Reader Profile

Contents page L.I.I.A.R Analysis

Contents page:
Language- The purpose of a contents page is to tell the reader what is going to be in this issue of the magazine. The colours all compliment each other and the pictures used all show what the magazine is about. The magazine is aimed at drummers because it issues things about famous drummers and how to reach the standards that people could be at. The layout is fairly neat and tidy which contrasts with the genre and purpose of the magazine. The headline is still on the contents page which is a convention of a music magazine. 

Ideology- The attitude of the magazine would be fairly rock style and careless, however this is not reflected in the layout of the contents page because the contents page gives a fairly neat approach. It keeps up to date with modern trends because lots of people have started drumming recently due to the increase in popularity of rock music as a whole. The beliefs would be that the magazine would attract people to begin drumming and maybe help drummers improve. 

Institution- Establishing a brand name is an obvious source of profitability because customers develop a reliability and trust to these brands. Another source of profitability would be to add plugs to the magazine as a whole because people like to see competitions and free things to do when they buy a magazine. The contents page could also include a phone number for a drum school or something also because this would attract drummers.

Audience- The audience of this magazine would be drummers, obviously and maybe people who are interested in drummers. Famous drummers could be featured on the contents page, people such as Travis Barker (Drummer from Blink-182) which could then add a few things about band drummers which would introduce bands which would maybe attract more people.

Representation- The colours are representational of the rock genre which is the particular genre that drummers belong to. The positioning of the pictures and the writing on the page is fairly neat which contrasts with the genre of the magazine itself. The white background makes the pictures stand out because they have a dark colouring to them so the colours contrast in an effective way to compliment each other and make each other prominent on the page. 

Target Audience

This powerpoint slide explains who my target audience is and how I will entice them to buy my magazine. I have explained the actions I will take to entice these customers and the conventions of other magazines which I will take into account to improve my own.

L.I.I.A.R Analysis Front Cover NME

Language- The content of this magazine is quite obvious in that the main image is clear and the headline is also clear and overlaps the main image so is the first point of eye contact. The colours, just like Kerrang, are red which connotes danger and black which connotes death which both reflect the rock genre well. Also there is a tear design down the centre of the magazine and also the word 'WAR' accompanies the connotations of the colours used. NME as a magazine usually appeals to Indie rock fans, however this issue expands further because My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco, are pop punk bands so this issue would appeal to further than just Indie Rock fans. The models are placed on opposite sides of the magazine so this reinforces the headline 'War on Emo' this would also attract customers because everyone loves an argument in the press, it is a main story for people to be intrigued in. The models are not looking at the camera so the desire for customers to be drawn in by eye contact is not there but this is reinforced by the headline.

Ideology- The attitude again is quite careless and unorganised which attracts the correct target market for this genre. It keeps up to date with modern trends because the clothes that the front men are wearing are trendy and would appeal to the target audience of the average age of an NME magazine reader which is 25 years old. Also these clothes could be what the audience want to wear or find attractive on a person. 70% of NME readers are male so they could want to look and dress like the front men, on this particular front cover. This magazine would appeal to probably more working class people than anyone else as there are two cluster groups which are: Young Socialites who go to gigs and live events and First Time Earners who still go to gigs because music is a vital part of their lives.

Institution- NME is a well known, established brand which is an obvious source of profitability, however in order to reach the target market of the target audience, they would need to promote the magazine to ensure that people see it. According to the NME Reader Profile the NME readers' favourite TV Channel is Channel 4, their favourite newspaper is The Guardian and 95% have access to the internet. Therefore advertising in these places would be a good source of profitability because the target audience would see the advertisements and would then go out and buy the magazine.

Audience- The average age of NME readers is 25, 70% of readers are male and the other 30% are female. This would give the magazine editor an idea of how they should advertise/market the product in a way that would appeal to the target audience in order to enhance profitability. The design is quite similar to that of Kerrang which is a kind of clustered design which reflects the personalities and genre of the bands/artists and the magazine itself. 

Representation- The colours again connote danger and death and the word 'War' accompanies these colours well because danger and death both belong to the semantic field of war. This confirms that the magazine is quite well thought about because the language of the cover show similar connotations to one another. Both front men are wearing black which is a typical gothic colour to reflect what the readers would wear. Also when someone sees a sub heading such as 'Whose side are you on?' It makes them want to read about what it's actually about and what is happening. Both front men have their arms in the air as if they are protesting or something. This could entice the target audience because they want to hear both sides of the story.

L.I.I.A.R-Kerrang

Language- The content of the magazine includes cell lines to tell the audience the stories that will be inside of the magazine which may entice them to buy the magazine. The genre of the magazine is rock, this is shown by the common use of the colour black which connotes a rock theme, the colour red which connotes danger and the colour white to contrast against these two colours to make it stand out. The font of the masthead is a particular convention of this magazine as it is the same on each issue, and the font itself gives the effect of shattered/smashed writing. The main image takes up most of the page and even overlaps the masthead a little bit. However the cell lines overlap the main image to make them more clearly visible to the reader. The layout is a similar convention to many magazines of this genre with a skyline and a footer, a main central image and cell lines on one or either sides of the main image. The models seem to be looking directly at the camera but it's difficult to see because the majority of them are wearing sunglasses. Looking directly at the camera makes the reader feel like they're looking at them which directly entices them.

Ideology- The attitude of the magazine is generally perceived as careless and fun, the main image usually gives the impression that the various bands and artists are having a good time because they're smiling and laughing, as shown above. This magazine keeps up to date with modern trends because people who read this magazine are usually attracted to it because of the band/artist featured on the front cover, for instance, people wouldn't buy this magazine if a picture of Justin Bieber was featured on the front because it wouldn't connote the same message as usual and the conventions of the magazine would have been breached.

Institution- The company is clearly Kerrang, which is a well known, established brand. The fact that this brand is so well known would be an obvious source of profitability. The advertisement of this product would also be a key area to enhance sales, in order to appeal to the correct target market the company would have to advertise on television, radio and through social networking sites because these methods of advertisement all contribute to the daily events that this target market undertake. Advertising in the newspaper would attract few customers because not many people of this target audience read newspapers.

Audience- The product is targeted at people who are interested in this genre of music mainly teenagers and early 20's, maybe some older or younger but not as common in these age groups. The models on this particular cover may entice boys who like them or want to be like them or girls who like the music or like the look of this band. The design is quite chaotic and possibly clustered but this reflects the genre of the magazine well because the people featured in it may have the same characteristics as the magazine itself. For example, the difference between this magazine and 'Hello!' is that the people featured on it aren't airbrushed to unrealistic perfection, whereas in 'Hello!' the models are all unrealistic and they set false ambitions for readers.

Representation- The colours, as mentioned earlier, reflect the genre of the magazine perfectly, black connotes death, red connotes danger and white contrasts these colours to make it easier to read. The main image shows a front man holding a chain which also reflects the genre of rock well because they are often perceived as almost violent in the way that their music sounds/is played. The black clothing is seen as a rock portrayal because usually people who listen to the music, who would be the specific target market for this magazine, would wear black on one garment of clothing or another. The magazine as a whole entices a customer because the main image is the first point of eye contact and the band are looking at you so makes you feel like you are involved just from looking at it, also the cell lines would entice a customer because the stories featured in one would be relevant and may make people want to read and finally the skyline and the footer which include extras that would entice a customer further.

Prezi

I created this Prezi to present the information, and questions I have asked myself about the particular genre I want to use for my music magazine. I feel this is an effective way of showing information because it engages people.

Eric and Georgina talk about genres by georginabishop97 on GoAnimate