Uses and Gratification Theory

This theory by Blumler and Katz tries to interpret how and why people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. It is based upon an audiences approach of understanding large scale communication. It suggests that users of media have an imperative part to play in selecting and using the media. The theorists add that media users look for the best possible media source to suit their situation. 

There are four basic needs that the user of media needs and these are:

Diversion - This is the need for escapism, for instance, the need to shy away from reality and become lost in the media source such as coming home and watching T.V dramas religiously everyday after work.

Personal Relationship - This is using the media to fulfil the need for companionship. Also, it is using the media to form relationships with others and to socialise like going onto FaceBook where the user has to become part of the social group. 

Personal Identity - This is where someone uses the media to find out about themselves for example, watching documentaries about their home country where they can get great knowledge on its history.

Surveillance - This is when people use the media to find out about events going on near to them, such as, the latest information on celebrity lifestyles and mishaps. A lot of people find it interesting to look up on what their "idols" and favourite celebrities get up to when they aren't doing their normal job and being directly in the spotlight.

Socio-economic Group

The Socio-economic groups are how people are catergorised according to income and occupation.
A magazine is a luxury item so it's important as a producer of a magazine to convince the target audience to buy it because they don't necessarily have to have it. For my own music magazine, my target audience is 16-30 year olds so I will base it on the subsistence level E of students and C2/1 for people who are no longer in education and are working class and lower middle class. This is because the age range that the magazine will reach to fits these categories and any further up the classes tend to be an older generation and the magazine will have the latest artists within this genre that higher classes don't tend to listen to.

Audience Pleasures

Double Page Spread Draft

This is my first attempt at a double page spread for my own music magazine. I decided on an interview with an artist that fits the genre of my magazine because when I researched into what music magazines put inside, I discovered that most such as Kerrang! use their double page spreads for interviews with a popular artist of that time.

The artist I chose was Jake Bugg because I knew that he has been a main focus this year with his 'Indie' style of music and this is one of the genres that I have based my magazine on. By using him on the front as well as having a double page spread of him, this will not only attract the original target audience that I wanted but also fans of Jake Bugg's music that wouldn't usually buy this magazine.

To get more information on the artist and to decide what the best thing to write about him was, I watched a collection of YouTube videos of interviews he had done previously and chose to talk about how he first started playing the guitar and what the true meanings were behind some of his most famous records. I felt that this was the most interesting subject at that time because it was different to the usual generic questions an artist tends to be asked such as "Where do you see yourself in ten years from now?"

The colour theme is similar to the front cover draft I produced to keep the house style throughout the magazine and the black text over the stage setting in the background creates the Indie/Rock styled look that needs to be clear so that the readers know that the genre will never change and the magazine will always be unique to their favourite genre. The added purple text makes the page more noticeable and when researching I found that this was often used in various other magazines to display an important point made by the interviewee. Moreover, I used same Sans-Serif font on the double page spread as I did on the front cover to stick to the house style I desired and used the Italic version of the same font when the text was the artist own quotes. This makes the reader more aware of facts that the magazine has included and the actual stories that the artist is providing.

First Draft of Magazine Front Cover

 

This is a rough draft of what my ideal front cover would look like. 

I used V!ntage as the title because the music magazine is based on Indie/Rock and that style of music is seen as different and 'vintage' makes the magazine seem a high quality due to vintage accessories generally being expensive. I changed the wording slightly by putting an exclammation mark where the letter 'i' should be. This makes the magazine appear less formal and slightly rebellious and this way the target audience will be reached because teenagers like to think they too are modern and this fits in with the Indie/Rock genre as they want to seem like they don't abide by any rules.

The image of the artist on the front takes up the entire background and the text is on top. I would essentially like the artist to cover a part of the title as this is what I have seen other magazines such as Kerrang! do and it makes the magazine look as if regular buyers don't need to see the whole title to know which one it is and it will also look professional and like its been running for many years to new audiences.

The strap line I have used is - UK's most obscure music. This is because the audience that wants to read this magazine don't always want to listen to music that everybody else listens to, so by using words such as 'obscure' it conveys that the magazine has music that is unknown to anyone who doesn't read it and makes the readers feel unique, which will make the continue to purchase future issues.

The colour of the text I chose is orange because it stands out against the background image. Also, being an Indie/Rock magazine, it has to appear 'different' to the usual Pop genre styles so by using bold colours like white it styles the genre before the music inside is even known. The orange text is a pull quote from an artist and I have used a different colour to show this because all the text in white is giving information about stories inside or events so by using this colour it doesn't just flow in with what the other parts say. The image on the front is of the person who is being interviewed inside and this may attract other audiences who weren't initially the target audience but are fans of the artist to buy the magazine and this will hopefully encourage them to buy future issues and gaining the magazine a wider audience.

