NEA Task 3 : How Does 'The Wire' Magazine's Front Cover Appeal To Audiences?

 

Research Task Two : Independent Music Magazines

Independent magazines are magazines that are produced without the financial support of a large company to help with production and distribution costs. They are often free to explore more niche topics and themes without interference. There are many differences between mainstream and independently published magazines. For example, mainstream magazines feature many advertisements from large brands as they rely on selling advertisement spaces to guarantee profit, however, independently published magazines focus less on advertisements and instead rely on physical and online sales to make profits. Additionally, whilst many mainstream magazines are published weekly or monthly, independent magazines have much less funding so are generally published a lot less, with some being published only bi-annually, this means that independent magazines can't focus on more time-sensitive topics as, by the time they are released, the story will most likely be outdated and audiences won't be interested in reading about it so it will make less profit. 

One example of an independent magazine is The Wire. They are a music magazine, focusing on a range of experimental and non-mainstream genres. The Wire was founded in 1982 and was owned by Namara, a small, independent media company, until 2000 when it was purchased through a worker's buyout by it's then six full time staff. Since its inception, The Wire's circulation has ranged from 7,000 to 20,000 a month. The magazine costs around £7 and is targeted at music enthusiasts under 25 who are interested in experimental genres and up-and-coming artists. Their focus is on "investigating music's past, as well as it's present and future".

Another independent music magazine is RnR. They were founded in 1988 and were originally called Rock and Reel. They focus on many genres of music including roots, rock, folk, singer-songwriter, blues and country. Originally, RnR began as a fanzine but relaunched in 2007 as an A4, full-colour, glossy magazine, it's currently published bi-monthly. They aim to offer an unbiased view of music and pride themselves on being "neither a fickle follower of musical fashion nor a mere major label mouthpiece". Generally, issues of the magazine contain festival news, CD and DVD release dates, interviews and artist updates, also, many copies come with an exclusive CD featuring the artists mentioned in the issue, called 'UN-HERD', this encourages audiences to spend money on the magazine, which costs around £6.50, as it also comes with this CD. They are targeted at people who are very interested and educated in the specific music genres they cover.

Research Task One : How has the UK consumer magazine industry evolved?

The magazine industry in the UK has been in decline over the years due to most consumers shifting to online platforms and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many magazines have had to compete with digital platforms, such as Instagram, where consumers can satisfy their interests for many subjects, like fashion or music, in one place, which can't be offered by most magazines. However, news and current affairs magazines haven't been as impacted by the shift to online sources as many consumers prefer to get their information from a trusted source, which might not be available online.

Additionally, the magazine industry has been affected by a fall in print advertising revenue, which has led to circulation rates falling. Audiences now mainly interact with magazines on social media or their websites rather than buying print copies. For example, in 2000, 1.6 billion magazines were in circulation, however in 2021, this fell to 565 million. This is because magazine companies are making less revenue from print sales so have to reduce production and distribution costs to make enough profit.

Overall, men's magazines and music magazines have been some of the most affected types with the Audit Bureau of Circulation finding that the circulation of men's magazines has fallen by 89% (32.3 million to 3.6 million) in four years, whilst, in contrast, news and current affairs magazines have actually risen in circulation as consumers prefer to read from trusted sources which might be hard to find on the internet due to the oversupply of information.

Set Brief

  INSTRUCTIONS

I have been given a set brief for my NEA

My NEA must not reproduce an existing media product.

I must work individually on my NEA but others may act in or appear in the production and/or may operate lighting, sound, recording or other equipment under my direction.

My NEA must only use original footage, images and/or text within my production. I must not use any found images in my NEA production

SET BRIEF : Magazines and online

Requirements of the brief

You work for an independent media production company. You have been given the task of producing the front cover and contents page of the first two editions of a new music magazine that is being launched by an independent publisher and two pages for the working website for the magazine.

The web pages must promote the new magazine to its target audience and enable fans to interact with the content.

Summary of brief requirements:

• Statement of Intent (approx. 500 words)

• Music magazine covers and contents pages: Two pages for each of the first two editions.

• Magazine distribution method: Content must be suitable for retail distribution.

• Number of web pages: One homepage and one linked page.

• Cross media production target audience: A primarily 16–25 year old middle market audience that likes to be entertained.

There must be a clear sense of branding across the two elements of the cross-media production.