Dubstep Magazine Name Poll

I decided that I would ask my target market what they thought the best name for my music magazine would be. After making a decision to create a Dubstep genre-based magazine, I then followed by selecting the names within my choices that best suited the Dubstep genre. After doing this, I felt I needed to create a poll to ensure I pick a suitable name which my target audience (TA) will approve of. 


After considering using my classmates to select a name, I thought it would be more suitable to find people who all listen to and have knowledge on the Dubstep genre. If I had used my class, there is a strong possibility that some people who would have taken the poll will not listen to Dubstep and therefore will not give accurate results of my TA. After thinking about this point, I went around to a few friends to ask them to give an answer for the polls but I ensured that they listened to Dubstep, asking them this before they gave me an answer to ensure accurate results however this only gave me 11 votes. I felt I needed more to ensure a worthwhile poll but did not know who else I could ask.


I finally decided that I should find and ask more of my TA to decide which name they thought was best. To do this, I visited my cousin who was having a gathering with a group of friends at her house. She along with her friends listen to Dubstep and are familiar with the various artists and labels which exist, making them ideal candidates to fill out my tally chart. I went round asking everyone their preferred name and pictured below are the results:

My results show that UNDERGROUND appears to be the preferred choice with DUBLE TAKE a close second, ESOTERIC third and GA-RAGE being the least popular choice. In percentage terms these are the results:
UNDERGROUND: 44%
DUBLE TAKE: 41%
ESOTERIC: 11%        
GA-RAGE: 4%
Although UNDERGROUND appears to be the preferred option, I feel it may be too long-winded to be a music magazine title and I am therefore deciding to use the second most popular option, DUBLE TAKE. There is only one vote between the two options therefore allowing me to ensure that DUBLE TAKE would be well received and understandable as a Dubstep/Drum & Bass genre-based Magazine.

Website Analysis - Dubstep Websites

As there are no Music Magazines that are based around the Dubstep Genre I have looked elsewhere to gain necessary research into the colour schemes and general preferred design of people who listen to Dubstep.

I decided that I should firstly look up the popular and well-known UKF Dubstep website. This re-directed me to the UKF youtube page.

This was the youtube page linked to UKF Dubstep. The striking UKF Dubstep logo is present along with an advertisement for the new Modestep song. The colour scheme for the page is slightly difficult to determine as it is themed around the album art to Modestep's song, however this in my opinion can still be useful as Modestep is a big name within the Dubstep genre and will  inevitably use a style and colour scheme which is popular with Dubstep listeners.


Along with the UKF logo looking fairly prominent in the corner in Blue, the background is a gradient of purple, blue, orange and yellow and is effectively used alongside an almost space styled template. the font used for the UKF logo is a bold font whereas the font of "Modestep" has slight hints and similarities to graffiti.I concluded that Bold lettering is most likely going to be included with whatever font I choose for my front cover.

I then proceeded to look for some websites which are associated with Dubstep Music.
 I first came across dubstepmusic.biz which is a website promoting unknown Dubstep Artists as well as all the latest news on the pioneers of the Dubstep genre, download links to newly released tracks & a forum allowing users to talk about their favourite tracks. 


I wanted to use this website mainly to get a good understanding of just what font I should be looking for both the titles and the text I will be writing. This websites colour scheme appears to be using green with various tones of black and white. This coincides with my prediction that green will be a suitable colour to use as well as dark colours being the base of the websites layout. 


The font used is once again Bold lettering however it appears to have a slightly eroded effect to it, almost distorting the text. This shows slight similarities to the font used to advertise Modestep and it can be assumed that this type of font may be what is associated with a Dubstep themed magazine or website.

I then searched for more websites to gain a better understanding of what people generalise a Dubstep style to be. I came across the website dubstep.co.uk. I was surprised to discover that exactly the same font had been used for the title as my previously found website however I found that the colour scheme was quite different. It included warm colours of red, yellows & oranges. This is not what is generally perceived to be the colour scheme of something relating to dubstep however referring back to the colour scheme of the UKF youtube page, it is possible to stray away from this stereotypical dark blue/green/black colour range.


There are circular graphics in the background surrounding the title of the website which I think are most likely trying to resemble sub-woofers, which are affiliated with bass and therefore, Dubstep. Finally, there appears to be paint splats surrounding the title, giving a rigid look along with scratches, enhancing the background from being just a solid colour. This along with the beams coming out behind the text may make me consider using similar graphics behind my front cover or contents titles.

