Music Magazine Planning Ideas

Music Magazine Planning Ideas

The genre of music my magazine will cover is rock. It will cover a range of different types of rock music therefore the target audience will be of no specific age range or place. Including a variety will attract more people to the magazine; older people who listen to bands that were popular years back (though some of the younger generations also listen to the classics) or people who listen to different sub-genres of rock e.g. alternative, heavy metal, rock ‘n’ roll etc. Their interests will be the different bands they listen to, band merchandise, collecting posters etc.

The name of my magazine will be one of some I have thought of: reverie, trance, muse, vision/envision, daze, stupor. This is because their meaning is to be lost in your thoughts or in a half-conscious state. The connotations of it are that people might see this as ignoring everything else when listening to music; turning up the volume and tuning out the rest of the world. My masthead will obviously be big and bold for it to stand out.

The focal image for my cover will be a teenaged female maybe in the process of smashing an electric guitar or playing an instrument like the drums or bass and have an amplifier somewhere too. This is to keep with the rock theme as all rock bands use those types of instruments, and play them hard - not how someone might play an acoustic guitar.                                             
I will use a long shot or a mid shot for this as I want to show what is happening but still have the focus on the person in the image. It would probably be at eye level so it’s a neutral shot, positioned as though the reader is actually observing the scene. However, I could use a low angle to add effect to how my model would be playing her instrument.

The mise-en-scene I’d use would be a bright, light, empty space with different instruments visible in the background - probably a music room - to contrast with the text and the model. She will be wearing dark colours, most likely blacks and leather, tight clothing and bulky type boots. Punk type accessories will also be worn - a lot of chains and metal and some band merchandise. She will also be wearing heavy eye makeup, maybe pale foundation and probably red, burgundy or a deep purple lipstick. It will be in a bright area so lots of shadows can be created. It will also allow for the main image and text to stand out against the light background.

My sell lines will mention brief information about bands that will be in the magazine - a range of bands so people will have an idea of what they’ll find. The main one will probably link to the double-page spread e.g. ‘NEW rock band!! Find out how they did it!’ This will interest people looking into how to start a band, or may have a band and want to know how to get started. I’ll entice my audience by making sure I word them concisely but also make them about something interesting, like new information about bands, free posters included or competitions.

On my contents page, I will include information on the main article, less significant articles, interviews, reviews, tour dates, new merchandise available, posters and new single/album releases.

The focus of my double-page spread is a new band. There’ll be an interview with the band members covering many points like how they first got together/decided they want to start a band, covers they’re currently working on, rehearsals  and how they will proceed with their music-making. For the double-page spread, I will use all the band members for the main image and they’ll be playing their music for the shot. It will take up most of the background space and it will be a long shot to capture the experience. It will probably be an oblique angle as being tilted would somehow connote ‘rocking out’ or just look more creative and funky for a rock band. I would possibly use a light background colour as the band is almost certainly going to be dressed in black/dark colours so I don’t want them to clash.