BASS Magazine Proposal

BASS Magazine Proposal on Prezi

Draft Journalism

Earlier this year, 20 year old Stacey Dube hit the music scene hard with her debut single “Give Me Love”. To have not heard about Stacey Dube you’ve had to be living in a cave this past year. She was snapped up by Interscope Records in 2008 for her song-writing skills, going on to write successful songs for Nicole Scherzinger and Madonna. Jimmy Iovine signed her after her amazing vocal talent had finally been showcased. Dube’s first single “Give Me Love” was released to widespread critical acclaim with it being labeled as one of the “best songs of 2012”. 

After taking a record-breaking 30 weeks to reach to top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, Dube’s success is showing no signs of slowing down with her second single “Take Me Home” has quickly entered the Top 10 and is poised to hit the top. With both her debut and sophomore single, along with her smash collaboration with Drake, Dube has become one of the only artists in Billboard chart history to simultaneously have 3 singles in the Top 10 of the Hot 100. Her debut album “Discovery” is due to smash the Billboard 200 this month, predicted to sell in excess of 320,000 in its first week.

BASS: Correct me if I’m wrong, I’d love to say you’re success has been fast and overwhelming but I’d be lying, right?

STACEY DUBE: You’re right about the first part of that statement [giggles]… It’s been a long haul but it’s all been worth it. I’ve had time to adjust to the success but it is still massively overwhelming because I’m not used to all the focus being on me.

How have you had time to adjust to the success?

Give or take I’ve had 6 months. Promotion and press coverage has gradually increased and not just … happened all at once. Also I’ve had the chance to deal with success here in America first. I think it’s hard to jump from normal girl to global sensation all at once. As with many other things, you need time to adjust to things like this.

Is there a difference between hearing “Give Me Love” on the radio for the first time, to now?

To be honest I actually get to enjoy hearing my music on the radio now than before. I remember when I first heard Give Me Love on the radio and the feeling was really one of relief as we had been working so hard to make the song a success and it had finally happened. But it also motivated me to make every other song I put out a success. Each time one song is successful I don’t think “this is it”, I think about how I can better myself both critically and commercially.

How would you describe your debut album in one sentence?

The album really showcases the passion I have for music, the love I have for different musical genres, what I have learned about myself in the last 3 years and how much I have developed as both a singer-songwriter.

You’ve previously described “Discovery” as an anthology of different genres

Yeah, well first of all “Discovery” is an R&B album that incorporates elements of different genres. I guess I could say that it really is an R&B-Fusion album. The album as a whole combines elements of jazz, electro-pop, soul, rock, opera, and dancehall. I really do love different genres of music and I don’t want to tie myself to one genre this early in my career. I wanted to display my versatility with my album and focus on different genres with each album thereafter.
 

Any favorites?

Well, I love all the songs on the album, they’re all my babies [laughs] but… there is a song on the album called “In the Zone” that I wrote and produced with The Weeknd and it’s an R&B song that features elements of PBR&B (R-Neg-B and Hipster R&B). I have quite a deep personal connection with it. It’s really about what promiscuous sex and illegal drugs can do to you and how they can affect the state of our mind. I’ve seen many people go down that route and I wrote it putting my shoes in those who I was once close to.
 

Did you make a conscious decision to stay away from the current dance-pop phase that is predominant in the charts right now?

Not really, because there are two tracks that incorporate electro-pop on the album because I love pop music and maybe at one point in my career will explore it deeper. I can say that I made a conscious decision to make the album flow as a whole. I didn’t want the songs on the album to be great but completely clash in terms of sound and context. Each song is about something different but flows as the album progresses.

So it doesn’t make sense to base you’re first two singles on what the album will sound like?

Exactly.

Why did you decide to put out those two singles first, as opposed to some of your more favoured songs on the album?

Because they aren’t the best of what the album has to offer. I guess you could say that Give Me Love is the marijuana to the cocaine of the album [laughs] … They’re both the teaser, the gateway drug to some of the other songs on the album. They’re quite opposite to each other which is another reason why they shouldn’t be based on what the rest of the album will sound like because no two songs are the same. I chose Give Me Love because it was quite safe and a good way to start of the era. I chose Take Me Home because it wasn’t what my critics thought I was going to return with. Many people were expecting a Give Me Love Part 2 which wasn’t going to happen.

