Magazine Analysis: Rolling Stone and Billboard

History of the Music Press

History of the Music Press

1950s

NME and Melody Maker were two major magazines in the 50s. Even though Melody Maker had started off in the 1920s as a magazine specifically for jazz and dance band musicians it managed to develop into a mainstream rock into the 50s. Both Magazines capitalised on the music industry by releasing the “charts”. By the 60s the magazines branched off into older target audiences and featured musicians and held award ceremonies. This appealed to a black audience as well when black musicians were featured such as Chuck Berry, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davies.

1970s

The 70s saw the rise of a classic rock, glam rock, prog rock and a nebula of punk bands. Gods like Bowie and the Sex Pistols re-invented music and the way it was written. Magazines still weren’t exactly critical of anyone until they began spending more money on staging and equipment than the actual music itself. It wasn’t until punk was born that magazines started embracing the act of rebellion with songs about politics, philosophy and the status quo or “the man”. NME became indulged in the politics of music and specific bands, therefore narrowing down their target audience and dramatically lost ground to Melody Maker. Melody Maker however, did follow in the direction of other magazines and focused on punk and post-punk but kept their coverage broad to keep a large target audience. Their improved coverage of reggae and soul music grew over time and helped attract more of a black audience. In the late 70s “Smash Hits” was released focusing more on lifestyle of musicians, trivia and became more interactive with their readers.

1980s and 90s

In the 80s punk evolved to become more popular as well as classic rock. For the first year of the decade there was a strike with MM and NME which effected publication and caused writers and designers to come and go. By the mid-80s magazines became more pop orientated, and also focused more on the design of the front cover. New technology had a massive impact on the music industry. The massive rise of MTV popularised the music video and society viewed it as a new art form. An example of this was Green Day’s “Basket Case”, this helped MTV grow and attract a bigger audience. It also grew attention by being quite controversial by not airing Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” because of wearing drag. MTV reached new audiences with the use of television and had a big impact of the music industry, by airing certain bands they could choose who could make it in the industry.
 Underground music huge in the 80s but is not well documented and wasn't part of anything mainstream and no underground music signed to a major record label, hence the name, underground.

Present Day

In modern society music magazines have become less popular due to the fact that every aspect of the media reports on any big news in music as it is very popular with most of their target audience. However, music magazines are still going strong with magazines like Rolling Stone and Billboard, each having a circulation of 1.4 and 1.7 million. Their target audiences are generally young people as it focuses more on the artists themselves but still appeals to most people who like music. Music magazines also tend to cover movies or celebrities if something big is happening at the time as will attract as many people as possible. Most of it is online now though, the use of their websites and social media has changed the way people get the news. The internet has also given websites that are specific to certain genres to gain popularity, for example Ultimate Guitar mainly focuses in on rock and metal therefore being able to reach a specific target audience. All magazines are largely based online now. YouTube has become the main site for music videos, most artists use Vevo through YouTube to reach their audience. An example of this is Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" which received 19 million views within 24 hours of being uploaded. Magazines such as Rolling Stone have their own YouTube channels to upload videos relevant to their content.

Media Magazine Evaluation

Media Magazine Evaluation

 For my magazine I used Microsoft office Word for the mock up cover to plan out the layout and think about the colour scheme and house style design. For the final cover I used the same image on Photoshop, used text, shapes and the blur tool. The text I used seemed appropriate for my target audience as it is Times New Roman which is a smart font but is still bold for the cover, so this is suitable for the sixth form. I chose to use Blue in the end instead of red as blue is typically associated with school. I chose white cover lines as they stand out and look professional, like many other magazines. The main slogan at the top was black it would stand out and be unique. The blur tool was used to make the background and the foreground (just the front of the table) faded so the focus would be on the two students. This will appeal to my target audience because they look smart and aspirational therefore people will be more inclined to buy it.

Mock Up

Magazine Cover

Readership Planning

Readership Planning 
Target Audience: My target audience are sixth form students, so they will be aged 16-19 years old. The sixth form will have variety of subjects from sciences to creative arts so the magazine will need to attract all kinds of students. The younger students will need to know what kind of courses there are and the older students will want to have things that are about leaving sixth form, possibly information about universities, possible careers etc. A lot will of students will start driving soon so it will be good if there's information about driving courses and driving safety. There will be lots of information about different opportunities at sixth form since a lot of students will have different interests and personalities. It should also attract both sexes, the magazine will need to show everything there is so it appeals to as many people as possible.

Audience Research
Questionnaire:
What do you look for in a magazine? 
"Useful topics and articles" “Interesting front cover” “good journalism” “
What kind of articles would you like see in a sixth form magazine?
“Things about universities” “anything to do with careers” “news in general, everything doesn’t have to be specifically for sixth formers”
Would you expect a sixth form magazine to be formal or informal?
Formal – 7 votes, informal – 3 votes 

Which name is the best?  The Sixth Form Sense – 4 votes Berkshire Sixth Form – 1 vote   Sixth Form weekly – 3 votes The Daily Sixth – 2 votes

Possible slogans: “For the next chapter in your life” “news of your world” “Read the revolution” “read for happiness”

Possible house style designs: The title could be blue as it would be appropriate for sixth form however blue is typically seen as a boy’s colour and if it wasn’t dark blue it would look silly. Big red title to make it stand out, it should be a smart font since it’s for the sixth form maybe like a newspapers font but modern like a magazine. There won’t be a border since that would make it look like an amateur design. The dominant image could be of a student dressed sharply, looking happy, studying and talking to their friends

The Sixth Form Sense The Sixth Form Sense The Sixth Form Sense The Sixth Form Sense

Pros & Cons: Black: Boring but is generally seen as smart. Red: Stands out, might be too extreme. Blue: Is usually associated with sixth form and looks smart, it isn’t very unique. Green: Not a very popular colour, makes the magazine unique.

 

Photography Planning: one dominant image will take up the whole front cover. It can be of students studying at a table with open books and note to show to the target audience that it’s a serious magazine. The people in the photo will be wearing smart suits. This will appeal to the target audience because it shows 

 

Magazine Covers Analysis