Research

I started by simply googling ‘music magazines’ to get a broad idea of what all genres of music feature. The most prominent common feature is that there is almost always only one artist on the front cover, even if they’re in a band. All magazines show the musician up close, usually upwards from the chest but sometimes even from the knees, just never showing the feet. Artists are usually shown face-on but occasionally are posing looking over their shoulder; it is a popular shot. All the poses are strong, where they look directly at the camera, unwavering. The facial expression is also mostly the same each time; looking serious and dominating, not smiling. Apart from the ‘Classical’ magazine, all covers have plain block colour backgrounds as to make the artist stand out. The title of the magazine varies between being behind the artist or in front, although the captions are always small and placed carefully around their face, not obscuring it. The cover that stands out to me the most of the above is the ‘VIBE’ one in which Rihanna is edited in black & white in front of a bright blue background. It’s unique as artists are rarely shown without colour and the blue contrasts effectively to make her stand out.

Next, I decided to look up magazines of the indie (independent) music genre and found this magazine shown above, ‘INDIE’, which features music and fashion. I really like how stylized the covers are and how they tell you the genre straight away. It’s very obviously fashion forward. They follow the conventions of the close up one-shot and although the backgrounds aren’t completely plain, they don’t take attention away from the featured artist. The black and white effect is a nice take as it shows originality and maturity, added with the facial expression. Unlike most music magazines, there is a lack of captions which adds a touch of sleekness and gives the magazine a trademark.

Then I chose to research the ‘Q’ magazine. They have a very different aesthetic to ‘INDIE’, the covers are a lot busier and brighter, with their trademark red splashed everywhere. They don’t seem to have a specific genre, as the selection above shows, they seem to go with popular artists of most genres and eras. They still have close up one-shots and the background is plain but they show a lot more emotion than the others I have researched (Biffy Clyro looking angry, Adele seeming thoughtful and Madonna looking lustful) but still none smile. Adele is shown looking over her shoulder, which was previously mentioned as a popular alternative to looking face-on.

The next is arguably the most popular rock magazine, ‘Kerrang’. I am not a fan of their lay-out, it’s too busy for my tastes, with inserted pictures, clashing text and energetic posing. Everything stands out so I get confused and end up noticing nothing individually. I really dislike the photos inserted onto the cover as it looks unprofessional and cheap, in my opinion. The two covers on the right are strangely similar in the posing; the main singer is centre and two bandmates are positioned either side behind him. This is the first time in my research that I’ve found a band featured on the cover and it’s strange that they’re so similar. All of the captions are very ‘in your face’ so the reader doesn’t really focus on one specific thing but I think that although I don’t personally like the styling of the magazine, it does go with the rock genre. I do like their trademark ‘Kerrang’ font, it appears that it has been smashed, which is quite a nice touch.

I really like V magazine, it’s sleek and polished and has a definite unique style. All of the colours co-ordinate well; the orange of Nikki Minaj’s ‘V’ with the black clothing, hair and background added to her bright pink lipstick or on the ‘Natalie Rocks’ issue, the turquoise with pink. I found very few covers featuring males which was encouraging as the music industry can be quite male dominated for certain genres. The backgrounds are blank and rarely hold any colour but is offset by the fierce poses the featured artist uses. I would love my subject to appear as they do and I think I want to use a female as they do. It’s also easier to style females more creatively. I also love how the subject is interacting with the large ‘V’, some holding it, some peeking in front of it.