musicpress

The Music Press.: 

The Music Press. A way through.

Cover:: 

Cover: Media Language-Styles of presentation.Denotation/Connotation. Media Representation-How views of Gender/Race/Stars is constructed through visuals and articles. Media Institution-Emap/IPC/BBC. Media Audience- Demographics.Audience profile.Target audience. X Factor unit covers these issues.

1: History.: 

1: History. 1936-Billboard[1894]-Music Hit parade to present. 1926-Melody Maker-1926.[Initially Jazz] Then covered the emerging ‘Rock and Roll’ scene.New Musical express- 1950’s.Sounds 1960’s. Glossy Magazine. 1999. Merger with NME 2000.The ‘Music Inkies’Power of Journalists.Independance in the late 70’s/80’s. Fan-based Independent Magazines.-Sniffin Glue[Punk 1970’s] 1967- Rolling Stone-1967.[Music/Social Change]-Music as a vehicle for Political Change.NME also early 80’s. 1978-Genre based magazines.Smash Hits[Pop]-Glossy fortnightly magazines.Personality interviews/Gossip. Kerrang. 1981- Metal Hammer.

History.: 

History. 1980: The Face-Full colour glossy stylish format.Same layout as Smash Hits developed into a monthly. 20/30 demographic.Entertainment and lifestyle advice. whereas previous Music Mags primarily teenage. Q/Mojo/Uncut/ The Word.Select/Vox[Now defunct] Record Collector.-Music enthusiast.Memorabilia The internet replacing the Genre Pop magazines

Activities on History.: 

Activities on History. Research History of Music Titles Demographic analysis of Students’ tastes in the Music Press.[By Gender] Peter Wall activities.

2:Ask the Students to analyse Some Music Titles.-Media Language[Activities.P41-52]: 

2:Ask the Students to analyse Some Music Titles.-Media Language[Activities.P41-52] Kerrang Top of the Pops New Musical Express The Word.

Kerrang: 

Kerrang

Kerrang.: 

Kerrang. 1981 Focus on Heavy metal/Rock Music Links to Goth subgenre. Owned by Emap[also own Q,Mojo and Empire] Kerrang reader profile-15/24.[60% Male-40% Female] Kerrang’s identity is a world ‘where Jackass meets Playstation and Skate culture meets ipod’ 80 A4 pages.

Kerrang: 

Kerrang £1.99 Standard Magazine layout. Free posters. News items about Metal. Synergy-Kerrang Radio/TV stations. Kerrang- Black/Red Iconography-Gothic Black and red text for all pages[Editorial/Feedback/diary pages/gig reviews]

Kerrang.: 

Kerrang. Kerrang-sound of power cord. Diary Pages-Volume. ‘A cranked-up week’ language of power and metal. Teenage colloqualism-’Blag to Swag’ ACDC/Green Day/The Darkness/Marilyn Manson. Less Nostalgia more Contemporary. Editorial content dictates taste of target audience.’Where to start with’- overview of Back catalogue of Artist,for instance.

Kerrang: 

Kerrang Diary-upcoming gigs. Editorial team recommend entertainment. Readers Poll/Letters Page- opportunity for Reader position. Assists in the promotion of bands/Sales Synergy-HMV. Full page ads.Music Company ads. Other retailers promotion-3 Virgin/Playstation/X Box. Metal/Goth- Clothing/Jewellery manufacturing.

Top of the Pops.: 

Top of the Pops.

Top of the Pops.: 

Top of the Pops. Magazine in 1995. £2.10 Aimed at 10-14 year olds. 88% Female readership. Smash Hits profile. Montage of Photographs. 56 page glossy-snippets of text. Q and A rather than prose style journalism Mode of address- young[Youth orientated slang] Teenage jargon ‘phwoar’ and ‘fit’ Silly sarcastic speech captions. Chart-based pop acts.[Girls aloud/Shayne Ward/Leona]

Top of the Pops: 

