Treatment

 Beats is a music magazine that focuses on breakthrough artists, specializing in forms of urban music such as R&B and Hip-Hop. The target audience for my magazine is predominantly people of both sexes aged from 16-21.  The unique selling point against its competitors is that it focuses on up-and-coming or breakthrough artists such as J.Cole rather than established artists such as Lil’ Wayne. Other new artists who collaborate with urban artists are also featured, such as Ed Sheeran. One could argue that this magazine would appeal more to young black people, or people of an urban background, but I am hoping to target a mixture of races and social backgrounds. I will keep the price at a relatively cheap, competitive level, as the audience for this magazine will have a limited amount of disposable income.  They will either have to rely on money from their parents or a part/full-time job so they will want a magazine that is affordable. The average Beats reader is interested in new urban music and in supporting up-and-coming artists.

Beats is an A4 full colour magazine which contains interviews with urban artists as well as reviews and information about events and gigs. For the cover I have chosen the picture a picture of my model Dale in an cool pose because this confidence from Dale interests the reader and makes them more likely to read about a confident artist than a timid one. The main cover for Beats will mostly feature a mid-close up of a new artist who the features in the main article. There will also be a regular ‘Favourite Song of the Week’ as well as a social media section and various competitions to meet the stars in the magazine. The main colour scheme of the magazine is going to mix the calmer colours that you associate with R&B magazines (such as blues and greys) along with the harsher colours of Hip-Hop magazines (blacks and yellows). The magazine will sell at £2.99, the average price for a teenage/young adult magazine, making it appealable.

A range of brands will advertise in Beats each week, concentrating on adverts that are related to the genre. These will include headphones such as ‘Beats’ by Dr. Dre and offers for discount when downloading urban music on iTunes.