Task 1 (NME and TOTP's)

Media

Lacey Dyke

Music magazines are popular because:

·         The articles with musicians

I think that the articles with musicians are a crucial part of the magazine being popular. In the music magazine NME the articles are very serious and seem to get to the point, however TOPT’s magazine is very cheesy and staged- this proves how different the target market is for the two magazines. NME featured Jake Bugg, his interview was talking constantly about his music and telling the NME audience what they want to hear such as ‘I'm keeping that X Factor s*** off the top spot'- Jake Bugg is talking just as he would to a friend, including swear words etc. Highlighting he does not care what people think of him he just want to get on with his music however TOTP’s magazine likes to make their guests seem very innocent. TOTP’s stared Little Mix, they were not asking anything about the girl music which was ironic due to it being a music magazine?! They talked about the girls make up tips and party ethics so it all seems very rehearsed.

It seems that the pictures shots are a big influence on the way that they are, in the NME magazine Jake was wearing his tracksuit jumper and signing into a microphone with his eyes closed whilst holding a guitar, as soon as his NME followers see this shot they would know how legit he is, he looks almost ‘lost in music’. I also like the fact that he has not bothered dressing up or trying too hard to impress anyone because it proves he does not feels as if anyone is there to see him, they only want to listen to his music. Whereas Little Mix are trying to look perfect, they are standing in a line posing to the camera looking very fake, this proves how TOTP’s wants to make their guests impress their readers and talk about irrelevant things to keep it very interesting- Little Mix won the X factor so they don’t have the best story to talk about their music carers which is why their interview is very simple whereas Jake Bugg was a self made artist who slates the X factor so his interview is much more interesting, this proves how versatile the audiences of the different magazines are- the TOTP’s readers want to know about the artists life whereas the NME readers want to know about the artist music.

I think that if I was to buy a magazine I would want to buy the magazine that talks about the star’s career not their life habits such as make up tips, therefore I would have bought the NME magazine, it is more legit and it seems to get more to the artist points such as their musical likes and dislikes.

Overall, NME is much more popular with an older audience (ignoring the swearing) it gets all of the information people really care about!  

MOCK EXAM MAGAZINE COVER

Taylor Swift review

 Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

At the age of fourteen Taylor tried to pursue a career in music. 

The release of  her album in 2006 established her as a country music star.

Taylor was born in December on a Christmas tree farm!
Taylor quoted: "My favorite thing in life is writing about life, specifically the parts of life concerning love. Because, as far as I'm concerned, love is absolutely everything"

Our song, her third single, made her the youngest person to highhandedly write and perform a number one song on the country chart. She received a best new artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Music has taken her all over the world, but the fans are the reason it's been so successful. For the last two years, I've been working on an album called Red. when Red came out, 'We are never getting back together' was a smash hit...

Colbie Caliat reveiw

Colbie Caillat 
Feeling Shows 

Colbie calliat is a pop singer who writes and sings how own songs.
 She plays the acoustic guitar during her own songs.
 The song ‘feeling shows’ is a slow song which has a relaxing, beach theme to it. Colbie published this song in 2007, it was part of the Coco album. The album was released on July 17, 2007 in the United States, debuting at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and selling 51,000 copies in the first week.
 Feeling shows is a song about someone she loves, she wants him to know how he makes her feel. I think that it was a popular song because so many people could relate to the lyrics. “Love is crazy” and “my feelings show” is the main message in this song which, like most songs about love, is what Colbie is really trying to get through!
Colbie fits into the genre of pop however, I think her songs have a much stronger message and meaning than most songs in the pop charts. She can relate to people on so many levels unlike other pop stars in the chart that sing about nothing relevant.
In my opinion I think Colbie is one of the most inspirational singer/ song writers!

Mock question 2

Lacey Dyke

Media

Evidence that Q appeals more to men

·         The front cover is mainly males, they use aggressive facial expressions not appealing to women

·         Black and white pictures are used, on a female magazine we expect it to be more colourful

·         The acts that are highlighted are all male singers such as George Michael and Damien rice being more appealing to males as interviewees.

·         Madonna will appeal to men more than women in this picture

·         She had used red lips and red nails to symbolise danger- which men will prefer than women

·         ‘The battle’ signifies fights and danger

·          ‘vs’ illustrates football which women usually find boring 

Evidences the Kerrang appeals to both genders

·         The caption talking about being ‘violet like pitbulls’ illustrates it’s a tough magazine

·         The red which is splat across the page looks like blood which is very aggressive demonstrating there was a fight etc.

·         The clown is very scary which will appeal to male and females who enjoy scary films

·         Competition is to win Motorhead wine, this will appeal to motor head’s audience which is mostly male

·         Kerrang is wrote out with thorns, being either pain worthy or aggressive

·         The image is not aggressive, it is of a hippie man smoking- this could appeal to either women who find him attractive of men due all of the brightly coloured mastheads and captions surrounding him

·         The ‘8 page pull out’ will be more beneficial to women because they can use it as posters, however the pictures are very hardcore and the caption is ‘hardcore holocaust’ which could be offensive to men and women?

Evidences that TOTPs appeals to females 

·         This magazine’s main attraction is Justin Bieber (most boys hate him and most girls love) this is why TOTP is mostly attractive for female audiences

·         The title is written in pink with curly bubble writing and white stars which is very pretty and girly

·         The ‘cheat look’ would be more appealing for females because they wear make up

·         There are ‘dating tips’, this would be more appealing to girls than boys

·         A main tagline on the front page highlights where to find ‘fit lads’ which means it will be female orientated

·         Cher Lloyd is very much a female singer, therefore females will want to know what she is up to