Major labels 2004–2008 (Big Four)

1. Warner Music Group
2. EMI
3. Sony BMG (Sony and BMG joint-venture)
4. Universal Music Group

Major labels since 2009 (Big Four)

1. Sony Music Entertainment
2. EMI Group
3. Warner Music Group
4. Universal Music Group

As of 2005, the "big four" music groups control about 70% of the world music market, and about 80% of the United States music market.

Record companies and music publishers that are not under the control of the big four are generally considered to be independent (indie), even if they are large corporations with complex structures. The term indie label is sometimes used to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to an arbitrary, ill-defined criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.

With the Internet now being a viable source for obtaining music, netlabels have emerged. Depending on the ideals of the net label, music files from the artists may be downloaded free of charge or for a fee that is paid via Paypal or an online payment system. Some of these labels also offer hard copy CDs in addition to direct download. Most net labels acknowledge the Creative Commonslicensing system thus reserving certain rights for the artist. Digital Labels are the latest version of a 'net' label. Whereas 'net' labels were started as a free site, digital labels seek to give the major record industry a real run for their money.

Elektra Records (Elektra Entertainment Group Inc.^[1]) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009. Elektra is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Finished :)

I have completed my media coursework :)
My blog is offically closed!

Bye bye :) x

Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I have learnt loads since I've started this music magazine. I've learnt loads about the magazine industry and how to attract your audience. You have to look at tasks like this from a profesional level and do everything you can at the highest quality to make it look great. I have progessed further in photo editing and making pages so they look attractive. Research is a benfical thing to do for it opens to eyes to what audiences like and what they don't like. My editing skills have improved and I know how to edit profesionally. I realise there are many programs avaiable for things like this and you can use almost anything to make it profesional.
Overall its been a great experiance, and I've enjoyed doing it. I've learnt new things and improved on skills I had before. I am very happy with my finished product. I am proud of it.

My proud work :) YAAY!

Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Having used a camera before to take pictures, I didn't learn more then I already knew. I just had to get the pictures done in the correct lighting so that they looked more profesional. I used publisher to make my pages, and again I had past experiance with it. So again, I had no trouble using that. But I used Piknic.com to edit my photos and I had never used that before. I learned how to edit my photos and how to use Piknic. I learned how to change the colours, make the lighting and contrast better, how to aibrush somebody and how to put text onto an image without it looking bad.  Its a really good photo edting website and I recommend it. I also used blogger for the first time. I had used polls on blogger and how to post things. I found it really easy to use and again I recommend it.  The photo below what I edited on piknic. I managed to put the person on the right in black and white and the other in colour. I was proud of it. Also I edited the contrast and brightness. I zoomed up to airbrush them too.

Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I tried to make my front cover as intreging as possible to attract my audience to my magazine. Its the first thing people look at when they pick up a magazine, so it has to be the most attractive thing. Looking at other magazines, I noticed the masthead was a outstanding colour mostly to others. So thats why I made my masthead red. I also thought it went with the black and white theme. I used the front cover picture to make the audience look more into his eyes. They are intense and it makes people wonder and interests them to look inside the magazine. I was told on audience feedback that it looked interesting and that they would buy it if it was being sold. Also I thought the title was attractive and funny. Like I said before its an urban term so thats how it appeals to my generation and target audience.

With the contents and doublepaged spread, I tried to use decent pictures and use different graphics so it attract the audience. I made the pictures so they look profesional and eye catching because black, white and red stand out. I thought using bright colours would make it look for a more younger audience.

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I want 16 - 20 year olds to read my magazine. I'm aiming particuly at college students, whom are more mature. Like I said in mytreatment sheet, Eargasm is for teenagers who like a mixture of music and don't follow a specific genre. Its a unisex magazine. I havn't tried to make it more femine or masculine, however I had only used men for the pictures because its a jazz music special and there are more male jazz artists than female. I used the black and white colours to symbalise the jazz music feel.

I'd only be charging £2.50 for my magazine so the audience would have to pay much for it. In my audience feedback they told me that its a good price.

Question 3.

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

The Bauer Media Group publish magazines like Q which I tried to make mine like, so I think they could publish something like my magazine. They publish Q, Mojo and Empire which are very succesful magazines. They have the most sold magazines so far in the UK and thats why I'd choose them to publish my magazine. I researchedc the figures and they are currently the top, Empire magazine being number 1 and Mojo being 2nd and Q being 3rd.They also Kerrang which is a rock magazine that isn't as popular but alot of teenagers read it. My magazine doensn't just focus on one genre but it does contain some. They also run their own music channels so they'd advertise my magazine on televsion too. I'd want my magazine to be sold in Newsagents, Supermarkets and music shops just like any other magazine. Places where people would see them and want to buy them. The publishers Future publish Classic Rock magazine which is popular among older audiences so I wouldn't want them to publish my magazine thats for younger adults.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?


