Music Magazine Front Cover Analysis

By Ellie Zambakides

MastheadThe name of the magazine ‘NME’ is a shortened version of the previous name ‘New Music express’. The name is rather informal and has connotations of rebellion and defiance. The name of the magazine ‘NME’ sounds like the word ‘enemy’, this similarity is purposely done to reflect the type of rebellious and possibly aggressive music that the magazine features. Moreover, it mirrors the audience and how they would act as the name is quite alternative and defiant, the people reading the magazine and listening to the music featured will resemble the same rebellious attitude. The large capital letters ‘NME’ in the left top hand corner visually stand out to the reader as they are in a deep red. The choice of colour signifies danger as well as allowing the title to stand out against the magazine as it is the only thing in red so our eyes are drawn to it as everything else is blue, black and white. Furthermore, the colours will continue to reflect that audience as the title is different to the rest of the front cover, and stands out, and doesn’t conform to the rest of the page, much like the audience.

Sell-lineThe main sell-line is the name of the band ‘My Chemical Romance’ and how they ‘conquered the nation’ is in a large black and white font. The black text on a white background stands out as the text is both large, and the white background of the text is very visible against the black clothes that the members are wearing. It also sticks to the black, white and blue colour scheme. The other smaller sell-lines are to draw in the audience and get them to buy the magazine even if they are not fans of the main band featured (My chemical Romance) they might be incised by their favourite artist in the sell-line. For example ‘live’ in the same colour and style as the main sell-line, to keep continuity and to make it seem important like the main sell-line. The white and blue writing stands out against the black jacket of the lead singer. The quotes pulled from the text in the magazine also catch the audiences attention. The quote ‘…drugs, getting drunk, and dancing all night’ is quite rebellious actions so the readers will be intrigued to buy the magazine and find out more.

Main ImageThe image on the front cover is of the band ‘My Chemical Romance’

it takes up most of the page and shows the band in an almost descending order. The order in which the band are placed in is done by the individuals popularity, as Gerard Way is the ,most prominent

member in the image it shows he is the most well know. This is because more people are likely to know his face and see the

magazine and buy it as they are familiar with him. The Medium shot of the band show their facial expressions which seem almost

emotionless or slightly (almost) angry. This is shown by the members are looking straight into the lens as if they are looking at the reader.

Moreover, the band are wearing black and this both represents their style of music and fashion. In addition their style has connotations of

rebellion which mirror the attitude the bands fans are likely to have to everyday life. The bands clothes are probably how their fans

would dress. The colours of the main image are mainly black and white due to their black clothes and dark/light hair (especially

Gerard Way’s hair as its white/silver). This plain colour scheme allows the red masthead to stand out more, it also supports the

anchorage text ‘the week the world went black’ as they normally dress is all black as it would be referring to their song ‘the black

parade’. It also is clear that the main story of the magazine will be about the band and how successful they have been.

FreebiesThe ‘massive posters’ also included in the

magazine are there to interest the reader if they are fans of the artist on the magazine. There is a small photo of the posters so you know what you

are getting. Moreover, the yellow and black ‘FREE!’ draws people’s attention to the posters.

Colour SchemeThe front cover uses three main colour which are, black white and blue, however there are small sections of red and yellow to attract the audiences attention to those particular places as the magazine wants the reader to see them. The use of white and black reflects

the bands image as they are quite punk rock and tend to wear those colours, furthermore it is likely to be the colours that the audience

dress in. the third colour is a fairly light blue which is used for the sell-lines to take the readers attention away from the other aspects of the magazine. The blue is a neutral colour so whilst it stands out

from the rest it is not too distracting and vibrant. In addition the red adds a sense of danger and lets the reader know it is NME magazine

as red is a very common colour used in the magazine.

BarcodeThe barcode is placed in the right bottom hand corner of the magazine so we can clearly see it but it does not take up too much of the front cover. In addition, it in a place were there is

important image or text that the barcode would be covering up.

