7. Research For My Music Magazine...

MY MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
For my music magazine that I have been asked to create, after the practical task of a college magazine, I then decided to research musical arists within the pop/punk genre for my artist on the front cover. The reason for this research is that music magazines always have a main act or artists that the magazine issue revolves around, if that being an interview or a poster special. In a previous post blog, I posted a slideshow of different bands that are stereotyped into the pop/punk genre. From that slideshow I used bands that I used in there to help me with my research for a cover star. What will their style be? What will their attitudes be in like in interviews?

Due to many pop/punk bands being male dominated I decided to create a female solo artists to make a point that females can create pop/punk music as well as the males. Firstly, I looked at how they dresses, so I researched females within the pop/punk circuit.

                                                                 Hayley Williams

 Hayley Williams, the frontwoman of the pop/punk band Paramore, is one of the most influential and popular female musicians in the world within that genre of music. One of the most famous parts of her is her bright orange, that hightlights her wild personality. She follows the stereotype of an emo within the pop/punk genre due to her pale skin, wild hairstyle, and bright clothes. However, due to the pop/punk genre mainly male dominated, Hayley tries to highlight how much females can also be part of the genre. In this genre she is wearing a tank top, a skirt and some tights, to get into touch with her feminine side. It colour co-ordinates with her style to stress that her wild attitude is all over. She also adds a little sexual hint to her, by briefly looking over shoulder, but also pulls the peace sign to highlight her friendly nature.

 In this image of Hayley Williams, she is smiling sweetly to make her look innocent and uphold the 'girl-next-door' persona, so she is a suitable role model to young people due to more them listening to pop/punk music. Once again, the more drawn part of the image is the bright hair colour of Hayley, therefore it shows that she is always the centre of attention. This also highlights her popularity within the pop/punk genre. She is also smiling sweetly to add an effortless beauty to the shot to send a message out to her audience (preferably female) that they don't need to make too much of an effort to look good. She is wearing the minimum so it also shows that make-up doesn't have to heighten anyone's beauty.

 This picture on the left is the perfect example of the character that Hayley portrays when she is on stage. A large part of her image is filled with the colour orange, her hair, her make-up and her microphone. This creates an image of Hayley so when the colour orange appears, the audience connects that with her. She is wearing bright make-up to break down the barrier with her audience. They are not just watching her perform on stage with her band Paramore, but they are also having a party with her performance of music. She also wears simple black and white colours, so it doesn't take away the attention of her bright orange hair. Also, from this image, the hair compares itself to her vocals, powerful and wild. Her mouth being posed wide open also stresses this.

 I really wanted to use this image, because it would help me heavily when it came to the creation of the double page spread in my magazine. Yet again, just like she was on stage, she is wearing plain-coloured clothes so it doesn't take the spotlight away from her hair. The layout of the page also goes along with her image being associated with the colour orange, the background is orange and some of the text is too. Her style is casual in this image, so it once again says to the target audience that they don't have to make too much of an effort to make a statement with their style. In Hayley's pose, she looks really attractive, but then she pulls a face to add to the childish humour that she has, a common personality trait in pop/punk bands.

I really wanted to use this image to show Hayley's style, because it portrays a good message to the audience that they don't have to dress up for important events such as interviews, because it's really all about the music. In this image of her being interviewed, Hayley has her hair tied back and is wearing casual clothes as if she is just going to spend the whole day at home. This image also highlights how small Hayley is to other people so her attitude and personality runs along the saying: 'Big things come in small packages.'

Taylor Momsen

 Taylor Momsen was part of the mainstream circuit at the beginning of her career, with acting parts as Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl and being one of the final girls to be Hannah Montana before the part was eventually given to Miley Cyrus. In my opinion, now that Taylor has grown up, I believe she has wanted to change her image to a whole new level, and I believe she has accomplished that very well. At the beginning she was like a Barbie, plucked to perfection, but now her style is much more grungy and messy. In this image, Taylor is exposing her slim figure with a messy chequered shirt, tank top and shorts. Her hair is also long and messy to add to the grunge persona of her image. However, she still keeps up her Hollywood status by the stereotypical wearing of sunglasses while walking through LA.

 Taylor, like her everyday style, wears very little when she performs on stage. In this image on the left her hair is messy once again, but she is also wearing a flimsy red dress, the colour represenatation symbolising lust, to add sexuality to her image, but it could also highlight the anger she may have being portrayed as 'Barbie' type. The strap of her dress also drops off her shoulder to expose her a little more, so it creates the transtition from the 'girl-next-door' to a sexy woman. Her thin frame also adds to the persona that many females have in the pop/punk genre due to them all being very thin due their wild movements on stage. Taylor is also resembling her hand to a gun to her head in the image, so this represents the controversy in her lyrics, but it could also be a negative influence for her audiences, just in case there are girls listening to her who knew her from Gossip Girl.

 In this image, Taylor looks a little cleaner and prepped up for the sake of a photoshoot. Instead of her long blonde hair being wavy and messy, in this image it is sleeked over her shoulders and straightened to highlight her beauty. She is also a model as well as an actress and a singer, therefore the long hair also highlights her tall, skinny frame as a model. However, her grungy style is still displayed in this image with the frayed edges of her jacket. Taylor has a signature part of her style (like Hayley Williams with her hair) but Taylor Momsen is known for her heavy use of stockings and heavy eyeshadow, and many times she has been called a 'raccon' because of it. I believe it conforms to the 'emo' genre within the pop/punk circuit because it is the heavy use of the colour black.

