Magazine Pitch

To begin the planning of my magazine, I made a pitch from previous research. I did this so that I could outline the basics of my magazine and why I chose to include each aspect. This included talking about the titles Working Title, (which is a temporary title that could be changed at a later stage in the project) the genre of the magazine, the pricing of the magazine, how often it would be released, the style and finally the contents that the magazine will contain. By doing this it outlined what the magazine would be about and what type of magazine it would be. Furthermore, I made a reader profile so that I could see who the reader of the magazine would be and it also gave me ideas of what would attract the audience’s attention by knowing people’s interests. I have also made a style sheet. This includes the fonts, colours and text types that I will use in my magazine so that it gives a flavor of what the magazine will look like and the layout of it.

WORKING TITLE

The working title for my magazine is going to be “Muse Mag” or “Muse” for short. I chose this working title mainly because ‘Muse’ is an abbreviated version of the word ‘music’ which makes the title seem snappy and easy to recognise. By abbreviating the word, it automatically makes the magazine seem like it is aimed at young adults because it has been given a nickname, like what teenagers/young adults would do. Based on this suggestion, I am going to aim my magazine at young adults because I think it works well with the working title. Muse Mag is alliteration which makes the title easy to pick up because it isn’t too much of a tongue-twister. Alliteration usually makes something sound catchy which is what I am aiming to do with my magazine title. By naming the magazine ‘Muse Mag’, it isn’t giving the magazine a specific genre of music because ‘Muse’ short for music widens the genre options. I think this makes the magazine more mysterious for the front cover because it leaves the audience guessing what genre of music the magazine will be about. My working title is also original compared to other titles because it is two words rather than one. Personally, I think this makes the magazine title sound more interesting and catchy by having two words. The definition for ‘muse’ is a person who is a source of inspiration. This is effective because this could emphasize my magazine by having inspiration in the title. It could also be a hint to the reader that the magazine could inspire them or even persuade them to read further into the magazine.

GENRE OF THE MAGAZINE

The genre of the magazine is going to be pop/dance style music. I have chosen this genre because I think that a large audience would be attracted to my magazine due to pop/dance currently being very popular music. My target audience is teenagers/young adults which links to my genre because a large majority of young adults like pop music. If people like the genre of the magazine, then they are more likely to buy it. Even though there is a big competition for pop magazines, I know that I will have an audience because it is a popular topic. Nowadays there are a lot of very famous pop singers/songwriters which means that I will always have something new to write about. This means that the audience won’t get bored of reading the same information because there is always new information on pop singers. It would also be continuously interesting with new information always being published so this would hopefully make the reader want to carry on buying my magazine if it is appealing to them. Pop music can have a variety of different types of music because it is a wide genre of music. This could mean that the magazine has the potential to be popular because many different people with different music tastes could be interested in the magazine due to the genre. Even though some would say using pop/dance as a genre is a ‘safe’ option, I think it is sensible because I don’t need to worry about people not being attracted to the magazine because of the genre. Alternatively, choosing a genre like rock might not have been a good idea because not as many people are interested in rock music because it is a specific music taste. The top 40 chart music mainly consists of pop music which clearly means it is a very popular genre of music.

FREQUENCY & COVER PRICE OF PUBLICATION

The publication of my magazine will be monthly. I have chosen monthly over weekly because there would be much more information to include each month, whereas publishing every week would mean there would be a short amount of time to collect new information for the next magazine. I also think that by publishing every month will make the quality of the articles, editing etc will be much better because I will have more time to work on it. If I were to publish every week it would mean rushing to get everything done which could affect the quality of the magazine in all aspects. This would make the magazine look more professional if more time has been spent on it which will hopefully engage the reader into the magazine so that they will carry on buying a new one each month. Even though the audience must wait a month for a new one to be published, I think that they would prefer to wait for a good quality magazine rather than a weekly one which is less informative. My magazine will be published on the 3rd of every month. By giving a specific date for the publication will make the audience remember exactly when a new magazine will be published. It also makes it less confusing for the audience because they won’t have to find out when the next one will be released if it is the same date every month. I have chosen the 3rd of every month because it would hopefully make the readers beginning of a new month more enjoyable if they have a magazine to look forward to. The most popular music magazines like ‘Q’ or ‘NME’ are published monthly. I decided to do the same thing based on this because it seems to work well for magazines that already exist. The publication will cost £3. This is the average price for a magazine, as other popular magazines like ‘Q’ are priced at £3. It isn’t too much money but it isn’t too cheap either which is reasonable and affordable for the audience. Some magazines are priced at £5-£7 so I think that £3 is quite cheap considering how much other magazines cost.