MastheadThe name of the magazine is ‘Kerrang!’ and the exclamation mark suggests that the magazine is loud. This means that the magazine will have louder music eg rock and punk. Moreover, it reflects the artists that will be featured in the magazine, like Fall Out Boy, Evanescence, Paramore etc. In addition, the name of the magazine sounds almost aggressive and also sounds slightly like an onomatopoeia which is quite alternative and would echo the potential audience of the magazine. The title of the magazine is in large black letters with a white background. The black stands as the rest of the page is very colourful so as the letters are so large, and they are in black it is very clear, and visible. The thin white lines that randomly go across the name, look almost like broken glass which further emphasizes that the name sounds like an onomatopoeia as it seems like the words have smashed glass, giving it a rebellious feel. Furthermore, the name is covered by the band member’s (Pete Wenz) head. The letters A and half of the N are covered to show the importance of the band member. Despite this, the magazine name is still recognisable as it is well know so I can afford to be slightly hidden as we know what the title says.

Main ImageThe image on the front cover is of the band ‘Fall Out Boy’ and

despite the fact the band members take up most of the front cover, as the front cover is very busy they do not stand out too much. On

the other hand, the fact that a member is covering the ‘Kerrang!’ name it highlights the importance of the band. Moreover, the three

members in black are seen as less relevant as they are wearing black so they do not stand out as much, and they are smaller. Whilst the bassist Pete Wenz is the most focal point as he is the one covering

the name of the magazine, he is bigger, and also he is wearing orange unlike the rest of the band. Both distancing himself from the

band and also making him more visually noticeable as we see the orange before the black. This is most likely because he is the most well known member so the magazine show him off more to entice

people to buy a copy if they know he is in it. The colours used in the image are black and orange, this is to make the bassist Pete stand

out more, and also because black us a colour the band dress in a lot and it also resembles how the fans would dress. In addition, the

band are holding ice creams which injects some humour into the image as also supports the cover line ‘the heat is on’ as it mocks it as

the cover line implies both the idea of competition and summer. So they band literally have ice creams for humour purposes.

Sell-lineThe main sell-line is the name of the band ‘Fall Out Boy’ in large white letters central on the front cover. The text also reads ‘the heat is on’ suggesting the idea of some sort of competition/a play on words as it was printed in the summer Kerrang issues. The sell-line saying ‘PLUS!’ catches the readers attention as they will be drawn to look at the names of the audiences favourite artists of bands that will be featured in the magazine. The colour of the main sell-line is white as the background is quite colourful and busy so a plain and simple colour will stand out more. The yellow/orange colour reading ‘the heat is on’ completes the running theme of orange that is on the front cover and ties in with the summer vibe as it is white a bright colour. Moreover, the orange/yellow ‘PLUS!’ once again ties together the orange theme whilst the red background sections the information off from the rest of the magazine and also to make the writing easier to read.

FreebiesThere are lots of freebies on this front cover. In

large white writing with red backgrounds it reads ‘FREE CD’ and ‘FREE POSTERS!’. The posters are

then previewed so the reader can see if they like the artists who the poster is of. The white writing on a red background makes the freebie stand out

more against the rest of the front cover.

BarcodeThe barcode is placed in the right bottom hand corner of the magazine so we can clearly see it but it does not take up too much of the front

cover. It avoids covering up any of the text right at the bottom of the front cover.

Colour SchemeThe front cover uses a variety of colours which is unusual as front covers tend to use three main colours. However, fiery colours like

red, yellow and orange appear a lot on the front cover. This could be due to the fact it is a summer issue so the makers of the magazine

are tying in the orange colours as they have connotations of summer. Furthermore, this clear orange theme is very prominent as one of

the members is wearing a very bright orang top. The blue in the background also creates colours that would appeal more to males

than females as it uses blues, whites, blacks and oranges. The important sell-lines all have a background colour to them to section off the front cover from images and text/important information. In

addition the amount of colour used on the front cover could be because the target audience is likely to find these colours appealing.

