Structure of Exam

Exam Structure

Section A: Music

Q1:

Worth one mark. A knowledge based question, have to identify or define.

Q2:

This will be worth 4 marks (2 points). You will have to explain them. This question will be knowledge and understanding based.

Q3:

This will be worth 10 marks (2 well developed or 3 paragraphs) You will have a question in relation to any relevant area of the theoretical framework in relation to either your set texts. (Any area of LARI)

Q4:

Worth 5 marks (2 points). Will be required to analyse media language or media representations with reference to a provided extract.

Q5:

This will be worth 15 marks (4 points, or 3 well developed). This question will always be about media language, but the area will change every year. Will be required to make comparisons about two magazine extracts. One from MOJO and other from magazines.

Reception Theory

Theories involved: Reception Theory - Hall

Preferred Reading

- Audiences accept and agree with all of the messages within a media product.

- For example, audiences believe that Little Mix can perform magic and have the power to help people.

Oppositional Reading

- Audiences reject and disagree with all of the messages within a media product.

- Completely disagree with stereotypical characters.

Negotiated Reading 

- Audiences part agree / part disagree with the messages within a media product.

- May enjoy the music, but not really care about the video.

Magazine Regulation - IPSO

 Magazine Audiences

Regulation

- Magazines, like newspapers, are self-regulated. Magazines may join IPSO or Impress - only.

- Impress is Leveson-complaint.

- MOJO has chosen to join IPSO, as have the other Bauer publications

Who are they/What do they do?

IPSO is the regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK. They hold newspapers and magazines to account for their actions, protect individual rights, uphold high standards of journalism and help to maintain freedom of expression for the press. They make sure magazines follow Editors Code, investigate complaints that breach this. 

Magazine Audiences and Uses and Gratifications Theory

Magazine Audiences

Targeting Audiences

- Weekly magazines target more working class than middle class. Paid for magazines with highest C2DE readership are Take A Bread, What's On TV, OK! and TV Choice - all weekly magazines.

- Quality monthly magazines target more middle class audiences. Paid for magazines with the highest ABC1 readership are the monthlies Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, etc.

- Most popular weekly and monthly magazines have predominantly female readerships.

- Magazines aimed at men have lower circulations. Most successful are Men's Health and BBC Top Gear. 

Social Class Table

MOJO Readers

- Mojo has fairly small circulation of about 68000 and a readership of about 138000 (figures from NRS (PAMCo). Audience is more niche than magazines such as Cosmopolitan (over 1 million).

Class: Mojo gains similar share of middle and working class readers (Their pitch to advertisers claims a mostly middle class audience, possibly based on circulation, however NRS suggests otherwise)

Gender: Mojo is four times more likely to be read by men than women.

Age: Readership is adult. Nearly two thirds of the readers are over 35. However, higher proportion of 15-34 year olds read magazines, compared to proportion of over 35 year olds.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Personal Identity - Reinforcing 'authentic' music fan, fandom, artists as role models, values of a genre. In MOJO, they could be promoting an artist eg. John Lennon taking up a page to promote his album - audiences can see him as a role model.

Social interaction and integration - 'Mind blowers' section, creating debates. In MOJO, if in an interview an artists answers with a controversial opinion, this could cause debates and arguments (something to talk about).

Entertainment - Girls, attractive stars, gossip. In MOJO, the CD's they provide are a source of entertainment for audiences.

Information - Main function of MOJO to give us information. In MOJO, they could give information on artists' music releases, information on ticket sales for concerts, etc.

Magazine Revenue

Magazine Revenue

Revenue

Magazines receive revenue from:

- Circulation (production and distribution of magazines) (cover price - £5.75 for MOJO in 2019)

- Advertising (other products/music) (in MOJO, mostly live or recorded music, with some fashion advertising

- Mass advertising (advertising that g, eg. billboards, on radio

- Cross-promotion for other Bauer brands, such as Empire.

- Sponsored content and product placement, for example, 'MOJO listens to all its   music on Roksan equipment.

How do they use different funding models to generate income?

- The print magazine industry is suffering from falling advertising revenues and falling circulations as many of their audience go online. 

