Music magazines of the Noughties - The Wire, Smash Hits, Terrorizer, NME, Q and Muzik –Smash Hits and Muzik have since closed

Music Magazines in the Noughties

KEY THEMES: PROLIFERATION OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, INCREASED NICHE MARKETING AND SUBCULTURAL BRAND VALUES ARE MORE MARKETABLE.

Useful Terminology

Plugs: Information about the contents of a magazine given on the front cover.
Issue Number: The number of the issue
Masthead: Title of the...

Half or Full Day Revision Courses in Your School

Programme Details

Our practical workshops usually include:

• Investigating genre conventions (cards and games)
• Starter activities, ‘odd one out’ / ‘top n tail’ / connective thinking
• Loop cards with key facts
• Loop cards with relevant theories
• Carousel activities ‘add facts’ and move on….
• Carousel activities…making a storyboard…and move on…

We ensure that students get to know the exam structure,...

Introduction

The need to target a ‘specific audience’ is a key issue for the ‘magazine industry’. Magazines are heavily ‘subsidized by advertising’ and the key to attracting a sustainable ‘portfolio of advertisers’ is the creation of a product that is desirable to their ‘target market’.

As a consequence, within the magazine industry as a whole, there are many magazines aimed at similar audiences because that ‘demographic...[ read full article ] »

2011 Exam

Section A - Music Video
Section B - Music Fan Websites

2012 Exam

Section A - Music Industry Websites
Section B - Music Magazines

The exam (40% of the final mark)  2 hours 15 minutes. The topic is music. Candidates will be expected to study the topic in a way which reflects the convergent nature of contemporary media.

The paper is divided into two sections.

Section A: Thinking about the Media – Investigating

This will assess...

These quizzes are best viewed in Firefox.

Firefox is an excellent alternative to Internet Explorer which is available free for both PCs and Macs.

Music Press | Advertising.ppt

Music Press | Audience Match Exercise.pdf

Music Press | Audience Theory.ppt

Music Press | History.ppt

Music Press | Kerrang Notes.doc

Music Press | Magazine Analysis Frame.doc

Music Press | Magazine Checklist One.doc

Music Press | Magazine Checklist Two.doc

Music Press | Magazine Cover Exercise One.pdf

Music Press | Magazine Cover Exercise Two.pdf

Music Press | Magazine Design.pub

Music Press | NME...

Paul McCartney was on the first issue of Q and came back to celebrate its 50th issue: he’s typical of the magazine’s emphasis on older ‘classic’ artists.

KEY BRAND VALUES: MAINSTREAM ADULT ORIENTATED ROCK
OWNER: EMAP (1986 TO 2007) BAUER (2007 to present)
MASTHEAD: Q
PUFF: THE GUIDE TO MODERN MUSIC AND MORE / THE ULTIMATE MUSIC GUIDE
PRICE: £3.90
HOUSE STYLE: RED AND WHITE, BLACK TEXT, CANDID COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
ADVERTISING PORTFOLIO:...

Moritz von Oswald and Will Oldham are typical of the more avant-garde orientation of The Wire.

KEY BRAND VALUES: AVANT-GARDE, ELITIST, MUSICIANSHIP, INTELLECTUALISM
OWNER: NARAMA GROUP (1982 to 2001) INDEPENDENTLY OWNED 2001 ONWARDS.
MASTHEAD: THE WIRE
PUFF: NONE.
PRICE: £3.90
HOUSE STYLE: REALIST COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY + BLACK TEXT ON WHITE BACKGROUND
ADVERTISING PORTFOLIO: ALTERNATIVE AND AVANT-GARDE RELEASES, ETHICAL CONSUMERISM, OFFBEAT...

Reflecting the retrospective sensibility of contemporary dance music issues of Muzik typically mix new music with older stars.

KEY BRAND VALUES: CUTTING EDGE, INFORMED, FUTURE CONSCIOUS CLUB CULTURE.
OWNER: IPC 1995 TO 2003
MASTHEAD: MUZIK
PUFF: NONE
PRICE: £3.90
HOUSE STYLE: POP ART COLOURS – YELLOWS, PINKS AND ORANGE
ADVERTISING PORTFOLIO: DANCE 12” SINGLES, COMPILATIONS, CLUB NIGHTS, HARDWARE, CLOTHING

Muzik was a dance music...

NAPALM DEATH AND THE GOSSIP ARE TYPICAL OF THE LEFT OF CENTRE ACTS COVERED BY THE ALTERNATIVE PRESS.

The NME and Terrorizer both cover music at the edge of the mainstream.

The NME was launched in 1952 by EIPC as a ‘pop paper’ and right up until the mid-1960s its emphasis was on the records that were riding high in the ‘hit parade’.  However as music became more serious in the late 1960s its style shifted towards a more sophisticated...

Duran Duran and Take That - The Ultimate Smash Hits Bands!

KEY BRAND VALUES: MAINSTREAM TEEN POP AND FEMININE FASHION
OWNER: EMAP (1978 TO 2007) BAUER (2007 to present)
MASTHEAD: SMASH HITS
PUFF: THE WORLD’S GREATEST POP MAG.
PRICE: £1.90
HOUSE STYLE: POP ART COLOURS – YELLOWS, PINKS AND ORANGE
ADVERTISING PORTFOLIO: POP SINGLES, TEEN-ORIENTATED FASHION AND MAKE-UP.

