List of music magazine codes & conventions

One thing which is regularly seen in a rap/hip-hop magazine is the use of highly specific terminology. This term refers to the way in which a group of people who follow rap/hip-hop music will speak to each other and the words that they use when doing so. Therefore the magazines of today could be seen as a time reference in future. This is because they show when new slang terms were first used and what these words mean. As a result of this music genre being highly abstract compared to most other music genres, there is a slang language which is only used by listeners of rap/hip-hop music. Another cause of this is that the rap/grime music genre originated from the streets which is where all of the slang also originates.

Another regular aspect of rap/grime magazines is a close-up or a low angle shot of the main featured artist/rapper on the front cover. The reason for this is, the rappers who are producing this music inevitably rap about drugs (consumption and dealing), guns, girls, money and murder. Therefore there image must be in suggestion of that fact that they are related to those things. When you see a close-up or a low angle shot of someone, it makes them look bigger than they would if they were photographed from any other shot or angle.

Another thing which is regularly spotted in a rap magazine is that there is a trend/pattern which persists throughout almost every single rap magazine. This trend is that there is always an image/photo of an artist on the front cover of the magazine (predominantly a solo male). This is not the only pattern, this is because in the image the artist who features will be displaying their individual style and personal identity. But, there are also some similarities. One of these is that the images in the magazine or on the front cover of the magazine are almost always taken from a low angle, close-up shot which allows the artist to look tall, intimidating and in control. The facial expressions used by each of these artists are usually always the same as well. This facial expression is one which suggests to the reader that the artist is not happy, this is because they are usually scowling whilst making eye contact with the camera lens.

A summary of the front cover of a grime/rap/hip-hop magazines:

The front cover is a page which has a masthead in a large and bright (compared to the colour of the background) font. Covering the whole page will be an image of the artist who is the main focus which is a low angle shot or a close-up shot which implies that they are big and powerful which enhances their status (which is precisely what they are aiming to achieve. There’s also a wide variety of side articles which are spread around the front cover to further entice a reader into delving deeper into the magazine, this tactic is smart due to the fact that the reader is able to see the contents of the magazine on the front cover, but the information is brief and written in poor detail which will leave the reader wanting to know what certain headlines were related to. 

Jelly Baby Task

Extreme Close Up-

An extreme close up is a shot which allows the audience to understand a character in a films emotions more than they usually would be able to. This is because they are abnormally close and therefore it means that they can analyse the character with ease as they are not far away from the camera.

Mid-shot-
A mid-shot is where you can only see from the waist upwards on the character who is in shot. With this shot you can also see some of the surroundings the shot. This makes the audience feel as if they are closer to the character because you are able to see what surrounds them and you only see the top half of them.

Over the shoulder-
This shot is usually used when there is more than one person in shot (mainly when there is a conversation taking place between two characters). Another situation it is used in is when a character is entering a new setting/scene, this shot allows the audience to receive a point of view perspective of the setting.

Canted angle-
The canted angle is mainly used in films when there is something which is abnormal taking place (or about to take place). This is a slanted angle of shot and this is because that isn't a normal angle which therefore suggests that the scene ahead may also not be as normal as it could be.

High angle-
The high angle shot is predominantly used in order to make the audience feel as if they are superior to the character in the shot because they are above them suggesting they are of higher status. It can also show the emotions of a character if they are distressed or in need of sympathy.

Long shot-
The long shot is when you can see the whole body of the person who is in shot and you can also see the background behind them meaning they can see the character and pretty much everything they can't see (because its behind them). This also makes the audience feel as if they have the same status as the character in shot.

My Inspiration

XXL Magazine:

XXL magazine is one of two magazines that I am going to use as inspiration towards the piece of work that I am going to create. This magazine is suitable for the criteria of what I am looking to achieve, this is predominantly because it is a magazine which covers the rap scene (although it is US rap instead of UK).

The layout of this magazine is one which has followed a trend the rest of the magazines similar to this one have also followed. The large image of an important, contemporary artist with the respective rap artists name in bold font (in a colour which 100% contrasts the colour in the background).