- Their response has been to diversify as much as possible - events are a good example of this - and to move magazines online.

- Sponsored content and product placement, for example 'MOJO listens to all its music on Roksan equipment'.

- Events, e.g. Vogue runs fashion events, GQ runs comedy events.

Online: www.mojo4music.com

What's available to audiences? 

- Magazines

- Subscriptions

- Merch

- Newsletter

- Articles

How does it engage with different people?

Engages a younger target audience through ticket sales and competition, also through merch

Magazine Ownership and NRS

  Magazine Ownership & NRS

The magazine industry is mostly owned by publishing companies, rather than the very large conglomerates such as Disney, Amazon and Netflix that dominate film and television media worldwide.

Most magazines are struggling in a competitive market so this media form (print) may be best managed by owners who specialise in the  print medium.

However, magazine publishing is globalised, like other media, with the most popular magazine brands (as measured by the National Readership Survey) in the hands of a few international companies.

Some publishing companies include:

Inc - US

Hubert Burda Media - German

Bauer - German media conglomerate (magazine, radio and music television)

Hearst Communications - US media conglomerate (newspapers, magazines, local radio and cable television)

How are magazine audiences categorised? 

Cosmopolitan - Categorised through segments - Gender, Age, Social Class, Family Size

How is readership and consumption measured?

Cosmopolitan - Measured through Market, Magazines and News-brands. 

Also separated through print, desktop, phone, tablet, etc.

How are audiences identified? 

"A high-quality face to face survey of 35,000 participants per year interviewed in home to collect print readership and demographic data."

"Estimates of the audiences for digital platforms sourced directly from Comscore and integrated with the readership survey by means of a specially developed fusion process."

"Where appropriate adjustments are made to the proportion of readers reading a brand both in print and on screen, based on observations from survey participants who had a specially designed Tracker App installed on their devices i.e. desktop, laptop, phone, tablet."

Bauer Media and MOJO Audiences

Bauer Media

1950s - 1960s

Melody Maker / New Musical Express

- Largely uncritical of musicians' output - everything was always good!

- Content: mainly charts and singles, gig and listings.

Changes in society in the 1960s with the arrival of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, drug culture of the 1960s - changed the nature of music and music writing.

Question - Is the promotion of music today driven more by the Industry or the Audience / Readership? 

I think that mainstream songs are more through industry (social media) and niche are from audience. 

MOJO Readers

Mojo had a fairly small circulation of about 68000 in 2016-17 and a readership of about 138000. (For comparison, Take a Break and Cosmopolitan have readerships of well over 1 million.)

Class:

- Mojo gains a similar share of middle class and working class readers.

Gender:

- Mojo is four times more likely to be read by men than women.

Age:

- The readership is adult.

- There is a greater number of older readers (over 35) than younger readers: nearly two thirds of the readers are over 35.

- However, a higher proportion of 15-34 year olds (a much smaller group) read the magazine compared with over 35 year olds (a much bigger group).

Conglomerate: A media institution/company that owns numerous smaller companies (subsidiaries) involved in mass media enterprises, such as television, radio, publishing etc.

Mojo is published by Bauer Media. This company owns more than 600 magazines including 2 other UK music magazines (Q and Kerrang!)

It has diversified MOJO brand by offering mojo4music.com online (since 2001) in order to reduce the risk of operating only one media form. Bauer media is diversified itself with ownership of magazines, web sites, radio stations and music TV channels.

What does this help to protect? 

It is protecting the brand through diversifying as it has another way of being accessed through different platforms in order to keep audiences interested and involved with the brand in case one platform declines.

Libel = a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation.

- Bauer also produced a digital radio station. This station was called Mojo Radio, and was transmitted on the digital television networks in the UK (Freeview channel 721 and Sky Digital channel 0182, though not Virgin Media) and online.

- The output of the station was based on that of the magazine.

- It was announced on 5 November 2008 that Mojo Radio would cease broadcasting on 30 November 2008, in order to save Bauer money. 

Bauer Media group is a diversified media conglomerate because they offer many different platform such as the Mojo website as well as different magazines, radio stations and TV channels such as Absolute Radio, Mojo magazine, etc.

