Denotation and Connotation

Connotation and Denotation are two principal methods of describing the meanings of words.

Connotation refers to the wide array of positive and negative associations that most words naturally carry with them, whereas denotation is the precise, literal definition of a word that might be found in a dictionary.

 

Examples;
Denotation;
- Blonde hair
Connotation;
- 'Dumb blonde, jealousy...

Denotation;
- House, home, residence all mean the same thing but all have different connotations.
Connotation;
- Home: cosy, loving, comfortable
- House: the actual building or structure
- Residence: cold, no feeling

Media Text Terminology

Print terms will help with the presentation of my music magazine as it will make it look very professional and sophisticated 

 

Below are a few examples of print terminology;

• Primary
• Secondary
• Quantitative
• Qualitative 
• Serif
• Sans serif
• Lower case
• Upper case
• Sell lines
• Masthead
• House style
• Mid shot
• Long shot
• Close up
• Wide shot
• Extreme close up

Advertorial- this is a type of advertising that is placed in a print publication. This sort of advertising appears like an editorial article.

Bleed- is a printing term that refers to printing that goes beyond the page, therefore being the area trimmed off. After trimming, the bleed ensures that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed product. Bleed will help me with producing my music magazine to make sure there are no errors of printing at the sides.

 
Strap line- this is a subsidiary heading or caption in a newspaper or magazine. It is something that needs to be short and easily remembered by an organization so that people can recognize it. This will be good for my magazine as it will hopefully make it stand out from other magazines.

Pass audience- when another person reads a magazine bought buy someone. This could be because it's been left on the side by another household member. Whether they are your target market or not, it adds to the number of people who have read that magazine.

Pug- this is normally situated in the corner of a magazine which looks like a sticker. They usually contain buzz words like 'win £100 of iTunes voucher' which try and persuade the audience to buy the magazine. As well as this, their may be short snippets of information to attract the reader to pick it up.

Tagline- is a small amount of text which serves to clarify a thought for, or designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with the readers interests such as 'exclusive'. This will help with my magazine when wanting to try and engage the reader into buying my magazine.

Gutter is a vertical margin of white space where two pages meet, it allows for bindings in the magazine. This will make my magazine look more professional and also neater and perhaps easier for the reader to read as the text in the middle will not be lost.

Allies are what separates the columns in a text. it will space out the writing making it easier for the reader to read which will make my magazine look neater yet more professional.

M.I.R.A is a way to approach analysis of media text;

M - Media form: What is this? 

E.g. a music video, movie, TV series, magazine, poster...

 

I - Institution: Who made this?

 

R - Representation: Who or what does this show?

E.g. is the representation positive or negative? Is it a stereotype or is it original?

 

A - Audience: Who is it aimed at?

 

M.I.R.A will help me with my magazine as when my audience ask questions I will know the important things about the magazine such as who made, what is shows and what it is.

 

Mood board

I created an inspirational mood board for my genre of indie pop. I have incorporated different indie pop styles as well as artists such as Lorde, Bastille, Ellie Goulding, Florence and the Machine. There are many more indie pop artists which I haven't included, for example, Taylor Swift, The Kooks, M83, The Lumineers and Sia. I used examples of current magazines at the moment such as Q, INDIE, Rolling Stone, Spin and Fault, in order for me to show what I would like my magazine to look similar too. I have also included different fonts, most of them tend to be a big, bold, clear sans serif fonts which makes the text catch the readers eye. I will keep this in mind when creating my own music magazine as using a similar font may be beneficial for my magazine. Furthermore, I added images of certain instruments used in the indie pop genre such as guitars and drums, as this helps identify the genre of indie pop for those who don't know what it is. Creating this mood board has given me a whole range of different ideas for my future music magazine.

Magazine Institutions

Magazine Publishers

Magazines are produced by institutions which are companies that produce, market and distribute texts. The two main music magazine publishers in the UK are Bauer and IPC Media.

 

Bauer Media Group is a multinational media company headquartered in Hamburg in Germany. Since the company was founded in 1875, it has been managed by four generations of the Bauer family. Originally a small printing house, The Bauer Publishing Group has grown into a worldwide publishing and media company. The Bauer Publishing Group comprises 300 magazines worldwide in 15 countries, as well as TV and radio stations. Bauer started in the UK with the launch of Bella magazine in 1987 and as H Bauer Publishing became Britain's third largest publisher, Bauer further expanded in the UK with the purchases of Emap Consumer media and Emap Radio in 2008 to then become the UK's biggest publishing group. Bauer media brands include; Kerrang! a rock music magazine which originally began as a magazine then later in 2004 Kerrang radio was launched. Also, Q was first published in 1986, setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography and printing, with an emphasis on style. Lastly Mojo

 

 

IPC Media which stands for International Publishing Corporation Media was founded in 1958. IPC Media publishes music magazines such as NME a weekly pop/rock music magazine published in March 1952, also, Uncut, a monthly magazine that mainly focusses on music, but also includes film and books sections.

