Music Magazine, Double Page Spread Attempt 4 (Right Handside)

I have now edited my right hand side of my double page spread a lot compared to how it used to look.

Compared to my other attempt this one has a white background rather than a light cream colour. I wanted to again see what the difference was with having plain white rather than a subtle colour.

I started off by resizing the image and making it a lot smaller, leaving in room to add a small border and page number. I took this decison so that it could relate to my other double page spread and it was also important to make sure that I had a page number in there so the reader knew what page they are on. Also adding the border with a background colour makes the 2 double pages consistent, so you know that they do go together.

I put a glow around the artist in the image because I want people to know he is special and he has been classed as "Norfolk's Saviour" so the glow adds to the aspect of him being important.

I levelled the whole image as I realised that I had a red filter over the image because of the original camera settings and this image is as natural as it would be to the human eye.

I used the font Underground Between for the quote as it is very easy to make

out and gets the audience's attention. I made the piece of text at the bottom a lot smaller due to the fact that it is less signifcant information.

I chose to put the page number on the inside of the page because it is unconventional, this way people know that my magazine is slightly different to others and trying to get noticed, even if it is with small details. Another reason is that page numbers are what people often look for and if they don't want to read an article they won't by simply skipping the page number. Having the page number near the spine means that people have to look in on the article to see what page it is meaning there is a higher chance the article will be read.

Music Magazine, Double Page Spread Attempt 3 (Right Hand side)

I have now edited my right hand side of my double page spread a lot compared to how it used to look.

Compared to my other attempt this one has a cream coloured background to help make the image stand out to the audience. The background colour is a near shade to the artist's skin tone which links the background colour and the image effectively.

I started off by resizing the image and making it a lot smaller, leaving in room to add a small border and page number. I took this decison so that it could relate to my other double page spread and it was also important to make sure that I had a page number in there so the reader knew what page they are on. Also adding the border with a background colour makes the 2 double pages consistent, so you know that they do go together.

I put a glow around the artist in the image because I want people to know he is special and he has been classed as "Norfolk's Saviour" so the glow adds to the aspect of him being important.

I levelled the whole image as I realised that I had a red filter over the image because of the original camera settings and this image is as natural as it would be to the human eye.

I used the font Underground Between for the quote as it is very easy to make out and gets the audience's attention. I made the piece of text at the bottom a lot smaller due to the fact that it is less signifcant information.

I chose to put the page number on the inside of the page because it is unconventional, this way people know that my magazine is slightly different to others and trying to get noticed, even if it is with small details. Another reason is that page numbers are what people often look for and if they don't want to read an article they won't by simply skipping the page number. Having the page number near the spine means that people have to look in on the article to see what page it is meaning there is a higher chance the article will be read.

Music Magazine, Contents Page Attempt 1

This is one of the 2 versions of my contents. I have a light cream colour. I don't personally know if this will work, my feedback will be a help about whether to use this or a white background.

I feel I have kept to the basic layout as that was good to begin with. I have put a main image in the middle of the page which is my cover story as this is very important.

I used this background colour to help enhance the text on the page and it matches one of my options for a double page spread. The colour is different to any colour on the text or images so this means that it is effective at making everything else stand out on the page.

The fonts I used I think work well for a contents page. The title is with the font Old Newspaper Types which is bolder than other fonts so you know it's the heading on the page. The other 2 fonts I have used all seem to work well. I used tom's handwritten new, for quotes so you can distinguish between the fonts and as it seems like it's handwriting font which can connote the artists' own words as it is a quote from them. Lastly, Arial Rounded MT Bold is used for the text body in the small bits under the artist pictures, this is a simplistic font as it is own a bit of background information and isn't too important.

In the bottom corner I have an advert, in NME magazine they have an advert to promote subscriptions to their magazines but I chose to have an advert for a University open day as for the age range this magazine is aimed at it is more suited than a subscription.

