Proposal(p) -----------> Distribution / marketing (m)
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sample material(p)
My proposal
Purpose
The name of my magazine will be Amp which relates to the genre of music alternative rock. The main purpose of my magazine is to educate the reader on the different alternate rock bands around Sheffield and to inform them on who they are and what they are like. It also is meant to entertain them as this is the main reason the audience would get the magazine.Form and genre
My magazine will be a local magazine based in Sheffield as it will be about the alternate rock bands around Sheffield. The genre will be music as there are lots of bands around Sheffield that I could contact, the type of music will be alternate rock as that is the type of music that I like and I will enjoy writing about more which will make the writing more energetic and enjoyable to read. Alternate rock is also a good genre to do a magazine on as in Sheffield there isn't any magazines based on only this genre meaning there is a gap in the market which I aim to take. This will stand out amongst other magazines as it will be based around Sheffield bands and this will be different to other magazines in Sheffield as it will only be about music unlike Toast or exposed as they focus on things other then music. I am choosing to do an informative magazine of small bands around Sheffield as the bands will want to get noticed and magazine coverage will promote them and the audience will want to discover more bands and music to listen to so they will read the magazine to do that. The mode of address will be teacher to pupil to fit the purpose of the magazine, which is to educate the reader on smaller bands around Sheffield. Because my magazine is about alternate rock it will be called Amp to link to the genre of music.
Content
I’ve been asked to make two double page spreads, a contents page and a front cover of a magazine.Front cover
On my front cover it will have a font similar to This one as it is sans serif so it stands out a lot more and is very strong and powerful similar to the genre of music it also will be easier to read for the audience, it will be blue so it also stands out with high energy. The main cover line will link to the main cover image, which will be of Baily Street a small rock band from Sheffield, and will be a question like 'what next for Baily street?' or a quote for example ‘we are ready for more', a question will get the reader engaged and want to find out the answer to the question so they will read on. A quote will give them a quick preview of the DPS advertising it to them and it shows that they are important and the audience should care what they say. The final idea for a coverline would be "the best band you've probably never heard of" as it fits my purpose being informing readers on new bands, it will also make the reader want to read on to discover the band. The house style will be black, blue and yellow.
Black is a powerful colour similar to the genre of music also it can also be seen as quite rebellious and dark which a lot of alternate music is, a lot of alternate / rock fans like and wear the colour black. The colour blue links to the target audience which is males as blue is seen as a stereotypically masculine colour it also is high energy like the rock genre. The colour orange is a high energy colour linking to fire, the rock genre is seen as high energy. My main cover image is going to be of a female alternate rock band member as a picture of a female is more likely to attract a male audience as she will be seen as an ideal partner for the audience. She will be from the band Baily Street 7 she is called Rosie Winton it will be a rock band member as this is what my magazine will be about also I am targeting fans of rock bands so this image will appeal to them. The image will be a low angle as it connotes that she is powerful and important, this challenges the stereotypes, for women this would be good to show the rebellious behaviour of the alternate rock genre. It will be a portrait long shot so it fits the magazine and you can see her whole body. There will be a competition for gig tickets as this won't be too expensive and it will be affordable and it will appeal to the target audience as they will like music and live near wherever the gig is as it is based in Sheffield. This will be represented by a star graphic to stand out and show importance as it will be a big selling point for the magazine and advertise it to the audience.
Contents Page
The double page spreads will be featured and advertised in the contents page to try and get the reader to read them as they will be the biggest articles in the magazine. There will be images linking to the different pages. It will also include a advertisement on this page as this will be a free magazine so I will make a profit off the advertisements because companies will pay to get there advertisement in this magazine. The contents page will keep the colours from the front cover to create a brand and keep the same connotations. One page it will advertise is a review of a gig which will have taken place in Sheffield as this is what the audience will want to read as they will live in Sheffield this will include pictures from the waterparks live tour at the O2 academy on the 20/04/2017. Another part of my magazine that will advertise in my contents page is a quiz about bands in Sheffield as it suits the Sheffield audience and their love for the bands this will have pictures of my friend Lewis dressed up in clothes which have connotations of the rock genre like leather jackets and ripped jeans, he will hold a guitar as it has connotations of the rock genre. The contents page will also advertise the competition again for the gig tickets as there would be a page in the magazine talking about it and this would be a big reason why the reader bought the magazine This will have picture of the tickets as this is really what is important in this article.1st double page spread
The first double page spread will be an interview with Bailey street where I will ask them questions such as ‘what got you into music’ and ‘how did you come up with the name Bailey street ‘, asking questions like this will get qualitative data to make the article interesting forthe audience instead of just getting yes or no answers. The photo will be of the band wearing a leather jacket and lots of black as this is a stereotypical rock look and they will be in poses where it makes them look cool so they are an ideal self for the audience. This will have a low angle shot to show importance of the band and how the audience should look up to them. The location of the image will be in the city, somewhere which is slightly run down with graffiti on the wall to show the urban style of alternate rock and how this genre is rebellious as the graffiti shows this The image will be the background of the page and the body copy will be to the sides of the photo making sure it isn't in the way of the photo. There will be a pull quote from the interview to entice the reader into the magazine, which will be sans serif to stand out, so they read the rest of it. This DPS will stick to the colour scheme of the front cover blue, black and orange to create a brand so those colours make the audience think of this magazine.
