When I finally start creating my double page spread I plan on designing it in the same way as this (taken from NME magazine)- using a full page image on the left side, a masthead that stretches over both pages, a standfirst, a by-line, a drop cap and a few drop quotes.
If needed I will also use a third page similar to this NME double page spread.
Last week I started to take photographs for my music magazine- first of all I took an image of someone wearing Nike trainers; I took this image to represent the article about Eliza Doolittle on my contents page and this is an image similar to the one she uses on her album front cover.
I then stayed after school to take photographs for my front cover and contents page; I have a range to choose from and I will also edit and add effects to the chosen photo. I will also edit and add effects to the image that I choose to use on my contents page. I have used the props of a guitar, speakers, headphones and drums as they reflect the genre of my magazine.
For my double-page spread I decided that I would like to feature an interview with a band/artist, I then contacted a few various venues and band managers to try and organise an interview. I eventually managed to set up an interview with american band Boyce Avenue.
I then conducted research about the band and wrote a rough draft of some questions I may ask:
Boyce Avenue are a Florida-based band popular for their strong acoustic roots; the band consists of the three brothers Alejandro, Fabian, and Daniel Manzano. The brothers first came together as a band in 2004 when Alejandro, Fabian and their older brother Daniel reconnected after pursuing their individual educational goals.
In 2007, in an effort to share their music and ideas with the world, the band decided to start filming and posting videos on YouTube of their own songs and some covers of their favorite songs by other artists. Some of the first few videos they posted included acoustic versions of songs such as Justin Timberlake's "LoveStoned", Rihanna's "Umbrella", and Coldplay's "Viva la Vida", among many others. To date, the band has gathered over 165,000,000 views on YouTube, and the total number of subscribers approaching 300,000, making their channel one of the most visited worldwide on YouTube.
As of the end of 2009, the band had finished recording a full album of original music and had produced and financed the entire project on its own; they had also developed a plan to release the album independently through its own label, 3 Peace Records. At that time, they were approached by Universal Republic Records to partner in the release of the album and eventually decided to sign with them.
Currently, the band is touring Europe and preparing its next nationwide headline tour of the United States.
This is a link to the bands official website, featuring videos, biography and downloads:http://boyceavenue.com/
Rough sample of interview questions:
-So how are you finding the tour so far?
-Have you come across any mad fans yet?
-You’re first European tour was in October of 2009, so what would you say is the best gig you’ve ever played?
-How did you come up with the name Boyce Avenue?
-Was it hard to jump to the music industry from completely different areas of work, or have you always known music is what you really want to do?
-So how did the family band begin?
-What inspired and motivated you to get involved with music whilst still studying at school?
-Does being brothers make working together easier or do family arguments often occur?
-I read that you have had over 165,000,000 views on YouTube and you have around 300,000 subscribers; did YouTube help your musical career to take off?
-You also have over 24,000 followers on twitter, how do you keep up with all of your fans and do you feel you owe a lot to them?
-Do you have any celebrity fans?
-Aswell as writing your own music you cover songs by other artists; who would you say inspires you the most?
-You’re now signed with Universal Records, how did that come about?
-You’re new album ‘All We Have Left’ has recently been released, how long did it take to produce and do you have any favourite songs on the album?
For my front cover I will try to re-create an image similar to this, however I will be using a model with blonde hair. I have decided to try and re-create this image as my music magazine is of the same genre of music as NME. Like this image, I will also use direct mode of address for my front cover.
For my contents page I will need another image of the model I use on the front cover, I will also use a large image of the band/artist I am interviewing for my double page spread. To represent the feature about Ellie Gouldings album I will use an image of her signed drumstick (owned by one of my friends).
The coverlines I will use on my magazine front cover:
- BOYCE AVENUE HIT THE UK!
- LEAH KENT, A RISING STAR?
- ON TOUR, WITH FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
- 100 BEST MUSIC MOMENTS
- ELIZA'S MUSICAL ADDICTION
- A WEEKEND WITH THE STARS, T4 STARS OF 2010 HIGHLIGHTS
- PLUS BRUNO MARS, KINGS OF LEON, LADY GAGA
- ELLIE GOULDING, THE ALBUM TRACK BY TRACK
- FREE CD
The text I will use on my contents page: THIS MONTH:3 ARCADE FIRE ON SPEED DIAL
10 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE KINGS OF LEON
22 ARCTIC MONKEYS: COULD THIS BE THEIR LAST ALBUM?
39 THE STORY BEHIND BIFFY CLYRO
50 THE GIRL WITH THE POKER FACE: LADY GAGA EXCLUSIVE
71 AN ARTIST TO WATCH: LAURA MARLING
96 DO IT LIKE JESSIE J!
101 ACCESS ALL IPODS: WHAT DO YOU HAVE ON REPEAT?
EVERY MONTH: 6 SUBSCRIBE AND WIN AN IPOD TOUCH!