Bauer Media group is a globalised company because they have a workforce of 11,000 employees in 17 different countries.

Entire Mojo Magazine - Hardcopy

MOJO Set Texts:

Pink Floyd

Theories involved: Reception Theory

Preferred Reading

- Audiences accept and agree with all of the messages within a media product.

Oppositional Reading

- Audiences reject and disagree with all of the messages within a media product.

Negotiated Reading 

- Audiences part agree / part disagree with the messages within a media product.

How many men? How many women? How many ethnic minorities? Is this a fair representation?

Front cover almost all men (5) and 1 woman in small photo at the corner, with no other ethnic minorities. The small number of women who are there are represented as very masculine, not sexualised, however this is an unfair representation as Mojo is portraying women as being unable to be in the rock industry.

The first 20 pages there are 55 men, and 17 woman, with little to none ethnic minorities (only 4); this isn't necessarily a fair representation due to the lack of diversity; they are focusing on one ethnicity/race instead of including others such as other religions, as well as the majority of images being of me, however this is mainly in order to meet the target audience of the magazine.

How might audiences interpret the same magazines very differently and how might these differences reflect both social and individual differences?

Older audiences such as 50 and above may interpret this magazine as very informative and interesting, focusing on the music and genre of the magazine as well as the different artists that are included. However, older audiences may also not regard the lack of diverse artists.

On the other hand, younger audiences such as teens and below may regard the lack of diversity and therefore may associate the rock genre with white males. This is because they are easily influenced by what they see and read.

How many main advertisements are there throughout the magazine? Where? What? Why?

There are 7 adverts on the first 20 pages, some taking up whole pages and some as smaller ads just on the corners of the page. Most if not all of these advertisements are promoting music, such as albums, bands, specific songs and other magazines. The majority of these adverts conform to the rock genre and artists in order to promote this style to fit the target audience. Cross promotion is done - Bauer media has promoted Empire magazine inside the Mojo magazine - they own both.

Articles? 

Range of articles to keep the audience interested and engaged as well as promoting other artists.

SA1 Test

 Original

Reflect and Perfect 

Question 5 Music Exam Question

How far is media language used differently in one extract of Mojo and We Love Pop magazine to reflect genre conventions?
 
In your answer you must

- analyse examples of how media language is used differently in the extracts
- make judgements and reach conclusions about whether there are more similarities due to genre contentions that differences in the extracts. (15)

The MOJO Pink Floyd cover reflects the psychedelic rock genre. This is through the certain use of colour; in Pink Floyd, there is a wide range of colours, presented through blur and blending which is done to refer to what it is like to be under the influence of drugs (hallucination, 'tripping out', etc.). This is exactly what Pink Floyd were involved with; psychedelic rock was centred around the idea of hallucinogenic and sight-altering drugs. By presenting this, it immediately infers to the reader of MOJO the conventions of Pink Floyd's style of music and even personality traits. Furthermore, in Top Of The Pops (TOTP), there are bright colours however compared to MOJO, not a wide range of colours. The colours used are mainly orange and blue - vivid, warm tones that represent joy and also links in with pop music - having a typical fast tempo and presenting a positive, upbeat message. 

In addition, the images and graphics used in Pink Floyd's are presented as floating. This is done to once again imply what Pink Floyd are centred around - being high on drugs. When this happens, you can feel as if you are 'floating'. Psychedelic rock encourages and promotes the use of perspective changing drugs, which is what the front cover has done also. It is in the centre of the cover which can immediately draw attention to the reader, and may even cause confusion. This distinctively portrays this influence and presents to the reader what they are all about 

I WANT TO WRITE MORE THERE IS NO TIME

Front Cover Analysis (MOJO and Unseen Text)

MOJO Representations

Representation analysis of magazines

Representation analysis includes (taking MOJO as an example):

 

 

 

 

 

How the producers have chosen to construct a version of reality that represents events, social groups and ideas to fit their purposes:

 

• MOJO wishes to attract a target audience that shares its respect for ‘classic rock’, so constructs a version of reality that represents musicians as authentic heroes, striving for excellence.

