UK Top 40 Analysis

Radio 1 Top 40 Singles (Week Commencing 14.11.2010)

Pos.	Status	Prev.	Wks	Artist	Title
1	non-mover	1	3	Rihanna	Only Girl (In The World)
2	new	none	1	Take That	The Flood
3	up 1	4	5	Katy Perry	Firework
4	new	none	1	McFly	Shine A Light (feat. Taio Cruz)
5	down 2	3	2	Alexis Jordan	Happiness
6	up 1	7	7	Mike Posner	Cooler Than Me
7	down 5	2	3	Cheryl Cole	Promise This
8	down 3	5	8	Bruno Mars	Just The Way You Are (Amazing)
9	up 10	19	32	Adele	Make You Feel My Love
10	down 4	6	6	Cee Lo Green	Forget You
11	new	none	1	The Black Eyed Peas	The Time (Dirty Bit)
12	new	none	1	Shayne Ward	Gotta Be Somebody
13	new	none	1	P!nk	Raise Your Glass
14	down 6	8	4	Nelly	Just A Dream
15	down 5	10	12	The Saturdays	Higher (feat. Flo Rida)
16	new	none	1	Gyptian	Hold You
17	down 6	11	2	will.i.am & Nicki Minaj	Check It Out
18	down 9	9	5	Duck Sauce	Barbra Streisand
19	down 3	16	7	B.o.B	Magic (feat. Rivers Cuomo)
20	new	none	1	The Royal British Legion	2 Minute Silence
21	down 6	15	7	Tinie Tempah	Written In The Stars (feat. Eric Turner)
22	down 9	13	6	Swedish House Mafia Vs Tinie Tempah	Miami 2 Ibiza
23	down 9	14	4	The Wanted	Heart Vacancy
24	down 6	18	5	Michael Bublé	Hollywood
25	down 8	17	3	Tim Berg	Seek Bromance
26	up 6	32	3	James Blunt	Stay The Night
27	down 7	20	2	Ne-Yo	One In A Million
28	down 7	21	3	Devlin	Runaway (feat. Yasmin)
29	down 5	24	7	Labrinth	Let The Sun Shine
30	non-mover	30	21	Eminem	Love The Way You Lie (feat. Rihanna)
31	new	none	1	My Chemical Romance	Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
32	down 7	25	12	Taio Cruz	Dynamite
33	up 2	35	15	Eminem	No Love (feat. Lil Wayne)
34	down 1	33	11	Katy Perry	Teenage Dream
35	down 7	28	16	Travie McCoy	Billionaire (feat. Bruno Mars)
36	down 13	23	4	Jay Sean	2012 (It Ain't The End) (feat. Nicki Minaj)
37	down 6	31	17	Usher	DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love (feat. Pitbull)
38	down 11	27	4	N-Dubz	Best Behaviour
39	new	none	1	Ellie Goulding	Your Song
40	down 4	36	16	The Wanted	All Time Low

Due to popular modern music demands for new material, the definitive line between genres has changed. It is no longer as clear cut as a "rock" song, or a "pop" song. Genre hybrids mean that the charts contain songs that belong to no specific genre. More specifically, in terms of my chosen genre: "rock", there are not many rock songs in the top 40. This said though, the number 1 song belongs to the rock genre, which means that there is still a demand for it. This is one of the reasons I want to create a rock magazine, in the hope that it will be possible to enhance that demand and re-introduce the rock genre to today's music purchasers.


Radio 1 Top 10 Rock Singles (Week Commencing 14.11.2010)

Pos.	Status	Prev.	Wks	Artist	Title
1	new	none	1	My Chemical Romance	Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
2	down 1	1	98	Bon Jovi	Livin' On A Prayer
3	up 14	17	6	Linkin Park	Waiting For The End
4	up 3	7	177	Goo Goo Dolls	Iris
5	down 3	2	22	Bon Jovi	You Give Love A Bad Name
6	new	none	1	Nickelback	Gotta Be Somebody
7	down 3	4	5	Bon Jovi	Wanted Dead Or Alive
8	up 3	11	87	Muse	Feeling Good
9	down 3	6	68	Motörhead	Ace Of Spades
10	down 5	5	98	Guns N' Roses	Sweet Child O' Mine

The number one for the week in question is actually by the same artist that is in the number one position for the 'Top 40 Singles' chart, which shows there is still a demand for rock music. However, this shows that the highest ranking rock song in the overall charts is in 31st position. This shows that there is a need to reintroduce the genre. When analyzing the list above, it becomes clear that a lot of songs (specifically 'Livin' On A Prayer' and 'Sweet Child O' Mine') are older than other songs, from other genres, within the charts. Perhaps this suggests that rock music doesn't "date", and so is just as accessible now as it was 30 years ago. This reinforces my reasoning for choosing to create a rock magazine, as if songs from the genre in question have a longer life span, it implies the magazine will also have one.