The images I used are the same size except for the one in the middle. The middle image is my cover story so I want that to have more exposure than the other images as I want more people to read this. The images in contrast to the text are colourful as they need to be more eye catching because they relate to the more important stories in the magazine. The page numbers they are on are written in Premier League as these are bold numbers and eye catching. In a white box they stand out well so you only really see the image and page number, the 2 most important things.

With the main image I chose only to put a quote rather than any other information as it is a teaser like my front cover so if you want to find out more about the mysterious man you have to turn to page 19 to read the article.

I chose not to put an actual page number on my contents as in my research I discovered that magazines differ from whether they use one or not and I felt mine would suit not having one.

Music Magazine, Front Cover 3rd Attempt

From my first attempt I have not changed the front cover too much. I have kept the image as it was though editing the colour slightly by levelling it as it had a red filter over it which came from the camera I had used.

I have mainly changed the stories on the front of my magazine cover and the positions of them to try to make things seem more set out. Stories on the right hand side are aligned to the right where the left hand side is aligned to the left. I removed one story on the cover about the artist in the picture and substituted it for a headline above the masthead. This is in the center of the magazine and is eye catching. It is like the iamge and is only a teaser as you don't know much about the artist in the picture from the front cover.

With the image I put a glow around the artist. This is because a glow is often associated with an angel and the artist has his arms out like a religious figure so adding the glow makes him seem like a 'saviour' and also makes the audience know he is important. I have also added a shadown to the bottom of the artist to make the image seem less photoshopped than it orignally appeared before. There is only a small amount of grass around the artist and it is hardly sprouting up, this simplises new life and a new beginning for the artist.

I have kept the masthead font as Hard Rock but have changed the font at the bottom to Fucked Plate. Both of these fonts are inkeeping with the cover and also the hard rock theme of the magazine. The stroke around the Fucked Plate font is blue and it is hard to make out in comparison to the other fonts. I wanted it to remain blue because the image is on a cliff near the sea so the blue defines the sea of Norfolk. It also means people spend longer looking at the font trying to work out what it says, meaning they take an interest in your magazine and there could be a higher chance of them buying it.

Compared to my other attempt the difference with this one is that the artist is more central on the cover. In comparison with the new headline he is pretty mcuh in alignment which means your eyes are drawn in to both the artist and the headline.

Music Magazine, Uprising Final Masterhead design

I chose to use Hard Rock as the font for my Uprising Masthead. I chose this font because it keeps in tone with the magazine's type of music genre audience. The font itself is quite easy to make out when at a large size, which being one of the main features on my cover is definitely going to be large. Some parts of the letters are missing which works well because often in the rock world it is not all glitz and glamour, it is not always 100% which this title is not. This means that relates to the niche market of rock fans it is aimed at, it won't be appealing so much to a classical music fan.

The reason I chose a dark blue stroke behind the masthead is that the cover's main image is set on Old Hunstanton cliffs which are by the coast. With the main article being around a returning artist to the area I felt making it blue would symbolise the sea, because the image of the sea on the cover is in black and white.

I think this is effective and appealing.

Music Magazine, Front Cover 2nd Attempt

From my first attempt I have not changed the front cover too much. I have kept the image as it was though editing the colour slightly by levelling it as it had a red filter over it which came from the camera I had used.

I have mainly changed the stories on the front of my magazine cover and the positions of them to try to make things seem more set out. Stories on the right hand side are aligned to the right where the left hand side is aligned to the left. I removed one story on the cover about the artist in the picture and substituted it for a headline above the masthead. This is in the center of the magazine and is eye catching. It is like the iamge and is only a teaser as you don't know much about the artist in the picture from the front cover.

With the image I put a glow around the artist. This is because a glow is often associated with an angel and the artist has his arms out like a religious figure so adding the glow makes him seem like a 'saviour' and also makes the audience know he is important. I have also added a shadown to the bottom of the artist to make the image seem less photoshopped than it orignally appeared before. There is only a small amount of grass around the artist and it is hardly sprouting up, this simplises new life and a new beginning for the artist.