 

 

How and why (e.g. to enable quick interpretation) stereotypes have been used, including anti-stereotyping/counter-stereotyping:

 

• MOJO’s selection of photographs of mainly young, white males may be to fit the stereotype of rock musicians – this will enable instant recognition by audiences

 

• MOJO’s anti-stereotypical positive representation of older people as popular musicians. This may reflect the anti-ageism of an older audience

 

 

 

Which social groups are under-represented  or misrepresented:

 

• MOJO’s front cover 99% of the time represents white male musicians in photographs under- representing female musicians and musicians of colour

 

 

 

The messages and values conveyed and issues addressed:

 

• MOJO’s front cover associates musicians with quest, danger and struggle, celebrating the values associated with rock music of ‘living fast and dying young’

 

 

How these representations  reflect their social/cultural contexts:

 

 

•MOJO’s representations reflect the continuing significance of a 1960s generation who developed popular music in a period of social upheaval. It also reflects the dominance of celebrity culture in society

What are the stereotypical representations on the front cover? Why have they been used? Are there any counter-types?

The front cover of Pink Floyd's MOJO magazine matches the stereotype of psychedelic rock, musicians who are known to take recreational drugs and are even disorientated. This theme is conveyed on the front cover through the use of many colours merged together, in a way this creates a feeling of uncertainty and being fluctuant. The use of colour however is a counter-type in the sense that males aren't seen to stand by 'feminine' colours, this would encourage readers to start abolishing toxic masculinity. Furthermore, the band seen to be almost smirky which abides by their genre of rebelliousness.

Celebrity Culture

The MOJO front cover in a way does represent the rebellious rockers social group as you can see them all lined and smirking at the reader, this shows their almost mischievous side as well as rebellious as it shows they don't intend to follow the rules.

Multiculturalism 

On the front cover of Pink Floyd's MOJO magazine people of colour and diversity are absent, therefore MOJO aren't reflecting the diversity of people of colour in a multicultural society. This might be because MOJO have been around the magazine industry for a long time and the customers they attract are loyal customers who have been subscribed to the magazine for years, therefore their views and opinions may be in a sense 'stuck in the past' and not agree with today's society as well as equality for all races, ethnicities etc.

Changes in gender roles; Are females present or absent? Why?

On the front cover of Pink Floyd's MOJO magazine females are absent (no females on featured article) apart from a tiny other image in the corner of the front cover, a headshot of Patti Smith looking away from the reader, which ultimately under-represents females. Although the image of Patti Smith is small, it does reflect the diversity of roles women play in a post-feminist society. By Patti looking away, it shows her rebellious character as well as her language seen on the front cover "I have no fear", this is a counter-type to a traditional female who are seen as housed-wife's/mother or even sex objects and instead appeals to the idea that women have voices just as loud as males. Unfortunately this idea is belittled by the fact her image is so miniature and instead conforms to the stereotype that men are far more powerful than females and continue to over rule them as people.

 

 

MOJO Media Language

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF FRONT COVERS

The name of the magazine is called a masthead. 

There are usually three font and three colours.

The fonts and colours usually represents the genre of the magazine.

Slogan is typically memorable, usually found centralised at the top, or at the top left.

Cover lines tells you what is inside the magazine, a feature article is the main article and usually the biggest font size.

Main image, typically one big main image which is usually a mid shot in music magazines. The person is looking at the camera so they are always looking at you. 

Masthead

In white and in bold text, at the top of the magazine and it stands out to the audience.

Colour

Lots of different colours (multicoloured). This kind of colour scheme reflect psychedelic rock and represents drugs in that era, which Pink Floyd were involved with.

Main feature article

Size of text is bigger than the cover lines, but smaller than the masthead. This suggests this piece of text is important and takes dominance of the coverlines. It's also in white, which challenges the typical connotations of psychedelic rock - dark and deep.

Main Cover Line

Different colours to separate certain subtopics within the magazine.

Main Image

Heads are transparent and appear to be 'floating' - again representing drugs and that state of mind.

Codes and conventions

Mojo logo stands out in the same position as all of the other MOJO magazines, however colours are more vibrant and bright which challenges the typical conventions of the usual design of MOJO magazines - grey and dark. However, psychedelic rock is very drug based and uses colours to represent what it is like to feel and see when you are on drugs, which is what Pink Floyd were involved with. The magazine cover conventionally has a cover line to show what's inside of the magazine, as well as an image of the main band the magazine is about.

