The type of music magazine that i decided to do my coursework on was a bhangra musci magazine, partially because of the asian heritage and also the style of song. I chose bhangra music because it is really rich in details and things that i hav included during my coursework.
Qn1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product uses the typical forms and conventions of music magazines because it consists of a front cover, contents page and double page interview. I think that my bhangra magazine challenges the typical magazine because of the style of it and also because of the target audince, because not as many people listen to bhangra when compared to music genres such as RNB or even pop music. Some examples of bhangra magazines where i took my inspiration from are:
HERE ARE MY FINAL ANNOTATED PAGES: double page spread= http://www.scribd.com/full/28677643?access_key=key-2nr8yn7yw171pju679f3
Throughout the construction of my magazine, I always had to think about my target audience and how my product would appeal to them. One of the main points which i picked up on was the colour scheme i used to attract my target audience. I used bright colours such as yellow red and white because they are linked with asian heritage, being very colourful. I also picked up on the mise en scene which were the props i used in my magazine, e.g. gold jacket, sunglasses, caps etc. and this all fits in with the perfect example of the "bhangramuffin", so it would appeal to this audience. I also had a very specific target audience because it was focused mainly to Asian people because it is an Asian bhangra music magazine (named ‘Bhangrabeatz’). It would be aimed at a primary target audience of 16-25 year old fans of bhangra music. The magazine would mainly appeal to a male target audience, due to the fact that Bhangra is a genre mainly featuring and consisting of men. Moreover, men tend to enjoy listening to bhangra more than women. The magazine would appeal to a predominantly working class audience but would also I think attract the attention of upper classes because of its unique style and Asian heritage. I didn’t really change anything that I intended to do when I first started out planning the magazine, but I changed little things such as placement of pictures, text, headings etc. I also didn’t feel as if I needed to change anything within the genre I was doing because Bhangra music genre is a very unique and independent genre, it is already different from other magazine genres, so it was ideal. I thought my music magazine would prove successful because I already knew a lot about the genre and I also had the training to use the different programmes and applications that were needed to make the magazine, such as INDESIGN and PHOTOSHOP, so I just needed to get started really. My choice here I think proved to work quite effectively because after I had finished the magazine, I printed it out and took quite a few questionnaires off friends and family, and majority of them were quite positive, so I think it was a success.
Qn2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
First and foremost, I set out making my cover. Just by looking at the front cover, anybody could guess that it was a Bhangra magazine. The social group and target audience this was intended for was Asians, youngsters in particular. I have represented the idea of bhangra and Asian heritage by the way my models have taken photos, the interview I had took with the main star and also by associating it with RNB, so you could see there was a difference between both. This magazine appealed to the stereotype of the ‘Bhangramuffin’, which was a stereotype of an Asian. I think I have represented them in a way which everyone would adhere to because everybody recognises the ‘bhangramuffin’. here is a brief description of one taken from youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ssdk7xnkI&feature=player_embedded
Because my magazine is a niche magazine, it would be published by some one such as IPC. here is their website: http://www.ipcmedia.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ssdk7xnkI&feature=player_embedded
Because my magazine is a niche magazine, it would be published by some one such as IPC. here is their website: http://www.ipcmedia.com/
I had taken pictures of my cover star and I had to manipulate it as to appeal to the Asian target audience. Furthermore, due to the fact that there is a very good first impression from my cover star Khal, the audience instantly feel more involved because of the way he is posing. I also told him how to pose, what to wear, how to act etc. all to make the house/ bhangra style artist, which i think turned out pretty well. I gave him props to use such as a gold jacket, shades, chains, bracelets, rings etc. so it all fitted into the style of the magazine and also the artist.
Qn3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that a small magazine firm or a small Bhangra music company would distribute my product because there are very few bhangra music magazines, and in the music magazine market, there isn’t a section for bhangra magazines, so it would be a new target market segment that would hit the music magazine industry. Because there are not a lot of bhangra magazines published at the moment, if a small bhangra company or music group decided to promote and distribute my product, then I think that it would do quite well because of the fact that there would be a new market segment in the music magazine industry. To tell the truth, there are no magazines the same as mine, so this would contribute to persuading a music company to promote and distribute it, but similar magazines that I have seen and included in my research are all bollywood magazines, and that is a totally different genre to bhangra. Bollywood is all about really old traditions, heritage, the stereotypical ‘Indian’. On the other hand, Bhangra music originated in the UK, and is a more modern and upbeat genre style of music than bollywood, so the two might look the same, but are very different altogether. What would make my product special to someone who would want to publish it and make them see it is a cash cow would be the fact that my product is part of a very small but successful market, there are very few bhangra music magazines out there, and also, my music magazine has in it Bhangra and RNB combined, so my audience would still be British Asians, but I might just think about the target audience for RNB magazines as well as they could very well buy my product. Also, because there are so many high profile stars included in my magazine, there hasn’t been a bhangra magazine yet where there have been over 6 bhangra high profile stars included in it, so this would play a big part in tempting people to buy it.