Aside from the Weeknd, you also worked with Miguel, RedOne, Frank Ocean, and Stargate as well as others was it a conscious decision to work with them?

To be quite honest, yes. I really do feel like I created magic with all the producers I work with. I had an idea of who I wanted to work with while writing the album alone. Being on a major label really helped me form connections with writers and producers. I am forever grateful to Interscope for letting me do what I wanted to creatively and sonically. They really did have a lot of faith in me right from beginning.

How is it different writing for yourself now then writing for different artists?

It isn’t really different. All I’ve ever wanted to do is create great music regardless of whether it is going to be recorded by me or Madonna for example. I actually find it more nerve-wracking writing for other artists because for me especially being rejected is not easy thing. Even though I’ve been signed as a recording artist I still want to continue writing for other artists because I really do love collaborative efforts.

Did any artists/albums in particular influence the album?

I was really influenced by Lauryn Hill. Her first album I would cite as one of the best R&B albums ever written. The album as a whole has a consistant theme and each song has a deep meaning that I can relate to. Kendrick’s new album “Good Kid, Mad City” really inspired me in terms of its consistent theme and the way its flows. I think it’s great it’s being brought back to music and hope that I can help playing a part in that. I was quite inspired by Lana Del Ray, Gwen Stefani, and Beyonce. In terms of their fashion and their music.

If there’s anything you want to be known for, what is it?

My passion for music. Because at the end of the day I’ll still continue to make music whether I’m at number 1 or 100. Commercial success is amazing but it isn’t what motivates me to do what I do.

Stacey Dube’s debut album “Discovery” will be available in stores everywhere from 4^th December 2012.

Photoshoot Call Sheet

Hadley O’Garro

Photo Shoot Assignment/Call Sheet

Date: 30^th November 2012

Time: 10:15am – 11:35am

Assignment: “BASS” Magazine Photo Shoot

Location: Leyton Sixth Form TV/Photo Studio

Photographer: Hadley O’Garro (http://www.hadleyogarro.co.uk)

Media:                 RAW Capture for 300dpi & web resolution

Compensation: Trade

Primary Shoot Contract: Vibe

Hair Stylist: Naomie Lebe

Wardrobe Stylist: Jazmin Sinclair

Model 1: Stacey Dube

Model 2: Gennevieve Williams

Special Instructions: The following are requested items that each model has for wardrobe

1.       White and brown dresses, red jacket, black & white blazer, black skirt

2.       Black dress, furry brown jacket

Timeline – subject to change:

10:10: Model and team meet in the Leyton Sixth Form Media photoshoot studio

10:30: Model 1 Stacey Dube begins to model

11:30: Model 2 begins to model

12:30: Photo-shoot is finished



Masthead Designs and Magazine Layout Designs

I used DaFont.com to see if I could find suitable masthead designs for BASS. I searched BASS in the search bar so that I could easily see masthead designs that would most suit my magazine.

I found three that I thought would be good to use for my magazine and after my presentation I would collect feedback from my audience to see which style is best.

Think Techno – I selected this font because it is loud, distinctive and easy to recognise. This font also caught my eye as soon as I saw it so I thought that it would be a masthead design for my magazine.

 

Enormous – I selected this font because it is loud, bold, and different to many other mastheads. This font was by far the most popular amongst my audience because they thought it suited the style of the magazine.

 

The Dead Saloon – I selected this font because it is different to the other two votes I selected. This font is smoother than the other two but also edgy. This vote was the least popular because my audience commented that it was boring, and didn't suit the style of my magazine.

 

Ultimately the 2^nd masthead “Enormous was chosen because when I asked people, they selected it commenting that it suited my magazine best.

 

BASS - Music Magazine Proposal

The magazine is called “BASS” – I chose the name because it’s short, snappy and easy to remember. The masthead “Bass” will be sharp, smooth but loud. It will stay the same every week. The colour scheme, like Vibe, will change from each issue to the next.  The colour scheme of the issue that I am planning will be Red, White and Black. The title is also associated with the genres it will focus on which are R&B, Pop and Hip-Hop music.

