Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

  During the process of making my magazine I did extensive research on the Emo and Punk subcultures in an attempt to find out what my target audience’s interests are and what their lifestyle includes.  This involved me making an audience profile during the research phase of my coursework, from this I was able to have a clear representation of what modern “Emo” and “Punk” consisted of, bands like Andrew Jackson Jihad, American Football, Joyce Manor and Iceage allowed me to see the aesthetics and mentality’s of these subcultures.

I used the website UK Tribes as well for this process as I needed to further my knowledge of these subcultures and themes involved. It has a clear catalogue of different social groups, making finding out about my specific social groups fairly simple. Through this website my target audience were termed as being “Hardcore” which means they are described as “Your roots lie in the punk rock culture of the 80’s but unlike some other Alternative Tribes this isn’t just about style and music. You live by straight – edge ethics, represented by your various tattoos.” Although not being entirely accurate of my Desired social group this allowed me to set a baseline for how I should appeal towards my target audience. Through this I learnt that my social subculture relied upon changing trends and was a very diverse.

From this research I realised that my artist has to either be prolific in the scene or new, up and coming. I realised there are no second chances in the Midwest Emo and Punk scenes meaning my artist had to stand out. I also noticed that fashion is a very important aspect of the subculture. My model Is dressed in a black hoodie with a rather dirty text scrawled along it, this quite punk aesthetic also stands out compared to other typical Emo and Punk band pictures as a different from the stereotypical plaid shirts and dad hats whilst still staying relevant and typical of the genre. The overall atmosphere is quite relaxed yet also still edgy.

I based Ethan on multiple current musicians relating to my genre.  Bands like Andrew Jackson Jihad, Iceage, snowing, Glocca Morra and American Football were my main inspiration for my fictional band as they hold a high dominance in their respective scenes (Punk and Emo). They really portrayed what I wanted to achieve atmospherically with my band. I do however feel that there is not a set look to this genre and it is all very subjective regarding fashion.

My magazine overall represents the particular punk subculture with a cool and relaxed appearance with no pressure to fit in with larger cultures. They choose to portray their creativity through their musical achievements rather then their clothes or sociolect. My magazine mainly focuses on the male side of the genre yet I feel if I had to make more I would like to explore women in the punk scene also with a broader spread of artists.