Print research and planning

How will the audience recognise the genre of music? How will you address your particular target audience?

The audience will recognise the 'indie' style genre of the music as the images on the front cover and inside the digipack will connote individuality and will be a bit different and alternative from the mainstream R&B or hip hop style, and a contrast to other genres.
We will attract the audience by using a bright and attractive colour scheme and by taking stills from our video which show the simple, homemade, childlike look we were going for clearly. This will give the pack an element of disjuncture as it has no meaning to the audience at a first glance, but catches their attention.

How will you create a ‘house style’ linked to the brand image of your band? How will you link the styles of the video, cover and advert?

Our 'house style' has been created throughout the video, as we have followed the child-like, homemade look - so will portray this onto the print work. Using stills from the video will not only make the album cover recognisable to the audience that have seen the video, but will also encourage others to watch the video.
It will be easy to get stills from our video seeing as it is all photographs so we just need to pick which parts we want to convert to the print work. The style of the cover and advert will reflect the video.

What is the digipack cover for, now that many people buy online?

Digipacks contain not only the album or single but additional special features as well - like a video clip of the band/artist playing live, an interview with the band/artist, or a backstage look into their day to day life.
It gives the audience a bit more than just the song they have been listening to, and makes them feel closer to the band. So if they are really intersted in the band or artist they can buy these instead of just downloading the song and having the file. They are more for the committed fans who like to have something aesthetically pleasing to keep and collect.


How much do ads in these magazines actually cost? Can you save some money by using the same advert online?

I have found out these rates for advertising on an 'magazine advertising rates card'. The magazines stated would be the ones that suit our genre of music the most:


Double page spread
Kerrang! - £9,092
Mojo - £9,291
Q - £17,396

Page outside back cover
Kerrang! - £6,220
Mojo - £6,357
Q - £11,902

Half page
Kerrang - £2,607
Mojo - £2,445
Q - £4,578

Loose insert

Kerrang - £45
Mojo - £45
Q - £45

Internet adverts are free in most places, soit would probably be worth putting the same advert on the internet either aswell as, or instead of a magazine. An internet advert would probably be more appropriate for our band, not only due to their low budget but also their target audience would be more likley to read an internet advert than a magazine one. Also it is extending the audience of the band as anybody can read it, whereas in a magazine it would be a specific kind of person who has gone out of their way to purchase the music magazine they are interested in.

How much money your band would have to spend on marketing – could they afford a quarter page, half page, or full page? What magazines are appropriate for the target audience?

As i said above our band would have a very low budget to spend on advertising as they are starting out in the music industry. Idealy a half page advert would benefit the band, however it is still alot of money. A loose insert would be more realistic but not as effective.
However this list of magazines consists of the major music chains. There are other, more independent magazines and newspapers that would probably be cheaper to advertise in and are exposed to a more non-mainstream, alternative audience which are suited to our bands genre and style more than the mainstream companies like Kerrang!


What will you need to consider when designing it if you want to use it in print and onscreen?

The advert I design would need to be suited to print and onscreen as it would appear on the internet aswell as newspapers or magazines. I would have to make sure it wasn't suited to/looked better on either, it would have to be of a high quality on both. This may mean keeping the design simple and not using high resolution images or anything that may cause blurring or a decrease in quality.