Possible Music Magazine Names

After thinking of Titles for my music magazine these are the possible choices: (preferred choices highlighted in Green)


Underground - (Garage/Dubstep)

MOD/Music On Demand - (Mix of Music)

The Genreader - (Genre Focus)
Spotted - (Live Music)

DUBLE TAKE - (Dubstep)

Tracked - (RnB)

Esoteric - (Genre Focus)

ACCESS - (Upcoming Music)
PREMIUM - (Chart Music)

AlternativeXS - (Alternative)

XSACCESS - (Any Genre)

REPEATtheRECORD - (Dance)

Shuffle - (RnB)

Rythmz - (Hip-Hop)
Ga-Rage - (Garage)
Prompt - (RnB)

Un-Plugged - (Rock)

U - (Mix of Music)


My personal favourites are DUBLE TAKE and XSACCESS. 


I feel that DUBLE TAKE would be easily recognised and associated with the Dubstep/Drum&Bass Genre. There is a market niché for a Dubstep magazine as Dubstep is now commercially liked and is considered as being ore mainstream than previous years. It would be easy to determine the Target Audience and I will attempt to show this with the help of a survey.


I also like the name XSACCESS. It is short and sweet whilst still sounding like a name which could be associated with being a music magazine, particularly Alternative Music, the target audience would centre around indie's much like that of NME, and would feature similar features, it is proven that this magazine style is popular and I feel the name would be well received. 

NME Magazine Analysis

General

Which Company produces the Magazine?

IPC Media produces and publishes NME magazine

Target Audience

In their media pack, NME describe in vast amounts of detail who their target market is. The general reader base are described as being:

73% Male

27% Female

The target market is stated as being Men aged 17-30. Along with this, they provide a detailed analysis of typical NME readers:

 

The figures above are taken straight from the pdf file of the NME media pack and clearly show an in-depth analysis of the readers of the magazine.

How much does it cost?

NME magazine costs £2.40 an issue or for an annual subscription of the weekly magazine to your door for a year, it's £78.00.

What is its circulation?

The circulation of NME is approximately 56,284. This is much lower than the readership which stands as 411,000.


"In the first half of 2010, the magazine's circulation was 
33,875, 53% down on a 2003 figure of 72,442" (Wikipedia) 


Compared to previous years it seems that half year circulation is above the approximate average (28,142) standing at 29,020. This is still 14.3% less than last year for NME and can partly be blamed on the increase in e-reading (such as that used with kindle) and a preference to read articles on various music websites. In comparison to Q's 10.1% drop in circulation, it seems that this is quite a substantial drop.

Approximate Monthly Revenue streams from advertising and circulation

Circulation: £540,326.40

Advertising for this issue: £16,767.75
It can therefore be assumed that a good estimate for the monthly revenue stream of advertising is £67,071 


This information shows that the majority of NME's monthly revenue comes from circulation. This differs from Q where a large amount of the revenue comes from advertising.


The Cover

The title

The magazines title being NME, stands for New Musical Express. The abbreviated form of the name is more commonly said than New Musical Express and has now become more iconic and recognisable than the real name as well. It has almost come to a point where the abbreviated term has become the brand identity, being used for the NME website as well as many other types of media, take NME Radio or the TV channel for example.


The title NME (New Musical Express) suggests the magazine provides a service to readers, telling them about new music. Along with this the abbreviated term connotes that it is chic and memorable, making it better to use as a title of the magazine than the long winded New Musical Express.


Masthead/Title Logo

The masthead for NME uses only white lettering. With no background or any effects it can be described as being simple, I for one though feel it is very effective, much like Q, and stands out from the green / grey background colour. The font appears to be close to Avant Garde Gothic Bold.


Strapline
There does not appear to be a strapline on the front cover of the magazine. In my opinion however, this is not such a bad thing. Whereas Q's strapline "Discover Great Music" compliments the abbreviated Q term, NME is describing the magazines contents in a much simpler manner and being a magazine mainly focused on indie readership, as well as being a weekly publishing, the audience is mostly aware of the full length name and therefore, to add to the house style presented by the magazine.


Main Image Analysis

The main image this issue is of lead singer of Florence & the Machine, Florence Welch. Her direction of gaze is looking straight out to the reader posing with her hand pulling the sleeve of the opposite arm. Apart from her hair and hat, which stands out from the cover with a vivid, dark shade of red, there is no real outcasting colours. This coincides with the unified house style the magazine is trying to achieve. Her facial expression similarly to Marcus Mumfords on Q, is fairly vacant allowing the reader to appreciate her for the pureness she brings to the front cover and not any dramatic poses, bringing the simplicity element back into context.


