Analysing Music Magazine Analysing Music Magazine Front CoversFront Covers

Rebecca HallisseyRebecca Hallissey

Flash:- draws the audience’s attention to an important point. The background of the flash is red and the writing is white and black. This follows the NME colour scheme and contrast to each other.

Header:- describes a main feature of the magazine

Barcode:- price and date information Footer:- information about

other bands featured in the magazine

Main coverline and main image:- the main story of the magazine and represents the genre of the magazine. Dizzee Rascal is featured on the front of this magazine in a mid shot and he is smiling and posing with his arms outstretched. This promotes a happy image and ties in with the coverline “I’m spreading joy around the world, man!” the background has graffiti which represents the hip hop genre (Dizzee Rascal’s musical genre)

Coverline:- advertises other articles within the magazine

Masthead:- house style of NME- easily recognisable. The magazine uses the same red, black and white colour scheme throughout

List of other bands featured:- bold and in contrasting colours to stand out from plain white background

Front cover- NMEFront cover- NME

NME TARGET AUDIENCENME TARGET AUDIENCE

Gender: both but mostly male

Age: 17-30

Music taste: Indie/ rock music

Social class: ABC1 (reasonable amount of disposable income)

Magazine cost: £2.20

Example of target audience

Headline of contents:- very large and bold writing. “THIS WEEK” gives the impression that the magazine is very current and up to date

Flash:- colour fluctuates from the usual colour scheme of the rest of the magazine which draws a lot of attention towards it because it is a major feature in the magazine

NME logo:- used throughout the magazine to remind the reader of the magazine they are reading and reinforces the house style

List of contents:- gives info about and page numbers of articles and features

Band index:- the reader can easily find articles featuring the band they want to look at

Flash:- advertises an offer to subscribe to the magazine and the background of the flash is grey which is different to the usual NME colour scheme. This makes it stand out

Flash:- advertising a main feature

Main image:- A picture of Carl Barat ill and holding a card sent in by readers. This is an appealing image to the readers because they feel that they can interact with the celebrity they admire.

Contents- NMEContents- NME

Main image:- A picture of Dizzee Rascal spray painting a wall and looking round shiftily. This portrays an air of rebellion and is a “cool” image to young people.

Main headline:- Large bold and messy letters compliment the image because they are similar to graffiti

Secondary image:- A picture of empty alcohol bottles and a stereo. This also portrays an air of rebellion and is a “cool” image to young people and an image they can possibly relate to.

Double page spread- NMEDouble page spread- NME

Main coverline and image:- Main coverline is bold and stands out from the red shirt Dave Grohl is wearing because it is the main article and is important.

Masthead:- House style of Kerrang and is easily recognisable even though some letters are covered by the image

Footer:- Lists other bands that will be featured in the magazine

Barcode:- price and date information

Header:- Lists main bands (other than the ones mentioned in the coverlines) that will be featured

Left third:- used to advertise content

Rule of Thirds:- Right two thirds are image dominated and contain information about only the main feature

Front cover- Kerrang!Front cover- Kerrang!

KERRANG TARGET AUDIENCEKERRANG TARGET AUDIENCE

Gender: both but mostly male

Age: 14-20

Music taste: Rock/ metal music

Social class: BC1C2 (reasonable amount of disposable income)

Magazine cost: £2.20

Example of target audience

Main image:- usually advertising a main article within the magazine

Other images:- other features and bands included throughout the magazine but usually not major articles

Flash:- (Offer on delivery of Kerrang) attracts audience’s attention by standing out from the main image

Contents listing:- lists features and articles within the magazine and gives page numbers so the audience can easily find the page that they want. The contents is also categorized to help find the article wanted quickly

Editor’s message:- Editor of the magazine’s message to the reader about what’s coming up in the magazine and his views on it

Contents- Kerrang!Contents- Kerrang!

Double page spread- Kerrang!Double page spread- Kerrang!

Main image:- A picture of the band (Enter Shikari). Each member is labelled by name to make the reader feel like they know the band better

Main headline:- Large bold and messy letters are because they are similar to graffiti which promotes a sense of rebellion and not fitting in.

Drop quote- quote from the article chosen for it’s importance/ controversy

Masthead:- House style of Mojo and is easily recognisable even though some letters are covered by the image

Flash:- “Free CD, two to collect encourages the reader to buy more than one copy of the magazine to get both

Main coverline and image:- Main coverline is bold and stands out from the plain white background and the main cover image. “World Exclusive” indicates that the story has not been covered before and the reader is getting an exclusive

Barcode:- price and date information

Front cover- MojoFront cover- Mojo

Other coverlines:- other articles and features in the magazine

MOJO TARGET AUDIENCEMOJO TARGET AUDIENCE

Gender: both but mostly male

Age: 30-50

Music taste: Classic Rock

Social class: AB (higher class people because the magazine is fairly expensive

Magazine cost: £3.95

Example of target audience

Main headline and image:- Main coverline is bold white and stands out from the plain grey background. The main image is in greyscale which indicates that it is an old photo from the past. He is holding a beer which indicates a sense of “rock-star” rebellion.

Date and issue number

Pull quote:- red colour makes it stand out from the rest of the article

Contents- MojoContents- Mojo

Main image:- takes up a whole page and is Pete Doherty with pursed lips and his eyes closed. This represents the issue of drug use.

Main headline:- very big and bold white letters. Messy font to represent Pete Doherty’s messy life and represents his drug use

Double page spread- MojoDouble page spread- Mojo

Main article:- takes up less than a page showing the article is more image led. The article is about Pete Doherty and his drug use.