MastheadThe name of the magazine is ‘Q’ the one letter name is because originally it was to be called Cue (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker magazine. Another reason is that a single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands, so there is a higher chance of people picking up the magazine. The simplicity of the white Q on a red background is very clean and simple and implies that the music featured in the magazine will be of good quality and be simple, yet effective. The colour scheme used is once again very clean and simple and stands out as it is a very rich red that is used. Furthermore, a slight part of the Q is covered by the artist on the front ‘Jake Bugg’. This is done to exaggerate his significance in the magazine and that his is very important in the issue.

Main ImageThe Image on the front cover is of the solo country/rock artist ‘Jake Bugg’. The musician takes up most of the front cover, however our

eyes are mainly drawn to his guitar as it is large and very red which attracts our attention, additionally it juxtaposes with the back

clothes he is wearing making it even more eye catching. Jake is not looking at the camera and his body is slightly twisted creating quite

an artistic shape, which the magazine normally creates. He holds the guitar as if he is in the middle of playing a song and all of the sell –

lines are placed around his body and his guitar. In addition, he is wearing dark clothes with a leather jacket which has connotations of

a rocker vibe and would reflect the dress sense of the people who listen to his music. Moreover, the musician is slightly covering the ‘Q’

to highlight that his is the main focus of the front cover. The red guitar brings out the red in the mast head and the names in the sell-

lines to complete the front cover. Also it is very vibrant and stands out a lot, whilst the red also symbolises passion and the passion he has for music. The dark colour of his clothes represent mystery and

they give an edge to the front cover as it is mainly red, blue and a hint of gold and yellow, so the black brings a new element to the

front cover.

Sell-lineThe main sell-line is the name of Artist ‘Jake Bugg’ is in large white letters that almost shape the guitar he is holding. This creates quite an artists effect that out eyes are immediately drawn to. The font is always quite creative and playful to further grab our attention. The badge ‘His most revealing interview’ makes the reader curious and increases the chances of the reader buying the magazine as they are excited. The words ‘most revealing’ emphasizes that the interview will be like no other interview Jake Bugg has done, which will intrigue people. Other sell-lines such as ‘Ellie Goulding’ and ‘Metallica’ are other artists that Jake Bugg fans probably listen to. The Red colour of the names of the artists stand out against the blue background highlighting their significance in the magazine. In addition, the gold colour of the other sell lines imply they story featured about that is likely to be less important as the gold is not as vibrant and eye catching. Additionally, the white writing of the main sell –line ‘Jake Bugg’ is very striking against the black clothes he is wearing and the red guitar. Likewise the badge/sell-line that reads ‘His most revealing interview’ is in a gold circle which is very contrasting to the rest of the front cover as it is a block colour of Gold with white writing.

Colour SchemeThe front cover uses the colours red, black, blue and a small bit of

gold and yellow. The colours are quite vibrant and bright so the black writing and clothes give the front cover an edge. The gold makes the magazine look expensive and classy and therefore giving the cover a clean, sophisticated look. The red used in the names, masthead, and

guitar bring out the red in the guitar especially. The yellow Bob Dylan special contrasts with the rest of the cover to add a different

element. The colours appeal to the target audience of the magazine as it is young and fresh but still clean and refined. Furthermore, the

blue background provides a crisp and light feel to the cover as the blue is a light blue yet it does not clash with any of the other colours.

The colours do not appeal to a specific gender as they are colours that all genders would like, so it will allure most.

BarcodeThe barcode is placed in the left side of the centre

of the front cover, which is unusual as normally the barcode is in the bottom right corner. Despite the more central placing of the barcode, it does not stand out/distract our eyes from the rest of

the cover.

SpecialsThere is a Bob Dylan special, which most fans who listen to Jake Bugg probably listen to Bob Dylan. It

has a picture and a bright yellow background showing us it is a focal point however Jakes head

slightly covers it, implying he is still the main story of the issue.