The large rectangular shaped masthead for this magazine is another part of the cover page which inspires the ideas for my magazine. This is because it is a large, colourful and bold masthead which catches the eye of the reader.

Due to the fact that the only type of music I really enjoy is rap, it means there is only a small selection of magazines to select from which is why I decided to create one. There is a hole in the market when you look for a UK or US rap magazine in most places. 

VIBE Magazine:

VIBE magazine is the other magazine which has been used by myself as a piece of inspiration towards what I would like to achieve with my music magazine. For the same reason that it is one of few rap magazines which is my favourite genre of music.

VIBE magazine was the one of the first rap/hip-hop magazine to be published in the US. This meant that they would be quite an influential figure towards any who wanted to follow in their footsteps. They have set a trend and in a way, created the codes and conventions of a rap magazine single-handedly.

Also the VIBE magazine doesn’t have a heading which stays the same for every magazine (like XXL magazine). The same font is used and the same word, but the colour of this text changes depending on what colour the background is. This is effective because it means the title of the front page is always going to stand out because it contrasts. 

Initial Ideas

Background Ideas:

When I chose to do a print project I knew exactly what it was that I wanted to do immediately. The genre of music which I am currently interested in is rap / grime / hip-hop. Also in the market of magazines at the moment there is a large gap when you look at the genre of rap music. There hasn’t really been a successful rap/hip-hop magazine in the UK (especially grime music) but in the US there have been a few. With the rise in recognition of the grime and rap movement in the UK it means that a magazine such as the one I intend to create would be an intelligent creation. This is because everyone who begins to recognise the genre will want to find out more and in order to that they will want to read into it  and this will be an easily accessible form of information for anyone in need. Also it will provide a platform for new up and coming talent, by this I mean there will be publication of their music and their actions and as a result of this, they will have a higher chance of making it in the rap scene because they will have been given more of a chance. 

Plan of Action:

Due to the fact that my photography is what is needed in the work I am required to create, I am not going to be able to use already established artists for any of my photography but I will be able to mention their names. I plan to create a fake character profile of a fictional rapper from the London area and make them seem like they are “the next big thing”. After looking at conventions of rap music magazines, the front cover will require a mid-shot of the “rapper” from a low angle, this is so that he will look as if he is of high status and is in power. Also I will require a logo which stands out from the norm, this is due to the fact that grime music is significantly contrasting to other music genres. Another convention of all rap magazines is that the text which you require to be seen most is the largest size font on the page, as the font size decreases so does the significance of the text and this is because the big writing is the writing which catches eyes.

Precautions:

As a result of the preliminary process, I can now identify what it is that I would class as a strength and what I would class as a weakness. My weaknesses consisted of, photograph arrangement, arrangement of text and contents page arrangement. I was able to identify this when I was analysing my preliminary work. To improve on my weaknesses what I plan to do is discover a font which compliments the feel of grime/rap music so that everything is relative towards everything. Another thing that I plan to do during the process is, collaborating more than one photo onto a page, this is because in my preliminary work front cover and contents page only consisted one photo on each and they lacked any standout features if you were to compare them to other peoples work. 

Codes & Conventions of Rap Magazines

-A bold title containing vibrant and contrasting colours to catch eyes. Covers a large amount of the top half of of the page. 

-A large portrait of the rapper/artist looking as if they are in charge/control. All focus on half-shot of artist (because they're the main focus). 

-The main article is advertised in bold, contrasting colours to make the text stand out from other writing on the page. 

-Plain, basic background colour. This means that the main parts of the front page are emphasized due to the contrast. 

                                                                         

 Summary: 

From my analysis of the codes and conventions of a rap magazine, I have learned several valuable pieces of information. One of these things is that the main focus of the magazines is to promote new, up and coming artists (hence the fact the artists are always the centre of attention on the cover pages). Another thing I learned is that branding is very important, this is made brutally clear when you see that the title on all rap magazines are the most colourful and large items of font on the front cover. This is because there are not many rap magazines so they must be easier to recognise as a result of this. A third thing I learnt from my research into codes and conventions of a rap magazine is, that almost every front cover consists of a mid-shot of an artist and nothing is obstructing the view of this artist.                                                                                                                                                                   

My Magazine Genre

What’s the genre of the magazine you are going to produce?