Top of the Pops Pop acts discussed as celebrities.[‘Chantelle’s fella’] Preston appears as a celeb[In NME he is discussed because of his ‘indie identity’] In TOTP Preston is the ‘ideal boyfriend’ who wants to have children. Fairy tale ‘celebrity couple’ Female teen reader being sold the possibilities of love and marriage. Fashion and beauty led- Emotive stories. Readers’ pages- Photos of themselves with celebrities etc. Institution- BBc- Directs readers to BBc productions. Promoting the Industry-HMV/Motorola ads Pirates of the Caribbean- synergy.Promotion of Film. Competition to attend ‘Just My Luck’

Top of the Pops.: 

Top of the Pops. Free gifts Ads for Female hygiene/beauty products. Gender-specific demographic. Advert for NSPCC- Childline against sexual abuse showing the potential for an effect for Education within the construction of shallow fairytales.

Top of the pops.: 

Top of the pops. Free gifts Ads for Female hygiene/beauty products. Gender-specific demographic. Advert for NSPCC- Childline against sexual abuse showing the potential for an effect for Education within

New Musical Express: 

New Musical Express

New Musical Express: 

New Musical Express First Published 1952 IPC 1963. Non-permanent Ink. ‘Inkies’ Melody Maker/Sounds-similar template. Nick Kent,Charles Shaar Murray.Nick Logan[Editor] Later Tony Parsons,Julie Burchill-Promoting Punk. Neil Spencer becomes Editor- Logan leaves for Smash Hits. Cassettes of Indie Music 1985 onwards. Merger between Melody Maker and NME in 2000. NME originals launched in 2002.

NME: 

NME Reader profile- Predominantly male[65%] Average age 23. Enthusiast- wants B sides etc. NME reader regularly downloads music. Enthusiasm for live gigs. NME sponsored tours/Glastonbury etc.

NME: 

NME Currently costs 1.95. Glossy front cover. Free CD’s locate the youth orientation. Age profile located in slang terminology-Emo etc. Independent Bands etc.[Kaiser Chiefs,Artic Monkeys] 91% of NME readers attend gigs.-Gig Diary.

NME: 

NME Synergy- Masthead promotes Virgin digital Relationships between music retailers and content mutually beneficial. Sponsorship deals with Carling and Strongbow- Nation-wide NME tour. Ads reflect demographic and lifestyle profile Orange/Vodaphone

The word.: 

The word.

The Word: 

The Word Conceived in 2003 by Ex Emap employees David Hepworth and Jerry Perkins. Independent Production. £4.20 150 pages Men between 30-50 ‘our man plays loud music in his car and Radio 4 at home’ ‘At last something to read’ Individual sections on Music/Film /Books. Not nostalgic like Emap’s Mojo. Free CD’s not merely promotional commodities- [John Cale’s Paris 1919] Article like ‘The rise and rise of the Rock Dad’ Not like Q- that is promoting old albums to a younger audience[Q July 2006-focussed on Revolver] Synergy- Volkswagen

3. Genre and Representation:[Activities 53-56]+ analysis of Articles/Prose.: 

3. Genre and Representation:[Activities 53-56]+ analysis of Articles/Prose. Kerrang/Classic Rock/Metal Hammer/Hip-Hop designed to cover music categories. Magazines construct lifestyles for the Magazine’s typical reader/Listener.From Adverts to Clothing to Cinema releases/What’s on pages. Music genres racially defined- Rock/metal country-white caucasian Hip hop.rap,blues,r and b,soul,Funk and disco. Racial identity of articles implied in advertising. Kerrang- complaints when Eminem was placed on the front cover in late 90’s.

Genre/Representation: 

Genre/Representation Gender: NME- 65% Male Classic Rock-93% Metal Hammer-66% Uncut-96% Kerrang-60% Mixmag-72% Certain music genres offer a male-orientated mode of address.

Genre/Representation: 

Genre/Representation Kerrang! Metal Hammer classic Rock- genre’s conventions and iconography-metal’s aggressive persona. Stereotypical masculine posturing Hip Hop-large cars,tattoos,bling.Attitude. Female artists within Rock/Metal genres adopt masculine characteristics. Kerrang’s weekly comic-strip ‘Pandora’-sassy female but stereotypical sexually desirable. Hip Hop- Queen latifah not mentioned-Male dominated. NME- ‘Women in Rock’ issue- inadvertently marginalising women through clubbing them together.. Adverts –men selling beer/Playstation[Kerrang] Half –naked women in ‘The Source’-woman as sex-object.Britney/Christina in Kerrang as sexy animation.