When making my magazine I wanted to do something that any teenager could like. I took inspiration from magazines like Q and Rolling Stone that feature many artists and bands from different genres. I think teenagers should have open minds when it comes to music and giving them a magazine that has a mixture so they can discover new music. Thats why I displayed different artists on the front cover.
I wanted to present a jazz kind of music like Michael Buble who is popular with young adults these days. Plus I didn't want to represent a sterotyped teenager who is only into rock music or pop music. I used black, white and red to give it that smooth edge and profesional look so my target audience would think so. I thought the red masthead would attract the audience and make the name stand out. As for the title "Eargasm"  I thought teenagers would like it because its an urban term for the pleasure you get from music and they'd think it was humourous. I got loads of feedback from my target audience saying how they liked that I tried to make it look profesional and that they'd actually buy it if it was in a shop. They said they liked the red masthead because it looks attractive. On my doublepaged spread they said they liked the picture because again it looks profesional and good quality and thats what they want to see. They commented on the theme saying its different and interesting.
Thats what I tried to do and I think it worked. I used a language thats not slang but formal enough for a young adults magazine. I wanted it to be as profesional as I could make it. Also, I tried to limit my text and pictures so that they're could be an equal amount because everyone gets bored with just plain old text so I tried to make it more attractive to look at by adding some images but also some text graphics so that its not boring.

 

   My audience feedback said they liked the name of the magazine and that its creative.

Evaluation :)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I have answered this question on the pictures displayed here. This includes what should be displayed on a front cover, contents page and double paged spread.

Many of the ingrediants I have mentioned in the answers here I have displayed in my magazine. I tried to make it as attractive and profesional as I could make it. I used many of the traditional conventions but also some of my own like adding the name of them magazine in the corners of my pages.

Audience Feedback.

What do you think of the magazine?
( from different people)

•  I like the red,black and white colour scheme.
• Good font, its bold and stands out.
• Creative Name
• Images go well with the theme.
• Interview on doublepaged spread makes it look profesional.
• Quotes go well with the pictures.
• Looks profesional
• Good use of masthead
• Good quality pictures
• Is full but it doesn't look cluttered or messy.

Do you like what it looks like>

• Really good design and it looks profesional.
• Looks like an actual magazine.

Any improvements?

• Maybe add some more colours
• Bit more contents on the front cover.

Would you buy this magazine and why?

•  Yes, the design is eye catching and good.
• Yes looks interesting and different. It doesn't look like an average magazine. The price is good and its all good quality.

My Final Pages :)

Feel free to comment :)
I'm really happy with them!

Treatment

Magazine : Eargasm


Target Readership
Eargasm is made for more young adult audiences from 16- 20 year olds and is a mixed genre music magazine. Its for teenagers who don't follow a specific genre of music and usually buy the magazine from whos on the front cover and what the main article is about. The cost of the magazine is £2.50 so its not very expensive and is only published once a month. So teenagers won't be going out of there depth to pay for it. Each issue will have a different artist or band featuring on the front cover and another group of bands or artists that also feature inside. Also it every so often it have will  a specific genre special e.g Jazz special or Rock special but will also contain the regular articles and review sections. Eargasm is also there to open your eyes to current artists and bands and to find out more about them and let you have open views on other kinds of music. It will give you an opportunity to discover new and upcoming music or respect other  genre's that might not be your taste. Its for older teenagers, its for a unisex audience and its expected to not be prejudice people. Its an easy magazine to follow and is seen to be good help for audiences who like all kinds of music.


Form and Style
Eargasm is an A4 sized magazine, with red,black, white and grey colours but can be varied depending on which issue and special it is. It contains new music, current artists, band and artist interviews, reviews of music videos, dvds and albums. Quizzes, Competitions and regular 5 favourite things columns etc. The cover contains the main featured band or artist and use the complimentary colours from which the artist or band are like e.g. Luke Evans is a jazz musician so they'd use black, red and white to represent the jazz music. Cover lines will tell you who the artist is, will tell you who else is featured in the magazine and possibly what competitions are inside for you. They will be represented with eye catching colours so you don't miss it. The quality will be high-standard and the paper will also feel a good. The graphics will look excellent and photo edits also. It will overall be very eye catching. 