I have kept the masthead font as 'Hard Rock' but have changed the font at the bottom to 'Fucked Plate'. Both of these fonts are inkeeping with the cover and also the hard rock theme of the magazine. The stroke around the 'Fucked Plate' font is blue and it is hard to make out in comparison to the other fonts. I wanted it to remain blue because the image is on a cliff near the sea so the blue defines the sea of Norfolk. It also means people spend longer looking at the font trying to work out what it says, meaning they take an interest in your magazine and there could be a higher chance of them buying it.

Compared to my other attempt the difference with this one is that the artist is less centered. He is more to the left, how he was on the original cover.

Shinedown's new album, not shining so brightly!

Today American Rock band Shinedown released their deluxe version of their hit album, The Sound of Madness. Previous deluxe albums have had 25 tracks on them with this only having 20, so for the Jacksonville boys they really need to make sure this album is worth the loss of 5 tracks.

Shinedown are a 9 year old band, formed mainly by lead singer Brent Smith they have stormed the US by due to the limitations of their record company, Atlantic Records have struggled in the UK. This is due to album only being sold as digital downloads with a hard copy not easy, or cheap to get hold of in this country.

Atlantic Records have some big people on their books; James Blunt, Phil Collins and 3OH!3 are all big artists that have signed with them. It seems that Atlantic pushes some artists more than others in the UK. Being over 6o years old it is not a new label, in fact it is owned by Time Warner, a very powerful media company.

Shinedown admit themselves they are a 'grass roots' band and that The Sound of Madness was the only one of their 3 albums to get real exposure in the UK, so this deluxe album should be good.

Sadly, this is not the case. The 'new' album actually only contains 3 genuinely new tracks with, 3 already being re

leased during this year and the rest from the original album. They new pull version of, The Cro

w and the Butterfly is a complete shambles compared to the original music. The background mus

ic to the vocals sounds like a bad hip hop track conjoined with a dance track.

It's not all doom and gloom with the album, Breaking Inside featuring Lzzy Hale from Halestorm is a breath of fresh air to a now out-dated set of songs. Her vocals add a new edge to the track with a different sort of flow to whole set out of the track. The first 14 tracks are amazing, I can't take that away from the 4 piece band, but these have been around since 2007 and it is time they did themselves justice.

I am a big Shinedown fan, owning every song and album they have released but will admit that this album feels rushed. It doesn't seem fair to the fans to chuck on a few tracks which many true fans would have already purchased previousley in the year. This does not compare to the true shock of them to ruin one of their best songs, I think that will remain a mystery.

In my honest opinion, it's worth just buying the new version of Breaking Inside, and saving your money for the eventual release of their 4th album.

This review is for the UK version, not the American version including DVD.

Picture Source: http://itunes.apple.com/us/preorder/the-sound-of-madness/id404058000

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/4022918.png

Taylor Swift at the Teen Awards

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Can modern day media make more music known?

Jon Curtis is probably to many people just someone who sings on the corridors of the London Underground, maybe an annoyance to passers by, or he could be that one talent lurking in the shadows who really needs to be unleashed.

The London underground is often busy with people coming and going but through stations such as Picadilly Circus and Leicster Square you hear the brilliant talent of Jon Curtis, with a sign that simply says; "Jon Curtis, Like Facebook iTunes" manages to get himself well known. When passing through these stations the music echoes around the stations and once you get down to find the the artist playing this you see the sign advertising this. People don't really have the time to stop and listen completely but seeing this sign you go home and search into his music. His Facebook fan page has 2232 fans, and a reasonably priced album for £3.95 obviousley something is working.

Jon has one numerous awards for his musical work but can he manage to get any further than the London Underground? I personally hope he can, he just needs to find the right record company to take him on and I feel he could go far.

The Two Apples Combine...Finally!

What a suprise, cash stricken EMI makes a bumper deal with iTunes to finally sell The Beatles' records on their music store. Weeks after Terra Firma lost their multi-million court case iTunes announces the sales of every album from this Livepudlian band. Every album is priced at £10.99 with individual singles costing 99p.

