Detailed Research into Forms and Conventions

I have chosen to focus on the music genre of Jazz and for the next task we have to research into the forms and conventions of two magazines, I have chosen to study 'Wire' and  'Downbeat' which are two independent Jazz magazines aimed at a small market and target audience.

The first magazine I studied was called 'Wire'
WIRE MAGAZINE

Wire is a magazine targeted at the over 35 age range. The magazine uses many techniques such as colour and content to ensure that it attracting the right audience.

Perhaps it is because the masthead is regular capital letters, spreading right across the page which allows the magazine to be taken seriously and the metaphor of the title ‘Wire’ connotes the unravelling of the music which the audience likes to open their insight into Jazz. The modern type letters reach the invisible cap height and are light grey in colour, with some transparency so the boost picture can still be seen behind. The use of the colour grey connotes simplicity and a sophisticated magazine which appeals to an upper market. In other issues, sans serif font is used to connote a different jazz genre and to appeal to a slightly different audience. The photograph of Roy Harper on the cover is a close up of his face. The picture has not been photo-shopped as you can see all the detail and colours in his face which shows that it is natural and organic, and not a manufactured magazine.

The colours used show a dull connotation and therefore appeals to more of the upmarket audience. The use of grey used in the title of ‘Wire’ and the grey beard of the boost picture contrast well with the black callouts situated on the right hand side of the cover. There are only 3 callouts which suggests that the magazine is independently made and they don’t need to spread out the content on the cover to interest the audience. The top callout ‘Roy Harper’ is written in uppercase letters and the kerning is loose. The fact that it is just a name suggests that the boost picture is of him but does not give any information as why he is in the magazine and that the audience will have to look inside to find out. The callouts underneath then decrease in size and the lack of them on the cover connotes the audience type and that they don’t need to include many callouts to attract their audience as the content is more important.

The content of Wire is a lot of sophisticated analysis of artists and the genre which connotes the maturity of the radical audience. There are many full page adverts promoting and advertising albums of artists who feature within the genre. Furthermore like mainstream magazines ‘wire’ do have CD reviews and interviews, however similarly the rest of the magazine it is still mature although the interviews use more colloquial language which shows the direct conversation of the interviewee and artist. Another reason to show that the magazine is independent is that there are websites which directs you to free downloads. The mode of address is a simple way with the boost picture on the cover being the main focus with a familiar face that the audience should recognise. Other issues see the cover using photo-shop in a way which other magazines may not, which connotes the independency of the magazine and the radical audience.

The contents page shows the boost image from the cover on the right page of a double spread stating who took the picture and who it is of.  The content is in 3 columns with the key titles in bold and any additional information in regular. The whole contents page is in black and white which connotes the simplicity and a tradition which will appeal to an older audience.  On the left hand side to the contents page is a full page advert for an album which is promoting a new or current artist who is connected to the genre. 

The double page spread, analysed shows a couple of small pictures of artists with small texted columns spreading across the entire double page. The fact the text is small connotes good sight of the audience and looks like there is lots on the page for them to read. The text is all in black and the background is white which furthermore connotes the simplicity of the layout and magazine. At the bottom of the left page, there is a short comic strip which connotes some humour for the audience, however it is uncoloured which still connotes that the independence and that the content is more important that making it look nice. The text which is written in the double page is little articles of achievement of people and events which are upcoming.

The distributor of ‘Wire’ is COMAG, who is owned by two major magazine publishers, ‘The natural magazine Company’ and ‘Conde nast publications’ and they distribute magazines to retail shops on the high-street, newsagents and supermarkets, however they are only responsible for the distribution to newsstands. They use Shellshock to get their magazine into independent shops, which suggests that the magazine itself is independent and that they rely on symbiotic links with COMAG and shellshock to distribute their magazine to shops.

The second magazine I analysed was downbeat..
DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE


Downbeat it a Jazz and blues music magazine aimed at the hedonists, individuals and non-conformists of the B, C1 category aged 35-50. It suggests that it is aimed at males as the boost picture on the front is of two men and guitars who which will appeal to males.


