Blumler and Katz theory

The blumler and Katz theory is linked in with my music magazine because the magazine which i have created has all five reasons why the audience are interested in the media. This magazine entertains,informs of new bands, allows the audience to relate to artists or situations, to socially interact with others about what they have seen or read and to escape their daily troubles.

Evaluation questions.

In what ways does your media pruduct use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I feel that the magazine which i have created mostly follows the conventions of other music magazines for example 'Q' and 'Mojo' this is because on the front cover they always have one main image which i also have. However i challenge these forms when using an unknown artist on the front cover, as most magazines use a well known artist who will entice people to buy this magazine. Another way that i follow the conventions is the magazine name, which is "Bass Line" with bold text, other music magazines have a bold title and this is brand loyalty, people buying magazines because of the producer for example 'Q'. Buzz words used for example 'exclusive' also uses the conventions of other magazines because this entices people to buy the magazine, these words give connotations of never seen before gossip and stories.

On the contents page i have developed the conventions of real media products with a main image, faded this creates a lot of the acoustic effect with the guitar and shows my skills on Photoshop. In some ways i feel the contents page goes against the conventions of a music magazine because it is very neat and after looking at others it shows the differences between them.

The double page spread is also very much following and using the conventions of other music magazines this is because there is a few more images but one image is the focus on the page. the band name is normally at the top which i have done and the text is in sections and can be questions and answers like i have done.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents 'teen's' and 'indie' people in a positive way, having a young acoustic style boy on the frontcover shows how young people can achieve their dreams. As well as how the 'indie' and 'acoustic' artists are very popular today and have made a lot of progress in the music business.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

When making my music magazine i had to consider who would distribute this magazine and which company would be able to make it very successful. I did some research and found that the Bauer Media Group were very successful and would want them to distribute my magazine. I found that this company distributes 'Q' and 'Kerrang', these are very successful music magazines and shows that they know what they are doing when it comes to distributing music magazines. There is a gap in the market for 'acoustic' magazines so there will not be much competition.

http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience for my music magazine is a wider audience with young people who like acoustic types of music like 'James Morrison' and older people who also like this type of music. This magazine will appeal to my audience as it will highlight new songs and show backstage stories about the artists.

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my audience i used an 'indie' style boy on the front cover, with a guitar showing the acoustic genre. This immediately indicates that this magazine is acoustic. Using the questionnaire results i took into account what my audience was looking for in a music magazine and the colours they would like to be used. The black and white theme created a lot of effect and made the magazine look professional as well as giving it that 'indie' style.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

To create my music magazine i used Photoshop i was not very familiar with this program but using it for my magazine allowed me to learn. For the first few hours i had a play round trying to get used to it and then finally made my magazine. I edited all my pictures using this and i think it made a lot of effect for example when i changed the front cover to black and white it created that acoustic style i was after.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When looking back at the preliminary task it shows how much i have developed my skills from then and now. In preliminary task i felt the picture was not very good as the editing skills were very weak as i was just learning at that point. You can see the change when looking at my preliminary task and final product. On the final task i used a lot of editing skills on the picture for example i changed the colour to black and white, sharpened the image and many more i also cut round the person because i felt the background took the effect of the image and a plain black background looks a lot better.

Final products

Double page spread evaluation.

Please click on text image to see double page spread evaluation.

Contents page evaluation.

Please click on text image to see contents page evaluation.

Front page evaluation.

Please click on the text image to read front page evaluation.

Original picture and my edited picture.

As you can see i have edited the picture changing it to black and white and cut round the image; this creates more effect and gives it more of an acoustic feel.