what publishing company would be most suited to my magazine

With my magazine publication 'Homesick' a magazine for the review and promotion of metal and hardcore predominantly UK based bands, I believe that Bauer Media would be the best company. Bauer Media has taken on magazines such as Kerrang! Which have a very similar target audience to mine, as the genres cross over. I would choose this company as they are experienced in what they do and they already have a magazine similar to my own.

Bauer Media was formed in 1875 and has established a huge following for their music magazines they produce (Q magazine was the highest selling music magazine for over 5 years so far) and Kerrang! magazine had 52,272 sales last year. i believe this company would be the best publication company for me as they have had prior experience with a magazine in a similar genre and other music magazines so i would be comfortable with them publishing my magazine.

BBC worldwide uses new technologies such as high quality glass print presses and the internet based BBC iplayer. they appeal to mass audiences with a range of publications: Good Food, Radio Times, Top Gear, Gardeners World. The wide range shows their experience in publishing many other products worldwide, but i am focusing on the UK completely. So i would not choose BBC worldwide as i am only distributing in the UK, and also after my research they have little to no music publication experience, a main factor in my decision of publishing company.

Another publishing company i researched for a choice was Conde´ Nast Publications, founded in 1909 by Conde´ Montrose Nast.  I am unfamiliar with this publication company as i am not acquainted with their publications - such as Vogue, Teen Vogue and Glamour, also Vanity Fair. these are fashion magazines which are directly opposed to my kind of genre and audience(alternative metal and not really into that fashion style) they also produce lifestyle and hobby magazines - to most of my audience, music is their hobby, and they are teen/young adults so lifestyle isnt a concern. i am not choosing Conde´ Nast publications because they have no prior experience in any of the areas that my target audience would generally also appeal to.

double page spread, photo choices

This is the first of the images i have selected for my double page spread, as it shows the strong vocalist presence of the band pictured. i may edit this picture as i could allow more focus on the lead Singer than the background images.

The second image i have selected to maybe use is this image. it features many members of one the band involved in the gig, and the lighting enhances the effect of the photo, if i use this photo i will edit and tone down the light as it gives a strong presence to focus on the background.

Another image i may use is the guitarist as it is an action shot it gives the feel of excitement from the gig and catches the eye of the reader. if i used this,i would edit it and take the jacket of the stupid photographer invading my photo space.

This next photo i might choose to use for my double page spread. i selected this photo as it shows stage diving which is an interaction between stage and crowd. people will look at this picture if they went to the gig and it will catch their eye as they will try to spot themselves in the photo.

i selected this photo as it is a mid action shot of the vocalist. if i used this photo i would edit out the close cut mic in my photo path as it obstructs the view and looks unprofessional.

i have selected this photo as it is crowd on the stage. this in an interaction between the crowd and the band, and once again people will try to spot themselves in it. i would put this in small and in black and white so it isn't a main priority.

i have selected this photo as it is a mid action shot, and it depicts a band member. he is quite famous so if people see his face(which is clearly shown in this picture) they will look and see him and recognize  him from his band and if they like them they will read the article.

i selected this photo as it depicts the bass player who is famous and spotlights him in mid action, so it will grab the readers attention as they wonder what was going on.

i selected this photo as it depicts more than one of the band members in mid action, and i can edit out the mic stand and half bodies if needed. the crowd are in it too

 This next photo was selected for my photo project as it portray the lead singer from a new angle that people in the crowd recognised. this would appeal to my audience as people recognise the lead singer. if i used this photo i would edit out the microphone.

This photo i have selected would be used in my double page spread as it shows the lead singer, the bassist and the crowd in mid action and is eye catching to the crowd. i would not edit this photo as it looks better raw than tampered with.

i have selected this photo for my double page spread as it is another mid action shot and appeals to the audience as they are intrigued what is going on in this photo.

this photo has been selected as it is intriguing to the audience, and portrayed an interaction between crowd and lead singer. if i were to use this photo it would be a side photo for it and i would edit out the pillar and microphone

i have selected this photo as it is also a mid action shot and portrayed 3 of the band members so people would recognise the members and be intrigued at the article. if i used this photo i would edit out the mic and put it small and in b+w filter

i have selected this photo as it is a mid action shot and portrays the bassist and in magazine the bassist is usually ignored, its not a convention just a pattern. i would not edit this photo and keep it large.

final product of my contents page

this is my final, packaged contents page. i believe i have done a good job on this, as i have solved problems and based my magazine on an NME layout but gave it my own flair. the colours would not be ideal for a magazine of a lighter genre, but metal and hardcore are very dark and heavy so dark colours would be more appealing to the fans of these genres, my target audience.

i believe i could of improved this by making changed to the colour schemes shade of red, ans it might not actually be dark enough to blend. i also would of used more optimal pictures for this, if i had of had the resources and time but these were used with the materials i have.

i also would of researched more into magazine layouts instead of reflecting the ideas of NME but it was simplistic and effective.

problem with my contents page.

