In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge form of convections of existing music magazines?

Having chosen the genre of R&B for my music magazine, I have decided to do some research on a magazine called “VIBE” which is also based on the same genre. I already knew the codes and convections from previous work I’ve done during lesson. With that knowledge I could then analyse the VIBE magazine and find out if it follows most of the codes and convections like the rest of the music magazines. During class work I have also looked at Top of the pops magazine which genre is Pop. Both magazines were very different in the way they looked, top of the pops had a mix of bright and in your face colours whereas ‘Vibe’ had more simple and more sophisticated colours. However through the colours used, the design and the language used, they both successfully portray their target audience. They both also used the normal convections of a music magazine, such as Masthead, Lures, Strapline, date, issue number, Coverline, Barcode, Price, image, Mode of address. These are convection that my magazine must also include to show that it is a genuine magazine and professionally done. The contents page must therefore follow the convections too which are, page numbers that indicate what story is on what page, message from editor to make it seem like the editor is wanting to connect with the readers, images can be useful to give an insight of what else is in the magazine. There will have to be a consistency of style, colours and fonts from page to page of the magazine, otherwise too much is happening and it might portray the wrong target audience. Convections for the double page include, title, Strapline, the actual article/interview and photographs (so the readers know who the article is about).

I would say my magazine follows the normal convection of a magazine and therefore looks genuine and professional, and I have successfully portrayed the target audience in the appearance and language of the magazine.