The title and masthead ‘Downbeat’ connotes a modern mainstream initial feel to the magazine, however the contents and callouts makes it feel more independent. It also refers to the first beat of musical measure which is called Downbeat. The Slab serif type letters reach the cap height and are the colour white with some of the letters disappearing behind the boost picture where it overlaps. The serifs vary from horizontal and diagonal which connotes the small use of old style type which connotes that the genre and magazine have been around since the start of the 20th century. The use of the colour white connotes honesty and purity of the magazine and the sophistication of the audience and what is inside which will appeal to an upper market audience. The unusual use of the letter ‘N’ shows the independency of the magazine and allows the audience to focus on the midpoint of the magazine which helps them to look at it all, even if they do not realise it.

The Background of the cover is red which connotes danger and love which the audience may have with the genre of music as Jazz is a very passionate genre. There is a boost image of two men who are on behind each other holding a guitar each with the guitar neck point up towards the top of the cover. The guitars and the man’s t-shirt contrast well with the background which connotes the sense of a formal magazine which will also attract an upper-class audience. Their expressions are very basic as they only have a slight smile which shows the seriousness of the artists and how they take what they do seriously. The callouts are down the left hand side, and there are only 5 which is a small amount compared to very mainstream magazines such as Kerrang or NME. They are names of artists which are in the colour yellow which stands out on the black clothes of the boost image and connote a neutral feel of the names. Underneath is additional information which might be useful to the audience such as ‘Guitar school’ which might further encourage the audience to pick up the magazine. This further information is in white which connotes the sense of purity and honesty of the contents.

The content of 'Downbeat' are very sophisticated and mature interviews with Jazz Artists such as 'Wessell Anderson' which connotes the maturity if the magazine and the audience it is aimed at as they know what information they want. Also there are pages advertising a 'Guitar school' where you can apply to get tuition into learning a musical instrument which shows that if the audience really love the genre of music then they will want to learn a similar instrument.

They use basic language on the front cover which involves a lot of artists names which connotes that the magazine is devoted to writing about the artists of the genre so the audience can find out more about them. however although the language looks sophisticated on the cover, the language inside isnt to the full high-standard as expected which shows that they just want answers from the artists or they are writing a formal biography of the artist which does use high-standard language which connotes the higher and more valuable side to Jazz.

album cover for Steve Tibbetts

On the front cover, the boost picture is of two men holding a guitar each, which are under their arms and the guitar neck pointing upwards. In the double page spread there is an image in the top middle, covering both pages of a landscape which is being viewed through some rocks with the artists name in the top left corner which suggests that it is his latest album cover. This also connotes the feeling of the audience and what his songs represent and how he sees his them.

The double page spread is about an artist and his most recent song which also tells you a bit about the artist 'Steve Tibbetts' and a little bit of his life story. This shows the audience type and that they are interested in how he makes his music and part of his life as it may inspire him. There is an image in the middle of the double page to illustrate his latest album cover which from the article will encourage his audience so go out and buy it. the writing is a regular size in 3 columns across the two pages with a star rating of four which will suggest to the readers whether the article is worth reading or not. At the bottom is the date in which the article was written a long with the name of the magazine. The language used it very sophisticated and formal which suggests a upper-market audience and connotes a more honest feeling about the magazine as a whole.

Downbeat is published  Maher Publications which is a family owned, multi-media publishing company, however I could not find any more information about this company which may suggest that it is a small independent company who work to help distribute magazines to retailers.

It was compulsory to complete this research otherwise I would not know how to create my magazine of the same genre and what type of things I would need to include, such as the angle of the camera and what type of articles I should write. Also I would not be able to identify the audience type I should be aiming for or if i was going to challenge the conventions, what type of audience do they not target and maybe try to target them myself.  By completing this research  I have  been able to come up with a few ideas which I may decide to use in my magazine. The magazines I looked at suggests that I should not use a lot of call-outs on the front cover and a block coloured masthead is most effective or a slightly transparent colour connotes the sense of independence which will attract the alternate audience to mainstream. Also the uses of the boost picture in the contents page seems to consist between the two researched magazines which helps illustrate the main story which they connote. I will also aim to use high-standard and sophisticated language to appeal to a higher rating of B on the jicnars scale. furthermore the amount of information and articles to read on pages, especially on the double page spreads shows a detailed account for the topics being written about and in the 'Wire' magazine, the amount of topics on each page. I will try to challenge the conventions I have found in the magazines I have researched by looking more into the magazines and seeing which conventions I will be able to challenge, such as the audience age or type I will target.