The magazine will include album reviews, the Billboard Hot 100, the UK Top 40, the Choice FM playlist, regular interviews with artists, and entertainment news. What will make my magazine different is the fact it will feature Twitter Q&A’s with the artist where fans will be able to ask questions and lucky fans will have their questions answered and published in the magazine.

The magazine will be a unique blend of all three popular genres that dominate the charts. Whereas other magazines only focus separately on R&B/Hip-Hop and Pop, BASS magazine focuses on all three genres equally. The magazine will be one of the first to feature Twitter Q&A sessions where fans can have their questions published in the magazine. The questions will appeal to what our audience want to know about their idols.

My magazine will be published by IPC Media who also produce NME magazine. IPC Media have a successful range of magazines selling a total of 350 million magazines per year.
The target audience of bass will be both male and females between the ages of 13 and 25. They will most likely be in education or in employment.  As the magazine will focus on popular music genres R&B, Hip-Hop and Pop music which is predominant in the charts. It will appeal to young people as chart music is mostly popular music that appeals to them. Artists like Drake, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz and Adele will be featured in the magazine.

Magazine Newsstand Task

Audience Feedback and Evaluation

Audience Feedback

I asked 12 people from Leyton College what they thought about my magazine and this is mostly the feedback that I got from all of them.

What do you like about the college front cover and contents page?

·         The layout is clear, consistent and well laid out

·         You can easily tell it’s a college magazine

·         The colour scheme runs throughout both pages

What do I need to improve on?

·         It is hard to read some parts of the text.

·         Make sure the background colour and text colours blend well but can still see them

·         The images look slightly rushed and not cleverly thought out

Preliminary Task Evaluation

I think that my photography went well. This is because my models were easy to work with and co-operated well with what I asked them to do. Furthermore I had no troubles using the cameras because I knew how to use them and also adapted well with them. I had to crop the main image into a mid-shot which I had a little bit of trouble with at first but I played around with Photoshop so that I knew what to do in the future. Organising the layout of the front cover and the contents page was no trouble because I had planned the layout well so I knew where everything was going to be placed on the pages. Also the design for the front cover is not over complicated and crowded so it was easy to decide on where to lay everything out,

However using InDesign was tricky for me in the beginning. Some of the tools were different to what I had used on Photoshop so I again had to practice using the software so that I became comfortable with it.  I also had trouble re-sizing images on InDesign because originally everytime I resized an image it would crop it instead of make it smaller. This continued to occur until I changed one of the resizing options. Coming up with a title for the magazine was a little bit of a struggle because I wanted it to be easy to remember and recognise but original at the same time. I ended up using “LSC Weekly” because it was short, snappy and easy to remember. I found that creating my cover-lines was a challenge because I was not used to journalism. I had to think about good cover lines to use because the ones I had were unoriginal, boring and generic. I wanted to make them appeal to college students so I used feedback from them to help me with this.

I need to improve on my planning in terms of image shots because when I was taking the pictures for the college magazine I had to improvise so I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I was doing. Also during my feedback, many people said that the images looked rushed and weren’t well thought/planned out. I also need to improve on the colours that I use because the colours I used for the LSC Weekly blended in according to my peers who gave me feedback. I will also make the text bigger so that it is easier to read.

When producing my music magazine, three areas for improvement are:

·        Image Shots – I need to think about which shot will be most appropriate for the music magazine and how it will complement the layout. I need to plan this before I actually take the images.

·        Time – I need to divide my time properly because I spent more time taking the images for the LSC Weekly magazine then I did planning them which means I had to improvise a lot more then I should have.

·        Planning – I need to plan the colours more appropriately and the shots of images.

 

Preliminary Task: LSC magazine Front cover & Contents Page

 

Contents Page

 

 

 

Plan for Leyton Student Magazine

This is a basic plan for the preliminary task, my Leyton Student Magazine.

