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Youth of Today (Y.O.T) will be a self-published, small circulation zine, distributed primarily person-to-person via post, at music gigs, e-commerce, independent book and music shops. The zine aims to celebrate the UK’s underground hardcore music scene and will be targeted the 18-25-year-old audience with both a male and female demographic. While Y.O.T. will predominately cover music based features, the zine aims to feature broader topics due to hardcore music is not only being a music genre but a lifestyle. The zine will follow zine ethos of communicating rebellious words with strong ideas through features such as: “Are females welcomed in the hardcore scene?” and “Is Hevy Festival losing its hardcore fan base?”. Y.O.T’s readership will target the 18-25-year-old age demographic. The audience will be from the C1 and C2 social grade, targeting students, graduates and skilled/professional occupation workers. The readers are middle class individuals who live with their parents in small-city/suburban areas across the UK. Blush (2001, p.280) has argued “I assumed that most of the kids in the scene were poor but as I got older I realized a lot of them were from suburban middle-class families who’d go to shows”. From the results of the target audience survey (see Appendix 1), there is a clear trend alluding to an audience that has an A-Level or undergraduate education. From audience research Y.O.T’s readership would be a mixed demographic of males and females. It seems there is a majority percentage male audience, however there is also a prominent female audience percentage which suggests females are seeking equality in the music scene “notions of gender identity, sexuality and representation, queer politics, multiculturalism and equality with their male counterparts in the music industry” (Triggs 2010, p.131). According to Young and Rubicams Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation (4C’s) lifestyle segmentation system, the average reader would fall into the explorer’s/reformer categories. Y.O.T readers are anti-materialistic and socially aware but also in need of discovery and new ideas when it comes to their lives. Willis (no date, p.8) has argued “Punks were contemptuous of the society around them and attempted to create a more ideal and honest environment that was not hooked on the status quo.” The psychographic has a distinct audience; they tend to be interested in politics and support local music scenes, valuing local communities. With a strong DIY mentality, plenty of people interested in hardcore are strong proponents of creative outlets and generally show support for all underground forms of expression. 1
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According to VALS2, the reader would fall into the makers, thinkers and innovator category who has a strong distaste for the government. This has been discussed by Blush (2001, p.9) “more than music – it became a political and social movement as well. The participants constituted a tribe unto themselves. Some of them were alienated or abused and found escape in the hard-edged music. Some sought a better world or a tearing down of the status quo and were angry.” Y.O.T will help the reader explore the hardcore music scene and lifestyle. The typical reader would be creative, dissatisfied with modern society and passionate individuals who are seeking answers and voices that they are not seeing and hearing in mainstream media. The Do-It-Yourself ethic would also mean readers would be far more engaged with a zine rather than a magazine because the reader is engaging with a culture which doesn’t revolve around the laws and regulations as opposed to mainstream magazines. The readers of Y.O.T will either belong to the hardcore community or appreciate the lifestyle characteristics. The psychographics include but are not limited to; animal rights, veganism/vegetarianism, straight edge and a left-wing, progressive political stance. With most music genres, there is often a lifestyle attached, for example the punk subculture is known for their shock value philosophy and their anti-establishment ideals. Whereas, the hardcore subculture transcended all commercial and corporate concerns. “Hardcore was more about reclaiming values than undermining them. Its self-reliant, anti-corporate individuals became the entrepreneurs booking shows, starting labels and running zines” (Blush 2001, p.320). Hardcore subculture has some traditional subset of the maxims of punk philosophy but extend it with their own ideologies, clothing and art. In order to make sure Y.O.T is a viable product, research into current and past zines is required in order to assess competition. The most notable British zine was Sniffin’ Glue which was aimed at the punk scene. The zine ran for 14 issues and “incorporated a spiky aesthetic made up of typewriter lettering, handwriting, cartoons and photographs of gigs” (Triggs 2010, p.50) (see Appendix 2). Sniffin’ Glue did not appeal to the wide market and was distributed via punk shows and record shops. The zine was only interested in reaching fellow punks and was not motivated by wide scale distribution. This meant the writing did not need to be toned down in order to fit into mainstream attitudes and the sloppy mistyped interviews became a badge of authenticity (see Appendix 3). 2