What other images appear on the cover?
Only one other image appears on the cover. It is of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division. This features on the cover as there is a free poster inside the magazine. This may entice the readers interest in the magazine and persuade them to buy it as their target market (aged 17-30) would consider something free with their magazine to be an added bonus and providing added value. 

Although there are no further images, there is much more text visible on the cover. The various cover lines are almost giving a preview into what is in the magazine. First to note is the one about the tragic passing of apple founder Steve Jobs. NME show their confidence in knowing their TA by publishing such a story and shows that their opinion of the man is similar to that of their readers. Followed is "The Greatest Track of the Last 15 Years Revealed" Greatest is highlighted in black to exaggerate the importance of the word and indeed the story. 
Lastly is an album review given from Noel Gallagher, his name once again highlighted in black indicating that NME consider this an important part of the headline.

On the right hand side of the cover is what I believe to be a battle (or at least thats what NME are trying to get you to think!) using vs to perhaps indicate that Wu Lyf (a band) aren't liked very much by the three bands listed. Colloquial language (er, quite a lot more) is used to indicate that these aren't the only bands that are a little bit "miffed" with Wu Lyf. It's also trying to suggest humour which would appeal to most of the 17-30 target audience. 

The most prominent text on the cover is that describing just who is actually featuring in the main image and therefore, who is the centre of focus. Obviously I'm talking about "FLORENCE" being placed across her picture in bright red lettering. This allows an unknowing passer-by to know exactly what is going to be the main story in this issue and is helped with "World Exclusive Comeback Interview" above, describing the importance of this along with a brief description of what the interview will feature with "On ghosts, Amy Whinehouse and her fear of messing up" underneath. 


All the typefaces are similar and are white with the major points on the cover lines in black. Mentioning various bands names on the cover allows people to know just what the magazine is about. This is done in a unified font on the cover in Avant Garde Gothic Bold. 


The language on the Cover is fairly normal with no obvious literary devices used apart from the colloquial language I mentioned earlier. To sum up the language used I suppose you could say it is used in an informal fashion.


NME is unique in the sense that compared to competitors, it's simplicity makes it stand out and therefore it can be said it does not conform with the style of any other music magazines. There is a similarity between it and Q, both having the title logo (Masthead) in the top left hand corner of the magazine. The rule of thirds is in place much like other magazines however this can be considered the only similar feature.

Inside

How many pages are there?

Inside this issue of NME, there are 66 pages not including the inside of the covers either side.

How many pages of adverts?

In this issue, there are 17 full pages of adverts including the back cover.

Advertised Product Categorization 

Album Releases
Clothing (JD appears twice in the magazine)
Mobile Phones (technology)

Toiletries (Deodorant & hair gel)

Alcohol

Chat (phone lines)

NME Brand (TV & Radio)

Features

On Repeat - Popular songs at NME
Upfront - Musical news
Versus - Interview & 'The NME Chart'
Radar - Future stars, Breaking scenes, New sounds 

Interviews
Reviews
Live - Gigs
On the road - Touring band interview
Booking now
Gig guide - Where/When are the latest gigs
Fan mail
Braincells - Quiz

Double Page Spread count: 12, these feature:

Radar - New bands and new music shows
Introduction to Florence Welch interview
Interview with Florence Welch
Interview with Wu Lyf
Interview with Orlando Higginbotham 

"Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
NME's best song from the past 15 years
Joy Division poster
Gig info for the Foals
On the road interview with Slow Club
Gig guide - 2 double page spreads
Fan mail
 

Are there any advertorials in the magazine?

There appears to be one sole advertorial in this issue of NME. It is for a new sony ericsson phone which is insisted to be able to "Capture your gig memories in flawless quality" Showing why it should be in this magazine and the relevance to it.

How does the magazine achieve a unified house style and why is this approriate to the TA?

The magazine clearly shows its unified house style throughout. As mentioned earlier, the colours are fairly similar and continuous throughout the magazine, using mostly simple, plain colours. Maybe using the word plain is not A-level standard....more conventional (thats better!) The fonts used are always bold as the headings to stories and, getting back to the colour scheme, only greens, blues and reds are used. The simplicity would appeal to the mainly "Indie" readership as simplicity is key to the style they possess. Finally, being simple, it's easy to look at and read, something which I personally feel is a big selling point for the 17-30 year old market as...well...lets face it...they don't like exerting to much energy anyway! 

