LIIAR interpretation of the brief

I am going to create a LIIAR interpretation of the brief so that when I reach the actual production stages of the magazine, I will already have a good idea of what sort of conventions I should include within the product.
Language - I will include all of the conventions that are relevant to the product which I am creating. Music magazines consist of conventions such as:

• A masthead, which is traditionally at the top left hand side of the page therefore the layout of my masthead will be in the top left in order to keep within the conventions of the brief, they are usually one of the most emphasised conventions of a music magazine as they are one of the first things the audience look at, therefore I will make sure that my masthead is both attractive and clear.
• Anchorage is used to relate to the image which has been used, it ties down the meaning of the image using text and furthermore gives the image a purpose.
• Banner Headline which is generally around the middle of the page and is a page wide headline.
• Captions are headlines under a photo, these show what the photos are about.
• The image of the band/ artist which the article is focused upon can use various different camera positions, however it is most common in music magazines to use the mid shot, this is shot consists of the person/peoples body from the waist upwards, yet not all of the photos within the magazine are mid shots, there are also a number of other shots which I may include in my music magazine such as long shot, this image contains the subjects full body from a fair distance away and also close ups which focus on their face. The type of camera angle used in each shot symbolised different meanings, for example, if the camera is facing up towards the subject, this shows dominance and power, however if looking down on the subject it shows vulnerability etc, hence I will be using a range of camera angles to communicate different messages however I may choose to keep my main image traditional to most music magazines and use mid shot.
• In all professional music magazines the house style stays consistent i.e. the range of colours, text and types of images used and also the composition of them all. All of these aspects of the house style have meanings behind them therefore I will choose my house style carefully, making sure that it not only gives off the correct vibe and connotations but that it also matches the genre of music which I have based my magazine around, for example, because we stereotype certain types of music to belong to certain personalities pop music would normally use vibrant colours whereas heavy metal consists of a lot darker colours.
• Direct mode of address involves the reader and I feel this may benefit the music magazine as the reader will feel included within the music they enjoy.
• Issue dates are used to show either how many issues they have made or to tell the audience if it is the most up to date.
• Synergy is used a lot in music magazines, whilst the band/ artist is promoting the magazine and giving attracting attention towards the target audience, the magazine is also promoting the band/ artist by mentioning their new single, merchandise etc. therefore they both promote the one another.
• Puff is the promotion of a product or service, like and advert in the middle of the magazine.
• Logos are used to summarise the product using a symbol. This is way that the audience recognise what the type of music magazine it is.
• Headlines introduce what the article following it is about. They are usually found at the top of the page and are large in font

Institution - I am going to produce a magazine for the existing publishing company IPC media as I found they have a gap in the market for some genres of music which I feel IPC would benefit greatly from if they made a magazine for these genres. Some of the brands which are included in IPC media are magazines such as Look, NME, Marie Claire and nuts; all very well known brands therefore I will be aiming to match, even excel upon these products.


Ideology - The message/ moral that I wish to convey through my magazine will rely fully on the genre which I decide to base my magazine around, therefore I will include the stereotypical characteristics within my magazine which I feel the audience of that genre would appreciate and agree with.



Audience - Audience is the most vital concept in the success rate of magazines because without an audience there would be no point in creating the media text, the audience are the main source of income for a media magazine and this determines whether the publishers continue creating more of the magazines or not. Another source of income is financed through other companies advertising in the magazine, however no companies will want to advertise if the magazine does not sell. 
There are a wide range of audiences that I could target my magazine towards however this depends greatly on the type of genre which I choose to focus upon.
There are a lot of factors which need to be taken into consideration when looking at target audiences, for example demographics are used so that audiences can be categorised into different groups which have been formed by quantitative data on age and gender, which usually follow this grouping system:

• Male or female
• <15
• 15 - 24
• 24 - 35
• 35 - 55
• 55>

I have chose to aim my magazine at both genders and also the around the age range of <15 due to myself being near this segment and the fact that the pop music genre appeals this age group.
There is also socio-economic groups which entails of the audiences profession, class and income, there are 6 different groups which show how these characteristics can vary.
A – Higher managerial, administrative or professional. 3%
B – Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional. 15%
C1 – Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional. 23%
C2 – Semi-skilled manual workers. 28%
D – Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers. 18%
E – Casual labourers, unemployed, state pensioners. 13%
The audience which I will be aiming my magazine towards will come under either E or D as the target audiences age range is around 15 meaning that the majority, if not all of of the people will be unemployed due to being in full time education, my age is not too far away from this age range therefore will understand the target audience.
Psychographics is used to measure audiences personalities, beliefs, interests and lifestyles, this is so that the magazine producers can create a magazine for a specific type of person, a niche audience. Psychographic researching from questionnaires led to the creation of VALS which have four main categories.
Groups driven by needs: - survivors and sustainers
Groups who are outer-directed: belongers, emulators, and achievers
Groups who are inner-directed: i-am-me, experientals, societally conscious
Groups who are outer and inner-directed: integrated


Representations - I intend to represent all aspects of my magazine positively as I believe no good would come out of negativity towards the music genre, artist featured or the target audience as I am trying to sell the product and therefore want to make it sound as professional as possible.