Themes and Typical features
There will be different themes every issue for Eargasm readers to give them the opportunity to  open-minded about different kinds of music there is out there. Every month a variety of music band and artists will be chosen to feature in the issue and sometimes there is going to be a special e.g. Metal special or Pop special. Also there could even be tribute magazines to late artists or specific people e.g. Michael Jackson or Kurt Cobain. Or possibly extremely successful artists e.g. Madonna or My Chemical Romance. Each issue will contain an exclusive interview that shows personal aspects to the featuring band or artist and some simple questions about there life and story. Eargasm offers also reviews on albums, dvd's and music videos that will be a regular article. You may also sometimes get free posters, stickers or CD's too. There will be no slang language but Eargasm will use a language that everybody can understand and will be fun to read and possibly educational, depending on the circumstance. The articles will sometimes be formal and mostly informal for the interviews.


Potential Advertisements 
Music CD's and live events will be published within the magazine as an advertisement. Eargasm will also advertise hair products e.g. Hugo Boss Hair or Herbal Essences. We'll also advertise televison products like Sky etc. Possibly holiday deals like Thompson holidays or virgin etc. But mostly advertisements will be music based for we want to keep the main theme current as possible. We'll use clothing products too like River Island or Republic too.


Editorial Team
All the editorial team will be experienced writers and will have the qualifications to do so. They're able to write in a language that most people can understand and can contribute ideas on how to make them magazine better. The team will be men and women can will age around 20- 30. They are all expected to receive as much information on Artists and bands as possible for your entertainment. Each team member will also listen to your ideas and questions to improve on quality and what you expect from us.

My photoshoot pictures :)

These pictures are for my  magazine :) Thank you Luke Evans, Jim Mann, Sam Mann and Owen Dolloway for posing for me! :)

Colour Analysis

My magazine is a mixture of genre, so there isn't a particular colour I had in mind.Then after researching "Q" magazine, I noticed they use alot of white, red, grey and black colours. So after looking at my magazine idea, considering it has alot of Jazz musicians in it I thought using black, white and red would be perfect. Red is a primary colour, so it doesn't go well with secondarys like green or blue, however it mixes well with white and black. I also think it gives the magazine a sophisticated look and would attract a more mature teenage audience who are into a variety of music instead of following one type.These colours are complimentary and go well together. If I used brighter colours like pink or yellow, the audience may think its for younger children or if I used purple and black it maybe a particular genre of music. So, overall I'll be using white and red, and mainly black text so it goes well with the white. Using the red for my masthead would make it stand out better against the black and white.

Reasearch and Readership Figures

Name of Magazine:        Published By:    (percentages represent year-on-year change)

1	Empire	Bauer Media	179,064	-7.8%	-7.7%
2	Mojo	Bauer Media	91,678	-6.9%	-6.2%
3	Q	Bauer Media	89,450	-5.7%	-10.7%
4	Total Film	Future	76,088	-6.1%	-10.5%
5	Uncut	IPC	74,067	-1.9%	-3.2%
6	Classic Rock	Future	70,323	-1.3%	0.0%
7	Metal Hammer	Future	44,034	5.4%	-4.3%
8	Kerrang!	Bauer Media	44,013	7.0%	-1.8%
9	New Musical Express	IPC	33,875	-12.0%	-17.3%

Looking at these figures Empire seems to have the most buyers and more people read it.  Empire however is a well established film magazine. There aren't any other many competitors like Music magazines, you get much more of a vairety.Mojo and Q are also very high in figures. New Musical Express seems to be the lesss successful then others. 
Magazines published by Bauer Media seem to be the most popular, except for Kerrang Magazine. This maybe because the others like "Q" and "Mojo"  are a mixed variety of music for possibly older audiences , yet Kerrang is for more teenage rock and metal music fans. 


I found this information on: http://www.mediaweek.co.uk

Origin of Eargasm.

I decided to name my magazine eargasm due to the pleasure in which people have listening to music. In these modern times the term Eargasm basically means the pleasure out of listening to music, so I thought it would be a great name to attract my target audience and also for humour purposes for it can be assosiated with other terms, which I'm not going to say!!
Overall, I thought it would be perfect for a music magazine name.

Magazine Cover :)

 This is my final front cover :D

I decided to put my masthead with red instead of black to make it stand out more, plus I thought it needed more colour then just plain old back and white. I didn't want to put much on the front cover because I wanted the reader to look more into Luke's eyes and see the intensisty, attracting people to buy the magazine. Also, I spaced out the "Plus..." and the list of other artists within the magazine so it didn't look too busy and clammed together. I also thought it made it look neat.