Independent Publishing Alternatives

If a magazine is likely to have a narrow, specialist appeal it may be published by an independent publisher.

Although the sales might be lower, the magazine producer can also focus on an area that would not be covered by major publishers.

Shindig! is an example of a independent publishing alternative. Not only does Shindig! focus on music, it covers art, fashion, architecture, film and TV. According to the latest survey, 82% of Shindig! readers are in the ABC1 category which shows it has a wide range of different people buying it, however, men make up 83% of the readership where women take up 17%.

Fonts

I have been looking at different fonts for my magazine front cover. I want my music magazine front cover to look very vintage and retro, and I think these fonts will make my front cover stand. I need a font that is eye catching but not too much to take away the focus off the other features which also appear on the front cover. After some consideration, I have chosen the 'limelight' font as it is very plain yet does not create a distraction from the rest of the features on the front cover. 

 

 

 

The name of my music magazine is going to be 'Indie-Rock', simple but effective as it clearly shows and tells the reader straight away the genre of my music magazine. Out of the twelve fonts I narrowed it down to, I wanted to see what they would look like at the masthead of my magazine, so I wrote 'Indie Rock'
in all of the twelve different fonts to then decide which one looked more effective.

After further looking at the different fonts, I decided that the big, bold fonts such as the 'Accent SF' font came across too gothy and in your face. Furthermore, this would draw the readers eyes away from the image and other features on the magazine front cover. 

Keeping in mind that I want my magazine to look vintage and retro I decided that the 'Stylistic SF' font did this for me. It is very plain and simple but it also catches the readers eye. On the other hand, it will stand out and it also won't take the focus off the other features. I wish to have the main image to overlap the masthead slightly to then draw attention to the main image and then further snippets of information on the front cover, this would be to then make the viewer want to buy it and read it.

Ideology

What is ideology?

a system of ideas and beliefs promoted by dominant groups to reinforce their power.

 

 

 

Ideology in Music Magazines

 

 

This is a rap Magazine called 'Vibe' I am going explain how the front cover fits the genre.

The image of T.I. fits the genre because the genre is portrayed as rap which connotes the thoughts of gangster and even depression,  so therefore this image fits the front cover because when you look at T.I. you see the serious look which gives off a slightly negative feeling, as well as the snapback he is wearing, associated with rap. Also the colour scheme of the magazine helps show the feeling of T.I as they've used red for the title which symbolises anger shown by his facial expression, as well as a dark blue background which suggests sincerity and gives an overall sombre feeling.

 

This is a pop magazine aimed at the younger generation and in particular, girls, shown by the use of the colours pink and light blue. They have used One Direction on the front cover which we all know are most young girls loved icons, therefore suiting the genre very well. I've noticed on these type of magazines, how a lot of the information on the cover is non related to music but more the gossip of celebrities, tips and clothing styles. As you can see they have female celebrities such as Tulisa and Fearne Cotton who young girls love as well half naked guys on the left bottom corner which once again helps with portraying the genre of this magazine.

 

Comparisons of the two magazines:

Both magazines use colour to attract their target audience and help portray the mood of their magazine. the first magazine wants to create a more adult mood and give a more serious feel to the magazine by usinging darker colours such as Dark blue and red, whereas the second magazine uses more girly and bright colours to portray a happier mood that suits the target audience of a younger age.

Layout is key on both magazine covers, the first magazine is more spacious and spread out with not many captions and only one picture of a well known famous icon, this has more of an adult appeal as the majority of adults are not interested in the gossip and rumours of celebrity relationships. However the second magazine is the complete opposite, as you can see it's a lot more cramped with images and captions of well known icons to fit with the genre and audience is wants to appeal to; this is more suited to a younge audience as they want a window into the lives of their favourite celebrity and they want to know the latest fashion trends and gossip.

David Carson

David Carson was born September 8th, 1954. He was an American graphic designer and art director. He is best know for his innovative magazine design, and use of experimental typography. He was the art director for the magazine Ray Gun, in which he employed much of the typographic and layout style for which he is known. In particular, his widely imitate aesthetic defined the so-called "grunge typography"

The designs of David Carson are extreme compared to other magazines. Other magazines, such as Kerrang! and Q, all follow the usual design of a magazine (Masthead at the top, mid-shot of a person in the middle, snippets or sell lines of information down each side). 

David Carson however doesn't fit with this trend. Carson creates magazines that go against the trend and make people express an opinion because of this.

