Analysis of Background for Magazine Sub Genre

Billboard:                                                                                             
Billboard is an American music magazine. It's distinguished with being one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It was originally acquired by Dutch publisher VNU, however it was later renamed the Nielson Company in 1993.

It was later sold in 2009 to the new company e5 Global Media and in 2010 was renamed Prometheus Global Media.
Billboard are intended for music industry professionals such as record label executives, artist, music retailers and radio DJ's. Billboards magazine can be found at various consumer bookstores and magazine stands. Billboards magazine are extremely popular in places such as New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Austin and Miami. This signify that Billboards magazine has extreme popularity in the US but also the UK as well.

In January 2014, it was announced that Janice Min (editorial director for The Hollywood Reporter) would add editorial duties at Billboard as their co-president.
The group initially behind Billboard has an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group which is also a part of Random House known as 'Billboards Reads'. They brought the imprint form Nielsen in 2008.



Prometheus Global Media:

Prometheus Global Media is a New York based B2B media company. The company was formed in December 2009. When Nielsen sold its entertainment and media devision to a private equity-backed group which is led by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners.

The company owns and operates a number of entertainment industry trade publications and their associated digital properties. This includes Adweek, Backstage. Billboard, Film Journal International and The Hollywood Reporter.

in 2011, Prometheus went through a number of cost-cutting measures. Prometheus laid off the staff who were responsible for the Hollywood Creative Directory and announced it had sold the publication.

Other magazine publishers such as Egmont and the BBC also are publishers of POP magazine including Top of the Pops.

Differences Between Online and Print Music Magazines

• Having an online magazine can allow the publisher to have an infinite number of pages.

• It's evidently cheaper to create web pages than to print magazines, because the pages are generally more condensed. 

• Masses amounts of paper is wasted on printed music magazines, whereas online versions can help with the effects of deforestation and the global environment.

• Having online music magazines allow for a quick and easy access. In contrast to printed music magazines where you can either purchase at a shop or have delivered to you every time a new copy comes out.

• More content can be shown online than in a printed copy. Most music magazines show a small print of a web address where they can access more content about the specific article. However, reading an online magazine instantly gives you this choice without having to buy the printed version of the magazine in the first place. 

• Structure is also a contrasting aspect of online and printed magazines. With printed magazines, the reader is able to hold the information whereas online the information is virtual. This may have the effect of altering the readers perception of what the content is saying. 

• The lay-out of a print music magazine differs to an online version. The lay-out of a printed magazine is designed based on the way it looks on paper. The general lay-out of a printed copy has columns of writing, with relatable images and headlines, sub-headings and pull-out quotes. However, the online magazine can play around with the lay-out more and can change it to a certain extent.

Institution Research

Bauer Media Group are a major magazine publisher. They are Europe's largest, privately owned publishing group. They are a worldwide media empire who offer 300 magazines in 15 countries. They are also highly known online and for Radio such as London's Kiss FM.

Bauers main music magazines are 'Q' and 'Kerrang'. The 'Q' magazine started off as a monthly magazine in the United Kingdom. Their magazine has now expanded to the Radio and Television. 'Q's magazine offers genre's such as Indie, Rock and Alternative. The total viewers for 'Q's magazine is 377000 which has a higher male reader at 68.3% and the female audience at 31.7%.

Bauers other music magazine Kerrang is also a major hit in the music magazine market. Kerrang specialises mainly in the Rock music genre. A Kerrang TV channel also exist including TV programmes which feature various music videos. The total viewers of the Kerrang magazine is 345000. Their magazine has a mixture of both genders, with the male audience at 54.7% and the female audience at 45.3%.

Prometheus Global Media is a New York City based Media company. The company was created in 2009, the Nielson Company announced that they would sell their Business Media Division which included brands such as Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter.

The only music magazine they publish is the highly successful music magazine Billboard. Billboard is musics most powerful brand. Billboards award-winning website illustrates their statistic that their content is consumed by millions of people in more than 100 countries. Their iconic weekly charts which are the most viewed and quoted in the world. This includes more than 200 iconic weekly charts.

The Wire is an independent, monthly music magazine. The Wire cover a wide range of genres such as alternative, underground and non-mainstream genres. They also show trading and classic artists in genres such as rock, electronic, hip-hop, jazz, modern composition, traditional music and more.

The Wire was founded in 1982, mainly showing the genres of jazz and New Music magazine. A digital version of their magazine is available on iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire, Android and via the web.

The wire seeks out the best currant music in all genres. The wire explore the past, present and future of music. Their magazine is run by a full-time staff, 60 international freelance writers who are stationed at all points around the world.

Double Page Spread Analysis: Top of the Pops

Contents Page Analysis: Top of the Pops

Front Page Analysis: Top of the Pops

Double Page Spread Analysis: Billboard

Contents Page Analysis: Billboard

Front Page Analysis: Billboard

My Chosen Sub-Genre

I have chosen to do the genre of Pop as my chosen sub-genre. I have chosen to do Pop because I relate to this music genre the most and frequently listen to various Pop songs which would help in understanding the magazine's target audience needs. I will continue to follow the normal codes and conventions from Pop magazines and will take inspiration from the Pop music magazine Billboard.
I like the way Billboard uses their colour palette to a significant effect on their magazine front colour. I also like Billboards simple, but effective lay-out which I believe draws the reader into what content they have to offer.

