MUSIC MAGAZINE ANALYSIS.

-LAUREN HOMER

INTROThe genre of music of have chosen is Indie Rock. The genre can be identified by mainly the

front cover of the magazine. For example, Mark Ronson (magazine on the right) is holding up what seems to be a ‘broken trumpet’, which instantly suggests that this magazine is the

complete opposite to anything classical. Most of of the bands that appear to be written on the front covers are all indie so this gives away the genre straight away.

THE FLYMastheadThe masthead shows an iconic sign because of this being a recognizable masthead to all of the

same magazines that have already been released. The audience to the magazine will

know straight away that it’s the same magazine because of the masthead being the same,

making it iconic.

PugThe pug is an iconic sign as it

states ‘Free’ . This lets the reader

know that inside the magazine, they

canget something for free.

Main cover lineThe main cover line reads

‘The vaccines’ which is an iconic sign because the font is the same

Recognizable font to what is always

used when linked to The Vaccines. This

Is also in a red colour, which can symbolically show danger or

passion. Toshow a deeper understanding to

this, an Indexical sign could be that their

new album will either be romantic or

passionate, or could be completely different and could in fact show

thatthe album is their best yet and

could be described as being dangerous.

FooterThe footer clearly states other

bands or artists that are featured in the magazine that are of the same genre as ‘The

Vaccines’. This is iconic because the front of which

they are written in is the same as ‘The Vaccines’ making the

bands recognizable to the same genre. The colours that are used in the footer are also linked to the rest of the colour

scheme on the front cover, which can be a symbolic sign as it is all white, blue and red,

which could hint to the fact they are a British band.

Main imageThe iconic sign for the main image is that it is picture of ‘The Vaccines’ themselves

which is instantly recognizable to the audience. Part of the

cover line reads ‘double denim’ and members of the band are wearing ‘double

denim’ to represent the new album making it a symbolic sign, as this is a common

understanding to the audience.

AnchorageThis anchorage could suggest both

iconic andsymbolic signs. ‘Take a shot at the

big time’ could imply that ‘The Vaccines’ are

taking a shot/chance at becoming

something big (famous). However, this could

symbolically suggest that you, as the audience,

should ‘take a shot at the big time’

yourselves. This point can link to this

anchorage being anindexical sign. This infers that as

the audienceyou can ‘take a shot at the big

time’ by either perusing your dreams (like the

band membersin the vaccines) or doing

something out of yourcomfort zone.

This magazine front cover illustrates preferred reading as the authors of the magazine want to try and sell it to their particular target audience. ‘The fly’ magazine’s target audience is obviously

for people who are a fan of Indie music (which can be of all ages, but the majority would be aimed at teens). The vaccines are quite a popular band, so the promotion for the band on the front cover can really make the magazine a big seller. This is the message that the authors want to embed in this

particular media product. Another way that preferred reading can be suggested for this magazine, is from the type of font that the

magazine producers have used. A sans serif font has been used for most of the text on the front

cover, which is a more informal type of font that is suitable for this type of magazine due to its

particular target audience.Oppositional reading could also be applied to this magazine due to the colour schemes used. The

fact that a red font has been used for ‘The Vaccines’ could suggest something seductive, as red is a symbolic colour for love and passion. The

way the 4 men are positioned, quite closely, looking straight into the camera, could also

portray a seductive atmosphere that the audience may be drawn to. As the target audience are teens, the magazine producers may not have wanted to portray this necessary, as some of there readers could be under aged as such.

NME – NEW MUSICAL EXPRESSPug

This is a iconic sign to the reader as they will be able to see the ‘FREE’ sign and straight away they will know that they are getting something free. Symbolically, the change in colour

scheme shows a separate part to the front cover to get attention from the readers. Main image

This main image is an iconic sign to this magazine as Mark Ronson is a very proper music producer that lots of people would be able to recognize,

even if they weren’t a specific target audience to this

magazine. This image can also symbolically represent music as he is holding up a trumpet. We

now know that he has connections with some type of

music. We can further investigate, that the indexical

sign we can pick out is that the trumpet he is holding is broken,

which can suggest that Mark Ronson does have something to do with music, but nothing that

follows conventions.

FooterThe footer shows an iconic sign as it

clearly states peoples names who will be featured in the magazine. This is a

recognizable sign to the audience as they will be able to indentify these names as

they are all within the same genre of music.

Cover lines and anchorage

The cover line is written in a sans serif font, which contrasts to the anchorage which is written in a

serif font. This is an iconic sign as the sans serif font links to the

same font as the Masthead and the serif font links to the ‘new

musical express’ under the masthead, as this is recognizable

to the audience.