Q Magazine Analysis

General



Which Company produces the Magazine?

Q (publisher - Bauer Media Group)

Target Audience
According to the Q website they describe typical Q readers as "passionate, engaged, open minded music fans driven to continuously discover new music". They are also described by Q as being affluent (upper class).

75% Male 25% Female

How much does it cost?
Q Magazine costs £3.99 with annual UK subscription at £47.88



How often is it Published?
Monthly (in the UK)



What is its circulation?
Total Circulation: 88,240 in the UK

                                          103,017 global

Actively purchased Circulation: 98.9%

Approximate monthly revenue streams from advertising and circulation
Circulation: £352,077.60

Advertising for this issue: £270,931 (This includes 4 double page spreads, 17 full page adverts, 1 outside back cover, 6 half page adverts, 62 bound inserts and 3 loose inserts)
This information tells us that when selling a magazine, a large proportion of revenue is created from advertising ie. they do not solely rely on circulation revenue streams and that this is such a high number due to the popularity of the magazine.


The Cover

The title
It is called Q as it was seen as an abbreviation for 'Cue' as in the sense of 'cue the music' however it was decided by Q's publishers that calling the magazine 'cue' would cause too much confusion and may have caused people to mistake it for a snooker magazine (Wikipedia). The other reason it was called Q which was given in Q's 200th issue was that the use of a single letter would stand out and look more prominent on newstands.

What does the title connote?
The title 'Q' suggests that the magazine is chic, modern and is obviously well recognised within the market due to it's confidence in using a single letter to give the magazine it's identity.



The masthead/title logo
The Masthead uses two colours only, red and white. The font appears to be of 'Old style' possibly adobe jenson pro. It is half covered by a member of the band on the cover Mumford and Sons, this demonstrates that the magazine is so well established and so well recognised, it does not need to have the logo clearly displayed to be identified by customers of a mostly repeated readership.


Strapline
There is indeed a strapline however it is hidden behind the picture of a member of Mumford & Sons. The strapline "Discover Great Music" is positioned slightly below the Q logo in white and it can be once again assumed that this strapline is known by the regular readers of the magazine, re-iterated by the magazine editors confidence in allowing it to be hidden. The phrase "Discover Great Music" is making you relate good music and indeed finding good music to being within this magazine. It is an effective phrase to use as it will encourage potential customers to open the magazine and engage in this activity.

Main Image Analysis
The main image on the front cover is a picture of the British folk rock band 'Mumford & Sons'. The members of the group are all relatively separated with the direction of gaze being shared (they are all looking towards the reader.)


The members facial expressions on the cover differ slightly. Lead Vocalist Marcus Mumford's facial expression is rather relaxed, it gives off a calming vibe with his body language indicating that he is the lead singer whilst still staying fairly vacant. 

The bands backup singer and banjo player Winston "Country" Marshall is giving a completely contrasting facial expression close to the stereo typical "rock on" expression. He appears on the cover with his banjo and his body language indicates a hyped up atmosphere with him positioned in a rock style stance. 


Ben Lovett is much like lead singer Marcus Mumford having relatively the same sort of body language (relaxed/calm) with a more upbeat facial expression. 




Finally member Ted Dwane is looking excitable almost shouting showing a resemblance to Winston Marshall although his body language is much calmer and tranquil. 

All members of the group appear to be wearing plain clothing with no real accessories or any noticeable outcasting features, matching in with their "folk rock" genre and highlighting their public image. Due to Q's decision to create 25 different covers, it shows and re-iterates their confidence that their readers have a diverse music style and that the ideal reader listens to "great music".


What other images appear on the cover? Why?
There are not any other images on the front cover by definition, they would be more classed as graphics or decals rather than images. There is the main slogan surrounding this issue clearly visible within a yellow and blue box with bold, black text.

The various covers Q have produced for this issue are each numbered and the Mumford & Sons cover is shown as being "#05 of 25 covers to collect". This is trying to promote readers to buy the other covers. 

The names of the various perfomers are put on each of Q's covers, written in a typeface resembling calligraphy or handwritten in the colour blue, all giving a coherent house style.