My Magazine Name and Font.

I am calling my magazine Eargasm.

This is the style of font I will be using for it (the top image).
I decided to use a less bolder font because I didn't want the audience thinking that was the only important thing on the front of the magazine. I liked how the R was a captial too. Overall I liked how smart it looked and neat.

Double Paged Spread Drafts

1.

These are my two double paged spread designs. Both of them are mainly picture based but also have an interview from the featured band on them. I think images work effectivly.

2.

Contents Drafts

These are my two contents drafts.

I aim to use loads of images in them and some text. I want to make them colourful but to a colour scheme so that they don't look too busy. 

Front Cover Design

My front covers I have designed. I want to use one main big image and possibly some small ones. Also some big titles and articles to make them look eyecatching. Also some nice warm colours but not to many so it doesn't look too busy.

Pleaseeeeee fill in ;D

What genre of music are you into?

• Country
• Jazz Buble style ;)
• Pop
• Rock
• Indie

How often would you like to buy a music magazine?

• Weekly
• Fortnightly
• Monthly

How much would you pay for the magazine?

• £0.00 - £1
• £1 - £2
• £2- £3
• £3 - £4
• £4 - £5

What free gifts would you like in a magazine?

• Posters
• CD's
• Another Magazine
• Stickers
• Badges

What colour scheme do you think I should use?

• Black, Red, White
• Cooler colours are green, violet, light blue, etc.
• Warm Colours : orange, yellow, and red-orange
•  Neutrals, such as beige, brown, and grey.
• Other

What would you like to see in a music magazine? 
Please Specify.

• Band and Artist information
• Gig Information
• Upcoming Bands
• New Singles and Albums
• Charts
• Festival Information
• Competitions
• Other?

Textual Analysis - Double Paged Spread - Q

This is a double paged spread. Its from Q magazine.
   They have stuck to a very simple layout. This spread mainly consists of photos, they take up most of the room. The text underneath the photographs are just brief descriptions of who is in the photo and where and who it was taken by. All of these artists feature in this particular issue.
   The trademark red banner is across the top of the pages, that always there in Q magazine. The title on the left page at the top is written in big bold letters so its eye catching to the readers "Access all Areas"  kind of lets the reader think that they are getting information specially. "Behind the scenes awards special"  is written smaller, just underneath the title. This again may be information that isn't usually shared, so it makes it look even more special. "This is showbuisiness, not show friends"  could show the audience the seriousness of showbuisness and that its not always fun?
  There is a plain white background to make the images stand out more. Then the Q logo is in the corner of the top right hand corner.

Textual Analysis - Contents Page - Q

This contents page is divided into 4 sections. Features, The Songwriters, Every month and review. Each section is displayed differently to make them stand out. Features and Every month have a red background with white writing, and Songwriter has a blue background with white writing. Q Review is written in bold big writing, almost to make it stand out more, suggesting its more important than the other sections. Its a very simple page, nothing is to complex.

  Contents is written across the top in huge black capitals and definatly stands out. Its to show what the page is about and is displayed clearly.

 They display 4 pictures, the main one is of "Girls Aloud" which takes up most of the page. This could represent that they are the main article in the magazine. Then there are other images of over artists which give the audience another clue of who is featuring in the magazine.
  Under each section has brief descriptions of what is in that section.
  Q have used a rather busy contents page due to the variety of different images and colours. They usually stick to very simple layouts.

Textual Analysis - Rolling Stone

This is Rolling Stone magazine. Its usually based in the U.S.A and it focus's on music, politics and culture. There's an issue every fortnight. It is published by Jann Wenner. Rolling Stone isn't aimed at any specific audience, for they feature many different artists. The origin of the name isn't known, but its suggest it comes from alot of songs e.g Bob Dylans "Like a rolling stone".

     Rolling Stone feature mainly music artists on their front covers but they have been known to use famous tv shows or actors as well. 

  Its imported from America, and is only sold in major cities e.g. London, Birmingham. 

Masthead

   Rolling Stone has a trademark masthead. It could symbalise the continueing flow of music. The font is very classic and the R is longer then the other letters. This could also shows its retro, and features more classic bands.

The big image of Eminem, I think is very effective. It attracts the readers to buy it because its a very dark image of Eminem and would interest people to know what its about.

