2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

&
4. Who would the audience be for your media product?

On my cover I have used many techniques to convey

the social group I am representing. The most
prominent is the artist I have used as my main image.
From my research into mis-en-scene I found that most
of the social groups that are connected to
alternative/rock music (e.g. emo, goth, punk) share
many common features such as brightly coloured hair,
dark makeup around the eyes, black nail polish,
clothes that deviate from current fashions, tattoos and
piercings. These are all features I have given to my
artist so that she is instantly recognisable as someone
who listens to/creates rock music and there for is a
representation of that group. This alternative kind of
lifestyle is often associated with youth culture, the
stereotype of an emo for instance is a teenager aged
between 12-19 years, therefore I have used a young
model (she is 17 years old) and is a good
representation of youth. From my research into target
audience, I found the majority of the audience were
white, therefore there is little demand for ethnic
representation of any other sort.

As for my contents page I again used mostly females

on this page but there is one male here. Everyone on
this page is also white, for the same reason as why all
the people on my previous page where white,
stereotypically it is a style of music that only white
people listen to. The same features as were on the
first page represent alternative sub culture here, the
hair and tattoos ect. There are also other signifiers on
this page that connote the stereotype. For instance
the guitar, an instrument synonymous with rock
music because of its unique sound, someone who is
able to play guitar would probably be a fan of rock
music.

As for my double page spread, the use of

representation is more or less the same as on my
front cover. From my research into mis-en-scene I
found that most of the social groups that are
connected to alternative/rock music (e.g. emo, goth,
punk) share many common features such as brightly
coloured hair, dark makeup around the eyes, black
nail polish, clothes that deviate from current fashions,
tattoos and piercings. These are all features I have
given to my artist so that she is instantly recognisable
as someone who listens to/creates rock music and
there for is a representation of that group. This
alternative kind of lifestyle is often associated with
youth culture, the stereotype of an emo for instance is
a teenager aged between 12-19 years, therefore I
have used a young model (she is 17 years old) and is
a good representation of youth. From my research into
target audience, I found the majority of the audience
were white, therefore there is little demand for ethnic
representation of any other sort

My overall use of representation takes some elements

from existing magazines but has also broken
convention in some areas. One way in which I have
conformed to the example set by already existing
magazines is my use of only representing white
people, this is because after my initial research and
feedback from potential target audience, I found a
predominantly white consumer group and so I have
only represented white people. If there were any need
for ethnic representation it would have been
necessary for token ethnic representation but
according to my target audience survey there was
not.
However, I have broken convention in my use of
heavy female representation. From my audience
research I found that a lot of the rock music magazine
readers are in fact female and that there was a large
demand for a rock music magazine with more female
representation. Because of the tattoos, coloured hair
and such, they look no less a representation of rock
music than the males in kerrang do and therefore I
can justify making this choice.

Over all, the content of my magazine and the social groups I have represented will reflect
on the target audience that my magazine will focus on. People will respond well to the
magazine if they see a representation of the group they belong to within my magazine.
To summarize who I have represented, it is:

White people

Members of alternative sub culture (emo, goth, ect)

Females
So my target audience will be predominantly this. There is also an attraction to teenagers
because of the articles the magazine has to offer. Ages 12-17 would have an interest in
music but would have the limit of funds to spend on merchandise and media related to
their favourite artists so this cheap magazine with free material inside is perfect for their
situation.
The target audience is also not just exclusive to the representation. For example, males
could read this magazine for the women inside but not for the same reason that a female
would read this magazine, e.g. they are reading it because they find the artists
attractive.