Smash Hits was a bi-weekly pop music title owned by EMAP. It ran from...

Q Magazine was launched by EMAP in 1986. With Dave Hepworth and Mark Ellen as editors, it was very much a grown up version of Smash Hits.

When discussing the legacy of EMAP in the transformation of the mores of the music press in the 1980s it should be mentioned that the legacy of Q has been considered in much more detail than that of Smash Hits.  Eamonn Forde has written extensively on the role of Q in establishing the ‘monoglottic’...

EMI Group EMI is the world’s largest independent music company.

itunes

musicovery.com Free access to a range of music on the Internet

Observations from AQA course on

The Music Press

Production Skills & Controlled Test Written Responses

1. Annotate designs

2. Use colour

3. Remember it’s a sketch for a professional to then complete

4. Ensure conventions are features including things like barcode, date, price, etc. or web conventions if you have the option to design a web page.

5. Make it clear and user friendly

6. Be aware of writing styles and register / mode of address...[ read full article ] »

Muso Mags Ltd

Memo
To: Creative and Design Staff
From: Managing Director
CC: Marketing Manager
Date: 30.11.06
Re: What next?

Colleagues,

I need your most creative and informed suggestions.

As a music publications company we have always tried to keep up with the preferences of our youthful and knowledgeable audience.

The last few months have seen some very significant developments in the world of Pop Music publicity. Some of our best loved...

In this exam you are going to be asked to research the marketplace for a new UK music magazine. You will then be asked to identify a potential Target Audience for your new magazine and demonstrate design work to appeal to that Target Audience.

EACH QUESTION IS WORTH 25 MARKS.

YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL OF THE QUESTIONS.

Question 1: History

• How did the market for the music press in the UK change during the 1970s and 1980s?

Use the case histories...

Observations from AQA course on The Music Press

1. Identify conventions of The Music Press

2. Analyse front pages

3. Identify the value of genre

4. Explore narrative: contents of mags, the use of narrative on the front cover

5. Mode of address: how mags speak to their audience

6. Editorial vs advertising content - how easy is it to distinguish between the two?

Observations from AQA course on

The Music Press

Institution

1. Investigate ownership of magazines: EMAP and IPC Media dominate. What are the consequences?

2. Mainstream vs fanzine/blogs/online communities, etc. - benefits?

3. Editorial independence of mainstream? Advertise to ensure positive reviews/coverage? Content analysis as ‘evidence’?

4. Horizontal integration e.g. Smash Hits radio, TV, website but no magazine anymore.

5. Explore...

Observations from AQA course on

The Music Press

History

1. Start at 1950’s

2. Include punk era of the 1970’s

3. Present day including web development

4. Don’t focus on facts, but generic developments, similarities and differences in content

5. Students could carry out a qualitative survey on audience likes, uses and gratifications

6. Focus on age, gender and ‘race’ to investigate consumption

‘The Music Press – A Brief...

Observations from AQA course on

The Music Press

Audience

1. Decline of mass market - why? Can music magazines survive? What is their biggest competition? Why?

2. Subcultures and niche markets (segmentation)

3. Empowerment of audience over producers and audience as producers (myspace, etc.)

4. Demographics and generational changes EMAP Audience Research kindly contributed by

5. Audience theory - uses and gratifications [click on this...

Revision Activities

Music Press Kerrang Notes.doc
Music Press Smash Hits Notes.doc
Music Press NME Notes.doc
Music Press NME Web Design Template.doc
Music Press Magazine Cover Exercise One.pdf
Music Press Magazine Cover Exercise Two.pdf
Music Press Scheme.doc
Music Press Magazine Analysis Frame.doc
Music Press Magazine Cover Exercise One.pdf
Music Press Magazine Cover Exercise Two.pdf
Music Press Magazine Checklist One.doc
Music Press Magazine...

If your Media Studies production is an audio visual piece then it will most likely involve the use of some music.  This might be in the background of an advert, to make a film trailer more exciting, or as the focus of a music video.

What you need to remember is that even though it’s incredibly easy to download music and sound effects from the Internet, it’s not always a good idea to use those files in your media production.

In this article,...

Name:

Pre-Production and Planning for a Music Magazine

The Brief

Concept

For this unit you are part of a multi-skilled team that plans to make a music related magazine for young adults aged 18 years and upwards. You will also need to advertise this magazine on radio, the internet and on TV - learning audio, visual and audio-visual skills. It will need to be heavy on visuals, glossy, and a midway price so that it is affordable by the target...

Half or Full Day Revision Courses in Your School

Programme Details

Our practical workshops usually include:

• Investigating genre conventions (cards and games)
• Starter activities, ‘odd one out’ / ‘top n tail’ / connective thinking
• Loop cards with key facts
• Loop cards with relevant theories
• Carousel activities ‘add facts’ and move on….
• Carousel activities…making a storyboard…and move on…

We ensure that...