 This was the first draft of my contents page. i realized that it was almost colourless, so i decided to use the black and red swatches to make it a darker colour but more eye catching than paper white. i also realized that the top and bottom picture were unprofessional, and at the time it was all i could use as a placemark. after February 27th i managed to get a new photo and replaced it to look like this:

in my second draft, i had added much more detail news and reviews columns where i realized the fonts were unprofessional(the subtitle font, VT100) and were unable to be packaged. i solved this problem by changing the font to the constant font i have been using, Helvetica Bold. but the next problem was that the bottom image was unprofessional and needed cropping.

as i attempted to fit this picture on, but due to its dimensions, as in a previous problem it needed to be cropped, it had lost its rectangular properties and had become square. when i re-sized the picture using shift(to keep it in proportion) it did not fit the required dimensions to make the magazine look neat.

Once i realized this, i tried to make the image fit horizontally, and that did not work. so i tried to make it fit horizontally after this.

This was my attempt at making it the correct size. this is in proportion still, and proportionate pictures are professional, so if i was to take it out of proportion, image quality would go down and it would stretch. so i decided to use a picture from my double page spread and used a new article.

After i placed a new picture, and a new article, it fit well, and then i could leave it at this, as i have solved almost all of the problems i have encountered with my contents page.all the problems concerning image resizing and non professionalism have been encountered and dealt with.

however looking back at my project i realized that it needed my logo on the page so i decreased the size of the words contents as it was huge and added my logo. also there was a large space next too one of my pictures so i added the words 'EXCLUSIVE' to cover some ground.

this is the final product of my music magazines front page. overall i believe that i did a good job on it but by going against conventions i caused myself a few problems. my magazine logo had to have a white background which gives a patchy effect. also, the red boxes do invade the vital areas of my page. if i could go back i would re-shoot this picture and use a 3/4 body shot to appeal to conventions(i chose full body). other than that my magazine seems to meet my standards,

contents page

the idea i wanted to create was a simple easy contents, like nme magazine, which i used as the base, i stole the ideas of the subscribe, the centre main articles, and the band index.
this is what i got in one lesson:

i used the band index on one side as it allows the reader to focus on the parts of the magazine they want to read and are attracted to. the centre pictures. the main two articles are placed in the middle as they are the ones that would appeal to my target audience.

my final product reflects NME in another way:

in my final product of my contents page i have reflected NME in its layout: band index  on the left, main articles in the centre and the rest of the contents on the right. this reflects NME magazines layout so my audience will recognise it  and it will make it more easily navigable for my audience, which will convince them to buy it.
                                          

Album Review: The Kids We Used To Be(2010)
The latest album from the melodic punk and hardcore band from St Albans, Your Demise have created a musical masterpiece. The intro 'MMX' takes the catchphrase of the album 'Your Demise, 2010 B*tch' and continues with heavy riffs and a strong drumbeat. The next song is the single 'Miles Away' a 90s punk throwback song with melodic riffs and a upbeat feeling. The album switches between hardcore and metal boundaries, with classic Your Demise-esque songs such as 'xo' and 'scared of the light' in classic beer and hate fuelled anger. However, some of the album is very melodic, such as 'teenage lust', 'like a broken record' in which ed mcrae, the vocalist does some convincing singing. Another song to be noted for its melodic singing is 'life of luxury' which features Mike Duce from Lower Than Atlantis for the singing parts. There's even a comedic punk song 'Get the f**k out of Little Rock' a short interval from the hard hitting riffs and double bass fuelled drumbeat. The title track 'the kids we used to be' is a mixture of punk, metal and hardcore. There's a hardcore, original Your Demise style beatdown, some sweep picking from the metal genre and lot of Punk influenced drums.

Rating: 9.1/10
Comments:'The st albans hardcore 5 piece have done it again, with a blend of punk, hardcore and metal, they are destined to become an influential band of this decade. Simply a masterpiece.'