It's hard to see which Beatles fan will want to buy all this when they've likely to have already bought all the back issues of the albums on Cd and just burnt them on their computer. This might be a big step for iTunes and EMI but it isn't like people haven't been downloading Beatles tracks already, sites such as Pirate Bay offer the complete collection, but they didn't make a big fuss about adding them to their listings.

There is another offer for big Beatles fans, you can purchase an 'online box set' of the Beatles for only £125. It seems that The Beatles might be trying to save EMI once more. Apple built up the fact The Beatles would be on their music store earlier in the week, with all the albums going on sale 20 minutes before the expected time of 3pm.

When going onto the iTunes store the homepage immediately flashes up with The Beatles, unlike normal iTunes viewing there is no advertisement for 'App of the week' like usual, instead there are nice neat boxes all containing pictures of the 60s rockers. Clicking on them sends you straight to a page about The Beatles; of which straight away advertises the £125 box set straight away.

There are some key questiosn that really need to be answered about this subject; is this an attempt from EMI to make The Beatles save them once more? How well will the sales actually do? And lastly; has this been in the pipeline for a while, or has it come to that time of year again where a desperate EMI looks for some cash flow to help balance the books?

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/nov/16/beatles-albums-launch-itunes

BBC Teen Awards - Not Worth It

The BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards took place yesterday at the HMV Apollo Theatre in Hammersmith London. Many big faces turned out for the event which is dedicated to teenagers from the ages of 14 to 17. Such 'star' performers included; JLS. Taylor Swift, Professor Green, The Wanted and Katy Perry.

The crowd was full of screaming girls idolising over people they really knew little about. There were about 4000 mad teens in attendance. The awards were overshadowed by the celebs there, many people on stage trying to speak where unable to be heard because of the blood curdling screams from the crowd. It seemed every girl there was a mirror image of the one to her left or right, all in skirts or dresses and taking pictures on either a Blackberry or an iPhone.

I myself was at the award ceremony and from past experience at gigs felt the crowd to be rather unpleasant with girls punching and kicking to try to get a look at the 'fit' boys on stage. The music was drowned out from screaming or tone deaf girls singing along obviously unaware of pitch or a key. The best part for me was when Tinchy Stryder came out on stage to present an award, the music was not of the best quality and the bands were not for me. I ended up leaving during the chorus of Love Story by Taylor Swift. Looking back on it I wasted money going to an awards show where no one cared about the sensitivity of the awards, and was only interested in seeing their idols and screaming their faces off!

Music Magazine, Double Page Spread Layout

This is the basic layout for both of my double spread page, pages. The one on the left is the page which will contain my article. It has a conventional title and will then have a start of an article as I won't be able to fit an entire article onto my double page spread because on the other page I will be having an entire page devoted to the artist I write my article on.

On the other page I intended to have an image of the artist I will write my article on. There will also be a quote from the artist. These are both conventional themes in music magazines. When doing magazine research I discovered that NME sets out many of their double page spreads this way.

When I create both of these pages I will be making them as two seperate A4 pages because it is easier to see where the spine of the magazine would be and that way you don't have parts of the other page carrying over onto the other page.

Music Magazine, Contents Basic Layout

This is the layout for my music magazine contents page. On it I have included all the usual things you expect to see on a contents page such as images and details of articles but I have also taken ideas from other magazines such as NME.

In NME I noted that they had an advertising space for themselves, so in my contents page I have put a space for an advert, this advert will be in keeping of music.

The images and text are for the things that don't occur often in my magazien and I would want to publisise more as these as these are more important than other stories.

I have a list at the bottom of the page for the others articles that I would print, things that often occur in my magazine.

For my first contents page attempt I will expand on my layout.

Front Cover Images

I have now decided on the 2 images I wish to use for the front cover of my music magazine; Uprising. This includes the main image of a music artist and also the background image on the front cover.

