What do we expect from a music magazine?

What do we expect from a music magazine?
From a music magazine we expect an eye catching and interesting front cover, talking about our favourite artists and bands with a unique image that will attract the reader from that particular audience. This will make us pick up the magazine and have a look inside. From an Indie/rock music lover in a magazine we expect a lot of articles from festivals and images. Interviews with members of the bands and exclusive images that we cannot access online. We expect to be able to subscribe to Indie/rock magazines as their target audience are aimed at an older generation that will more likely be able to afford that sort of thing. In all genres of magazines there will more than likely be a freebie what will attract the audience into buying the magazine even more. E.g. posters in a pop magazine; a free CD in a rock or R&B magazine. In a music magazine we highly expect good quality articles and information because we want to learn and find out new interesting things about our idols. We want to be updated with the latest news and not hear stuff from months ago that we already found out online. The images we see in music magazine are expected to be at a high quality and photographs that we wouldn’t be able to get hold of ourselves. E.g. close ups of Green day playing at Reading and back stage. These would be perfect photos. We would like our magazine to also include there website if they have one, as it will allow us to find out more about the magazine and read new articles and watch videos and play interactive games.

Why do audiences read magazines: what pleasures do they gain from them? What information might they benefit from? Why would they still read a magazine in light of easier (and cheaper) access to similar material on the Internet?
The older generation prefer to read a magazine because its hand held and easier to take around; you can read it on the train and read it in the bath. You don’t need Wi-Fi access so you can constantly be reading it. Some people are not very computer literate so they either find it very difficult or confusing trying to find out the information they are looking for online. However some people prefer reading magazines as they enjoy collecting them weekly/monthly. Print magazines can be very useful in their own way. The articles that interest you may be longer and more detailed than what you find online, can include lots of images and useful charts. Another nice thing about print magazines is their portability. You do not need a power source or battery to access them and if you accidentally drop them, then no harm done. The information inside a print magazine is going to be serious and realistic but if you’re researching something online you cannot guarantee that it’s going to be 100% true as anyone could have just typed up an article.
How do magazine publishers make money? How are they attempting to retain audiences? What business models are used to ensure a sustained audience? What are some of the magazine’s wider assets – TV, radio, awards, and stages?
Magazine publishers make some of their money from allowing advertisement inside their magazines, that will interest there target audience. E.g. Rock magazine advertising new beer flavours by a certain company; pop magazine advertising a new range of pink eye shadow. They also make money from having a subscription for their audience to have for their magazine. It allows the publishing company to excess money before they have even sold anything to their readers. So they have time to product the magazine with the money that they have paid for subscription. Another way publishers make money is from there audiences buying there magazine. NME are a famous Indie/Rock music magazine however they have been extremely successful, they currently have there own radio station and stage at Reading festival with well known artists performing on it such as Biffy Clyro and Alt J. They also have a app you can download on any apple product that gives you the latest updates on all of the new music and photography. NME have there own music awards that promote new bands but also have famous rock legends performing, such as The Arctic monkeys.

How is your particular genre of music represented? What are the key iconography, Artist, albums, attitudes, ideologies? Indie/rock music is represented in a very aggressive and bold way with mainly the use of the instruments of a either a electric guitar or drums. The artists usually dressed very dark coloured. The males of the genre wear tight black skinny jeans, with over sized black/white t-shits. They are very scruffy and un-clean showing a lot of facial hair and a messy long hair style. The females of the genre are normally dressed in dark clothing also, either wearing a skirt or skinny jeans. The females usually wear heavy eye make-up and dark red lips and tend to care more about there appearance then the males. The shoes worn by both genders are either Vans or Doc martens. However some females tend to wear chunky heeled boots or platforms. The genre accessorise there outfits with leather jackets, metal studded belts, heavy piercings and some of the artists will be covered in tattoos. This conveys there individuality and there confidence to be different. The rock genre is always associated with alcohol and heavy drugs in the need to look 'tough' and 'cool'. The men are very into having a lot of all and are known for smashing up hotel rooms; having a attitude of 'I don't care'. The rock genre is primarily presented through the actual artist or/and band of the genre. The bands within the rock genre are usually extremely unique to one another and portray this both at their live performances and in their music videos. Most rock music videos are actually presented to the audience by a live performance and you will commonly see this with bands such as Guns n' Roses. If you look at the popular rock bands out there, you will see that they all have that unique rock style to them, in which a lot of them will be dressed in dark/indie outfits. Some bands will take it to another level of extreme and radical, such as the popular band Kiss,  who are well know for their outrageous dress style. However this is what being a successful and popular rock band is all about being different.