Music Magazine Sub-Genre Research

POP:

The typical target audience for a Pop music genre magazine is usually aimed at teenagers but their are also some styles suited more for the younger target audience. Pop magazines are also aimed towards young adults which is shown in how Billboard have presented their magazine. Billboards magazine is very simple in how they laid out their information and how they use consistently one main image to present their front page. This differs to the magazine 'Sugar' who have crowded their front page with lots of information presented using different styles of fonts. This may suggest that this magazine is aiming towards predominately teenagers and the younger target audience, compared to the professional lay-out of the magazine 'Billboard'. All of the magazines shown use currant and trending artists which allows the target audience to understand whether or not this magazine links to their chosen genre type and if it appeals to their specific needs. In terms of production value, you would suggest that Billboard has a bigger production value based on the various different target audiences they are able to appeal too. In contrast to 'Sugar' who predominantly only aim their target audience towards the lower age groups.

In terms of layout, the conventions of a pop music magazine typically have one main image in a mid or median shot. This then allows their cover lines to stand-out around the image in a very typically bold, colourful font. Another point to make about the typical lay-out of a pop music magazine is their common use of having a bold masthead which stands-out on their magazine front covers. This connotes the typical conventions of a pop music magaizne becuase of the effect of having bold typography layered on the page which ultimately allows pop music magazines to stand-out.

ROCK:

The typical target audience for the Rock music genre, I believe is aimed towards teenagers, young adults and also the older target audience. The older target audience age range is evident in magazines such as 'Rolling Stone'. Rolling Stone usually use classic rock artist as their main, medium close-up shot on the front page of their magazine. However, they do occasionally use trending artist such as  Jay-Z which may suggest how their magazine targets the teenage and young adult age range. This may also suggest that 'Rolling Stone' magazine has a higher production value than other rock magazines such as 'Kerrang' because their magazine can appeal to various age ranges. Kerrangs only main target audience is in the older age range which effects their production value. The lay-out of the Rolling Stone magazine front page is very neat and appealing compared to Kerrangs which is crowded with information, making it hard for the reader to understand.

The main conventions in terms of lay-out for a rock music magazine is typically a jumbled front page which includes various different cover lines which link to their main image.  Their masthead does however stand-out very effectively. As you can see on Kerrang's front cover, all of their masteheads stand-out very effectively to the target audience. Also, Q's magazines masthead stands-out very effectively to the reader. This allows their target audience to be drawn into their content shown on the front cover of their magazine.

HEAVY METAL:
I believe that the heavy metal music genre is aimed at the older target audience as this genre, I believe is a very old music genre, thust linking it to the older age range. Magazines such as 'Kerrang' and  'Q' also offer Heavy Metal content as well as Rock. This suggest that both 'Kerrang' and 'Q' are predominantly linked to the older are range, even though they offer relatable content to the younger audience because they also present content for Rock. Given that the heavy metal genre predominantly targets itself at older age ranges, you would suggest that the production value for these magazines are reasonably low, however popular magazines such as 'Kerrang' and 'Q' may have a higher production value because they link to various different target audiences.
The artist who are shown on the front cover are usually related to the heavy metal genre. Avenged Sevenfold and Metallica are very popular in heavy metal and are frequently used on the front page of heavy metal magazines because they allow the audience interested in heavy metal to be more attracted as it shows a popular heavy metal band.

The typical convention in terms of lay-out for a heavy metal music magazine is generally quite a 'busy' magazine front cover. Again, like Rock magazines, their mastheads stand-out very effectively on this page more than anthing else. It ctahces the readers eye the most effectively when they first see this magazine front cover. Also, the images on their front covers have a large group of artists centered in the middle of the page. This differs from a typical pop music magazine lay-out which typically features on one artist.

INDIE:
The primary target audience for Indie music magazines I believe is from ages 16-25 plus. Indie style music is frequently shown and presented at festivals where this music genre is most popular. This I believe is evident in how the layout and colour palette is used. The layout used on the front page is very simple, with magazines such as 'Indie' only using one main medium close-up shot with at least one main cover line shown. The colour palette is vey simple with the effect of only useing calm primary colours standing out on a very blunt secondary background. This may suggest that the production cost of Indie magazines are ultimately low. I believe the Indie music genre makes most of their profits from frequent festivals with rising artists such as the Artic Monkeys and The 1975 who are continuing to attract many target audiences with their trending music.

The typical conventions of an Indie music magazine

HIP HOP/RAP:
The target audience of Hip Hop/Rap is becoming increasingly popular with the teenage age range. Artists such as Macklemore, Fetty Wap and Drake are now becoming increasingly popular with the teenage age group. Music magazines such 'Vibe' and 'The Source' use these trending artists to attract the growing teenage target audience. Vibe uses a classic layout of having a medium close-up shot of an artist and most commonly keep their main cover lines and cover lines to a limit. This connotes that they are trying to show themselves as a professional style of magazine. In contrast to 'The Source' who again only use one main image, but use various different fonts to show their cover lines which seems to take over the front page. As a viewer I find their front page complicated and uninteresting. The production value of Vibe compared to The Source you would suggest to be higher because of the professional presentation they have significantly shown to their target audiences and as a reader, I would be more interested in purchasing Vibe than The Source ultimately because of how both of their front covers are presented.