The image of the artist I chose to use because it is mainly different. In the shops a lot of magazines have the same idea when it comes to the cover, an artist facing the front and taking up the entire page, but this image is more unconventional. The artist to start with isn't facing the camera so that means you don't know who it is, so it can make you want to read on and find out who it is. The way he is positioned, with his arm out in a cross ca

n denote a religious figure, which then putting him on the cliff top can make it seem like he has been sent by God. The clothes the artist is in are very normal because he's just a normal guy who made something for himself, this way it relates to the audience showing that anyone can make it in life.

The background image I chose to use is from Hunstanton Cliffs. I felt that the cliffs are good to use because of their positioning and what they can connote. The view from

the cliffs appears to be endless which could give someone the idea that the artist's music won't end. The cliffs are also up high and near the sea so positioning the artist on the edge of the cliffs, meaning the height adds a meaning of power and also with the sea makes it seem like he is coming out to the world about how good his music is.

I think combining these 2 images works well because the position helps compliment the cliff edge, together it makes it seem like he could possibly have been put there by God because of the cliffs and the sea seeming endless.

In later images used on my front cover the artist has been levelled out in Photoshop and the cliffs have been zoomed in on one specific area and turned to black and white.

Guy's a goner

After weeks of accusations in the media by Terra Firma about the handling of their purchase of EMI back in 2007, Citigroup have won the court case.

With Terra Firma buying EMI for £4 Billion even though it's worth £1.8 Billion they wanted £5 Billion, though reduced to £1.5 Billion at trial. Though now it seems the tables have turned. With Terra Firma losing the court case they could have to relinquish EMI to Citigroup after £2.6 Billion in loans to Terra Firma.

Guy can't claim that it was just a quick decision as it took more than 4 hours over 2 days for the jurors to deliberate their verdict.

The shame is that neither side has come out of this looking brilliant and the truth is that reputations for both have obviousley gone done ever since the suing in December 2009.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/04/guy-hands-citigroup-claim-fails

Picture Source: http://www.nypost.com/rw/nypost/2009/12/12/news/photos_stories/cropped/025_guy_hands--300x300.jpg

Music Magazine, Double Page Spread Attempt 2 (Right Hand side)

I have now edited my first attempt at a double page spread. I have resized the image and moved a portion of it off the page. I have also made the image mid shot which means it is a more zoomed in image of the artist which means it is clearer to make out who he is. This is important as it is the first main look at the artist because on the front cover he has his backto the audience meaning this is the first opportunity to have a look at him.

The quote that I have originally had has been cut down to make it shorter so it is easier to read. It is quite important around the sense of the article on the other double page spread.

In the bottom corner is a small caption which just enforces the fact this is Arron's new career attempt.

I am happy with this effort now so I will improve it once more then go onto the other double page spread.

Terra Firma and the case with Citigroup

Terra Firma are a private equaty firm who in 2007 looked into the prospects of buying EMI. Labelled "Project Dice" many at Terra Firma probably wish they could re-roll teh dice with this one as the purchase of EMI is considerred to be one of the worst in history.

Back in 2007 when Terra Firma bought EMI they paid £4 Billion for a company estimated at £1.8 Billion, with the mistake costing Terra Firma billions and their reputation founder of the company Guy Hands wanted some sort of compensation.

There were 2 main factors that Terra Firma didn't know that caused them to put in such a high figure they ultimately blame the bank Citigroup for. Hands claims that Terra Firma didn't realise that EMI were in such a bad state. The fact EMI are in such a bad state is one of the causes that means Terra Firma are struggling with their own business as well as EMI. Though EMI has people on the books such as Katy Perry, Robbie Williams and Iron Maiden they still struggle financially making huge losses. Terra Firma are trying to come up with ideas to sort this problem such as making a deal with Warner Music but the original purchase has cost them dearly.