 In this image Taylor is posing once again, to highlight the fact that she is a model but she also portrays many other things. The dark use of colour with the prop of a sofa creates an 'emo' style within the picture and it accessories well with her dark use of colour within her style. She is wearing red lipstick and a red dress to heavily imply her sexiness, despite her only being seventeen. Then again it goes along with her age very well because girls at that age experiment a lot for their own individual style.

Despite her sexual and skimpy, grungy style, Taylor Momsen doesn't want to be see as a 'whore', as she has been labelled that by fans due to her style. In this image, I think she is trying to get away with that name but still wnts to maintain her style. In this image, she looks 'emo' once again with her heavy use of the colour black with the use of her heavy eyeshadow and jacket. Her hair is also long, blonde and grungy to add to her style. But in this image it highlights her face, so it shows her natural beauty not her sexual beauty. The picture is also in black and white to make her look sophisticated and a 'slut'.

                                                                     Cassadee Pope

Cassadee Pope is well known for being the frontwoman of the pop/punk band Hey Monday, which came to the fame and fortune thanks to the pop/punk phenomenon, Pete Wentz, from Fall Out Boy. Her band was signed to Decay Dance a few years ago and have recently released a second album. In relation to Hayley Williams, Cassadee Pope is also known for her trademark hair (in this case brown and blonde), and her just as powerful voice, therefore a typical thing for the fans to do is compare them. I do believe there a lot of similarities between the girls so they do relate to the female style of the pop/punk genre very much. Cassadee Pope's style is very casual, for example in the image above. She is wearing a bright blue hoodie, skinny jeans and a pair of sneakers. Her style may be natural to her, but it may have been heavily influenced by her mentor in the music business, Pete Wentz, due to him wearing a lot of hoodies when he is seen. However, even though Cassadee is wearing something casual, she is still trying to look pretty through her modest, sweet 'girl-next-door' pose. She is trying to send out the message (her female fans preferably) that you don't have to wear loads of make-up or stylish clothes to look beautiful. Let the natural beauty come out.

 In this image of Cassadee, it is easy to identify that she is heavily influenced for her presence on stage by Hayley Williams.. She is stood up strongly, her head leaned back so her powerful vocals can soar and amaze her audience. However, due to her not wanting to be compared to Hayley Williams as a 'wannabe' she adds a much more girly look to her onstage fashion. She is wearing a casual look once again, but has added feminine colours and a waistcoat to highlight her curves to make herself look more girly and attractive to males in her audience. She has also aimed to have  the waistcoat as a signature piece of clothing to identify her with. She has mentioned this in an interview.

 Cassadee is around a lot of male attention when she goes on the road, therefore of course she would want to stay in touch with her feminine roots. Where the other members of the band are wearing dark colours to look masculine, Cassadee wears bright colours. Not to make her stand out as the frontwoman but to also show her girly side. That she is still herself even though she is around a lot of guys when on tour.

 The Decay Dance label is a business but it also seems to be like a family. All of the acts that have been signed to the label are all very close friends and spend a lot of time together when they see each other, on tour and off. Cassadee has a good friendship with the person who gave her fame and fortune, Pete Wentz. The image on the right implies that they are very close, and their comical expressions ensinuate that their friendship is not just business but very personal too. This image on the left of Cassadee Pope and Pete Wentz implies that even though Cassadee is always working on tour, she is still herself and has fun whenever she can. She wants to show that the fame hasn't gone to her head.

In photoshoots, such as the one on the right, Cassadee doesn't make too much effort, therefore she is promoting to her fans that they don't have to make too much of an effort to stand out as an individual. That means her target audience are teenagers due to them all having a phase when they try to discover themselves and try to create their own sense of style. In this image on the right, Cassadee pulls a face to conform to the immaturity that all people in the pop/punk genre have.  Once again, she is just wearing a simple top and jeans, but in this photoshoot she has added a little jewellery to add to her style especially for this photo. The heart is also used to show how much of a heart she is and that she is a real person and hasn't been caught up in all of the hype that Hey Monday have recieved.



My Conclusion

From the research I have undertaken with the females within the pop/punk genre, I have decided what type of person my cover star will be for my magazine. Hayley Williams and Cassadee Pope have a lot in common, they have a simple style with a feminine touch to show their girly side, and also have a lot of presence when their on stage with the use of bright colours and make up. However, I also like the grungy style of Taylor Momsen, because even though she fits in with the pop/punk genre, I do believe she is trying to heighten the stereotype of its fashion by creating her own. She also has her own morals, not caring of setting a bad example eg. when she puts a hand as gun to her head.

Therefore my cover girl with have a signature part of her style, like Cassadee Pope and Hayley Williams, but it will defy the stereotype so her stule will be quite grungy. She will have a good presence when in interviews, expressing her honest opinion, not caring what people think, but then again she does come across good morals.

Many pop/punk artists mainly reach themselves out to the Western World audience (Europe, UK and US), so I want my music artists to reach out to the Eastern World, so her some of her style will be influenced by cultures from countries such as Japan and China.

Her target audience is for teenage girls throughout the world, but mainly to the Eastern world to reach out to an audience not many other pop/punk acts have done. Her style will be relevant to her target audience but it will also be outrageous to make an impact. My music artist incorporates a reflective representation by creating a replica of the Japanese fashion scene, but she also incorporates an intentional approach by her concentrating on creating an impression of the Japanese style, because she hasn't experienced it to see the true style of it. She is only acting out what she sees and inteprets.

My Music Artist for My Music Magazine