Is there a relationship between technology and media language on the cover?

Yes, edited photo of the band (their heads 'floating') is done again to convey what it is like to be high on drugs, like you are floating. This is done to portray what Pink Floyd are like and what their lyrics and music style is like.

Language used on the front cover is neither informal or formal - just straight to the point and informative, tells you exactly what's inside and what the main article is.

 

 

MOJO - A Change In Society

A magazine front cover dominated by females - Vogue.

A magazine front cover that supports anyone from the LGBTQ community - Q Culture.

A magazine front cover that is multicultural - Allure.

The changes in gender roles - the increasing role of women in public life due to the impact of 1970s feminism, changing stereotypes of masculinity and femininity.

Changing attitudes to sexualities - the increasingly visible role of LGBTQ+ people in public life and acceptance of different sexualities.

Multiculturalism - the change from a normatively white and racist society to one characterised by racial and ethnic diversity.

Celebrity Culture - the organisation of popular culture around celebrities - people who are famous for being famous.

Consumerism - the expectation that people should mark out an individual identity by exercising choice in buying goods and services and aspire to higher social status; the dominance of marketing.

MOJO Set Texts

MOJO Set Texts:

Sex Pistols and Pink Floyd.

Who are the Sex Pistols? 5 Facts.

They were formed in 1975, and were very popular during this era.

Formed in London.

They were responsible for starting the 'punk movement' in the UK.

Their most popular single 'God Save The Queen' was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977.

Punk Rock

It emerged in the mid 1970s.

They are short, hard hitting and fast paced songs.

It emerged from garage rock in the 1960s.

Who are the Pink Floyd? 5 Facts.

Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London.

They were formed in 1965.

They were a psychedelic rock group.

Pink Floyd were founded by students Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright.

Psychedelic Rock and Progressive Rock

Psychedelic Rock is focused on sound and texture. 

Progressive Rock is focused more on structure.

Pink Floyd were popular as they fit into both these genres.

Mojo Magazine

MOJO, is a serious 'classic rock' magazine that targets an upmarket and mature audience.

This reflects the context of the economic power of the 'baby boomer' generation. - They were the first generation to have disposable income post war. They were able to enjoy music/festivals/concerts.

In terms of media industries, MOJO is a good example of diversification.

- It includes a magazine, dedicated website, Instagram page, Twitter account, etc.

MOJO is a product with a clear audience address - engaging the passion of music fans who consider themselves sophisticated - this is reflected in a consistent media language house style.

Statistics

83.5% of MOJO's demographic is male.

65.1% of MOJO's reader age is 39-55 years old. 

72% of MOJO's social grade is ABC1.

MOJO's audience = Niche, older, predominantly male audience.

On average are ages 41.

- Mojo's readers are serious music fans and loyal readers of the brand.

Exam Style Questions

Identify who collects audience data for radio in the UK (1)

RAJAR

How does Radio 1 live lounge meet the PSB requirements? (5)

Live Lounge meet the PSB requirements through 'reflecting the diversity of Britain'. Live lounge include celebrities from the UK who are of different ethnicities, race, religion, etc. This distinctly displays how Britain is full of different cultures as well as talent through these artists, which meet PSBs' aim. Another one of the PSB requirements is to provide distinctive programming. The Live Lounge is distinctive because no other radio station offers this content, and this helps to promote both upcoming artists as well as already popular artists.

Explain one way in which music videos use media language to appeal to target audiences. (4)

Black Magic uses mise en scene to appeal to younger audiences. The music video is set in a high school, with characters being young, innocent 'children' and experiencing stereotypical feuds to gain popularity. Despite the unrealism of using 'magic' to transform into 'cooler' and more popular girls, the fantasy storyline set in a place where younger audiences find themselves everyday appeals to them as they could relate to some of the experiences that the girls go through - wanting to be more respected and attracted to by the good looking boy.

