimented to find the most effective pose.

Front Cover Production

After planning my magazine and taking the images to use in it I then began work on my first page; my front cover. During the creation of my page I experimented with a number of different aspects of the page and got to grips with photoshop. Below is a slideshare presentation on my front cover and how and why I've created it the way I have. Front Cover Production

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Masthead Fonts

In order to decide on the best font to use for my masthead I went on to dafont and looked at a number of different fonts which I best thought connoted my magazine and the genre of indie. It's important to choose the font carefully as the masthead sets the tone of the magazine and connotes to the reader what style of magazine it is and what they should expect.
Below is a slideshare presentation on some of the fonts that I liked and the chosen one.

Potential Masthead Fonts

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Favourite Front Cover Images

Out of all of the usable shots that I took during my photo shoot (as seen in the previous post) two of the shots stood out to me and I particularly liked.  

The first was one of the very first shots I took with the microphone. The hands together connote an almost religious zeal for music whilst the strong expression is more reminiscent of rock artists such as Paramore. The curly hair connotes a sense of freedom and revolution from the norm whilst the microphone conversely connotes a tight bond to the music.
I liked this shot because of the clear eye contact and strong face on image which demands the readers attention. This coupled with the concept of being bound to music and praying to music makes it a potentially strong front cover image.
The other image I liked within all my shots was one I took towards the end of the shoot. In this image the model is almost caressing the microphone and has a softer facial expression and the atmosphere is much more sensual. It connotes that the artist is not only bound to it but in love with music. There is once again clear eye contact but whereas the other was slightly aggressive this one is softer and more engaging both to men and women. 
I choose to use the second image as my front cover image as I feel the sensuality of the second one connotes my magazine better as it's about love of indie music. The first image could also be misinterpreted as a rock magazines front cover whereas the unusual second image again fits the genre of indie. 

Front Cover Photo Shoot

I recently had my photo shoot for my front cover. On the day the styling of the hair, make up and costume went according to plan and so did the lighting and background. However on the day my idea of holding the guitar aloft in the air like a revolutionary fist didn't work for the simple reason that i could not hold the guitar as it was too heavy. After trying for quite a while and not getting any nearer to the desired shot I changed my concept of the shoot.
Instead of the image referencing the revolutionary atmosphere of my magazine my image now references the credibility of the artist where they are bound to the music and not the fame or celebrity culture of the mainstream music industry. It is also more artistic than my first idea which is what my target audience wants as I learnt from my questionnaire. In my front cover images the model is now holding a microphone and the wire is wrapped round her hands and arms which connotes that she is bound to the music and is a musician.
I'm pleased with how my shots turned out even though my concept changed drastically as I feel it changed for the better.

Flat Plans of my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread

Below are rough sketches of what I want my magazine pages to look like. I've created rough plans of what I want them to look like in order to help me plan out what I want my magazine to look like and help develop my ideas. For example from doing the flat plans I've decided upon my colour scheme and layout. 

Flat Plans

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Storeyboard of Shots to Take

Below I've sketched out and labelled the shots that I am planning to take during my phot shoot for my magazine to help me plan my photo shoot and magazine content. 
I am planning on doing my main photo shoot inside of one person but in a variety of poses, shot types and costume for different sections of the magazine. I also have images of well known  bands from gigs I've been to recently to include lures and a variety of images. 

Storyboard of camera shots

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Risk Assessment