Kerrang! presentation
- 2. Magazine This is the magazine I am going to be analyzing, the March 27 2010 issue of Kerrang!.
- 3. Kerrang! The magazine is published once a week, every Wednesday and costs £2.20. http://www.kerrang.com/
- 4. Institution Kerrang! is a rock music magazine published by Bauer Consumer Media in the United Kingdom Kerrang! Also has its own radio station - Kerrang! radio 105.2, its own annual awards ceremony the Kerrang! Awards, Kerrang! TV is also part of the Kerrang! Company, showing music videos, and there is also the Kerrang! Tour which is a tour of rock concerts around the UK. Kerrang! Has also released many compilation albums.
- 5. Bauer Media Group Bauer Media Group is a large German publishing company based in Hamburg, which operates in 15 countries worldwide and worldwide circulation of Bauer Media Group's magazine titles amounts to 38 million magazines a week.
- 6. Bauer Media Group Bauer Media Group has a 50% stake in the British television company Box Television, the other half owned by Channel 4. It produces several popular music television channels such as Q TV, 4Music, Kiss TV, Kerrang! TV, The Box, Magic TV and Smash Hits TV .
- 7. Target Audience The target audience for Kerrang! Magazine is a 16-23 year old person, it is relevant to both male and female readers, however is aimed more towards a male audience due to the colour scheme etc. The reader would be into rock music, mainly into things such as pop/punk, some metal, some classical rock, and also parts of indie rock too. The reader would also like to attend gigs, and be highly influenced by music to how they lead there lives, for example, their dress sense, therefore it is important to how people dress in their photo shoots in the magazine and what clothing companies advertise in the magazine as these will highly influence the reader.
- 8. Kerrang! Cover The main cover has the magazine name Kerrang! At the very top of the magazine, in the largest font, using contrasting colours, black and white to attract attention. The magazine cover sticks to the 3 colour rule, with Yellow, Red and White being the predominant colours. This keeps it simple, but still eye catching. The puff is used to show free give aways or prizes that can be one, in this case, downloadable songs and the chance to win clothing. The main images, of Billie Joe Armstrong and Hayley Williams take up the majority of the page, as the main attractions of the magazine, but other influential people such as Corey Taylor, Dave Grohl, Jared Leto, Gerard Way and Kurt Cobain are also on the main page, as if the reader likes that person, or their band, it will attract them to the magazine more. The unique selling point is something other magazines cannot offer, in this case, exclusive interviews. The primary lead is the main content or article of the page, so is usually written in very large font on the page, with secondary leads, also important content as it is still on the front cover, written in smaller text.
- 9. Kerrang! Contents The contents page is split up into several parts. ‘Feedback’ features pictures, emails and letters sent in from readers. ‘News’ which features music news mainly about certain bands or big festivals. ‘Win!’ which features items each week that you can apply to win for. ‘Live Reviews’ featuring big gigs that have happened in the past week and are reviewed. ‘Album Reviews’ which talks about new albums that have come out. ‘Gig Guide’ which shows all the upcoming gigs. The most important is the Cover Story, which is featured on the front cover of the magazine, that is also the main story of the magazine, in this magazine’s case ‘The Rock Icons of the 21st Century’.
- 10. Kerrang! Language Kerrang! uses a fairly informal language, as if they are talking to you as a friend, which the reader likes because it makes for entertaining reading. It also often talks to the reader personally, for example ‘Kerrang! Have teamed up with Circa Survive to offer you the chance to win tickets to two very special free shows’ which makes the reader feel more involved in the magazine. The magazine also features alot of interviews, so alot of the language is what has said by the artist or the person themselves, as if the reader is talking to them.
- 11. Ads/Pages In the issue of Kerrang! I am studying there 64 pages, with 47 adverts, showing how important adverts are to the make up of a magazine. The two biggest adverts are on the 2nd page, the inside of the front cover, and the last page, the back of the magazine. The advertisements on these pages are for play.com, showing a range of music CDs and clothing available on there website, and the back page advert is of a new album coming out, by Kids In Glass Houses called ‘Dirt’. These two adverts are a whole page long, and would be the most expensive adverts in the whole magazine.
- 12. Products/Services being advertised In the magazine, companies such as play.com selling music CDs/t-shirts etc are advertised, and hmv is mentioned on an album advert. This suits the audience because they will want to be able to buy music CDs and memorabilia online, therefore these companies could attract alot of customers. There is also an advertisement for PETA, which is for animal rights, and they use in the advert people who the magazines audience would recognise and refer to, in this case, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue. There are also adverts for ChildLine, a PS3 game called ‘God of War’, an advert for an upcoming issue of Q magazine, and one for an upcoming issue of Kerrang! The advert for ChildLine is there because a proportion of readers are teenagers, so it is relevant to them. The PS3 game advert is in the magazine because a large amount of Kerrang! readers are male teenagers, who presumably like playing video games. Kerrang! And Q both belong to Bauer Media Group, so they are both advertised so people know when they can buy the next issue.
- 13. Products/Services being advertised The majority of the adverts are taken up by advertisements of gigs, and of rock clothing shops. The magazine has adverts for gigs for Reading & Leeds Festival, Green Day, Boys Like Girls, Download Festival, Sonisphere Festival, Madina Lake, You Me At Six, and many more bands. This is because the average reader likes to attend rock gigs, so alot of tickets could be sold by an advert in Kerrang! Magazine. For clothing it advertises LoudClothing.com, GrindStore.com etc, and these all sell ‘rock’ style clothing. These companies could possibly make alot of money from advertising in this magazine as they sell the same kind of clothes as what the artists/bands in the magazine wear, so as people look at the musicians as inspiration, they may want to dress like them.
- 14. What do I like about this magazine? I like this magazine because it features alot of my favourite bands, and focuses on most of the genres of rock music that I like to listen to, and also has alot of interviews with the artists and bands that interest me. I like how the magazine is written quite informally, like they are talking to a friend, but still keeps my attention and interest. I also like it because it features adverts for upcoming gigs, which some I look into, and also features clothing websites that I have used before.
- 15. What would I change about it? If I was to change anything about this magazine is that I would make it longer. Due to the sheer amount of adverts, there are not loads of articles, and I would like to see more articles in an issue.