Case Studies

Magazine 1: Billboard Magazine

The Front Cover

Billboard magazine is issued weekly, and focuses on the music industry. As well as being one of the oldest trade magazines in the world, it also lists the Billboard charts (most notably the Hot 100, and Billboard 200 as well as 100 other charts).

The colour scheme is black, white and yellow, apart from the masthead which includes the colours red and blue. On the cover of this issue is hip-hop musician Drake from 2010. Every so often Billboard magazine features artist photo shoots and cover stories when the artists are promoting a new single/album.

The image is a close up of his face as he is the “new face” of hip-hop, due to his recent surge of popularity at the time. The image is in black & white, the lighting is quite dim, and he is wearing black clothing. This may set a mysterious tone to him and what his music is like, compelling the audience to find out.

The image is quite simple and laid back similar to Drake’s music, style and persona. The rest of his body apart from his face is blurred, meaning that the focus is on Drake’s face linking with the cover line “Drake: The New Face of Hip-Hop”.

The masthead “Billboard” is in front of Drake’s forehead. The masthead is the visual branding of the magazine. As Drake is a new artist and he is not yet popular enough to carry the magazine the masthead must be in front of him so the magazine is still easily recognisable. This also indicates that the magazine is promoting Drake although he is partly selling the magazine, encouraging his current fans to purchase the magazine. The release date of the magazine “May 29 2010” coincides with the release of Drake’s single “Over” which was released the previous month. It is placed next to the barcode with the websites, and the prices.

This is the Billboard Magazine Media kit for 2012. It features a screenshot of Billboard.com.  The screenshot features an image of Lady Gaga being announced as a performer at the 2010 Grammy’s. On the side it also has a list of content that Billboard magazine contains.

 

Billboard magazine is produced and published by the company Prometheus Global Media, formerly called the “e5 Global Media”. They are based in New York City. Apart from Billboard magazine, they also publish four other magazines: Adweek, Back Stage, Film Journal International and The Hollywood Reporter. The company also has a website (www.prometheusgm.com) where all of the magazines are listed and a little piece of information is there about all of them.

 

Contents Page

 

This is the contents page from the May 29th 2010 issue of Billboard magazine. It is clear that it is a contents page because of the way the page is laid out.

The title is at the top of the page and in bold text, which is the same as the masthead on the front cover. Underneath the “Contents” title, there are photographs of other artists that feature in the magazine such as Wale and Lady Gaga. This entices more readers because if they are fans of Drake as well as Wale and Gaga, they are more likely to buy the magazine. Also if they are just fans of either Wale or Gaga, then they will also consider buying the magazine. It has the page numbers of the articles features each artist in the right hand corner of each image so that the readers can skip to whatever article they please and appeals to them.

As Billboard is known for listing over 100 charts, on the right hand side of the contents page it list who is Number 1 on some of the more prominent Billboard charts. Readers will be able to find out who is on top of the charts easier without having to find the full Top 100 charts.

Double Page Spread

This is a double page spread from the May 29^th 2010 issue of Billboard magazine. The colour scheme is black, white, grey and green. There are only two pictures and more text in proportion. This immediately tells the reader it is Drake’s first feature on the magazine. We can also tell this because of the timeline and the bottom of the double page spread emphasising his rise to fame and again that he is a new artist.

The spread features and two-shot image of both Drake and his mentor Lil Wayne who was also the man who signed him. It is the biggest imageout of the two used for the spread. It is an image from the BET awards so it is quite recent and therefore more important than the other image. Drake’s clothes are quite mellow as usual whereas Lil Wayne’s clothing is quite colourful and eccentric which is what both artists are known for. Important quotes that Drake has said throughout the interview are “I’m young. I’m 23. I know I have a lot of growing up to do” is in green bold text; they show Drake in a mature light and quite down to earth. This helps highlight Drake’s personality because although he is a rapper and black, he is quite different to other rappers. He is educated and was brought up in a middle-class family.

The other image is from when Drake was acting on Canadian teen drama Degrassi as Jimmy Brooks. It is fairly smaller than the other image which could be as it is from Drake’s past when he was in another profession. It also features 3 other characters from the programme in the shot. This suggests that this particular cover story will also discuss Drake’s past as an actor and his progression as an actor to a rapper.