2nd double page spread
The second double page writing about The life story of the Sheffield rock band RedFaces, it will talk about how they came to enjoy and play music and who has inspired them throughout their life. It will include photos of all of the members wearing similar clothing to the first DPS as it will stick to the same genre of music in poses again which makes them look stylish making them an ideal partner or self. They will also be a band based around Sheffield to appeal to the Sheffield audience. This will also follow the same colour scheme black, blue and yellow to create the brand. The body copy will be on one page and the photo will be on the other. The headline will say "just a small band from Sheffield" as this link to the band and will appeal to the audience.Target audience
My target audience is male as the alternate rock genre is generally a mixed gender music genre but a lot of the magazines are aimed towards female. They will be teenagers 15 – 25 as this is the typical age to be into alternate rock genre in the NRS group C2DE as this will be a free magazine so they don't need a large disposable income to get my magazine, the ABC1 audience will generally want to buy a magazine to get a higher quality magazine because they can afford it. They will look up to a lot of band members as idols. They are likely to listen to lots of music and wear black, leather and ripped jeans.Resources and personnel
I will be the editor, photographer, graphic designer and I will make the magazine all by myself. I will need a camera to take photos for the front cover, contents page and both double page spreads. A camera I could use for this will be the canon DSLR 650D as it will be high quality and I have access to it. I will also need a computer which is good enough to use,such as the Apple mac which will be good as they are designed for creative use. I need to have InDesign to be able to put the magazine together on and Photoshop to edit any photos I’ve taken. I will need photos of the band members that I am interviewing and writing about. I will need to put these photos on the pages with the interview/biography on since those pages would be about them we would need photos of them, I would also use a landscape picture ,so it fits on the front cover, of a band member on the front cover as the front cover will link to the DPS. I will also need photos of people who look like they would be in a band for the contents page so it seems more like a real magazine.
Distribution and marketing methods
I could use a radio advert to advertise my magazine as this could be a local radio station as this could be effective as it will target the Sheffield audience as that is where the radio station will be broadcast, an example of a radio station that could be used is Sheffield live as this is broadcast throughout the local Sheffield area and they have a section where they show new and upcoming bands and singers which is very good as this is also what my magazine will be doing so working with Sheffield live will create synergy. A radio station would also be effective as they mostly specialise in music which is good as this will appeal to the music enjoying audience and this is great considering my magazine is a music magazine meaning this method of marketing targets the right audience. Marketing through social media would be a great way to advertise my magazine as people from my target audience 15 – 25 will use social media a lot as they are digital natives so they are use to the internet and I can easily target my audience through options given to you through the social media platforms, such as Facebook gives you options to choose who sees your advert. The final marketing method that I could use is posters as this will be cheap to distribute which is important considering that the budget for our magazine won't be a lot considering it is a free magazine and the first one. Each page will be quite large as circulation will be monthly so I will try to pack as much intoeach one as possible so making each page big will allow me to do that giving the reader more to read.
I can distribute this in local pubs and cafes to target the local Sheffield also in bars people are likely to be listening to music in these places. Other places I can distribute this magazine is music shops around Sheffield such as Music Junkie near the Moor or The Music Box in the Moor as these are both independent music stores that are likely to accept this magazine. Music shops would be amazing places to put a music magazine as it will be the perfect audience because they will obviously like music if they are in a music store so they will be more interested in the magazine.