Textual Analysis - Contents Page - Big Cheese

The name of the magazine "The Big Cheese" is displayed on the top left hand corner, with the issue number beneath it.This gives a sense of brand identity. Underneath you get given the names of the people who work on the magazine e.g. Editor , Photographers. Their names are written in white and their contact details are written in blue. In red writing you get given an Address. Then at the bottom in white there is a billing address and information. All this information is displayed down the left hand side of the page. The black background makes the text stand out more and people would look at more.   Then next to this there is a letter from the editor, which most magazines display on the first page, discussing and talking about what is in the issue. But however its suprising they haven't included a picture of the editor, like other magazines.Again this is written in white text to make it stand out infront of a black background. The majority of the background on this page is white. Most of the colours are more themed with the kind of magazine being a "Rock Magazine". Beside the editors letter is the actual contents, which is written in red and doesn't clash with the background. Then theirs a heading above it that says Regulars which shows what regular things they publish in the magazine.You can see it clearly. It doesn't look that neat but that works effectivley again with the type of magazine it is, with the roughness.

Then you get given a picture of "Ozzy Osbourne"  at the bottom with a page number, so if you're interested where the picture is from you can go directly to that page. The picture however takes up most of the space on the page.

  This contents page is divided into 3 sections. But the actual contents seems a litte small, so it could suggest another contents page somewhere.

Textual Analysis - Cover - Q Magazine

This is Q Magazine, published by Bauer Media Group - the same publishers has Kerrang Magazine. They seem to publish a variety of different magazines, but for different audiences. This may be to attract a wider range of people. Q magazine looks more expensive and feels more expensive than others such like Kerrang. Q display more "shocking" and "eccentric" images on their covers which differ from Kerrangs simple band images. Kerrange magazine uses a more cheaper feeling material for their magazines,yet Q uses a more expensive and nicer material. You'd want to keep a Q magazine more than a Kerrang one due to its condition and vintage images.

The Banner across the top " The UK's biggest music magazine" would attract the audiences to buying it.

The image of Lady GaGa is very eye catching and quite shocking. It would attract an audience to buy the magazine, paticulary Lady Gaga fans. The overlaping text of "Lady Gaga" is to tell the readers that she is featuring in it.  Its striking and interesting.

The different artists that feature in this issue, have their names written in bold text on the right hand side and this shows Q uses more than one artist, and Jimi Hendrix being written in the boldest would allure the audiences because he's a classic rock artist.

The colour scheme seems to be the same every issue.They alway use a grey background. They use white fonts on the main artist "Lady Gaga" to emerge audiences. Where it says "100 most shocking artists" they elaberate on the "shocking" by again making it stand out with a white background and bold red writing.

Textual Analysis - Kerrang Magazine

This magazine is called "Kerrang". Its the worlds best selling rock music magazine. Kerrang! is a rock music magazine published by Bauer Consumer Media in the United Kingdom.The word Kerrang, sounds like the strum of a guitar, so it uses onomatopoeia. It relates to the theme of the magazine, being a rock music magazine.

  

Masthead

  The title - Kerrang - is to identify the name of the magazine. Every magazine must have one to do so. Its done in big white capitals, and its really eye catching. Visually, it reflects again the idea of guitars and rock music with the black lines possibly representing cracks and the music being so loud, it smashes it. Kerrang's slogan is also "Life is loud" so it represents that as well. I really like the Masthead because I think its really eye catching and is appealing to the magazine. The white font makes it stand out.

Image

  Kerrang every week, publishes an issue with a different Artist or Band on the front cover. In this particular issue, its of 30 Seconds to Mars's front man "Jared Leto". There is also a banner to support the image saying "30 Seconds to mars"  which tells the audience what the main article in the magazine is about and who's on the front cover. Jared's hands are in the way of the Banner, so the text isn't spread across the magazine, so it looks like its in the way on purpose. The main image of Jared Leto is anchored with the sub-texts " I could be your worse enemy"  "Jared Leto's Dark Side". The image is a mid shot, and shows body language, his fist in his hand, and his facial expression which is quite aggressive. This intrigues the audience to find out more about Jared Leto, persuading them to buy the magazine.

There are other images of the free posters you'd recieve in the magazine, and this could attract audiences. It says "Black Metal Poster Special" which could appeal to more older audiences?

 

My Music Magazine Comparison :)

Sorry if you can't read it :(

Things to do List!!!!

This is my action plan for my Music Magazine task:

• Do my comparison of magazines
• My textual analysis of 3 covers, 2 contents pages and 1 double page spread
• Conduct my audience questionnaire
• Conduct internet research into institutions and reader ship figures
• Carry on my internet research into institutions and reader ship figures
• Create colour analysis, font analysis and a treatment sheet
• Carry out  my photoshoot and interviews and put the photos on my drafts
• Create my final front cover, contents page and double page spread
• Get my audience feedback Create my evaluation