Qn4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Firstly, in the class section, I would probably say middle working class, because most Asians tend do have more labour jobs and are mostly all in jobs that require them to work. In the gender section, I would steer towards males, because bhangra is portrayed as a very masculine genre, and most of the stars are men as well, but I have also noticed that there are a growing number of females that listen to bhangra music nowadays, so I will have to bear this in mind. Most importantly, the main target audience is going to be Asians, particularly youths because they are more aware than most adults. Just to go with my target audience, here is also some information about the BBMI(British Bhangra Music Industry) http://www.sohoroadtothepunjab.org/downloads/Cultural%20Production%20in%20British%20Bhangra.pdf
Qn5. How would you attract/address your audience?
Firstly, with my title it would attract my audience because it is a new magazine, they wont have recognised the title ever before and it also stands out quite well in the magazine. The key image is attracting because it is blunt bold and beautiful, it portrays the image of a typical Asian bhangra artist, he is giving a blunt message to look inside and read more. The storylines (war of the worlds! Bhangra vs. RNB) are attracting because it sounds like a grudge, and RNB is a big genre, but bhangra is breaking through the ranks, so it sounds interesting. The article is interesting because it is a kind of behind the scenes look at bhangra. The headline, structure, contents, language used in the article is all attractive because they have been placed in the right places and they look good. I also think that with headlinese such as these: http://simplybhangra.com/news/bhangra-news/3038-fojis-dafa-ho-ja-storms-in-itunes-world-top-10
people will be more attracted to bhangra music and the genre because it is not something they see and hear everyday.
I think the creation of the bhangra/house style of music also contributes to the niterest people have in the style of msuic because they find it quite interesting. The uses of clour i made for my magazine is a kind of split between the bright colours of bhangra music and the dark and wonderful colours of house music, so it is a very unique style. The locations where i shot my photoshoot for my magazine fits into the style perfectly because the area is mainly asian populated, and it is very good for shooting house/bhnagra style music as there are props such as rundown houses, graffiti etc. so this also contributes to the styling of the magazine. The language used in my magazine is also part of the house style of music and even also bhangramuffin type talk, with brief swearing, but also slang, and some proper english in there as well.
people will be more attracted to bhangra music and the genre because it is not something they see and hear everyday.
I think the creation of the bhangra/house style of music also contributes to the niterest people have in the style of msuic because they find it quite interesting. The uses of clour i made for my magazine is a kind of split between the bright colours of bhangra music and the dark and wonderful colours of house music, so it is a very unique style. The locations where i shot my photoshoot for my magazine fits into the style perfectly because the area is mainly asian populated, and it is very good for shooting house/bhnagra style music as there are props such as rundown houses, graffiti etc. so this also contributes to the styling of the magazine. The language used in my magazine is also part of the house style of music and even also bhangramuffin type talk, with brief swearing, but also slang, and some proper english in there as well.
Qn6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The only technology I used when researching this product was a computer and internet, and the only other technology I used was a digital camera to take my photos on. However, there were certain drawbacks with it, such as not enough lighting, too dull, some colours of materials worn by models stood out more than others etc. so i learnt how to master these problems by using PHOTOSHOP by applying colour filters and changing opacity of shots etc. Throughout using this technology, different software was required to make my product, and I also learnt how to create a blog, upload pictures and videos. It has also given me a chance to use an apple imac for the first time, which was difficult.
Qn7. looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Well, firstly, IV learnt that plans never go the way you want them to. My first intentions about my product were totally different to what my final product was, but it was along the main lines I wanted them to be, i.e. a good bhangra magazine. I have also learnt how to take a proper photo shoot and the standards of photos required to be used in magazines because I took some good shots but they were just not good enough. I have also learnt how to edit photos using Photoshop, which is quite good. I never used equipment such as a tripod because i never felt the need for it, and in fact, handheld digital camera was a better idea because of the house style of music. I used a variety of shots when having my photoshoot. They consisted of high angle, low angle, eye level, medium, close ups and also long shots, also canted angles, so it was good that i used a variety of shots as it stuck again with the style and genre of the magazine.
In conclusion overall, I think that my product turned out very well, and I am proud of the fact that it has turned out very well even though I have never had any experience or training on apple imacs or indesign ever before. I think my product is good because judging by the vast amount of people I know and asked, they said they would happily buy the magazine I made because it suits their music genre. A weakness of my product is that maybe it is the wrong genre type, because for example the target audience for RNB is absolutely huge, but bhangra can only be mainly focused in the UK because that’s where it is mainly based. Overall, I think that my product turned out very well and im very pleased with it because it is also the very first bhangra music magazine ever made in media coursework at St.Marys College.