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While, Y.O.T. won’t be targeted at a punk scene, Sniffin’ Glue would have been its biggest competition due to its circulation of 15,000. The zine was originally targeted for a UK-based audience and priced at 30p per issue. The business model for Sniffin’ Glue relied heavily on word of mouth and through independent shops e.g. Rough Trade. In order to expand, Sniffin’ Glue began to send copies of the zine for a charge of 35p for UK postage, 50p for Europe and 65p for the rest of the world (see Appendix 4). NME began to champion underground music in the 70s and became openly political during the era of punk (see Appendix 5). Sniffin’ Glue wrote about up-and-coming music long before NME knew these bands existed “Although the British music magazine, the NME, is always presented as the champion of punk, that was not actually so. Because of the NME’s collective ego, it hung back before it could give its “imprimatur” to the movement” (Spencer 2008, p.166). This emphasises how zines were a crucial part of culture in the 70s and a method of communication between the subculture. There is a clear zine aesthetic NME used to habit before conforming to mainstream publishing and becoming a magazine through the materials used. With their recent revival, NME has returned back to their zine aesthetic making zines prominent once again in modern culture. Furthermore, in a society where social media is prominent and can blur the line between what’s fact and what’s fiction, NME returning to their zine style reinforces they are genuine. A current competition of Y.O.T is UK based zine, Voices. The zine is a music publication which consists of interviews with figures from the alternative music community – producers, promoters, venue owners, range of alternative music genres, album reviews and art. The content in Voices is broad and doesn’t focus solely on the hardcore scene but aesthetically habits the style Y.O.T would like to re-create using a mix of photocopy, handwritten and digital software (see Appendix 6). The zine is sold for £2 and distributed online and at music gigs. Y.O.T will succeed the Voices zine due to it’s low price point of £1, as opposed to Voices £2 price tag. This low price point will cover the cost of production as material used will be at a low cost eg. Staples and sugar paper. After assessing other zines on BigCartel, zines limit themselves to 50 copies and once they are sold out, there are no reproductions. From other zines strategy, Y.O.T will produce 50 copies on their first print run and will be 32 pages long. 3
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With a business model that aims to have images from photographers and illustrators donated in exchange for credit within the zine, overall cost will remain low. Unlike the Voice zine, the content in Y.O.T. will be specific for the hardcore audience. Duncome (2008, p.2) discusses specific markets “Rejecting the corporate dream of an atomized population broken down into discrete and instrumental target markets, zine writers form networks and forge communities around diverse identities and interests.” This demonstrates and highlights the importance how crucial editorial content is for specific markets. Success in the magazine industry is a direct function of the magazines sales and the profit generated is a key distinction of the magazine’s ranking in the industry. Magazines are typically distributed in shops but more recently have been consumed online through digital devices i.e tablets. However, zines fly beneath the radar of mainstream publishing. The production is often irregular and the traditional methods of distributing tend to take place at zine fairs, by word of mouth, through independent music shops, through the post and more recently via the internet. The print run varies in number and some are limited editions of up to fifty. This is part of the underground zine’s philosophy and proponent of DIY culture, supporting small creative talent. In comparison to zine distribution, the magazine industry has various factors which don’t affect a zine’s business model. Duncombe (2008, p.16) has argued “To say that zines are not-for-profit is an understatement. Most lose money.” The zine business model focuses on gaining enough money to make the next issue, most zines aim to breakeven but money isn’t at the forefront. Zines producers are in a position that they don’t have to pay staff and are usually void of any of the worries of a traditional magazine’s business discourse such as having to pay shareholders, employers etc. “Fanzine producers are in a unique position, at the same time author, editor, publisher and designers; they are subcultural insiders and embrace the ethos of a DIY community” (Triggs 2010, p.7). One major difference between a zine and a magazine’s business model is that a magazines circulation can be calculated. As zines are small circulation publications distributed independently, circulation cannot be precise. “Using the standard magazine readership estimate of three readers per magazine and 250 copies per zine as a safe mean, the 4
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estimate of a possibly total zine readership, and thus primary contact with some facet of the zine world, is a high as 7,500,000” (Duncombe, 2008, p.17). After analysing Y.O.T’s competitors and distribution of zines, it has been established that Y.O.T would benefit from being distributed via post, music gigs, independent music and using e-commerce websites. Distributing to these outlets will fit into the reader’s lifestyle and ensure Y.O.T will be typical of zine conventions and the readers habits. Zines are an often neglected part of Journalism which provide scope to express unrestraint opinions free of any influence of big business corporate decisions or philosophies. Commonly, fanzine producers use zines as a testing ground before entering into professional careers as journalists. They combine the raw aesthetic through its design and communicates to its audience through rebellious words. It could be argued that blogs are the cheaper, faster and easier way to get your writing out there, as opposed to