Creative Critical Reflection 1

To introduce, my magazine- Archives- covers all the latest news about the hip-hop scene, new artists, as well as entertainment and lists detailing the best, latest tracks and albums.

When asked to describe my magazine’s brand values, I would say that they are to inform and guide those already involved, or curious, about the hip-hop music scene.  This statement fits in with this “Everyone has a story we want to archive,  a song to store and spread to the world. We wish to help low-time rappers and hip-hop artists hit the ground running as they enter the scene and come out with their debut song.”

In regards to my target audience, I would say that would include young adults with an interest in music. More specifically, lower-middle class males (as where is a disproportionate number of males listening to hip-hop compared to females) wanting to find out (learn) about the latest news, and to be entertained. In terms of likes, sports and drinks are important, due to advertisements and the close connection often found between these things and music. For dislikes however, none.

For my magazine, I want to combine information with entertainment, in order to both inform the reader, and also keep their attention on the magazine- to maximise gain and to specifically target this target audience through interest. If someone is entertained while being taught, they will look at that learning process fondly, and so, will want to buy another issue. Also, when reading, the music scene and hip-hop artists can help distract the audience from real world on goings i.e. war, famine, pandemics etc. and will give them something to read and later listen to music mentioned within the issues. The readers will also be able to communicate with others about the music covered, giving them social interaction and things to discuss (for example, best albums and artists). Some in the audience may also sympathise or relate to the artists talked about or interviewed within the magazine, giving them the personal identity aspect to hook them into reading. AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) is linked to this. Having an attractive looking cover (e.g. great colour scheme and good framing) with some interesting information displayed (like an exclusive interview or important news) will give the reader the desire to read and purchase the magazine. And so, I need to have good looking visuals and graphics, interesting interviews (e.g a popular artist giving personal anecdotes about a key topic i.e. background, music, something random such as ghost tales etc.) and stories, and ultimately produce a good enough product for the reader to want to purchase, and spread amongst others. For an extra example of things required for engagement, with the design of the front cover itself, having good cover lines that intrigue the reader, and having a unique image which incorporates props well will also increase engagement.

When asked about, out of any, distributor, if I could choose now, I would want to work with Time Inc UK. This is because of the wide variety of magazines distributed and produced under and through Time Inc. Several different music magazines are run through Time Inc, which I think could benefit my magazine, and spread faster compared to being distributed by other companies. For example, magazines such as “Bass Guitar” and “Classic Rock” are featured on their website under “brands”.

Speaking of brands, I would hope to attract sports and entertainment advertisers. For example, these two adverts (Lucozade and Nike) would pair well with my magazine- due to the close relation between hip-hop and fitness, as well as fashion. They also pair well with my target audience, and as stated previously, targeting fans of music can be aided with sports and fashion advertisements.

Finally, in regards to distribution and online/print content, I believe that print should be used more as an advertisement; snippets of the magazine released both online and in print, for cheap or for free, to give an almost ‘demo’ for the rest of the magazine. Print sales are becoming less and less, as things like the e-book market continues to grow- as seen by the £370 million increase. Compare this to the loss of roughly £150 million in physical book sales since 2009, it is clear to see which is the more fruitful market. However, in this case, I think the usage of online content should be reserved for advertisement, with the opposite occurring. Through online, the small amount of the article(s) itself should be ad-free, to be clear and concise, as to get the attention of any potential readers, and get them to look up the magazine online or in book stores to purchase the print. Through the usage of social media, parts of the magazine (such as interviews, brand deals, etc.) should be displayed and used to advertise the issues themselves. I also think that the cover price should be reduced, and with advertisements reserved for both social media and the print article. Also, fans and readers can ask questions that could be answered in any Q&A (either between the magazine itself, or a celebrity/artist). If people wanted access to some exclusive content (i.e. personal interviews with artists or ad-free content) they could pay a sum per month to gain access, and with a reduced pricing on the magazine after several months of subscription.

This is a collage of pieces of media that have been annotated, and assigned uses & gratifications. I have done this to learn what pieces of media I consume put across and how they entertain/keep people consuming. Each of these serve their own purpose, which is where the uses & gratifications comes in.

We all consume and produce media for our own reasons, whether it’s for learning, relaxing, or socialising, each piece of media has a specific aim to accomplish. This is how new and old audiences are attracted to things, especially when something has a history or long track record for a specific aim. For example, David Attenbouroughs’ documentaries serve to educate the masses, but also serve as entertainment. People know what they’re getting into through the brand, and genre of the media. This helps to segregate and catergorise media based on their aims. For music, it may be for P.I or Entertainment. Podcasts, it could be the latter or for education.

When creating my own media, I will now be able to reflect and advertise towards an intended audience and what they want to get out of media. If available, implementing all forms of uses & gratification will increase audience size, as it expands the benefits/rewards for consuming a specific piece of media. Knowing this, overall, I will be able to tailor products to specific audiences more effectively.

Organisation & Time Management Skills/Technologies:

• I can section and cordon of blocks of time to dedicate to work.
•  I often make use of alarms in order to remind me of deadlines or times to work.
• I hope I will be able to perfect my time management skills  over the next couple years, as I on occasion fail to keep up with my personally-set deadline.

Research & Planning Skills / Technologies:

• I enjoy researching, so this helps motivate me and give me more drive.
• When researching I utilise multiple sources in order to make my answer/work all the more factual and higher quality.
• I often make plans in my head as more of suggestions rather than a strict set of instructions I have to follow.
• My plans need to be set down more often, so I can create more cohesive plans in the future.

Creative Skills / Technologies:

• I can be creative with how I write as well as how I use programs such as Photoshop.
• I need to work on expanding my horizons for creativity, rather than thinking inside the box as much.

Transferable Skills/Technologies:

• I enjoy creating presentations and slideshows, as it helps me digest information quicker and more easily.
• My presentations tend to be on the shorter side in terms of amount of slides,;which is something I need to work on; however, the information I include is often the main chunk or points of information that needs to be presented and learnt.