Publication Plan

Title: Current
Positioning statement: Bringing you the weekly charts!
Frequency of publication: Weekly
Price: £2

Distribution: Newsagents, supermarkets and music shops

Rationale: My magazine’s purpose is to inform and entertain the readers about chart music and the weekly UK chart. Interviews with artists and bands will be in my magazine, so that the audience feel as if they get to know and understand them, and their music. It will have up to date news and a bit of gossip to get some different readers to become interested in the magazine.

Style: For my style I will use colloquial language, using quite simple vocabulary and syntax. The magazine is for all chart music fans using a smart, neat presentation, with a simple layout that is not too busy. As I found that its mainly people aged between 12-25 that buy most music magazines, my magazine audience will be mainly aimed at 12-26 year old of both genders, and I will use quite simple syntax, with maybe just a few harder ones occasionally. My main image will be the main attraction of my front cover, so I won’t have too much writing around it, to focus the attention on the image.


Regular Content

· Editors letter
· The UK top 40
· Interview with chart toppers
· Upcoming gigs
· Upcoming singles and album
· CD reviews
· Gig reviews
· Last weeks UK top 10s
· Rising stars
· Future hits






Feature Content

· Download or buy music?
· What we’re listening to
· Do you really know chart music?
· Have your say in our charts
· Is pop dead?
· Who’s your favourite?
· Hopeful rising acts
· We ask the fans their favourite
· Get the music you want easily
· Charts have changed



House Style

Coverlines: Arial, bold

Headlines: Berlin Sans FB

Standfirst: Tahoma

Captions: Arial Narrow

Features first paragraph: Drop capital, 6 lines deep, Verdana, first word in capitals

News first paragraph: First word in capital to stand out, to catch their eye for the rest of the article

Body Text: Comic Sans MS

Colour Scheme: Red, blue, black

Questionnaire result tally

1. 1. Are you male or female?
Male
Female


2. How old are you?
Under 16
16-25
25-35
35-45
Over 45


3. How often do you buy music magazines?
Weekly
Fortnightly
Monthly
Other


4. How do you find out about the UK charts?
TV
Radio
Internet
Record Shops
Other


5. What is your favourite genre in the charts? (Number them in order of preference)
R’n’b
Dance
Rock
Indie
Hip hop
Rap
Pop
Other


6. Who is your favourite band?
Breaking Benjamin
Take That
The Artic Monkeys
The Black Eyed Peas
Blink 182
The Kooks
Jack's Mannequin
Muse
Paramore
Passion Pit
Mcfly
Girls Aloud
Green Day
JLS
Genesis


7. Who is you favourite solo artist?

Christina Aguilera
Bob Marley
Pink
Jason Mraz
Lily Allen
Beyonce
JME
Michael Buble
Paulo Nutini
Lady Gaga
Michael Jackson
Eddie Halliwell
Marvin Gaye
Newton Fawkner
Pixie Lott


8. What do you like to see in music magazines? (Number them in order of preference)
Interviews
Reviews
Headlines
Gig Information
Upcoming artists/bands
Upcoming CD’s
Others


9. How often do you listen to chart music?
Everyday
A few days a week
Once a week
Not much


10. Do you prefer to buy singles or albums?
Singles
Album


11. How much would you willing to pay for a chart music magazine?
Up to £1
£1-£2
£2-£3
£3-£4
More than £4


12. Do you prefer a band or artist on the front cover of a magazine?
Band
Artist
I don’t have a preference


13. Do you prefer to buy music or download?
Buy
Download


14. What is your favourite music magazine?
Kerrang
NME
Q
Moho
None


15. List three words you would associate with chart music?
Inspiring
Tasteful
Dancing
Singing
Pop
Happy
Joyful
Upbeat
New
Good
Lively
Rave
Clubs
Fun
Laugh
Indie
Countdown
Cheesy
Good
Similar
Lively


16. What is your favourite colour?
Pink
Blue
Brown
Red
Green
Purple
Orange

17. Would you buy a new chart music magazine?
Yes
No

My music magazine questionnaire

1. Are you male or female?
Male Female

2. How old are you?
Under 16 16-25 25-35 35-45 Over 45

3. How often do you buy music magazines?
Weekly Fortnightly Monthly Other ______________

4. How do you find out about the UK charts? (Tick which apply in numbered order)
TV Radio Internet Record shops
Other_____________

