Final Front Cover

This is my final front cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Evaluation: Question 1

Evaluation: Question 2

Evaluation: Question 3

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I had to consider who and how I would distribute my magazine through, this is extremely important in reaching the appropriate audience for my magazine. I researched two main distributors to the UK and compared them to conclude which would be more appropriate for my magazine. 

Bauer Media

Europe's largest publishing group which distributes over 300 different magazines in 15 countries. In the UK Bauer Media reaches 22 million consumers every week, showing Bauer media has a mass audience which when distributing my magazine is a main factor I would seek in a distributor. Bauer Media was founded in 1875 showing the amount of experience in publishing the company has and how successful they have been as they have got to the top of the publishing market and stayed there. They distribute magazines like MoJo and Kerrang! They also have multi-media platforms and own radio labels like Kiss and Absolute Radio. This would be useful for my magazine as promotion could be made through these as well.

TimeIncUk (Was IPC)

Another distributor I have considered is TimeIncUK (formerly IPC) they are a digital and magazine publisher with a big portfolio selling over 350 million copies a year. Founded 1968, they do not have as much experience as Bauer Media but in the time since they was founded they have global portfolio of websites reaching 25 million users a month. Although they distribute magazines like NME and Uncut which are similar genres to my magazine this is why I think Bauer Media after reviewing both of the distributors would be more appropriate as a means of distributing.

Digital Distribution

In order to fully expand the possibility for gaining audience for my magazine I would also digitally distribute my magazine. This would be done online through a subscription method I could also do this through the use of apps which would allow people to have the magazine on their phones and tablets, this encourages the portability of the magazine as convergence has greatly affected the way we consume media products like magazines.

Physical Distribution

I would also look at physical distribution across stores. Ideally a large store would be good for distribution like ASDA or Tesco which have many stores across the UK. This would allow my magazine to reach people all over the UK, paired with online distribution the physical distribution would work well together as some people may not look online for magazines and the same as some people may not like physical copies and find it easier to buy magazines online. Big chain supermarkets are my best choice for selling physical copies as they are now a main supplier of magazines whereas in the past there was specific magazine shops but now these have decreased and magazines are more commonly sold in supermarkets. 

Evaluation: Question 4

Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product? 
When deciding on my genre I went for indie pop-rock which I felt there is a market for as it is becoming a increasingly popular genre which many artists come under. The aim of my magazine would be to provide the best information on all things relating to indie pop/rock music. I myself would be interested in buying a magazine like this therefore feel I had the required knowledge on what content would be appropriate to include. As I discuss later I also used a focus group to consolidate my ideas and get a general opinion on what my target audience would like to see included so it was not just solely artists and information I was interested in. I decided to target my magazine at the age category of 17-30. Aiming my magazine at young adults and university students. This is including students and people who will have careers. These will be the most likely demographic category to purchase my magazine as it mostly appeals to them. To create an idea of my audience I researched existing magazines reader profiles who are similar to mine. NME is an example of this, their average reader is 25 years old and they target ages 17-30 particularly men. I found ages over this particularly 40 + did not commonly read NME therefore did not target this age group. I did not make my magazine gender specific as want to keep the possible audience as open as I could. However I did try and focus choices towards the age group of 17-30.
To help me gather opinions on key information points for my magazine I carried out a focus group with 3 people who are around the age of my target audience and asked for their opinions on certain areas. I got to ask what their opinions were on things like the name and what artists they’d like to see featured. To get other opinions on an indie pop/rock magazine I produced an online survey, this helped me see age groups opinions on what genres they’d most like to see in a magazine and their opinion of an indie pop/rock magazine.
The pricing of my magazine was a similar price to NME’s weekly magazine of £2.50-£2.70 price. My magazine is a bi-monthly magazine priced at £2.22 which I felt is a fair price when aiming it at students and young adults. The social class of my magazine would be in the E, D and B band as they are mostly students and adults which are just starting their careers. This is why the pricing of my magazine is low and it is not a weekly magazine so that readers do not feel tied in to buying it every week. Twice a month allows the cost to be spread with a break between the spending of the customer. As a student myself, I could relate to this as a weekly magazine would be too much of a financial commitment. 
I had to consider how my magazine was going to appeal to the target audience I had set. One way I did this was through the use of the costume on the model which after creating my moodboard for outfit ideas found this colour scheme and style of clothing was related to an indie pop/rock look. As shown below when googling 'indie pop/rock clothing' the search results show overall darker clothing with baggy cardigans and tops being a main feature, therefore the fact my model wore a baggy maroon cardigan is showing how I attempted to reach out and create the right ideology for indie pop/rock with my magazine. 

My model was also a young female which might sway my magazine to appeal to more females then males. Reflecting on my magazine it may have been advantageous to add more content on the front page to appeal to more which if I was creating my magazine again I would take into consideration.