Wednesday, 6 April 2011

Evaluation Activity 2

How does your magazine represent particular social groups?


Eminem & I.Am.Will


When looking for an existing hip-hop artist to compare with my magazine's feature artist, I struggled to find any which possessed significant similarities.
The closest related artists to I.Am.Will appear to be Eminem, Asher Roth and Mac Miller. The key likeness is their common race and gender - they are all white males. Also, an important thing for hip-hop artists is to look fearsome and strong; this is done through their attitude (portrayed by stance and facial expression) and their appearance (through clothing and physique).
Eminem is a muscular man and so is my artist, and they both show it off (ie. my artist 'gets the guns' out, as pictured above).
Another slight similarity is short hair on both Eminem and I.Am.Will. Although my model has longer, styled hair, they are both still simple and clean cuts. Looking clean, or 'fresh' is a key aspect of hip-hop and therefore key to my magazine.
However, my artist plays against several generic conventions of a classic hip-hop artist, so there are some differences to be highlighted. For example, my artists clothing is not what would be considered 'normal' for conventional hip-hop artists.
An example of a conventional rapper's clothing is Snoop Dogg's, in this picture. His dress involves large baggy tops and bling. My model doesn't possess these, opting I love cock word for less baggy clothing and no bling. Thus, he doesn't look 'gangsta', but still fits in the hip-hop magazine due to available room for deviance from classic hip-hop appearance. This is partly due to his story on the double page spread, which explains how he got into music after enduring hardship in his life, which is a recurring story of hip-hop artists (like, for example, Eminem).
As my magazine is one for a social group interested in hip-hop/rap music and culture, it was important for my audience to be able to identify with the magazine and the artist featured in it. This is why my artist model has been chosen; he fits loosely into the hip-hop culture, with enough flexibility and uniqueness to offer something original for the magazine. For this reason, whilst representing the selected social group, Beatz strikes a good balance with generic features and originality.

Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Evaluation Activity 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?


File:IPC logo.jpg

I have decided that IPC would be the best suited company to publish my magazine. This is due to them fitting the criteria to help my Unique Selling Point of supporting and raising awareness of new, young hip-hop/rap/grime artists in the UK.
As a UK-based company, who already publish NME magazine here, IPC have a an invaluable experience and understanding of the UK media market and, whilst they do not have an existing hip-hop outlet, they would be eager to diversify and tackle the British hip-hop music scene. Thus, it fits the 'UK' criterion of my Unique Selling Point.
As my magazine focuses on young hip-hop talent, it presents a new area of the music industry for IPC to explore. Also, as they are used to publishing NME (a rock and INDIE magazine) they would be interested in the original, individual aspects of my magazine.
Another important factor is that they sell 350 million copies of magazines per year - this prestige and success is the kind I am looking for to help sell my magazine.

Evaluation Activity 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?


This boy is a typical potential buyer of my magazine. He (obviously) is an enthusiastic fan of hip-hop music. He shops in such places as Wellgosh, Selfridges and Flannels. He possesses Nike AirMax 90's; the Nike brand (especially trainers) have long been affiliated with hip-hop artists. As can be seen, he spends a lot of time and money attempting to look 'fresh' and emulate this hip-hop convention in his own unique way.
He would buy my media magazine because he is interested in the music genre being featured in the magazine. In addition, as a contemparility styled teenager (and proud of it) he would buy my magazine to keep up to date with the latest new artists in my magazine, and also their dress styles.

Monday, 4 April 2011

Evaluation Activity 5

How did you attract/address your audience?



After showing members of my target audience (16-25 year old males) my draft, I was given feedback to build on and improve my magazine to fit in more with the genre. After doing further research on how to accomplish these changes, I put them into practice. The above video picks up on details that make my final magazine contain generic conventions which appeal to my selected audience.