Main cover line The cover line clearly just states ‘Mark Ronson’ that reflects the

main image. This makes the cover line an iconic sign. A symbolic sign that could be taken from the cover line is the word ‘reinvention’. This reflects the main image, as can

show that ‘Mark Ronson’ has maybe had a change in his career path,

which links to the broken trumpet he is holding. This can also show an indexical sign as to why the colour

orange has been used to show success.

MastheadThe masthead for this magazine is an iconic sign as it is displayed

on every magazine that ‘NME’ produce. The target audience for

this magazine will be able to recognize the masthead every time they see the magazine, as

this is the same logo/symbol that will keep reoccurring on every magazine they release. The

colour orange can be a symbolic sign as this can represent

‘success’ and ‘attraction’, which could be part of the reason why the producers of this magazine have used this colour scheme. The ‘success’ and ‘attraction’

can imply what will be featured in the magazine. This would

attract the audience to buy the magazine.

This magazine front cover illustrates preferred reading as the producers of the magazine want to try and engage as much as possible with their target audience. The cover line has two anchorage’s that state ‘No more trumpets’ and ‘No more crap cover versions’. The younger generation would find this an interesting story as classical music isn’t up to date as much as it used to be. This makes the storyline interesting as the produces have embedded a message into the audience that Mark Ronson may have had a background in classical music and is now reinventing into maybe a new genre of music. The producers are also linking with they target audience due to the type of font that has been used. They have used a sans serif font for the abbreviation masthead to show informality and link more to the particular target audience, but a serif font for the full name of the magazine, which does in fact show formality and maybe links to the classical theme of the trumpets. Oppositional reading can also be identified from the magazine, linking again to the classical theme. The magazine producers may have had no intention of using a classical theme as much as what I have identified. They may have only wanted to touch upon it due to their main story of ‘The reinvention of Mark Ronson.’

MastheadThe masthead is written in a serif font which can link to iconic signs and look as though the producers have tried to replicate this in the same way as a newspaper. The

font shows formality which could make us question as to whether this particular magazine has a

older target audience to what we first expected. However this

might just be acting as a symbolic sign and link back to

the serif font that is shown on the masthead on the front cover to

show the classical aspect. Secondary imagesThe secondary images are iconic on this magazine as

they will relate to the description underneath. The

pictures are all of either celebrities or have something

that the readers will recognize. All pictures are

related to storylines that are featured in the magazine.

Main imageThis main image is an iconic and symbolic sign. There are lots of dark red used and the block quotation underneath the picture reads ‘It’s the heaviest thing I’ve ever

done’. This can suggest the atmosphere to this story to

be quite dark, hence the dark colour’s used. The

camera shots show a mid shot of the man, looking up. He doesn’t look very happy, which is also an iconic sign,

to the story line. House style branding(Layout)

The layout of the magazine looks like a representation of a newspaper layout, due to the type of font and layout used.

This is an iconic sign and it is a recognizable feature to the

audience, as they will be able to relate the layout, font and pictures used to a newspaper.SectionsThe sections on this contents page can show an iconic sign that the images relate to the

story. This will become a memorable feature to the

audience as they will be able to relate the story to the

image.

SubscriptionThis is an iconic sign

because it says ‘save up to 42%’. This is instantly

recognizable as it says you will be able to save money

(discount). Although its not a competition, the readers will be able to associate this as a

iconic sign.

NME - CONTENTS

This magazine contents page illustrates preferred reading as they have individual secondary images and a separate description underneath that links with the image itself, and also has separate block quotes that have been taken from the description. The block quote will influence the message that the producers will want to embed in the media product. This feature will allow the audience to understand the secondary image and why it is featured as one of the main stories.The colour’s used a quite bland and basic. They are mainly black, white and red which links to the interpretation of a newspaper idea. This may be appropriate to oppositional reading. The producers may have has no intention of making it the same layout as a newspaper, but could be a thought from the audience of the magazine.

Main imageThis main image is an iconic sign

in different ways. One of them being that one of the men in this image is wearing a Nivana shirt. This becomes recognizable to

the audience as they are able to identify a very popular band.

The use of colours used in this image can be symbolic as they are all quite dark with a vintage

or retro effect, this could symbolise the type of music the people of the front cover may

play. The may have some representation of vintage music or have retro elements to them. The clothing that the people of the image seem to be wearing are quite vintage, so this also

ties into the theme. SectionsThe sections that the stories are written in

clearly show what page different stories are on. The don’t have a big description, just

a brief sentence to what is featured on that page. These

sections are probably in the same layout in every magazine, so

the readers would be used to the layout.