What content is promoted by the cover lines?
The content promoted by the cover lines (as stated earlier) is the main story surrounding this issue which appears to be the 25th anniversary edition. This is shown by the "25th Anniversary collectors edition" text placed at the very top of the magazine and by the fact that there is 25 artists.

There's also a story "145 Albums to discover" as the footer.

Explain the connotations of typefaces, graphics, colours etc.
The typefaces appearing on the front cover are varied and range from being very bold, black lettering "The Music that changed my life" to a handwritten style font "25th Anniversary Collectors edition". These are obviously used to provide variation and to grab us, as reader and potential customers attention. With the graphics appearing being yellow and blue it is re-iterated just how much they want to make the cover stand out and have attention drawn to it. The list of artists featuring is put along the right hand side of the page, in a yellow font similar to, if not the same as the one used for the signature style lettering of Mumford & Sons. 

This is done in bright yellow to make it stand out from the rather blank background colour as well as allowing a potential customer to see who features within the magazine to see if they should buy it.


What sort of language can you identify?
There is not vast amounts of language on the Q magazine cover however some language techniques have been used. Firstly there is repeated use of the fact that this is the "25th" issue. This repetition allows the reader to pick up a clear indication of the reason why this issue is different to others. The term "The Music That Changed My Life" indicates that there is a sense of personal preference within the magazine and that the intensity of the quote shows that it will be an interesting story. It is almost trying to describe to the reader how popular artists became famous, this being a strong incentive to buy the magazine, it is not surprising that this quote is so vividly shown on the front cover.


Does the magazine look similar to other magazines? (What is it's USP?)
The layout of "Q" is far different from the front covers produced by its competitors. The border surrounding the magazine is different from anything produced in the music magazine market place. The lack of details inside the magazine that appear on the cover is also different from other magazines with just the masthead, main story, and the various artists featuring in the magazine giving any indication on the content inside. There is however a section in the footer of the border "Plus! 145 Albums To Discover" which does indicate another story, aside from this, there is very little which could be deemed similar to its fellow music magazines.


The only other distinctive feature on the cover of "Q" is perhaps the signature of Mumford & Sons appearing across the page covering part of the main image and gaining a lot of the attention to the front cover. 

Inside


How many pages are there?
In this issue of Q there are 170 pages



How many pages of adverts?
In this issue of Q there are 32 pages of adverts

Advertised Product Categorization
Album Releases

Live Events 

Gaming

Clothing

Car 

Snacks

Features

Dizzee Rascal: Workaholic

Q Now

The Top 10 Scraps

BBM Reader journey through music

Q awards

Q icons

Q50

The Music that changed my Life

Q this Month

Q Reviews

Q live

Last Requests

Reviews:

Q50

Q Reviews

Q live

Featuring Stories & Interviews:

Dizzee Rascal: Workaholic

Q Now

Top 10 scraps

The Music that changed my Life

Photography:

Q icons

Publicity Material:

Q this Month

Q Awards

Reader Created Material:

BBM Reader journey through music

Last Requests 

Double Page Spreads

There appears to be 39 double page spreads. A high proportion of those are asscociated with the magazines main story "The Music that changed my Life". 

Other double page spreads include reviews of live perfomances, album reviews, photography & an outlook on the Q awards.

Are there any "advertorials" in the magazine?

There is one example of an advertorial within this issue of Q that is titled "Walls of Sound". It is unclear whether or not the page is an advert or a article. It seems to be a mixture of both. 

It is an article written by Q, advertising 'Monitor Audio' equipment. It is described in the header of the page as being a 'Q Promotion'.




How does the magazine achieve a unified "house style"?
The magazine achieves a unified house style in many ways. If you were to start with the basics you would see that the colour scheme is fairly continuous and does not vary a great deal (if not at all) from page to page. The Q logo is used throughout the magazine as a graphical element which in turn, allows the magazine reader to read through the articles without a great deal of style differentiation. 
The mode of address throughout the magazine is very formal keeping a civilised impression to match the design of the pages. The language in the magazine is used conventionally in a formalistic manner.


Why is this house style appropriate to the TA (Target Audience)?
This house style is appropriate as Q state that their readers are "affluent". If this is correct then it is assumed that the readers would not appreciate a colloquial mode of address and would imply that the readers are of upper class. The design and layout of the various features looks sophisticated with no real change in the colours used, repeatedly using the effective Red & Black colour scheme. This can then be used to conclude that the TA is content with the magazine produced and does not like change or variance within the magazine.