21 TOP 10 INDIE DOWNLOADS
34 GIG GUIDE: ALL THE BANDS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS!
61 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW IN MUSIC THIS MONTH
101 Q & A: HAVE YOUR SAY
135 LETTERS: YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS MONTHS INDIE MUSIC
REVIEW: 25 2010 IN MUSIC: THE TOP 100 INDIE ARTISTS OF THE YEAR
47 HOTTEST NEW INDIE RELEASES
63 GREAT GIGS THIS MONTH
88 ARTISTS TO WATCH: WHO WE THINK WILL BE TOP OF THE CHARTS NEXT YEAR
115 TV YOU’LL LOVE: ON SET WITH THE CAST OF SKINS
To represent the article about Eliza Doolittle I will try to use an image similar to this image used on her album cover.
The feature for my double page spread is going to be an interview with Boyce Avenue- an American band currently touring the UK. I will need to take a full length image for the double page spread and an image for the contents page.
I may also use an image similar to this on my contents page to represent an article called 'The Girl With The Poker Face: Lady GaGa Exclusive'.
Today I started making my final decisions for my music magazine; I made changes from my initial plans due to the results from my questionnaire.
Title: MUSE
Positioning Statement: Your Musical Inspiration
Frequency of Publication: After looking at my questionnaire results I have chosen my frequency of publication to be monthly; this is because over half of the people who completed my questionnaire said that they purchase music magazines monthly.
Price: I have decided to price my magazine at £3.00 rather than my original plan of £3.50 as my recent questionnaire results showed that most people would prefer to pay between £2.50 and £3.00.
Distribution: My music magazine will be distributed to newsagents, supermarkets, music arenas, music stores and retail stores such as W H Smiths.
Rationale: My music magazine will focus on indie music/new music releases. We will offer advice on upcoming gigs and honest reviews of recent gigs. There will also be a regular feature were readers can write in their own views/opinions on new music releases.
Style: The style of my magazine will be casual and informal, simple vocabulary will be used and the presentation will be similar to NME magazine using reasonably short paragraphs and lots of images.
Regular Content:- Top 50 tracks of the month
- Gig guide- detailing any upcoming gigs/concerts(dates, prices, venues)
- New music reviews
- Concert/gig reviews
- What do you think? Feature- readers can write in their own opinions and views on new music releases/ gig reviews.
- Ask... – this feature will allow readers to ask celebrities their own questions.
- Everything you need to know this month.
- Fanmail
- Free poster/CD
Feature Content:- Interview- I will be using an artist/band interview for my main feature article, however I do not yet know which band or artist I will be using.
- “A Rising Star”- an article about the model I use on my front cover
- "A Weekend With The Stars"- Highlights from T4 stars of 2010
- Over the phone interview with Bruno Mars
- A day with...The Kings of Leon
- Track by Track- an article about Ellie Gouldings new album.
( I will use articles and interviews with Bruno Mars, Ellie Goulding and Kings of Leon as they were also the most popular result for peoples favourite artists/bands.)
- “On tour with Florence and The Machine”- an article about the tour so far and images from many different venues.
- Boyce Avenue Hit The UK
- 100 Best Music Moments
House Style: -Coverlines: Segoe UI/ Segoe UI bold
-Headlines: Vladimir Script
-Standfirst: Lucinda Handwriting
-Features first paragraph- drop capital: Adobe Caslon Pro Bold, 4 lines deep
-Drop Quote: Lucinda Sans
-Body Text: Times New Roman 10/11pt
-Colour scheme: I will be using purple and black in my colour scheme as my questionnaire results showed that they were the most popular colours; I will also incorporate grey/silver into my colour scheme.
After creating my questionnaire I handed them out to twenty people and I then tallied the results. The results to quite a few of my questions will influence my decisions for my music magazine plan, for example: How often do you buy music magazines?