Mast headThe masthead states ‘January

2013’ in big letters and ‘contents’ in a smaller text.

This is in the same font (sans serif) as the front cover. This is known as a iconic sign. The

colour of this lettering contrasts to the main colour focus on the contents page overall. These colours are a

symbolic sign to the magazine. The bright colour

blue compliments against the background. The colour blue

shows confidence which could link into specific stories

featured in the magazine.

House branding/layout

The layout of this contents page is taken up by mainly the

main image, which is then separated by the sections at the bottom of the page. The producers of the magazine have probably done this to

show as little writing as possible to fit more in with the style/genre of the magazine.

THE FLY - CONTENTS

This contents page shows preferred reading to the target audience mainly because of the main image. The men in the image look as though they are having fun which could suggest that the stories in the magazine are going to be fun and interesting to read about. This could be the message that the produces want to embed into the magazine. They are all dressed very stereotypically to the genre of the magazine (indie rock), which could be another reason towards preferred reading. The producers want to influence their specific target audience, by creating the image to look suited to that magazine.

Oppositional reading can also be taken from this main image. The way that all men look as though they are having fun and the woman is stood in a ‘vulnerable’ position, could be taken as though the producers in this magazine are trying to portray sexism. This is what some audience members may decode from the media product and go against what the producers actually wanted to embed.

HeadlineThe headline has a sans serif font and it is bolder than the rest of the text on the

page. As ‘The Vaccines’ are the main cover line in this magazine, the

masthead to this double page spread is probably bigger than the rest of the

other stories throughout the magazine to draw more attention to this page. This

becomes an iconic sign.

Strap lineThis strap is a small logo that shows the

type of story that this is. For monthly readers of this magazine, they

would be able to recognize this logo and

would be able to identify this every

time. This would be an iconic sign. If it was printed in the same colour scheme for

every story (like this one), then it would be classed as a symbolic

sign

Main imageThe main image takes up ¾’s of

this double page spread so it instantly becomes the main focus

on the page, rather than the text. It is a clear, close up shot of all band

members, so the audience feel engaged in the article. This iconic sign shows that the readers will be able to recognize the band as well as the headline, giving away the

name of the band.

Block quoteThis block quote is written in a sans serif

font to link to the masthead. It is also within the colour scheme. This stands out as it was taken from the story to engage

the reader to read the story.

ColumnsThe columns give a sense of order to the article, and

make things more understandable.

House style brandingThe layout of this article is different to many as the main image takes up the

majority of the spread. This is to get the readers attention. The colour scheme and theme of the article is very specific and links in well with the theme of the article

making this an iconic sign as it is instantly recognizable to the reader.

The preferred reading on this double page spread can be taken from the main image or the text. The main image shows ‘The Vaccines’ looking directly into the camera which will enable the audience to engage with the story straight away due to the main image being the main focus on this spread. This is purposely done to grab the attention from the audience to proceed with reading the article, hence the block quote on the right hand side. This block quote shows an interesting part of the story and is enlarged so that people will get curious as to what its about. This is the message that the producers want to embed into the media product.

HeadlineThe headline is iconic as the colours match the rest of the colour scheme on the text page. The layering and transparent effect gives the article a professional feel, which can influence people

to read the article. The professionalism can inflict peoples views on Lana Del Rey, as she is

what the article is based upon.

Main imageThe main image is a close up shot of ‘Lana Del Rey’ looking straight at the camera to appear as though she is

looking at the readers, the mid shot also makes her face the main focus. This

image also takes up half of the double page spread. The black and white

contrasts to the colours on the opposite side which makes the main image a

symbolic sign – to show the representations of ‘Lana del Rey’.

ColumnsThe columns give a sense of order to the

article, and make things more understandable.

House style brandingThe layout to this double page spread is set in a very orderly

fashion, which can influence views on what the article is about (Lana Del Rey). There is a set colour scheme which can

show iconic and symbolic signs based upon the colour meanings and peoples interpretation on them.

The preferred reading on this double page spread is the way the main image links to the masthead. ‘Mission Accomplished’ links in with the way ‘Lana’ is posing in the image. This is the message that the producers want the audience to understand before even having to read the story. Lana Del Rey looks clearly recognizable to the audience in the magazine, which will draw attention straight away, and the headline will make them question as to what she has accomplished.

However, oppositional reading can be taken from this article. Instead of the pose Lana is doing linking in with the masthead, certain audience members may take this as showing her in a sexual way. The pose could be seen as flirty, which could be taken the wrong way if fans of Lana were to portray this image in that way. Also, the fact you can see part of her bra may also influence their views on this, and add to part of their reasoning.