zines. Despite this, zines are still popular amongst underground cultures and have recently made a resurgence in the face of digital culture and have gone full-circle. This has been discussed by Reynolds (2009) “It's not just die-hard veterans from the golden age of the fanzine (approximately 1977 to 1994, punk rock to Riot Grrrl) but younger people who've never known a world without email and the web. Although it's hard to quantify, it feels like the fanzine is making a resurgence.” Just like zines, hardcore music is an unexplored part of Journalism and is often excluded in mainstream music press. This has been discussed by Blush (2001, p.287) “The mainstream Rock Press generally didn’t support Hardcore. It was outsider’s music, from the realm of stupid kids.” The appeal of zines is that they offer something the reader can hold in their hands and flick through. Y.O.T will provide a creative outlet and reinforce small-scale independent publishing. Hardcore music currently does not have a home in mainstream magazines and still lies within the underground scene and Y.O.T will give hardcore music press a home. While the internet offers websites such as Tumblr, ISSUU and e-zines, material isn’t absorbed properly when it’s read online “people rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences” Nielsen Norman Group (1997). 5
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For the design to go alongside the features, Y.O.T will follow the aesthetic of a traditional zine combined with modern technology. Historically, punk zines were made using a photocopier and had off-set print layout “Zinesters are less concerned about copyright, grammar, spelling, punctuation or the protocols of page layout, grids and typography, than about communicating a particular subject to a community of like-minded individuals” (Triggs, 2010, p.7). The proliferation and accessibility of graphic design software i.e. Photoshop and InDesign has directly impacted on modern zine design. Today, the raw aesthetic of a reproduced zine via photocopier can now be replicated using design software. Consequently, zine design has become more sophisticated and no longer has to inherits the rough-and-ready underground technique. This is reflected in New York zine, Illuminati Girl Gang (see Appendix 7). The style of the zine, could be mistaken for a magazine as it follows conventional grids and layout design created using modern design software. The zine also follows a similar business model of a magazine as Illuminati Girl Gang currently has 19 members of staff and each zine is sold at $15 (£9/£10). In comparison to conventional zines which are sold at low-cost price, this zine is sold at a premium magazine price. From the research of zine design, Y.O.T should incorporate both elements of modern technology i.e. using InDesign/Photoshop to layout the pages, typography to write the body copy features and editing software for images (see Appendix 8). Y.O.T will include photography and illustration throughout in order to reflect a conventional zine and page size will be A5. The zine will also look at combining traditional elements i.e. using ink either through a typewriter or through screen print. Grids and margins will not be strictly used as it creates a sense of order and continuity within the zine which goes against the aesthetics of a zine. After researching the content, that other zines produce, it is apparent that the content in zines today are short one page articles, as opposed to body-copy heavy features. The zine should follow Sniffin’ Glue’s content-style which featured body-copy articles (see Appendix 9). Furthermore, the language used in Sniffin Glue uses an informal tone of voice. Y.O.T will embody both an informal, personalised tone of voice i.e. “I”, “We”. This informal tone of voice help the readers resonate with ideas and messages within the zine through with body6
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heavy features. Editorial pillars would include: ‘The Big Debate’, ‘Creativity’ (photography and art), ‘Your Say’, ‘Interviews’, ‘Album reviews’, ‘Gigs’ and ‘Upcoming’. The content within Y.O.T will include ‘The Big Debate’ “Are females welcomed in the hardcore scene?” and “Is Hevy Festival losing its hardcore fan base?”. Typical to music zines, Y.O.T will provide their readers the latest music news within the scene through the editorial pillars of ‘Upcoming’, ‘Album reviews’, ‘Gigs’ and ‘Interviews’. Lastly, in order to engage reader activity and provide the user with a sense of community, ‘Your Say’ acts as a platform for readers to write in their thoughts and opinions on the hardcore scene and these will be photocopied into the zine. Understanding that the hardcore music scene aren’t interested in materialistic cooperate companies, Y.O.T. audience would rather benefit from seeing advertisements either supporting their local communities or promoting gigs. discusses “relevant advertising is valued by readers, and is consumed with interest” (McKay, 2006, p.202). Y.O.T’s strengths derive from its concept of being a zine that is based on the UK’s hardcore music scene, as opposed to a zine based on the international hardcore scene. Furthermore, there is a resurgence in zines currently and as zines are an unexplored and uncensored medium, the hardcore community would engage with these ideas. The weaknesses the zine may face will be how to create hype for the first issue of the zine. The more hype surrounding the zine, the more audiences will continue to support the zine. Y.O.T would provide would audiences with the opportunity to contribute to the scene and unsigned bands to get coverage. A major threat would be ensuring there is a quick production turn around in order to keep content within the zine fresh and not outdated.