5. What is your favourite genre in the charts? (Number them in order of preference)
R’n’b Dance Rock Indie Hip hop Rap
Pop Other ______________

6. Who is your favourite band?
________________________________

7. Who is you favourite solo artist?
_________________________________


8. What do you like to see in music magazines? (Number them in order of preference)
Interviews Reviews Headlines Gig Information
Upcoming artists/bands Upcoming CD’s
Other__________________

9. How often do you listen to chart music?
Everyday A few days a week Once a week Not much

10. Do you prefer to buy singles or albums?
Singles Album

11. How much would you willing to pay for a chart music magazine?
Up to £1 £1-£2 £2-£3 £3-£4 More than £4

12. Do you prefer a band or artist on the front cover of a magazine?
Band Artist I don’t have a preference

13. Do you prefer to buy music or download?
Buy Download

14. What is your favourite music magazine?
________________________________

15. List three words you would associate with chart music?
______________________________________________

16. What is your favourite colour?
______________________________________________

17. Would you buy a new chart music magazine?
Yes No

My school magazine

Pie charts of questionnaire results

3. The majority of participants said they buy a music magazine monthly, but because my magazine is a chart music magazine it will have to be a weekly magazine, as the charts change weekly.









12. Most of the participants said they don’t have a preference to whether there’s a band or artist on the front, therefore I can chose either to go on my front cover.

Chart music magazine questionnaire

I asked 20 people to fill out a questionnaire based on their views and opinions on music magazines, chart music and chart music magazines. My results were as follows;


1. Out of the participants I asked 11 were female and 9 were male.

2. They were aged 4 under 16, 6 were 16-25, 4 were 25-35, 3 were 35-45 and 3 were over 45.

3. 2 of the participants read music magazines weekly, 2 read them fortnightly, 9 read them monthly and 7 read ticked other. The answers for other were ones such as occasionally, hardly ever and not much.

4. My participants show that the most popular way to find out the weekly chart is the radio, as it was chosen first 9 times. The second most popular was internet being chosen first 6 times and TV was third being chosen first 5 times. Record shops and other were not chosen first at all.

5. Out of the people I asked most of them preferred R'n'b being chosen first 6 times, second favourite was dance and indie, third was rock, hip hop and pop which were all chose first 2 times each. Rap was not chosen first at all.

6. I was given a wide variety of favourite bands with most people having different ones, Paramore was chosen by 3 people however, also Take That, Muse and Black-Eyed Peas were all chosen by two people.

7. Again there was a wide variety of favourite artists.

8. Interviews was top being chosen first 8 times, upcoming artists/bands was second coming first 6 times, reviews and headlines was chosen first 5 times and gig information and upcoming Cd's were chosen first 3 times.

9. 13 people said they listen to chart music everyday, 3 said a few days a week, 1 person said once a week and 3 people said not much.

10. Most people prefer to buy albums as 16 people ticked albums and 4 ticked singles.

11. No one chose up to £1, 8 people chose £1-£2, 8 people chose £2-£3, 3 people chose £3-£4 and 1 person chose more than £4.

12. 11 people answered that they don't have a preference to a band or artist on the magazine front cover, 6 chose an artist and 3 answered band.

13. 17 people said that they prefer to download music and 3 people said they prefer to buy music.

17. 16 people said they would buy a new chart music and the other 4 said they wouldn't.

Analysis of the magazine covers

• Colour scheme of 4 colours (white, yellow, red and blue)
• Buzz words used - e.g. plus, yeah, oh
• One main image used, centred, group shot
  
• 6 cover stories
• Banner used at top and bottom for 2 different stories
• Smaller image next to top banner, related to the article
• Plain white background
• All people looking into the camera
• Image overlaps the masthead
• Microphones are used by some of the band members
• All members are looking into the camera
• Informal mode of address
• Layout is busy and suits the genre of the magazine (Pop)
  

