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How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief?

Product 1(magazines)

I intend to create a magazine which appeals to a left leaning, 16–25-year-old middle – market audience who have a keen interest in music, particularly pop and R&B. I will achieve this by conveying entertaining yet diverse content to portray how the 21^st century music world is evolving, whilst representing established and upcoming figures within the industry. After research, I chose to focus on pop and R&B as these genres are supposedly aimed at 16–25-year-olds, with the average person in this demographic listening to around 180 minutes of pop and R&B daily. This would appeal to my target audience as the cover stars within my magazine will be portrayed as pop and R&B artists, as well as other artists from his genre such as Loyle Carner and Sabrina carpenter, who will be mentioned in the cover lines. The masthead, ‘TEMPO’, is simple yet effective, as it literally means the rate or speed of a musical composition but also symbolically represents the fast – paced development of the music industry.

I will aim to create aesthetically pleasing front covers and contents pages, using the colours red and blue – representing tranquillity but also passion, capturing attention from consumers. I will include bountiful use of cover lines, as this is a convention of music magazines, indicating a wealthy amount of content inside. Through the images and cover lines I will construct alternative representations such as gender and sexuality, as my first issue, for example, will include a male R&B gay artist, as this is a minority within this genre. This is something my culturally aware, left leaning audience will appreciate. For my second edition, I will include a female model to represent different social groups and have also considered the conventions of female R&B magazines mainly consisting of full body shots. I will employ Steve Neals genre theory within my product to match the style of previous pop and R&B magazines, using a close shot of my male model and a full body shot of my female model. These genre conventions fulfil the usual style of music magazines – perhaps because females in music stereotypically appeal to the male gaze (Van Zoonen). This will ultimately help to create a modern but conventional product attracting consumers and encouraging them to buy the magazine.

Product 2 (website):

For my website, I will aim to create a visually appealing and enticing product which remains true to the conventional and intelligent coverage of music within my print magazines. Considering the gradual decline in print sales, I will need to ensure that my two products portray a high level of synergy, however my website will also need to feature something different in order to entice my audience further. My website will feature many more photos than is possible in my magazine, and also exclusive content and offers only available to audiences who visit the website. I will also feature discounted merchandise and festival tickets and information available to buy directly from the website. I aim to include many conventions of music magazine website taking inspiration from sites such as ‘Crack’ magazine and ‘So young’ magazine, to adhere to music magazine website conventions but also curating a new and exciting website. My website is highly interactive and it’s house style and fonts will remain consistent throughout to create a brand identity. The website will also include a 30 second clip of exclusive “choreography” for my cover stars new music video.

How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production?

It is vital that my print magazine and website mutually promote each other, by achieving a clear sense of brand identity across the two products. I will ensure the models, font and colour scheme are carried consistently throughout both my products, both including calls to action directing the reader to the opposite form. For example, my print magazine mentions a guitar icon used in my website which offers discounts and more, attracting readers to view the website. My website will promote the print editions by featuring them on the website and continuing the bright, eclectic house style which is engaging and appealing to a younger audience. After exploring Shirkys end of audience theory, I will turn my audience from passive to active by giving them the chance to feature on the website by sending in festival photos, again creating synergy and coherence but also maximising audience engagement.