magazine plan

1. Planning a music magazine

2. Title: indiependent
• I have chosen to name my magazine indiependent, because it is a play on the word independent.
It features the word indie in the title so readers automatically can pin point that this magazine is
of the indie genre.
• Independence is a key theme in indie music too – indie artists, such as pale waves, like to create
music that is not mainstream; other artists include the arctic monkeys, who are also of the indie
genre, whose music is alternative and different.
• Indie music is quite a niche genre, meaning that it is not widely recognised and loved like pop
music is. This reinforces this idea of independence being an important theme.

3. Target audience
• The primary target audience for my magazine, is young people, between the ages of 15-20,
particularly of the female gender.
• My magazine will be of the alternative indie genre, meaning my target audience would typically
be interested in this style of music. They may also be interested in things such as art and
photography. I think my target audience would be interested in these sorts of things, as it is
similar to the sound of indie music.

4. Genre
The music magazine that I will be creating, will be of the alternative indie genre. I have chosen to
base my magazine around this genre, because I myself enjoy this music type, and think that there
are many features of the genre that I can explore and manipulate, to create a well structured,
successful magazine.
As it is of this genre, there are many stereotypes that I will follow and contradict. For example, the
artist/band on the front cover will be wearing a costume that is highly influenced by the genre of
indie – they will wear a lot of black clothing, and use props to represent the genre. However, I will
contradict the typical indie genre, by using pastel colours on the cover and throughout the article
pages.

5. How it will be different
• I will ensure that my magazine will be different from other music magazines of similar genres.
Looking at other magazines of the same genre, I immediately can identify the things I will change,
and add to make my magazine more unique.
• Looking at these two magazine covers, I can see immediately what I want to do to make mine
stand out. Firstly, one of the magazine uses no colour on the cover, while the other uses many
bright ones. With my magazine, I will choose one main colour (a pastel colour) and keep the same
colour scheme throughout. I will also have a similar layout to ‘clash’ magazine, as I think the
‘NME’ cover looks too busy, and therefore unattractive. However, I will use a similar layout, but I
will use more anchorage text and a few buzz words, as my target audience are still young, so
would be more attracted to the magazine, through these elements.

6. Subscription
• My magazine will be both digital and sold in stores and a new edition will be released every
month.
• My magazine will cost £3.00 when bought in stores. Readers will get a free trial for the digital
magazine, but then will have to pay a subscription fee, which will be the same price of £3.00.
• I think the price of my magazine is good when considering my target audience. My primary
audience is young people, who typically wouldn’t have much disposable income, and would fall
into the audience demographic of C-D. Also, as my magazine comes out once a month, the price is
not too much for my readers.

7. Cover Layout
• My magazine will have a specific colour scheme, which will be fluent throughout each
edition – this particular one will have a pastel colour prominent on the front cover, and
in with the main articles too. Pastel colours have become more trendy lately so younger
audiences might be drawn to this magazine, just because of the colours. They also have
connotations to being quite calm which, in some cases, reflects the music genre.
• On my front cover, I will have my music artist – she has recently released a globally
successful album, so having her as my central image, means promotion for both the
album and the magazine.
• I think this edition of ‘clash’ magazine, is the best description of what my magazine will
look like. I will keep the anchorage around the central image to a minimum, using
quotes from the inside article to give the readers a slight insight. I will also use buzz
words, such as ‘plus’ or ‘exclusive’, as they will be more likely to entice the younger
audience. I think using buzz words and quotes from the artist on the cover, would
benefit my magazine because it gives the reader a taste and would increase the chances
of them spending money on the magazine.

8. Content
• My magazine articles will consist of exclusive interviews with musical artists specialising in the
alternative indie genre.
• Exclusive interviews with famous artists would keep the readers interested because it creates a
feeling of friendship, almost. The more details about an artist or band that is used in the
magazine, the closer the relationship will be between the artist and the reader.
• Using a globally successful artist on the front too would intrigue the audience, and so the article
that follows must be of equal quality. In addition, if a person admires the artist on the front cover,
they will want to read more about them, so by giving exclusive details, would grip the reader, and
they would overall enjoy the magazine, making them more likely to buy the newer editions when
they are released every month.
• The layout of my article will look similar to these examples.
• The use of pictures of the artist/s being spoke about, will benefit the article, because if a person
was to buy this magazine solely because they like the artist on the front, they will see the poster
picture of the artist, and immediately become engaged with the article.

9. Social Media
• My music magazine will have many social networking sites that my audience can follow and keep
up to date with. There will be a list of the social sites that the magazine can be found on, on the
last page of the magazine. By putting them on the back page, the reader would have to look
through the magazine, if they wanted to find them, and would probably end up reading some of
the articles too.
• The magazine will have accounts on twitter and facebook for the slightly older audience, as these
networks are going out of date with the new craze for other up and coming networks, such as
Instagram and snapchat. The magazine will also have Instagram and snapchat accounts for the
younger audience, where they will receive regular photo updates, as well as textural, to keep
them updated of any artists they may admire, getting a feature in the magazine.