• Colour scheme used (Red, white and black)
• One main image used, left aligned
  
• Person not looking into the camera
• 7 cover stories
• Background is not plain, it is the background of the image, but unfocused
• Issue date at top left
• Image overlaps the masthead
• Quite easy, plain set out, and not busy, so it's easier to see everything

Codes and conventions of music magazine double page spread articles

• Image that takes up to a whole page of the article
• Drop capital at the beginning of the article
• Mini introduction to the article (Description/Standfirst)
• Bylines of the writer and photographer
  
• A colour scheme, mainly linking to the main image
• Magazine name next to the page number/issue date to remind the reader
  
• The website address to get the reader to visit the website
• Name of interviewee in a different colour so that it stands out from the rest of the text
• A border around the double page spread
• Columns used, between 2-4 mainly
• A quote from the subject, often over the photograph
• A headline is used at the top of the page
• Standfirst is always near/under the headline, and before the start of the article. It introduces the article and explains what it's going to be about, so it engages the reader.
• Use informal mode of address in the article to relate to the reader
• Short and snappy headlines so that it's easy for the reader to read.
  

Codes and conventions of music magazine contents pages

• There are usually 3/4 columns
• A colour scheme is used, similar to the front cover, so that it relates to the front cover
• The issue date is also on the contents page, to inform the reader
• One main image (main story) of the artist or something to do with music
• Several smaller images to relate to articles inside the magazine
• Seperated into subheading, so it's easier for the reader (E.g. regulars, features etc.)
• The website address, so that the reader can go onto the website for more information on the magazine
• Editorial, to connect to the readers, in the mode of address of the magazine genre
  
• Coverlines from the front cover included, to link to the front cover and remind the reader what was on the cover
  

Codes and conventions of music magazine front covers

• There is a colour scheme of 3/4 colours so that it is not too plain and not too busy
• The masthead is at the top of the page
• Use of buzzwords to attract the audience (E.g. plus, free, exclusive)
• An average of 5-10 coverlines which link to the gender of the audience
• Smaller images to attract the reader and also links to articles inside the magazine
• Main image can be more than one person as music magazine often have bands on the front of them
• Props are sometimes used in the main image, as they cover star can have a guitar, microphone etc.
• Banners are used to attract attention to what is being said
• Tagline is used as a magazine needs to have a tagline
• The price is always on the front cover, because the audience will want to know the price
• A plain background, so that all the attention is on the main image and not elsewhere
• The issue date of the magazine, so that the reader knows when the magazine was issued
• The band/singer, mostly a long shot for bands and mid-shot for singers on their own
• Cover star is lookign at the camera, to connect to the reader
• The body language of the cover images link to the genre of the magazine
• Mode of address links to the genre of of the magazine
• The masthead attracts a certain audience depending on the genre of the magazine
• Well known images to attract the audience
• The layout is appropriate to the genre and the audience of the magazine
• Representation of the main image links to the genre of the audience
  

My music magazine

For my chart music magazine, it will have to a weekly published one as it is music on the charts and the chart music changes weekly. The price of my magazine will be on average £2-£4, and it will be about 100-150 pages long, each issue. The regular content in each magazine will be the UK top 40 and an article on a successful artist and some rising stars.

Chart magazine research

Chart magazines


Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis. Among the two most important charts, the Billboard Hot 100 ranks the top 100 songs regardless of genre and is frequently used as the standard measure for ranking songs in the United States, while the Billboard 200 survey is the corresponding chart for album sales.



Billboard magazine is published weekly and cost varies from $6.99-$12.99, as it is an American magazine. In every article there is a main article on a popular singer/band, it also includes rising stars, what’s ‘hot on the charts’ and interviews with artists.






Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at children and young teenagers, and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP and it ran from 1978 to 2006. The name survives as a brand for a related spin-off digital television channel, digital radio station, and website which have survived the demise of the printed magazine. The backbone of the magazine in its early years, and one of its major early selling points, was the publication of Top 20 song lyrics.



Smash hits published a one off tribute magazine this year, after Michael Jackson passed away, at the cost of £2.99. The magazine closed in 2006, after almost 30 tears, as it was victim of the rise of digital media.

My music Magazine

For my media coursework I am going to produce a chart music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. The target audience of my magazine will be for mainly 12-25 year olds of both sexes of, and also overall, all people who like chart music.