Magazine 2: Vibe Magazine

 

Vibe Magazine is a music and entertainment publication predominantly featuring R&B and hip-hop music artists. The magazine was founded by music producer Quincy Jones who is famous for his work with Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson.

The colour scheme for Vibe front cover changes regularly from each issue to the next. In particular in this February/March 2012 issue, the colour scheme for the front cover is orange, white and black. Nicki Minaj is featured on the cover of the issue. The image is a mid-long shot of Minaj wearing a tiara, red hair and a white dress. The background colour of the image is white. As a whole the image is quite plain and although Nicki is known for her outrageousness and loud persona, the image still manages to reflect this via the red hair and her pose. The lighting is quite bright and she is wearing a tiara and a dress. This links to Minaj’s new found title as “Queen of Hip-Hop” and also suggests that she is the best in the genre right now.

The masthead is the same colour as Nicki’s hair and is behind her suggesting that as an artist she is now popular enough to be able to carry and publicise the magazine without the title needing to be fully displayed. The fact that she is also ahead of the masthead also displays her growth in popularity since her last Vibe magazine front cover in 2008. The main cover line is beside her face and the same colour as the masthead. The other cover lines are in either black or white and are in smaller font. All of the cover lines and the masthead are aligned on both the left hand side and the right. The language is quite relaxed and is not as strict as the language used for Billboard magazine for example.

This is a screenshot from the Vibe Magazine 2011 press pack/media kit. The total audience of Vibe Magazine is 2,400,000. The audience for the magazine is mostly Black/African American men and women aged 21 and over. The audience is either in employment, education or both. The artists that are usually on the front cover reflect the taste of the audience as that is their target market who are “comprised of trendsetting individuals passionate about music, entertainment, fashion and pop-culture”

Vibe Magazine is published by Vibe Media. The company was formed in 2012 when Vibe Holdings merged with BlackBook Media. Vibe.com publishes the same articles as the magazine form and is updated regularly.
 

Contents Page

This is the contents page from the February/March 2012 issue of Vibe. As Nicki Minaj is the focus of the issue, she is also on both the front cover and the contents page. The contents page is clear like the front cover and is listed as “Features”. It is also a few pages in the magazine so some readers might be confused as to where the contents page is, if they are not used to Vibe magazine. It is again easy to tell that the magazine is going to be mainly about Nicki Minaj because she is on the contents page again. An image of Nicki doing a different pose but in the same image is on the right hand side of the page. The image shows Minaj in a different light – cute but also toned down.

 

The listed “features” of the Feb/March 2012 issue of Vibe is listed on the left hand side of the contents page. Unlike many other music magazines only the featured articles that are unique to this particular issue are listed. A description of what each of the articles is about is underneath each heading. The details of the photo shoot and the outfits are listed in the left hand bottom corner of the page. As a whole the contents page is simple and entices the reader as it is not cluttered and full of pictures and information. It is also makes it easier for the audience to find a specific article they are looking for.
 

Double Page Spread

This is the double page spread about Nicki from the February/March 2012 issue of Vibe. The main image of Minaj is on the majority of the spread. The quote is quite provocative but links with the image. Nicki is saying in the quote that she wanted to write an album that was about sex, showing off her body and still make the album a success. The image is quite respectable, relaxed and displays Minaj in a classy light, but still showcasing how quirky she is. The most enticing quote from the interview is placed in the right corner of the image of Minaj, which persuades readers to read the whole interview to understand and read Nicki explain what she meant. The quote also hints at what is next to come for Minaj in terms of her music and as an artist as she said that she has “defeated her critics” intriguing the audience to again read the article to get a hint of it. Furthermore the image used is from a photo shoot on the set of her “Va Va Voom” video shoot, providing fans with a glimpse of the fashion and hair in the video further tempting fans to look through the spread.

The actual article is placed on the right hand side of the spread in small, justified font. Compared to the proportion of the image, the proportion of the text is quite small and is perhaps only the cover story portion of the spread as the interview is on a separate double spread page. Throughout the interview there are references that are further explained on the far right hand side of the spread bettering the knowledge/understanding of the audience when reading the article.