Genre Research

By conducting genre research, this allowed me to establish the different genres there are available on the market in modern day. Through my research, I have found that magazine institutions (NME, Q, INDIE or We Love Pop) cater each magazine issue to the trends streaming throughout their intended audience. By doing so, this appeals to their audience and persuades them to purchase that particular magazine as it features aspects that the intended audience is familiar with.

I found that it is common on a classic rock magazine to include conventions such as the colours red and black as they are contrasting colours that connotes the rock life-style to the intended audience. I noticed that within the pop genre, there is a semantic overview of excitement and exaggeration. This is portrayed to the audience through the use of colours such as yellow, pink and blue as they are bright, bubbly colours that appeal to the young target audience. This contrasts with the indie genre and the colour scheme throughout is dark, blue and grey. This creates a sense of depth, uncertainty and unreasoning which is one of the key ideas behind the indie genre; there is no explanation why.

This research has allowed me to establish the different genres that are currently present in the music market today, and has therefore reinforced my idea to study the classic rock genre as this is the genre of music I am interested in and I feel I know the most about. I feel this genre will allow me to express my ideas, through the use of mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography whilst also maintaining the original conventions of a classic rock magazine within my final edit.

An example of an indie music video is James Bay - Hold Back The River. James Bay is an indie artist. This is evident through the use of mise-en-scene such as the costumes James Bay wears: the hat in this music video is an icon of the indie genre and therefore supports the indie image.


Alice Cooper's School's Out is a great example of the classic rock genre. This genre is supported through the use of conventions such as leather trousers which is iconographic of the classic rock genre.