Genre and Representation: 

Genre and Representation TOTp/Smash Hits-Bright colours/Shiny happy people Addressed through band profiles that concentrate on the male performer as a ‘tasty bloke’ [Mcfly] Male artist is viewed as a an object of desire Pop music is seen as trivial compared to classic rock and metal. ‘The female music enthusiast is left with the choice of reading backstage gossip and romance narratives or have to step into the world of the masculine world of publications’

4:Institution[Activities P56-61]: 

4:Institution[Activities P56-61] Emap[Kerrang! Q and Mojo,Smash Hits,Select],40 commercial Radio Stations[Magic/Kiss FM],7 digital music TV channels,[Magic,The Box and the Hits]Empire. IPC-[NME/Uncut] TV.Times,Shoot,Marie Claire,Loaded,Now and Nuts. BBC Magazines. Cross Media ownership asset for attracting potential advertising revenue. Multiple exposures to advertising guaranteed. In the MTV/Internet Magazines are a small cog in a large digital machine.

Institution: 

Institution Music press is linked to the Music Industry[Symbiosis] The Music press is a medium to publicise the Music Industry. New Artists promoted on Free CD’s The Music Press has always been a promotional mechanism for new artists. Support given to new Bands[NME/Kerrang-]Sex Pistols[70’s] Smiths[80’s] Limp Bizkit[90’s] April 2005 edition of Q ‘The Ultimate Music collection’-’every album and track you’ll ever need’ Essential artists. ‘If you’ve got only 100 pounds buy these’ Doing the record company marketing for them. ‘Blood on the tracks’- the most essential album=increased sales. Some features sponsored by companies[Napster-download] Reviews section in NME sponsored by Virgin

Institution.: 

Institution. Music Press more in the lure of the Music Industry than in the 1970’s when publications were more independent. Record companies place ads for their artists new releases. Companies can target a demographic profile and pick the magazine of their choice.[NME/Kerrang-youth lifestyle MP3/Playstations] 83% of readers of Kerrang ‘bought an album as a result of an article in metal Hammer’

Audience[Worksheets 58-71]: 

Audience[Worksheets 58-71] Smash Hits-1978 Death in 2006 along with Top of the Pops[TV programme] Chart –based- Duran/Kylie/Stock-Aitken and Waterman./Girls Aloud.-Song Lyrics Unique selling Point. Ironic tone.’Pass the sickbag’ ‘dull dull dull’ Superceded by TV Hits,Shout and Sneak. Deteriorating sales.1980’s [A million] [500,00,]1990’s 120,000[2000] Replaced by Internet edition. MP3/ipod. Smash Hits webpage-messageboards,hot music gossip McFly etc

Audience: 

Audience Smash hits advertising dealswith Vodaphone. Oldies and Monthlies Q= 18-35 demographic,reflective, Uncut= 41 year old male typical demographic Emap’s Mojo older readership. Median age 35 Q=25.Lists of classic albums.Nostalgia The emphasis on earlier versions is attractive to record companies whose artistes ‘back catalogue’ is being promoted.

Fanzines.: 

Fanzines. A fanzine is a fan-written amateur publication that is characterised by an informed enthusiasm for its subject matter. Sniffin Glue-Punks ‘Do it yourself aesthetic’ Conversational.Posting reviews Myspace.com-digital links to new tracks. Fan based websites.

Production element: 

Production element . Activities to start the Day[CHA] Creating template for genre based magazine or internet site. Talk by Stuart Williams Emap[28th March] Working on Production element.[Front cover/contents/articles/synergy/advertising] Students to continue during Easter After Easter the pre-release is given out. No more discrete teaching but Peter Wall activities as scaffold acceptable Exam -16th May[2 x 1.30 mins-same day]

Key websites.: 

Key websites. www.emap.com www.ipcmedia.com www.q4music.com www.nme.com www.thewire.co.uk www.kerrang.com www.smashhits.net www.mojo4music.com