RollingStone Glog

I've decided to create a glog based aroung RollingStone magazine featuring examples of previous front covers in order to help with my research. It has been a really useful opportunity for me to view examples of professional magazine covers as it has allowed me to discover the confessions of a magazine cover and suggestions of how the features can be layed out. I will return to these examples for inspiration, along with others of which I will add throughout the project, when creating my own magazine.

Class Survey

In order to gather a better understanding of what genres and styles of music are popular amongst teens today as well as other general background information about music magazines and the music industry I carried out a quick and simple survey in class. Here re my results:

• Who reads music magazines on a regular basis? Only 2 members of the class out of 20 said that they regularly read music magazines in their spare time, however, I then went on to ask who occasionally read music magazines and this then increased to 8 out of 20.
• Which magazines would you be likely to read? Kerrang and NME were popular choices among class members when asked which music magazines they like to read, although Q and RollingStone were also mentioned.
• Which genres of music are particularly strong in the world today? There was mixed reviews about this question and many genres were named, however, the class was unanimous in saying that both Chart pop and Indie were both leading music genres of the modern day.
• Where do you usually consume your music from? Most of the class said that they all downloaded their music rather than buying physical CDs. Many members said they often download their songs from illegal and free download sites such as Pirate Bay however iTunes was also a popular choice for those who choose to legally buy their music.

Through carrying out this simple survey I have learnt exactly which genres I may want to think about focussing my magazine on - chart pop and indie. I have also picked up on the fact that many people prefer to use the internet to find news about the latest music and in fact, not all that many people choose to buy and read music magazines anymore.

Genre

Before even beginning to plan my magazine it's crucial that I know exactly which music genre I'd like it to be based around. The music industry can be broken up into hundreds of different genres - each perfectly designed to match the likes and tastes of the desired target audience. There are several basic, general genres of which we are all aware of such as pop, rock, metal, country and classical - these are known as the 'core genres'.  However these core genres can then be broken down in to hundreds of different categories in themselves, known as 'sub-genres'. The use of these sub-genres means that music can be crafted in finer detail to suit the exact tastes of an individual. For example, if we look at pop as a core genre, pop is a very vague and wide term to use for music and can include many different styles and sounds meaning it would be highly unrealistic to purely say you liked pop music as a whole. However, if we break pop down into several sub-genres such as acoustic pop, electro-pop, teen pop and Brit pop we can begin to gather a better understanding of exactly where the individual's tastes lie. The list of sub-genres is endless and more and more are constantly being created to this day.

Introduction

I am a big fan of listening to music and am particularly interested in modern day pop and current chart music such as Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry. Therefore, the most natural choice of music magazine for me to study throughout this project and in order to gain inspiration for my own publication is a pop music magazine such as RollingStone. RollingStone is a magazine designed to cater for a wide selection of music genres including pop, rock and R&B meaning it will be highly useful for me to study. This also means that RollingStone has a wide target audience and most people are able to find something of their taste and interest within it's pages.

My First Post

This is the first post of my music magazine coursework blog. Throughout the course of this project I will be investigating the different elements and techniques that are used when producing a magazine in order to create meaning for the reader. This will ultimately help me on the journey of creating my own pubication to a high professional standard.