Bibliography 1. BLUSH, S. and PETROS, G., (2001) American hardcore: A tribal history. United States: Feral House,U.S. 2. DUNCOMBE, S., (2008) Notes from underground: Zines and the politics of 7
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alternative culture. 2nd ed. Bloomington, IN: Microcosm Publishing 3. MCKAY, J., (2006) The magazines handbook (media skills). 2nd ed. London: Routledge 4. TRIGGS, T., (2010) Fanzines. London: Thames & Hudson 5. MCINTYRE, S., 2015. General Election: Highest turnout since 1997 [viewed 15 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/general-election2015-highest-turnout-since-1997-10235076.html 6.
Y&R EUROPE. Young and Rubicam’s 4Cs Values Segmentation [viewed 14 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.emea.yr.com/4CS.PDF
7.
ANON. US Framework and VALS Types [viewed 14 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/ustypes.shtml
VOICES ZINE., 2015. Issue two. Voices zine, October 2015 8. 9. THE GAURDIAN, 2009. How the fanzine refused to die [viewed 10 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/02/fanzinesimon-reynolds-blog
10. ANNE MANGEN, 2014. Evolution of reading in the Age of Digitisation [viewed 15 November 2015]. Available from: https://www.academia.edu/7664953/COST_IS1404_EREAD_Evolution_of_REading_in_the_Age_of_Digitisation 11. SPENCER, A., (2008) DIY: The Rise of Lo-fi Culture. 2nd ed. London: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd 12. WIKIAPEDIA. Sniffin’ Glue [viewed 9 November 2015]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniffin%27_Glue 13. MEDIA WEEK, 2015. NME to become a free magazine after 63 years [viewed 16th November 2015]. Available from: http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1354692/nmebecome-free-magazine-63-years 14. NIELSEN NORMAN GROUP (1997). How Users Read on the Web [viewed 14th January 2016]. Available from: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-users-read-onthe-web/ 15. WILLIS. A Detailed Journey into the Punk Subculture: Punk Outreach in Public Libraries [viewed 2nd February 2016]. Available from: https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/indexablecontent/uuid:a14b2b23-9e8b-45f6-9251a6e1d75fe4c8
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Appendix Appendix 1 Target audience survey results of the audience’s level of education. Results conducted from the survey for Y.O.T indicate an A level and Undergraduate education.
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Appendix 2 Sniffin Glue had a spikey aesthetic embodied mixed with their handwritten lettering.
Appendix 3 Sniffin’ Glues badge of authenticity. The lack back approach to journalism with an informal tone. E.g. instead of ‘yeah’ the writer has used ‘yer’.
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Appendix 4 Sniffin’ Glue began to attract a worldwide audience as well as its intended UK audience. The zine started to send copies to fans worldwide.
Appendix 5 NME in the 1970s reflected the zine aesthetic and wrote about punk music before it conformed to mainstream publishing. 11
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Appendix 6 Voices zine embodies a design style I would like to re-create. A mix of interesting imagery, handwritten lettering and modern software e.g. Photoshop + inDesign
Appendix 7
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Illuminati Girl Gang is a sophisticated zine with a similar business model and team size as a magazine. Priced at $15, the zine is the same price as a premium magazine.
Appendix 8 A draft of Y.O.T zine coming to life. Still has a clean magazine style to it but follows the zine style of disorderly.
Appendix 9 13
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Sniffin’ Glue were renown for heavy body-copy features, this is a style Y.O.T will habit when creating features.
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