Editor's Recommendation Letter

From my experience, a music magazine should contain various features to get a good number of people to buy it.
You should always be specific about your target audience as it will help focus on the particular qualities needed to be in that magazine for your readers. If you, for instance, concentrate on late teens (16-19), you need to think about the variety of interests this audience is into. Colour is a major element of developing a magazine issue – should you stick with an ongoing theme of colours? Or change them every issue? If you focus on a more young male audience, the colours such as dark red, blue, green or black would be advisable.
Other factors that should be taken into consideration include the language. This is a huge importance to the style of text of your magazine. Should it be formal? Would it contain slang or expletive language? For a male audience, it should focus on being more aggressive and edgy.

Another factor is establishing a genre. If we take NME for example, this magazine chose to focus on many genres as it collects a wider spread of audiences; that way, it can keep many readers attracted to the magazine. On the other hand, a majority of other publications choose to focus on a more niche market. They prefer to link with one style of music e.g. RWD is Hip-Hop, Kerrang is Rock.

Akin to the theme of colours, remember to think carefully about your masthead, as it will expand over the years to eventually develop brand identity, which is to say if your magazine becomes as successful. Thus, wisely choose the colours and the font for your headline. NME for example is boldly written and is in a fixed location on the cover. RWD has cleverly used arrows to indicate a “rewind button” on a music playing device e.g. iPod, Mp3.

Additionally in a magazine, it would be a lot more attractive if gigs, up coming events and reviews were posted to keep readers interested and updated. A music magazine always chooses its advertisers, and each decides a particular type. The main ones include events (e.g. awards, festivals), gigs (bands performing), online tickets (as nowadays internet has become a huge spread media for online retailing) and free merchandise such as T-shirts. Some even advertise for other magazines (Kerrang advertises Mojo issues).

A problem you will be facing once your magazine is launched is competition. Like in every other business in the world, a company must always find new ways to survive and keep up with their opponents. Say your magazine is based on the R&B genre, and a newer magazine has entered the market. It releases bigger artists of the same genre and its price is extremely reasonable. You need to find ways to survive and have your readers still interested. Lowering your price would be a popular choice, and also, you need to get the biggest artists as of the moment. Also, offer more to the fans e.g. free merchandise, competitions to win great prizes like iPods, tickets.

Lastly, a magazine should always adapt to change. The music world will always keep on shifting to various new styles to keep up with the modern day world, so adjust your magazine, and keep it hip!