Deconstructing an artist

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born 5 May 1988), known professionally as Adele is an English singer-songwriter. Adele graduated from BRIT school in Croydon in May 2006, where she was classmates with Leona Lewis.

Adele's breakthrough song was "Hometown Glory" which was released in October 2007.

She was the first recipient of the BRIT AWARDS Critics' Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2008. In 2009, Adele won two Grammy Awards, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, at the 51st Grammy Awards.

Adele released her second album 21 on 24 January 2011 in the UK, and 22 February in the US. The album was a critical success debuting at number one on the UK Album Chart and also charted in the same position in nine other countries.

After an acclaimed performance at the BRIT Awards this year, the album track "Someone Like You" went straight to number one in the UK, while the album also remained at number one.

Although I have chosen to deconstruct Adele, I don't actually feel there is much to deconstruct. She does nothing over the top unlike some artists that wear odd costumes for example Lady Gaga, and she sings normal songs which everybody can relate too. I have not heard one negative comment or feedback from anybody about her as an artist which is unusual as the society are quite critical about artists. Stereotypically, people would not look at Adele and think she is anything amazing, which is unfortunate and quite shallow just because she does not fit this stereotype of artists which is too look incredible.

I know for certain that i do not want to take my photographs for my magazine outside, this is because the weather is unpredictable whether you want it to be a sunny day or want it to rain. Therefore I plan to take my photos in the media studio in front of the green screen and using spot lights, or in the drama room where there are large white backdrops which i can light up with spot lights. This way you can add to the background or take-away anything you want too.

The type of picture I want to take I am going to base on these two pictures of Jessie J from her website. I like how you can make a picture look amazing without any fuss in the background. I chose the following two pictures because firstly, the picture of the close-up with her make-up on and how they have made her look, looks sooooo good!!! If i could pull this look off for my magazine I would be very happy, I like how close she is to the camera so that you can see how great and different she looks, secondly I like the second photograph because she just looks normal and having some fun.

My questionnaire

This is my questionnaire which i have created to find out what people of my age look for in a music magazine. I created this on Microsoft Word but once I have gave them to my target audience to be completed,when I receive them back I plan on scanning the completed questionnaire onto my blog so it is clear to see that people have genuinely gave their opinions.
This will be useful because I will get an idea on what to include in my magazine to make sure my target audience will be satisfied.

Uses and Gratifications.

In 1983, McQuail classified that there are several main reasons for media use by society. These are:

• Information
• Personal Identity
• Intergration and Social interaction
• Entertainment

I think that some of these reasons which fall under the above catergories, also apply to music magazines. I believe that the uses and gratifications of music magazines are:

• Finding out about relevant events
• For learning; self-education
• To find a basis for conversation and social interaction
• Enabling the reader to connect with family, friends and society
• To fill time
• To relax
• To possibly excape or divert from problems

My target audience

On the left, I have posted a table of what different social grades mean. This is so I can decide on which social class I want my magazine to appeal to.
I want my target audience to be people around my age, but for both genders, across the majority of the social classes and for any ethnicity. I'm planning on creating the music magazine not based on one paticular music genre, this is because I'm hoping that a variety of people will want to read my product.

Magazine names...

I created a mind map of the music magazine names I already know of. I feel this will help me to decide on a name for my own magazine.
Obviously the name i decide on will have to suit the type of music magazine i wish to create.
I want my magazine to have a bit of everything in it, not just a set genre. However, i don't feel several of these names would be appropriate for my product, for example "Record Collector", "DJ Mag", "Metal Hammer" or "Gramophone".

Prelim

My Completed Prelim.

Summary...

From my magazine research I've decided that I will have a "female" artist on the front cover and for my double page interview. I gathered that with a female on the front it intrigues both sexes to look at the magazine whereas with males on the front I feel the magazine probably would not sell as much or have the same impact. The camera shot will be a close-up or a mid close-up because this is what shot the majority of other magazines use.
On the front cover i plan to offer a "freebie" because generally, magazines offer something free for the people who buy the magazine which sometimes intrigues more people to purchase the magazine. This is because the people who buy the product should/need to feel like they are gaining something from the magazine.

Double Page Research...

I went onto the NME website to gain an insight into how they created their double page spreads with interviews which is one of the things we have to do for our own magazine. I chose this example because not only do i LOVE Nicki Minaj but i like how NME have designed this double page.

On the right hand side of the page they have used a big mid close-up. I decided to do some research to see who she reminded me of and found a 1960's female artist. Nicki looks retro but still "cool", by having her wearing a ring suggesting she is an icon, as it says, "icon". I also like how the text is spread across the two pages so the text is broken up which makes it easier to read.

Research Methods

Today, our media group had a lesson based on 'Research Methods'.

The main research methods are:

• Primary - this is research you carry out personally
• Secondary - research you gather from other people
• Quantitative - this is when you carry out questionnaires/surveys and you look for a pattern or trend within peoples answers/responses.
• Qualitative - this method investigates the why and how of decision making.

Examples of Primary research methods are:

• Questionnaires - Advantages: can gather information quickly; easy to create; you can get direct answers. Disadvantages: people can lie; they can be time consuming.
• Interviews
• Polls/Surveys
• Focus Groups (a group of people you get together and ask questions too)
• Email/Text/Letter - Advantages: Not expensive; simple; can be fairly informal. Disadvantages: Can be reported as junk; may be misinterpreted; may be ignored.

Examples of Secondary research methods are:

• The internet - industry websites (such as the BBC website)/websites by individuals
• Books
• Newspapers/Newspaper archive

Honestly, so far i have used secondary research for the information about NME. I gathered the information from the NME websites. This is because I have no personal information i can use as research which will change when i start to buy and read the NME magazine myself.

The Process of my prelim which i have been designing on Publisher.