My opinion on his work is that it is original and almost abstract. Each issue is completely different, almost making it a one of a kind magazine for each issue. Carson doesn't stick to the rules when it comes to a magazine layout and this means you get a different look to the magazine every time.

 

Some of the things that Carson has made different about his magazines are:

That Carson hasn't put the masthead of 'Raygun' on every magazine. Magazines put the same masthead on the top of the magazine so buyers and readers can recognise the magazine. Carson, however, has put different titles at the top of some of his magazines, e.g. blue.

Another part of these magazines which make them different to typical magazines is that this person on the front of 'blue' is sideways with their face not being visible. This is different as a usual magazine contains on the front a mid-shot, long-shot or close up of the artist normally facing forwards.

Lastly, with 'blue' there are no snippets or sell lines down the side. This can make it difficult for readers when they want to know what's inside of the magazine and don't have time to flick through.

Overall, my opinion of David Carson's work on these magazines is that he has created a new genre of magazine, one that doesn't stick to the rules and therefore creates a creative and interesting magazine from the front. Even though a magazine like this wouldn't do so well when selling due to the layout of the magazine, I love the contrast 'Raygun' has to other magazines.

 

 

History of Music Magazines

The History of Kerrang!

 

Kerrang! was published on June 6th 1981 and was edited by Geoff Barton. Initially the magazine was as a one-time supplement in the 'Sounds' newspaper, which focused on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal phenomenon and on the rise of other hard rock acts. Angus Young of AC/DC appeared on Kerrang!'s first cover. The magazine was first launched as a monthly magazine, however later, began to appear on a fortnightly basis, before becoming published weekly in 1987. The original owner was United Newspapers who then sold it to EMAP in 1991.

Typical Content -
Each issue includes a variety of bands and scenes to provide for the different needs of readers so that they enjoy their favourite bands as well as their desire to be introduced to new music within our world.

Typical Reader-
The typical reader  is 16-25 years old. However over the years, the ages of the reader have dropped with more teenagers buying and reading the magazine. I think this is because of all the new, young and upcoming bands which are on the front cover of the magazine which make it look more appealing.

What is the house style like?
The Kerrang! house style has been very similar since it was publish all them years ago. The main house style of the magazine matches the genre, and you can see from the master head with the cracks through the letter and jagged edges symbolise violence that matches their genre of music. Inside the magazine there is a theme of dark colours which connotes the genre of music.

How are social groups represented?

The intentions of Kerrang! suggests that they will ensure that we are constantly appealing to our variety of readers. Kerrang appeals from younger teenagers to any age that actually  respect Kerrang! and thoroughly enjoy that genre of music.

The History of the Q magazine

Q is the biggest selling music monthly magazine. Q is the brand that celebrates the biggest stars in rock and roll and shows us the most exciting new artists out there to date. over time the Q brand has grew a world wide reputation as a trusted premium quality voice of musical authority amongst fans. the reputation has grew not just through the magazine but through the internet, their reputation has grew bigger from their magazines and their website. Q was first published in October 1986 , setting it self apart from the other music magazines out there with its high standard of printing and photographs.

Typical content -
The magazine has an extensive review section, featuring new releases, music compilations, film and concerts as well as radio and television reviews. Q magazine uses a star rating from one to five stars; the rating an album receives in Q is often added to print and television advertising for the album in the UK and Ireland. it also has a list of about 8 albums which is the category of the best new releases of the last 3 months.

Typical reader -
According to valid statistics, the majority of Q’s readers are male, with the percentage for men being 66.2%. The statistics also show that 83.8% of the readers are 15-44 years of age. This shows that Q ability to make their magazine appeal across a wide range of audiences by doing section on today top artists like Adele and by doing interviews with people that don't necessarily feature in the top artists list anymore for example john Lennon etc.. To make them appeal to a wider range of an audience they do special for example on John Lennon's 70th birthday they done a John Lennon special.

What is the house style of Q like?
The Q magazine has a very consistent house style through out its magazine as the Q logo is always in the top left this means that when a reader is going to buy the magazine they know what they will be purchasing. on every copy they a similar look on the magazine making them look more professional and making it easier for the reader to read and enjoy the content.

How are the social groups represented?
Social Groups are shown through the groups or artists chosen to be put in the magazine. Q has a wide audience as they do not focus on a set genre which makes it more appealing. They have genres from pop to rock so they have a wider audience to most magazines.

This shows how many male and females read Q and the ages of the reader.

Title	Total	Male	Female	Age range						ABC1
				15-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+
Q	377000	68.3%	31.7%	35.5%	26.3%	19.8%	13.9%	3.1%	1.4%	70%