Citigroup the bank that were setting up the deal to sell EMI are reported as being kept up to date with buyers in the running, yet Terra Firma were not aware Ceberus, a private equity company who were going to make a 2 stage big with Warner Music, had pulled out. In the courts this week Terra Firma's lawyer David Boies claims that Citigroup were hungry for money. Another claim was that Citigroup's Mr Wormsley told Mr Hands that Cerberus were to make an offer, if Citigroup are found to be guilty it could cost them a cool £5 Billion.

With the jurers off to make their decision the story continues.

Sources: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/8108689/Terra-Firma-and-Citi-lawyers-close-arguments-in-EMI-case.html

http://www.economist.com/node/17314604

Picture Source: http://www.nypost.com/rw/nypost/2009/12/12/news/photos_stories/cropped/025_guy_hands--300x300.jpg

EMI - Electric & Musical Industries

EMI are one of the big 4 record companies along with; Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. A lot of big artists are signed with EMI, people like Robbie Williams and Katy Perry being key artists.

EMI has a list of these set up on their website for you to view, it sends you directly to the band's website, that's if they have one. Their website is quite a good way for their signed artists to get publicity because they put news on their website about their artists in a running newsfeed. Looking at the news it is bias towards their acts, obviousley they aren't going to slander themselves but thing likes Katy Perry getting cut from Sesame Street for being 'too low cut' doesn't feature on the site. There is immediate evidence of them being bias towards themselves when they talk about EMI Music. "EMI Music is one of the world's leading music companies, home to some of the most succesful and best known recording artists." When EMI describe their acts with that statement it shows why people would want to get signed to such a big and famous record company. The website itself seems rather basic, but the EMI logo in the top corner is what matters, for in media the simple use of a logo can mean more than an actual products capability. eg. The Apple iPad isn't the best in the market but the Apple logo makes people want it. The website works well as many of their stories are cross media, so Gorillaz working with Microsoft and Katy Perry on YouTube. The colours of the website also work well, red and black on a white background is simplistic but easy to see, so people will read the website.

The artists aren't all big names, there are quite a few artists that not many people would have heard of if they didn't listen outside of the Top 40. EMI is very much for the mass market, it has a range of genres signed to it's company, from Metal to Afro Beat. There is a page on the website showing all artists but on the homescreen to the left is a column and in that are the names of EMI's biggest selling artists and most popular, clicking on the tag then takes you to a bit of EMI's website where you see all the latest news about that artist. A lot of artists are with a record label which is under the EMI Label, such as The Beatles with Apple Records. The artists and EMI work together to publicise each other, EMI has massive pieces about a popular artist on their website and the artist has the EMI logo on their Cd. It seems unfair for EMI but when you think more people buy a Cd of an EMI act than people looking at the EMI website it seems to be fairer.

My favourite EMI artist is Iron Maiden, I'm not a huge Maiden fan but I very much like them. When I purchased their new album I bought it from iTunes and so didn't see the actual Cd and only looking back on iTunes today realised it says that this copyright of sound is owned by EMI Ltd. I think EMI will be losing out on publicity on acts now the internet is bigger for music sales, the part that mentioned EMI on iTunes was on a readmore so you don't immediately see it. I don't think the rise of downloads will affect EMI too much due to the fact they still make money from their big selling acts and EMI being a well known name artists will still want to sign to them.

Picture Source: http://routenote.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/emi-logo.png

Music Magazine, Double Page Spread Attempt 1 (Right Hand side)

For my first double page spread page I have decided to use the entire page for an image of my artist who is on the front of my cover. It is a first chance for the audience to get a proper look at who is in the magazine and from his stance against a faded brick wall you can tell the kind of person he is going to be.

The image is trying to show that the artist is relaxed and he is a laid backed, chilled out kind of guy.

So there is some information to go along with the picture I have included a quote from the artist which relates to the article about him.

I will edit this page by slightly altering the picture's contrast and maybe moving a select part of the picture off the page. I want to change the font on the quote to make it clearer but also to show that the artist is more acoustic rock than heavy grunge.