The magazine that I’m going to produce is a music magazine (which is a requirement for the main print task) but the category of music I have selected is rap/grime/hip-hop/trap. The reason for me picking this combination of categories is that this is the type of music which I enjoy listening to and therefore, the work being produced by me for this task will be of a higher standard due to the fact that I will be able to relate to the work that I am producing. Another reason for me picking this genre of music for my magazine is that rap music (in the year of 2015) is on the rise, especially the grime scene which is getting a lot of mainstream attention from big radio DJ’s such as Charlie Sloth, Annie Mac and Tim Westwood. Also, the fact that there is a large gap in the magazine industry when it comes to a well-established magazine which covers UK rap music (grime). I believe that sooner or later a magazine which is heavily linked to this genre of music will surface but in the meantime, my magazine will be the one of a kind.

History of rap magazines:

There are only two real, well-established rap magazines and they are both American based. One of these is the magazine called XXL. This is an American hip-hop music magazine which was founded in the year of 1997. This (for a magazine) is quite a recent date for a now well-known magazine to surface from nothing. In the year of 2006, XXL Magazine overtook a struggling hip-hop producer and DJ magazine called ‘Scratch’. In the year of 2013, the XXL Magazine started their own annual award. This is where the public are given the opportunity to choose the top 5 artists in this musical genre of rap/hip-hop. They have now also created a website which is highly popular in the world of hip-hop and it provides daily news updates for subscribers and those who visit the website. To this day, the XXL Magazine is still being published in the United States and comfortably selling hundreds of thousands of magazine.

The other well-known magazine which covers news on rap music and hip-hop music is called ‘VIBE’ magazine. This magazine was founde

d in 1993 by producer Quincy Jones. This particular music magazine was heavily focused upon R&B and Hip-Hop music artists, actors and other entertainers of sorts. Production of ‘VIBE’ magazine was bought to an end in the summer of 2009 but was then purchased by new owners and the magazine is now issued semi-monthly and features double covers and a large online presence. The main target audience for the magazine is predominantly urban, youthful followers of the hip-hop/rap culture. In the year of 2014, the magazine announced that they would only publish their magazine on the internet so they became ‘online-only’. The inside of the magazine consisted of question columns, celebrity gossip, fashion updates and many more features which is just one of the many reasons for the extreme popularity of this magazine.

VIBE Magazine cover page.

What is a magazine?

What is a magazine?

A magazine is a publication which is issued on a periodical basis, this publication is usually bound in a paper cover and usually contains articles, gossip, advice, stories and poems by a plethora of different authors who write these articles for the magazines. Most of the time a magazine will be specific to a certain hobby, genre or sport. This is due to the fact that a magazine would be classed as a miniature newspaper if it was to cover the plethora of genres and topics that a newspaper does copy and as a result of this, they have no choice but to specify in specific areas. Also, not all of the information that a magazine contains is of a true nature as they contain gossip, opinions and predictions as well as stories which may have nothing to back it up. In other words, a magazine is often either on a particular subject or if it is not for a certain subject then the magazine will most likely be directed at a particular readership ('a woman's weekly magazine').

My magazine:

The magazine I plan to produce is a music magazine and to be precise and rap music magazine. My reason for choosing this genre of music is that I am highly interested in this genre of music and also there is not a magazine currently on the market (in the UK especially) which covers or aims to cover the music and content that I am going to include in my magazine. The magazine I am going to create will be one which provides a community for the readers as there are gossip columns and outfit ideas but the major aspect of this magazine which will supply a sense of community is the deliver and display pages. These pages will be where people send in videos, images and stories which relate to the magazine and they can see this page full of these so that people can look at peoples interests. There isn't a single magazine published in the UK which has the sole focus of rap music (a successful one anyway). Therefore, if I was to publish this magazine, then there would be a large audience of people who would interested in purchasing due to the fact that this music genre has a large fan base who haven't got access to anything like this.