Music Magazines I could base my magazine on

Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar, Kerrang! was initially devoted to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper.

General Background Information:

History:

Kerrang! Began publishing on the 6th June, 1981 and was edited by Geoff Barton, initially as a one- time supplement in the Sounds newspaper focused on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal phenomenon and on the rise of other hard rock acts. It was launched as a monthly magazine, but eventually in 1987 it went weekly. The original owner was United Newspapers who then sold it to EMAP in 1991. Kerrang!’s popularity rose again in 2000 when Paul Rees became editor, at this time the nu metal genre, featuring bands like Limp Bizkit and Slipknot were becoming more popular. In 2003, Rees went on to edit Q magazine and Ashley Bird took however the magazines sales went quickly into decline and so Paul Brannigan took over in May 2005. Kerrang! Began to heavily feature emo and metalcore as it was becoming popular, however the revamp was not welcomed by all readers and many complaints were about kerrang!’s sudden emphasis on emo and metalcore music. The magazine saw it’s most succesfull period with Brannigan with a record ever ABC for the title of 80, 186 copies. In 2008, EMAP sold its consumer magazine to current owner Bauer Media Group and in 2009 Brannigan left Kerrang! and Nichola Browne was appointed editor.She later stepped down in April 2011 and so former NME features editor and GamesMaster deputy editor James McMahon was appointed as editor on the 6 th June 2011.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerrang!

COVERS

• Artists featured on the cover are all from indie/rock bands e.g. A Day To Remember, Biffy Clyro and Marilyn Manson• They all have some sort of angry/serious expression on their faces this relates to the rock genre creating a loud and noisy atmosphere and an ambient mood• The use of dark clothing relates to the dark imagery/mood that of the rock genre•During the 1980s and early 1990s the magazine placed many thrash and glam metal acts on the cover, such as Bon Jovi, But later discarded them when grunge acts such as Nirvana rose to fame. Readers often criticise the magazine for repeating this process every time a new musical trend becomes popular.•Kerrangs! First cover featured Angus Young from AC/DC

Content• Kerrang! Features many indie/rock bands for instance Paramore, All time low, Slipknot• Kerrang! often includes interviews with indie/rock artists• Kerrang! Includes album reviews and live gig reviews• Kerrang! Often advertises clothing websites at the back of the magazine which fit in with the style of clothing the target audience of the magazine would read and include images throughout the magazine of indie/rock artists which wear clothing which would appeal to/attract the target audience, the clothing tends to be dark and masculine and the clothing is usually shown to be worn by rock artists such as Marilyn Manson who could be seen as style icons• Also advertisements for music such as new albums are featured and musical instruments • Posters are often included to appeal to the target audience

Kerrang!’s Website

http://www.kerrang.com/ Tells you all the upcoming news: all related to rock bands for example here it says: ‘Green Day's musical set for UK tour in October 2012 American Idiot tickets go on sale next week...’

Mentions clothing styles and current trends relating to the rock genre and appealing to the target audience

Allows you to ‘access all areas’ this mentions things such as: ‘The Playlist 30-11-11This week's essential tracks!’‘Exclusive! Check out the new video from Polar Smile You Son Of A Bitch is the latest offering from the UK band...’

I found the website useful as it gave me ideas for articles for my magazine

i want to make sure my article is appropriate for the rock genre and appeals to my target audience, I want to make sure it is written direct and informally in order to fit in with the theme/genre of my magazine and enables my target audience to connect with it.

Content Ideas For My Magazine

For my double page spread and cover i want to make sure the clothing on the person i choose to use for it relates to the indie/rock genre so like kerrang! I want to use dark clothing to create an ambient mood.

For my contents page I want to make sure it features things like ‘upcoming albums’ , ‘live gig reviews’ so that it relates to indie/rock

For the image on my double page spread i want them to be pulling either an serious or angry expression again to relate to the rock genre and create an ambient mood but then i would also like them to be holding some sort of instrument e.g. A guitar to create a loud noisy atmosphere like the rock genre and the young youth who are associated with it.

Kerrang! Often uses a young artist for the cover and features bands which are of young ages so i want to use a young person for both my double page spread and cover to attract my target audience as i would like this to be around 16-21

For my front page image i want to use a medium close up of a male, pulling an angry/serious pose and again create an ambient mood using dark clothing and perhaps the use of a musical instrument. Or i may use a group photo/medium shot and have them seem quite loud with excited expressions creating a loud atmosphere.

•After doing some research, looking at different magazine names I have found that It is better to use a short and catchy name in order to grab the readers attention and making it easier for them to remember

•I’ve also noticed that a lot of the names somehow relate/correspond to what they contain. For example Kerrang! Uses onomatopoeia as this is the sound made when an electric guitar is strummed this instantly relates to not only music but rock music and therefore this also attracts the target audience, the use of the exclamation mark also makes it seem more dramatic and makes it seem louder with the feeling that we should almost shout/scream when reading it. Below are other examples:

Deciding an appropriate name for my magazine..

Short, catchy and with NME standing for ‘New Musical Express’ it relates to music

Both words ‘rock’ and ‘sound’ relate to music and even before reading the magazine we know it is related to the rock genre due to the choice of specific words. It is again like NME, short catchy and bold.

Possible Names

F MajorCrunk!

Storm

Chaos!RIOT!

RAGE!

Raged!

Teen Rock!

PANIC!

Pulp!Music Mayhem!

Music Matters Rock On!Music Mad!

MBS! (music bands, songs)c

Rock Riot!

Rock Weekly

I want to make sure that my name is as catchy as it can be and appropriate for my target audience here I have mapped out some possible names:

Pulse! Sound

Hot Rock! FusedRock Rage!

My Music