Names for the Music Magazine

Fresh*
Smooth*
Eden*
Divine*
Aura*
Essence*
Vitality*
Essential*
Spirit*
Neo*
Body*
JAE*


These are the ideas of the names that were believed to be appropriate and suitable for the magazine.

Fresh – This name is good and conveys the themes that I am seeking to portray through the magazine’s name, however it doesn’t seem to be the best suited for the genre of the magazine as the word ‘fresh’ would connote something new and therefore may appear more youthful so wouldn’t be targeted at fans of the Soul genre as the target audience would mostly happen to be much older. This would however be of good use to a R&B magazine as the audience may range from the same age group to specifically much younger ones, so the word ‘fresh’ appeals there much more, also considering the fact that R&B is a much younger genre than Soul so this would make the name even more suiting to that genre as well.

Smooth – This name happens to be one of my favourite ones as the name is simple and straight-forward, making it appear much more powerful and hold stronger impact on a reader that can help to draw them in. It connotes the Soul genre very well as Soul music is supposed to be very smooth, slick and fluent on the ears, and the word itself is somewhat onomatopoeic as the word is very soft and rolls off the tongue, therefore further connoting on the actual meaning of it. However criticisms are still formed from this idea as the word seems perhaps too plain and simple which may make it appear very bland and unimaginative.

Eden/ Divine/ Aura/ Essence/ Spirit – These names show great portrayals of the themes that I want to be incorporated into the magazine, as they are not only similes of the word ‘Soul’, they also mean or convey spirituality which is good as Soul music is meant to be very passionate and moving. However these names all shared the same problem, which was that they sounded far too feminine, and for a genre which is trying to appeal equally for both men and women I simply felt that these name ideas would be unsuitable for a unisexual magazine.

Neo – The word ‘neo’ works incredibly well for this genre of magazine and was another personal favourite as although it gives very similar connotations to the word ‘fresh’, as they both mean new, it also is great as it can mean ‘revived’ therefore meaning that the magazine is bringing the Soul genre, back to the top. However, just because Soul has become more so of a niche genre, it doesn’t mean that it is dying or is dead, so therefore ‘neo’ meaning revived may seem a bit inappropriate for the genre.

JAE – This name felt very catchy and also simple so it wouldn’t seem excessive and unwarranted. However the acronyms do not show any symbolism of representation to the actual magazine, as ‘JAE’ was only the initials of our group that have been working on the magazine, so it would be unwise to use this for the actual magazine name as it doesn’t state or connote anything about Soul music.

Body/ Essential/ Vitality – Although these names were brought up because they also sounded catchy and fitted the more mature age group from our target audience, it was believed that they do very little to actually show connotations of Soul music. ‘Body’ and perhaps ‘Vitality’ actually seem to work better for a fitness and health magazine rather than a Soul music magazine or any kind of music magazine in general. I felt that ‘Essential’ indeed sounded the best out of this sample of names, as its meaning fits somewhat well for the magazine, showing that it is important and absolutely necessary to have, yet the sound of it also seems to roll of the tongue very well; as it sounds very easy, fluent and flowing off the tongue, which was a trait that ‘Vitality’, which is a synonym of the word, didn’t seem to possess. Although I still believed that this word portrayed very little connotations and connections with the genre of the magazine and fell slightly underneath in favour of a couple of the other names from the entire list at hand.

Winner = Smooth

Although this name did have flaws within it as it was perhaps too simple and undemanding, it was still favoured the greatest among the rest with personal runner-ups going to ‘Neo’ and ‘Essential’. This was because the word ‘Smooth’ wasn’t too obtrusive, flamboyant and loud which are not the moods and feelings that I want to bring out. The word and it’s meaning is very calm and relaxed, in every way, and it doe its job without defocusing on the motive for why it has been used, so it works simply, basically, but very well. The beauty of it is in it’s simplicity, therefore we as a group believed that this was the deserved winner and would be the most appropriate and applicable name to use for the magazine.