3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Every magazine wherever it is fashion or music will have a barcode included on the front or back cover. I located my barcode on the bottom right of my front cover this was to prevent my barcode from interfering with my overall image and from ruining the design of my magazine. In addition from researching magazines it’s evident that a vast majority of all music magazines are located at the bottom of the page therefore as an encoder I aimed to stick with what a real music magazine would look like.

Therefore, from a encoder's perspective codes and conventions are crucial in attracting customers. In my research, I researched a magazine and anotated the magazine's codes and conventions:

The masthead like most music magazines is positioned at the top of the front cover from a encoder’s perspective a masthead is placed there because it’s the first thing a consumer will see when looking at the front cover, therefore when constructing my front a spent a long to creating a bold masthead that would stand out. From a decoder’s perception to determine the first thoughts of a magazine usually involves the quality of the masthead and the front cover.

As I have already addressed my music magazine is focussed on my specific type/genre of music, like the vast majority of all music magazines.  As the encoder I used this genre and designed sections of the magazine and based on what the decoder would expect to see in that particular magazine. As the decoder the type of music magazine you will purchase will determine what type/genre of music you listen too.  To determine what type/genre I based my music magazine on something unique that I believed was popular however their wasn’t a music magazine specific for my type/genre of music.  A wide range of music magazines will include a story of the band or a specific musician and will additionally also usually involve an interview between the encoder and a band member. Sticking to this structure I have also constructed an interview with a band member in my music magazine.

Music magazines also involve additional ways too contact the company. From researching music magazine I discovered that the vast majority of these magazines have a “contact us on facebook or twitter” therefore to make my music magazine look like an adequate music magazine as an encoder I also included the contact us:

Another element of my magazine design was on my front cover to exploit an offer for the decoder to win a free £25 itunes voucher this was placed at the bottom of my front cover to entice customers to purchase my magazine. In addition as encoder when constructing my price and issue I had to think about a suitable price in which my target would be able to afford although would also impact on me making money as a pose to loosing money. I published my price and issue number on my front cover so the decoder could see the prices of my magazine.

When producing a music magazine an essential element of the encoder’s responsibilities is the modes of address. An encoder I made sure the signs and the way I wrote were appropriate for my target audience to understand. As my target audience is late teenagers I used a wide range of slang in my music magazine this mode of address was suitable for my target audience. However if my target audience was based on an older generation of middle aged men and as an encoder I incorporated slang words into my music magazine this will result in the consumers failing to understand the tone and language of the magazine this will impact on the sales of the magazine.

When referring to the Stuart Hall’s Encoding and Decoding Model states that a decoder can decode a piece of media text. The response a decoder will have to the media text can be narrowed down to four possibilities- Dominant reading, Negotiated reading, Oppositional reading and Aberrant reading. A dominant reading is where the decoder fully understands the decoder’s code and accepts the message.  When constructing my music magazine I aimed for the decoder to have a dominant reading this is the reading I wanted the decoder to take from my music magazine.