Explain how a social group is represented within a music video. Refer to the music videos you have studied to support your answer. (10)

The girls are represented as typically nerdy at the beginning of Black Magic. This is evident from their clumsy and shy manner when thinking the good looking boy is glancing at them. They become over excited and seem to make a fool of themselves once in realisation that the boy was not looking at them, but instead at the popular, blonde haired girl. A nerdy group stereotypically have glasses, are portrayed as 'dorky' and boring, and not very good looking. They use this social group in a negative way as they evidently hold conventions of an unpopular and disliked group of people, that are not respected in the school.

In Somebody To You, the girls are represented as an attraction to please the boys. Throughout the music video, the girls are wearing revealing clothes and seem to get the boys attention through this. When in the pool, the girls wave at the boys whilst wearing bikinis to get their attention. This is stereotypical as the 'cool', popular boys seem to only be attracted to better looking girls. This is portrayed in Somebody To You as the boys are admiring and taking interest in the girls for not necessarily what they are doing, but instead for how they look. This hetereosexual perspective links to the Male Gaze theory, in which women act as sexual objects for the pleasure of men. Additionally, there is a lack of diversity between races and ethnicities as all the girls are only white throughout the music video. This is a completely unfair representation as there are none, for example, black, Muslim, asian girls in the video, which projects a message that is completely wrong as it implies that you can only seem desirable if you are white. This may lead to a negative response from sensitive audiences of other religions, nationalities, or races, who may feel excluded.

Radio - Lesson 5

Lesson 5

Sam is a 16 year old boy who lives in central London who always wants to be in the know. He is all about new music and loves to discover and support new and upcoming artists, especially from the UK as it is his favourite type of music. Sam always wants to know what is going on in his community, especially in the world of music. Sam is quite young, so he's not a serious guy, but always likes to be taught new things through documentaries and news stories. Sam loves live music, especially rap, and loves to listen to BBC Radio 1's live lounge to see artists personalities, not just their performances.

What is the audience address of The Radio 1 Live Lounge in terms of its content and style? Why is this?
The audience address is to entertain them through either their favourite artists or music genre. The live lounge's dark studio, sometimes with a band, gives off a chill environment. They do this to make the audience feel comfortable with the artists and their performances.

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTER - Their Aim:
1. Have distinctive, high quality programmes.
2. Reflect the diversity of Britain.
3. Inform the public.
4. Make original programmes rather than just importing cheaper American programmes.

Don't confuse this with the BBC Remit: 
To enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.

'To reflect the UK, its culture and values to the world'.

PSB

Organisations within the media industries produce content with the aim of making money from audiences consumption. – ITV, Channel 4.
Exceptions to this would be public service broadcasters like the BBC.

A PSB television or radio broadcasting that has to meet requirements set by Ofcom, the regulator for TV and radio.

Radio - Lesson 4

Lesson 4

Regulator: Ofcom
Audience Collector: RAJAR (radio joint audience research)
RAJAR is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly owned by the BBC and the Radiocentre on behalf of the commercial sector.

Sam Smith's Live Lounge

Timeline (songs):

Song 1: Sam Smith - Lay Me Down
Song 2: Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One
Song 3: Sam Smith - Leave Your Lover
Song 4: Alicia Keys - Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart (performed by Sam Smith)
Song 5: Sam Smith - Like I Can
Song 6: Sam Smith - Latch
Song 7: George Michael - Father Figure (performed by Sam Smith)
Song 8: Sam Smith - Stay With Me
Song 9: Sam Smith - Too Good At Goodbyes

The episode is constructed of a band accompanying Sam Smith singing mainly his own songs to the audience, with two featured cover songs of Sam Smith's choice. This is done to entertain the audience and leave them wondering what songs he chooses, as well as not only expecting Sam's songs and hearing other songs from another singer.

The episode's live audience seemed to be adults or young adults, but target audience is mainly frequent live lounge watchers, of course Sam Smith's fans or people who like slow paced music.

The live lounge targets different audiences through these cover songs. Audiences may be intrigued to see what the artists choices were. Live lounge also targets different audiences through its setup, such as artists being accompanied by a band instead of a DJ may attract people who prefer these types of performances. Live lounge also have performances from a wide range of artists in different genres, at different levels of fame as well as different ethnicities, race, nationality, etc.