Individual feature

I've noticed that most music magazines have a section that makes them unique. It's a part that differentiates them from the rest, a sort of unique selling point. Clash has fashion (and free CDs), Rolling Stone has politics, Q has reviews, Billboard has charts and NME has new artist profiles. I want my magazine to have a feature equivalent to these, as it will show how I'm fitting into conventions, and also give my magazine a unique appeal which may widen my audience. However, if I don't think anything is effective enough, I can just have a plain music magazine. Ideas I've had include;

• Horoscopes/Phsychicness - I think this would be an interesting feature, which would expand on the normal monthly features in magazines, however I don't think I could think of enough to list in my contents, which is where most of my individual feature will be shown off.


• TV/Film - I could expand my magazine into a crossover with other media, which I think would be suitable for my target audience, who will probably have an interest in TV dramas and sitcom along with popular music as the they both go hand in hand. This is something I'd consider featuring and I think it will work well.


• Free Downloads - I think this is a similar take to Clash's free CDs, but more technological for the "iPod" generation, and again I think it's something I could do. It would just be a subtle feature, like a collection of tracks, so it wouldn't really feature much on my cover and only a bit in my contents like the "What's on your CD" part of the Clash contents.
  
• Celebrity Columns - Like the ClashRegular "Bowman's Blog", which follows Edith's life, I could make a section for similar style opinionated reports from either the same celebrity each month or the same report but from different celebrities. However instead of following the writer's life, it could be the writers opinion on a certain topic of the month like fashion, tv, film, gigs/new artists, nights out and lifestyle.
  

I think these are all plausible ideas, but I think my favourite is the celebrity columns. Although my magazine has to be that of the music genre, I don't think that means I should have features solely on music, and this section of the magazine could just deal with everything else in popular culture, as what goes better with popular music? It would just allow the dabbling of other genres and I think it would attract my target readers to my magazine rather than others, as people interested in mainstream can be generalised as having mainstream interests in other areas of culture.

I wouldn't feature the idea too much on my cover, maybe one or 2 coverlines the way Rolling Stone features politics on their covers, and possibly a very tiny slogan which suggests the dabbling inside (Music plus everything? - still shows its music genre). However in the contents it would have it's own section and help promote my magazine as a source of different uses and gratifications. I think I would like to connote that a different writer does the column each month so the audience can't create too much of a fixed opinion, and they'll want to come back each month, so I may use a style like for instance Style Report: CelebrityName. Like for fashion a different stylist/designer and trend each month, for TV a different critic/TV actor each month and for film a different actor/A-lister each month. A page/DPS each, a review element, opinions and info. Sorted.

I do realise I'm not making the whole magazine, but I think by knowing my individual feature it helps me form the identity of my magazine and get a better idea of who to aim it at. I think this feature I've decided on is another step to proving pop music and everything with it is still very popular and loved by a wide variety of people and that music magazines don't have to be for an alternative only. I know I would prefer to read my mainstream magazine with bits of other stuff rather than a magazine dedicated solely to a smaller area of music and culture, but obviously I would say that.