Media Conventions

Media Conventions: These are the rules that direct how you write or shoot a media piece. They talk about the techniques, angles, language, patters, colours, etc.

Artists and musicians are represented differently in indie music magazines, than those in other genres of music.

Photos used on the front cover of Indie magazines are unconventional in the sense they are not as ‘posed’ or edited. Many covers of magazines in this market feature photos of artists taken from live performances. This reflects the indie music genres pro-independence and less ‘produced’ and recorded electronic music. In some ways, it is a more human view on musicians than, for example, a Hip Hop take on them, hip hop artists rely on their looks therefore the way the magazine portrays them is very important.

Photos tend to be unconventional compared to a hip hop magazine. Whereas a hip hop magazine might display a rapper or mainstream artist, showing off his wealth and materialistic interests, an indie magazine cover might show an unusual close up shot of a emotionless singer, in a simplistic background and not surrounded by material goods. This can be seen as an idealistic approach – as apposed to the money-orientated approach of hip hop music. Indie music magazines are also considered a step towards a progressive move. Many bands featured are wearing a unique style of clothes, e.g. Skinny jeans, converse, retro items. Male singers also take more time in their personal presentation – usually with slightly more

sophisticated hairstyles and long hair. Despite being more of a progressive movement, male singers still dominate the indie music industry, making it patriarchal. Most popular indie bands consist of an all male group, or at least a majority of them. Artists are represented as more down-to –earth people, rather than rich, powerful media moguls. It is true, that the hip hop or pop music businesses may pull in higher profits and this is reflected in how they are presented. Their god-like appearance makes them respected for their musical and financial success, whereas indie musicians have a more romantic and nostalgic view on music which is less oriented around money.

All of this had to be portrayed within my magazine so that it was a successful magazine of its genre, allowing it to compete with existing magazines.