MAGAZINE CONTENTS

I am going to include a variety of contents in my magazine to keep the audience engaged and to make it more interesting. Furthermore, by publishing the magazine monthly will mean I need a variety of contents so that it will be worth the wait for the audience. One of the contents is going to be reviews. This could be reviews of a vary of things; new albums, chart singles – telling the audience if it is worth buying. I am also going to include interviews from famous singers/songwriters, musicians – this will hopefully engage the audience by reading their opinions on certain subjects and the latest things happening related to them. Most pop singers are incredibly popular to teens nowadays so it is most likely that the person being interviewed will be well known. I am going to include Q&A’s in the magazine. I think this is a good idea because it will be easy for reader to read and the answers are not usually long so it will be a short but snappy read. It would also make the magazine more interesting to have Q&A’s from famous singers/songwriters because the audience are more likely to read it if it is coming from somebody famous rather than a stranger. Another key content I am going to include is feature articles of singers/musicians talking about their latest albums/singles or about their music altogether. By having feature articles, it could also give their fans hints on new songs that will be released in the future. This would engage the audience which will persuade them to carry on buying my magazine. I will also include competitions for the reader to join in with for chances to win tickets to concerts. Each magazine will have a different competition. I think this will engage the audience because it is giving them something for free which is easy to sign up for. This could also persuade them to carry on buying.

ATTITUDE

The magazines attitude will be bold, colourful and I am going to make everything emphasized. By doing this it will make the magazine stand out to the audience and hopefully they will remember the magazine. By making the magazine colourful it will make it eye catching and easily recognizable. The main colours I am going to use for the magazine will be red, black and white. I have chosen red, black and white as my main colours red is a primary colour which is incredibly noticeable. Black and white compliment red well as they are both bold, which is why I have chosen these three. However, despite these being the main colours I am going to make sure that my photographs and backgrounds consist of other bright colours to make the magazine stand out more. Each title/subtitle will be in a bold font so that it is easy to recognize that this is a title/subtitle. The attitude of the magazine will be original and not like a typical magazine. I want to aim to have certain pieces of text/images on slants or at an odd angle to make it look different but interesting. By not having a basic layout it could engage the reader more because they might not have seen a magazine with this type of layout before. Hopefully, this would persuade the reader to carry on buying the magazine each month. On some pages it will include more images than text so that the reader doesn’t get bored of reading a big chunk of text at once. An example of this could be a feature article on a singer/songwriter. The image would be the singer to make the audience aware of what the singer looks like. Even though the main colours used will be red, black and white, I am going to colour the backgrounds of some pages different colours to give the magazine more colour and excitement. I am going to make sure that my images will be relevant to the text linked to it so that it doesn’t confuse the reader as they are reading it.

STYLE

The magazines style is going to have a lot of different aspects to it. Mainly, the style will be overall striking and bold so that it stands out to the audience so that they are engaged in the magazine. The style of the articles in the magazine will include information on singers/musicians and their new albums, tours and singles. However, even though there will be articles on singers/musicians, there will be a variation on the subject chosen. I am doing this because I don’t want the reader to get bored of just reading about singers/musicians so I am going to include articles on other things apart from that. By doing this it will make the magazine more interesting altogether because it will show the audience that there are a lot of different styles in the magazine so it isn’t boring. It is still important to include articles on musicians/singers though because it does make the reader want to read the magazine. The magazine is also going to include style features of freebies, competitions to win tickets, giveaways (merchandise etc), and interviews with singers/musicians. By including a lot of different style features it will make the magazine more interesting for the reader and it will also make the magazine look more original. The style of my interviews are going to be word for word what the singer/musician has said so that the audience can get a real feel for how they are thinking/feeling. They will also be able to engage with them more, this will prevent the reader from getting bored of reading a lot of text. A regular feature that is going to be in the magazine is competitions for a variety of different tours/concerts. Each month the competition will be for something different. This is a good idea because it will give everybody a chance to win a ticket to a band that they like; if they don’t like a particular band one month they can always wait for the next competition. There will always be at least 2-3 freebies in each magazine. The freebies could consist of CD’s, posters, merchandise etc. By including a variety of freebies it would engage the audience further into the magazine if they are being given a free item. If the freebie consists of a band that an individual really likes then they are more likely to buy the next magazine a month later just in case they get another free item that they are interested in.

MISSION STATEMENT

MUSE MAG’S AIM IS TO SHOW THE WORLD MUSIC FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Muse Mag includes every type of pop music you can think of, from the upbeat, dance hits to the slow, emotional pop songs. Muse Mag has it all. There is a genre in the magazine for everyone, including those who might not be that into music! As well as covering all aspects of pop music, we also focus on looking at each individual band member rather than a band itself. By doing this it can give the audience an insight of every member of the band rather than just the lead singer. This could also give the reader more information on the band as a whole; for example the meaning of lyrics, inside gossip and tour information. Muse Mag’s aim is to show the world music from a different perspective, to inspire the audience to achieve their musical goals. Our priority is to engage the audience with the singers/musicians as if they have met them. In each issue of the magazine it will include singers/musicians that are very popular but also those who have only just been discovered, or not even discovered yet! There is no other magazine like Muse Mag; readers want to automatically carry on buying each issue. Our motivation is the audience’s reaction to Muse Mag. Without you, we would be nothing! Every time there is new music gossip Muse Mag will be on the case with providing the audience with all the details. You will always find the latest gossip, new hit singles, album releases as soon as it happens in Muse Mag. This is the main reason why readers love the magazine, they find out new information before anyone! We thrive on the audience’s happiness when they are reading Muse Mag which encourages us to be bigger and better than other music magazines.

“Muse Mag is the best magazine ever created! I couldn’t put it down.”

Mike – 17 years old