In todays lesson I have learned how to ask appropriate questions for my magazine questionnaire to help me make my own. When I get enough responses I will know how to go about designing it.

Feminism

Feminism- The advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. The feminist movement began in the 18th Century. In the 1970's women were battling for equality.

Laura Mulvey's says that, patriarchy is a form of society ruled by men through the figure of the father, and therefore men dominate the media so it is construct for them as an audience.

Laura says that this is the male gaze.

Katy Perry

This image of Katy Perry objectifies her for men to look at (scopophilic).

The fact that she's not wearing much clothing and standing provocatively makes her seem more appealing towards a male audience; even her hair and her facial expression makes the front cover seem sexual. Magazines that use women as their main attraction create attention towards their magazine from the 'male gaze' because it helps to increase sales among the male society.

Beth Ditto

This image of Beth Ditto in contrast to Katy Perry goes against feminism. 

The way she isn't wearing anything, and doesn't fit into societies idea of 'attractive' shows how she doesn't care what people think about her, making her different to every other woman that is portrayed on front covers; Just the fact that she is showing her armpits which have hair on shows her lack of femininity. Also, the provocative stance and face she has means she's feels attractive although many of the male audience may think different.

NME Institution Research

In lesson we have watched the history of the NME and this is a summary of what I have found out...

NME.com

• New Musical Express, has been publishing since 1952 and started in the UK.
• During the 1960s the paper championed the new British groups emerging at the time.
• The latter part of the 1960s saw the paper chart the rise of psychedelia and the continued dominance of British groups of the time; During this period some sections of pop music began to be designated as Rock.
• In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. During the period 1972 to 1976 it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism, then became closely associated with punk rock through the writing of Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill.
• By the early 1970s NME had lost ground to the Melody Maker as its coverage of music had failed to keep pace with the development of rock music, particularly during the early years of psychedelia and progressive rock. In early 1972 the paper found itself on the verge of closure by its owners IPC (who had bought the paper from Kinn in 1963).
• By the mid 1980s NME had hit a rough patch and was in danger of closing. During this period they were split between those who wanted to write about hip hop, a genre that was relatively new to the UK, and those who wanted to stick to rock music. Sales were apparently lower when photos of hip hop artists appeared on the front and this led to the paper suffering as the lack of direction became even more apparent to readers.

• The start of 1990 saw the paper in the thick of the Madchester scene, and covering the new British indie bands and shoegazers.
• By the end of 1990, the Madchester scene was dying off, and NME had started to report on new bands coming from the US, mainly from Seattle. These bands would form a new movement called Grunge and by far the most popular bands were Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
• In 2000 Steve Sutherland left to become Brand Director of the NME, replaced as editor by 26-year-old Melody Maker writer Ben Knowles. The same year saw the closure of the Melody Maker (which officially merged with the NME) and many speculated the NME would be next as the weekly music magazine market was shrinking - the monthly magazine Select, which had thrived especially during Britpop, was closed down within a week of Melody Maker. 

• In the early 2000s the NME also attempted somewhat to broaden its coverage again, running cover stories on hip-hop acts such as Jay-Z and Missy Elliott, electronic music pioneer Aphex Twin, Popstars winners Hear'say and R&B groups like Destiny's Child, but as in the 1980s these proved unpopular with much of the paper's readership, and were soon dropped. In 2001 the NME reasserted its position as an influence in new music and helped to introduce bands including The Strokes, The Vines, and The White Stripes.

Questionnaire

Please click HERE for my questionnaire

Analyisation of a front cover music magazine

Dance Music

MixMag Magazine...

This magazine is constructed in a very colourful and interesting way, which is appealing to young people which is who mainly listens to this type of music so its successful in that aspect.

The image of the woman in the pool relates to the main story 'Ibiza' to attract people to go their on a holiday as it's promoting something which a lot of young people would be interseted in.

The font is also very colourful to attract the audience to actually pay attention to this magazine which yet again relates to what young people prefer

http://www.mixmag.net/




Looking at this magazine gives me ideas how to create my own as I like the idea of promoting music inspired holidays and giving away a free CD.
I also like the picture used as its 'fun' for people of this age group and helps sell the magazine to buyers.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mixmagtv?feature=results_main

Introduction to blog

This blog is to show the work I will doing throughout the year in media studies...

Here you will able to find information on the subjects I have learnt, and also the way in which I put the information into context.

Magazine Terminology

Magazine Terminology

Pugs: Placed at the top left and right hand corners of the paper and are known as the 'ears' of the page. The price of the paper, the logo or a promotion are often positioned there.

Banner: Text, which stands out because its on a coloured background.

Copy: The main text

Strap line: Memorable phrase that is recognisable to a brand.

Lead: The introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold on capitals.

 

Buzz words: "Wow", "Exclusive", "Free" are all examples of this.

House style: A magazine's distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors.

Puffs: Colourful boxes promoting features inside the magazine.

 

Masthead: Name of the magazine

Slogan: Motto

Drop capitals: Really big letter, which start off an article.

Caption: Description of an image

Anchorage text: The way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and vice versa.

Headline: Main story in the magazine.

Sell lines: Text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience.