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Inspired from the east coast music movement, 'Beast Coast' which features various groups and artists who represent its urban hip-hop music. This can help to see what my artists for my magazine should be wearing, the way they pose and display expression etc.

Artist Case Study

Joey Bada$$

He was born on January 20, 1995. He is an independent hip-hop artist from the city of New York. He is one of the founders of his group "Pro Era", he debuted his first mix-tape back in 2012 which was called '1999'. He was highly recognized for and his fan base has grown since, now he is presently making his new album B4.Da.$$ which is due to release in 2014. Ever since uploading his music on YouTube it has helped to become one of the iconic rappers you don't normally see. He is more of a rookie in the hip-hop game as he is still young and is presently the age of 19/20. He has associated with other rappers in his area of New York, which is the Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers etc. He has told record labels he would not sign to a major record label, as during the year of the coming end of 2012, his best friend and member of Pro Era Capital Steez had passed away. He has been featured on other track with big names in the Hip-Hop genre, such as Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky etc.

Joey's first mix-tape - 1999

Joey's second mix-tape - Summer Knight$

Research - Hip-hop genre

Audience Research - Questionnaire Results

Audience research results from JET1011

My target audience was the age of 15-21, almost my range of audience I wanted was teenagers as the Hip-Hop genre apply to the young and not adults. Looking at the research I have done, most of the people voted that my magazine should have the color scheme of black, white and red. Red seems more of a masculine color and this was picked because there were mostly males undertaking the questionnaire. This helps to decide that I should use main colors which other hip-hop magazines use which also, other colors such as gold, white etc. To appeal more to my audience I must do what the public like, so the people have picked one of the cheaper prices for a magazine, £3.00-3.99. Customers are more likely to buy a cheaper and good quality music magazine that appeal to them. I am now certain that the name of my magazine 'Central' will be appropriate with the genre I am doing. 

For the gender of artist to be on my contents page, 4 people had voted for mostly males, 1 had voted female and 3 others voted for both genders. What this results show is that the majority of people who took in my questionnaire were mainly male, that my magazine should consist of male hip-hop artists because it is the gender found in the magazine. 

With my question 'do you prefer a magazine front cover with a lot of sell-lines or a few?' 75% had voted for a lot of sell lines. This means that my magazine will sell if my magazine were to contain sell-lines which consumer, 

Music Magazine - Planning Sheet

What genre of music will your magazine cover? 
I will cover the genre of Hip-hop, as its culture is well known to our age audience.

Who is the target audience? How old are they? Where do they live? What are their interests? 
It will be aimed at a young audience, the ages of 16+ including both genders and the ages of people in there early 20's. Mostly young men will interested in new artists and to follow the latest trend. It could be anybody of this age found in the city of London, people more interested in America's hip-hop.

What is the name of your magazine? Why? Connotations?
The name of my magazine will be called 'Central', as Hip-hop started in the south Bronx and started the urban movement into a culture for many. I will make it focus on east coast music genre, mainly as it isn't well known enough.

What will your masthead look like? Do you have any ideas for fonts?
The font will be bold which will be visible for the readers, the colour will be in a gold plated or even purple/green as it can relate to the hip-hop culture, gold chains and money or simply old hip-hop.

What will be the focal image for your front cover and why?
The main artist in the middle of the front cover so he/she will be the centre of attention.

What photography will be required? Give details of shot type, angle and composition?
It is a mid shot to show the main artists attire which will be taken at an normal angle framed around he or she. The photography will be from a high quality camera which can be a DSLR.

What mise en scene will be required? Location? Clothing? Make up? Lighting? Use of colour? 
There will be a plain background either black or white which is one of the colours that dominate most backgrounds in hip-hop magazines. The clothing will be like the latest trend that most hip-hop artists wear such as A$AP Rocky or Joey Bada$$. The lighting will be shining down and focused on him.

What would be your sell lines? How will you entice your target audience?
Sell lines will include other news and upcoming artists, including their life story, journey or interviews with them. With having other artists audience will want more content rather than just one main artist that won't appeal to everyone in my audience.

What items and feature articles would you need on your contents page?
Some features that will be needed will be exclusive content such as interviews or pictures of different artists or items related to hip-hop. A live performance and or a competition that readers will want to enter to get free tickets.

What is the focus of your double page spread?
It will be about the main artist, on his recent interviews and reviews on his or her music. I want my main artist to be the main focus of the magazine.

What photography will be required for the double page spread?
It will be on the main artist who will cover or stand out on the pages of my contents. It will also feature other artists in the background to show that my magazine contains a lot of content for the reader.

Music Magazine case study analysis

Front cover magazine analysis