For my final magazine front cover, I would like to have a Sans Serif font that better suits the genre and style of the magazine and perhaps have other images around the sides to show different things within the magazine, which will make the front look more interesting.

Audiences

The target audience that I would like to reach out to when producing my own music magazine would be between the ages of 15-25 and for both genders. Younger generations are easier to sell to because they like to have what other people their age has and if the magazine was to sell quite a few copies, others are going to want to buy it so that they aren't missing out. Also, there may be a 'pass along audience' where other family members at home that haven't bought the magazine might read it if it is left in the house. 

I think that the magazine will appeal to both genders because there is a variety of artists that fit into the categories of Indie and Rock that many people will enjoy listening to.

I would like my magazine to be based on selling to the ABC1 category because this way more copies will be purchased meaning that its popularity will rise within a wealthier class of people.

Genre

Genre is the style or category of music that determines which artists will be displayed in a music magazine.

These are a couple of magazine front covers that use the same genre to what I would like to use when I produce my own music magazine;

Indie

Rock                                                       

                The genre I have chosen to make my own music magazine is Indie/Rock. 

For the Indie section, the magazine will feature artists such as;

Jake Bugg

                                   

                                                                          Tom Odell

Lorde

The different styles of Rock artists that could feature in the magazine might be;

Rolling Stones

Jimi Hendrix

Linkin Park

Creativity

I have created a prezi slideshow to represent the different housestyles that appear on different genre magazines to determine what layout I would prefer on my own music magazine. Each magazine that has a certain genre has a housestyle that they know will appeal to their target audience and this has given me an better understanding of how to style my own. I think I will use a style similar to 'Rolling Stone' because the genre I have chosen is a combination of Indie and Rock and that is similar to what 'Rolling Stone' provide. By having the artist at the centre of the cover, it will appeal to more consumers who don't necessarily buy the magazine usually.




On most of the front covers, the images are a mid shot, which is the first part of the magazine the reader looks at when they pick it up from the news stand.
The camerawork that the photographer uses is to try and attract the target audience and make the magazine look expensive because of the clear and high quality images it presents within it.
The fonts used within a magazine represents the type of audience that they want to read it. Sans Serif tends to be used when addressing a teenage audience because it is similar to their own handwriting and therefore a younger generation can relate more to the magazine. Another common font is Serif and this is used more when a magazine wants to draw in an older audience as the font tends to appear more old fashioned and formal.
Sell Lines are used on the cover to help sell the magazine. Above the title on "Q" magazine it says 'UK's biggest music magazine' and this definitely helps to increase sales because people who don't usually buy music magazines might prefer to buy "Q" rather than another one because they trust that this particular one must be the best.

Prototype of my Magazine

Jake Bugg Special 

Jake Bugg was one of the many up and coming artists of last year, and now he's here to tel
l us how he came about becoming a musician. 

"I was born in Nottingham and grew up in Clifton on a council estate. I was introduced to the guitar by my uncle at the age of 12 and have played it ever since. I would say some of my main musical influences growing up were Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Oasis and Jimi Hendrix."

His different perspective and individual approach to music as an indie rock artist got him a place on the introducing stage at the Glastonbury Festival back in 2011 at the age of 17, which led to a record deal with Mercury. His songs began to be played on BBC Radio 1.

Jake Bugg's album - 'Jake Bugg' - features his own songs that he wrote and some of these have a significant meaning to him personally.

"'Seen It All' is based on a past experience and it is basically about doing certain things that aren't the right things to do, which inevitably didn't end well. The intention of the song certainly wasn't to promote doing these things but probably more don't do them!"

"'Two Fingers' is also about a personal issue when growing up and I just wanted to express how I felt about growing up where I did and the experiences I had with my family and my life in general. I wanted the song to be as detailed as possible, yet I also had to please the label and keep it up to a certain standard, which is actually quite difficult to do!"

Technology

These are the types of hardware that I would use when researching, planning and constructing my own music magazine.

1. A MacBook for constructing the pages due to it being quicker because of the speed of the graphics card and processing. This will ensure the magazine images are to the highest quality.








2. I will use both a digital camera and an iPhone camera to take photos for my magazine as these are readily available to me and also create clear pictures.

3. I will use a memory stick to save work onto that I can then transfer to another device easily. This will be a quick process rather than emailing work from home to school.






These are the different types of software that I will be using to help create my magazine.

Pixlr - for editing the images that will be used throughout the magazine.






Slideshare - I can use this when researching for information to help create the magazine because it shows a range of different techniques which are used in media and help broaden my knowledge of this particular software.