My music magazine is supposed to be aimed towards mainly girls, but boys as well, that enjoy different types of indie music, such as indie-rock, alternative-rock, and indie-pop, among other things. I added features, such as festivals like Reading and Leeds, which cater to this type of music more than any other, as well as advertising artists and bands that produce this genre of music. I looked at Independent music as a whole, and then researched into the different types, mostly indie-rock and pop.
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie", is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels, and a Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing. Independent labels have a long history of promoting developments in popular music, stretching back to the post-war period in the United States, with labels such as Sun Records, King Records, Stax. In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established. Several British producers and artists launched independent labels as outlets for their work and artists they liked, but the majority failed as commercial ventures, or were swallowed up by the majors. During the punk rock era, the number of independent labels grew. The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, and independent distribution became better organized from the late 1970s onwards. Indie rock is a sub-genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. The meaning of the term "indie rock" is contested today by many musicians, fans and commentators. Most use the term "indie" to describe any rock music produced by artists working within the network of independent record labels and underground music venues that emerged in the United States and elsewhere in 1980s and 1990s. Others see indie rock as a distinct genre of rock music with a specific artistic aesthetic, and care less about the context in which it is made. Many embrace both meanings of the word, believing that the aesthetics of the genre and its means of production are deeply intertwined. Popular indie-rock bands that have prospered from being signed to major labels would be, LCD Soundsystem, who i mentioned on my front cover, Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Interpol, The Wombats, and The National. Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid eighties, The Smiths. Unlike Indie rock, Indie pop is more melodic, less noisy, and relatively angst-free. Some examples of popular indie-pop artists that my target audience would recognise are:
- Kate Nash
- Black Kids
- Two Door Cinema Club
- Death Cab for Cutie
- Ellie Goulding
- Florence and the Machine
- We Are Scientists
When looking at Ellie Goulding, who is a very popular singer currently dominating the charts, i realised that bright, occasionally eye-catching clothing was customary, but not in an overbearing style. Stars and objects associated with nature were common on clothing, like floral prints, or space-related things, like stars or planets. This gave me the idea to dress my model in something similar, and so i asked her to wear her star print dress, which is featured on my music magazine front cover.
Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine's dress is a good example as well. Here she is wearing a dress printed with the faces of band members, which is common clothing for those that produce this genre of music, or those that follow the same style as they identify with it. Festival, gig, or artist shirts are very common, which is why asked my model to wear her Reading Festival shirt in my contents and double page spread images. Images of older bands from the 70's and 80's are usually seen, as those that enjoy indie music often enjoy music from older generations as well.
I also noticed that those that dressed in this particular way frequently adopted certain items of clothing from other genres, such as punk-pop, and punk-rock, choosing to wear things like Doc Martens and darker makeup, and mixing it with what they considered indie clothing, such as items from charity stores that followed the usual style, such as floral print, patterned tights, and items with lace attached, preferring to add a more feminine touch to their clothing. My model wore her classic black Doc Martens, with a girly pale blue denim skirt,
paired with dark purple tights, and a festival shirt, merging all of these personal style choices that are associated with this particular genre together. I feel as though my model manages to successfully portray this social group in my target audience, as she is only 17, and so only a year older than the oldest age in my target audience. As she does not look particularly old, i believe that her age makes little difference to the overall effect. I believe that as my model is a similar age to my target audience, and dresses in a fairly similar way, that this would appeal to my target audience because they would be able to relate to her. The attitude that accompanies this social group is quite light-hearted and fun personality, as they are often quite carefree, and i feel that this has been shown clearly in my photographs.
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