Preliminary Task

College Magazine Cover

I have chosen to use this image, as it is a college magazine and the target audience is college students. The subjects of the photo are students and so will appeal to other students. It helps suggest the genre of the magazine and its purpose, as students are linked to colleges. It also shows the target audience. Also, the image is anchored by the cover story 'A LEVEL RESULTS ALL TIME HIGH!!!'. I chose to call the magazine 'Mary's Mag' as it is a college magazine for St. Mary's College. Also, it is alliteration which would sound catchy and therefore stick in the audiences mind. I chose to use a blue colour scheme as it is a colour used around college and in the logo. This is therefore representative of the college and helps signify which college magazine it is. The image I have used uses a direct mode of address whereby the subjects are looking towards the audience. I used this as it is a generic convention of magazine covers, and it helps create a link to the audience as it is as if they are looking at them. In order to make the magazine appealing to its audience, I have used bright lighting in the imagery, and bright, clear text / text boxes so that everything is visible and easy to see. When designing the layout of my magazine cover, I obeyed the generic conventions of other magazines. I did this by placing the header at the top and placed a slogan, "Mary's Mag... For those who need more in life than work...", below it. This slogan outlines the purpose of the magazine, which is to show that there is more to college than just doing work all the time. I have included a strapline at the bottom that gives extra detail on the cover story. I have included three subheadings that outline other stories contained within the magazine. I have also included a barcode which is a necessary part of any magazine. As well as including the publish date for the magazine, I have included a web address, as it entices the audience to use the website.

Software Training

Adobe InDesign Training

I followed a tutorial for InDesign that gave an explanation, and step-by-step instructions to creating the magazine cover below. By completing the tutorial I learned the fundamental features of InDesign and how they can be used together to create a magazine cover. I learned how to use and modify both text and graphic boxes.

Adobe Photoshop Training

I followed a tutorial for Photoshop that gave an explanation, and step-by-step instructions to creating the magazine cover below. This tutorial combined both Photoshop and InDesign and detailed exactly how to manipulate an image before using it in InDesign. I learned how to use the pen tool to create a selection that could be used to cut out an image.

Front Covers

Hard Rocker

This follows the conventions of a generic music magazine cover in several ways. The header is placed at the top and is the most dominant text on the page, therefore it draws the consumers attention and can be used as a means of easily identifying the brand. This particular front cover uses indirect address (as the rockers on the stage are looking away from the audience), which breaks the generic convention of a magazine. Perhaps this could be to signify that the rockers are rebels and therefore break the rules. The colours of black and red are expected of this genre (Heavy Rock), as they carry connotations of strength, rebellion and hell. The fonts used are bold and striking, which also help to suggest the genre, whilst also making them easily visible and readable to the audience.

Metal Hammer

This follows the conventions of a generic music magazine cover in several ways. The cover contains an image that uses direct address. The image is also generic for the genre of music (Heavy Rock), as it carried connotations of hell, and fear. There are promotional offers on the front of the magazine, such as "3 FREE GIFTS!", which help to entice the audience into purchasing it.

NME

This follows the conventions of a generic music magazine cover in several ways. Compared to the other two covers that I have researched, this one has a relatively "clean" layout, in that the fonts chosen are rather ordinary, which helps aid its readability somewhat. The strap line at the top of the cover contains a stars name and so would be appealing and would entice the audience to want to read on.

My Initial Ideas

For my AS Media Studies coursework, I have decided to create a magazine. It will be a music magazine and the genre will be rock. Below I will outline the main intended target audience for the magazine - this is not to say it wouldn't appeal to other audiences, which I will research later:

Gender: Male

Race: British

Age: 18-30

Socio-Economic Status: Working Class (C2D)