Music magazine front covers
- 1. Music Magazine Front covers
- 2. There are common and consistent features/characteristics that appear on music magazine front covers as most music magazines follow the same conventions with variations in genre, house style, colour scheme, shot types, slogans and supplementary pictures. Here I will identify the common features/characteristics of four different music magazines. These include all having a masthead, a main image, Coverlines, rule of thirds and sell lines etc.
- 3. Here I am identifying the features/characteristics of these four different music magazines Masthead Main Image of an artist/band Rule of thirds Coverlines Bright/bold/striking colours Interaction between main image and masthead Sellines
- 4. Why is having all these general features/characteristics important? •Firstly to follow conventions which creates familiarity with the audience and a neatness in publication. Also these standard conventions help the success of other publications so it is a wise move to go with what has worked in other magazines. •Secondly to provide an insight into what the magazine contains such as the content of the coverlines •And finally consistency with the masthead on each issue creates a house style and familiarity with the audience which is important as it gives the brand an identity and consequently people notice their magazines and buy them.
- 5. Differences between music magazines There are variations though as well as similarities. These include that „Q‟ Magazine and „Top of the Pops‟ both have slogans. For „Q‟ its “Discover Great Music” and for „Top of the Pops” its “More gossip! More scandal! More you!”. However „VIBE‟ and „Kerrang‟ do not have the slogans on their magazines which could be because they use their main image and the copy to illustrate the identity of the magazine. „Top of the Pops‟ though may especially have a slogan as they have a younger audience (teen) and the content of the slogan can speak more to the younger audience who look for these things in a magazine. „Kerrang‟ and „Top of the Pops‟ have supplementary images on their front cover which helps to give an insight into what the magazine contains. They have perhaps chose to use images on the cover as firstly with Kerrang it can create a busy atmosphere and craziness which can link to the genre of rock with has connotations of head banging and madness. With „Top of the Pops‟ the audience is teenagers who tend to respond more to image based magazines as opposed to too much copy and therefore the images are used to not only show what's in the issue but to catch the readers eye. The reasons perhaps why „Q‟ and „Vibe‟ did not use images is firstly because the main image on „VIBE‟ is quite powerful and strong already especially with the bright and bold colours and the grey background. Therefore having other images could distract from the main artist. Similarly the font size is quite small and therefore can once more show the importance of this celebrity. The main image is also a close up which is again expressive and powerful. „Q‟ similarly may have only used the one image as they are all about the music where as „Kerrang‟ and „Top of the Pops‟ have features on fashion, gossip and competitions. They are still all about the music but have elements they include for the connection to their target audience. Similarly the main image on „Q‟ is powerful and also the cover star is well known and there is also a clever image manipulation in the cover stars glasses and therefore any supplementary images could be distracting from this. In „VIBE‟ and „Q‟ they have only a single person on the cover which could simply be because it suited the magazines content but also the artists may be hot topics within the music industry compared to the bands around the publication of this issue. In „Q‟ there are a long shots of other artists but having the single image presents exactly what the magazine is selling this month. In „Top of the Pops‟ and „Kerrang‟ they have bands which could also suit the content of that month or be that groups are more popular within these genres with the target audience. The shot types in „Q‟ and „VIBE‟ are close ups where as in „Kerrang‟ and „Top of the Pops‟ they have long shots. This could be because in the close ups the emotion of the artists is what is wanted by the magazine to appeal to the target audience. Similarly these stark images along with the bold colours will be powerful and catch the readers eye and can satisfy what the reader wants from the magazine. With „Kerrang‟ and „Top of the Pops‟ they have long shots of the groups perhaps to show more the costume and outfit which in „Kerrang‟ is to link to the Halloween special and the darkness of the genre and with Top of the Pops the full length appearance of the boy band is what the females readers like as they can see their idols in full. „Top of the Pops‟ uses flashers in the forms of shapes which is perhaps because it suits the bubbly and upbeat feel the magazine has and links to the female audience. Where as the other three magazines do not which is because they are for a more mature audience. However you could say that the font on „Kerrang‟ could be seen as shapes as it is unique, scary, effective, links to the content of Halloween and is eye-catching. Overall there are mainly similarities with the differences mostly because of the different genres, target audiences(niche) and ethos's. It is good to have differences between the different music magazines as it helps create a house style and identity for the magazine within the industry and therefore makes for original pieces of art that celebrate different music culture. For more information about „Q‟ visit http://www.qthemusic.com/ , „Top of the Pops‟ visit http://www.totpmag.com/ , „Kerrang‟ visit http://www.kerrang.com/ and for „ VIBE‟ visit http://www.vibe.com/
- 6. Looking at ‘Kerrang’ in more detail Kerrang is a rock magazine The fonts are quite aggressive and almost look The images are quite extreme and scary scribbled and broken, even smashed which can which can link to connotations of rock music link to the extreme and amazing nature of rock which is normally loud, powerful, creative music that is full of electric guitars and drums. and uplifting. The band look quite The scribbled font could also link to Halloween threatening with their direct eye contact and as it looks quite scary complemented by the body language which can link to the feelings skeleton costume and body language of the band. people experience when they do not know The scribbled font could also link to music much about the rock genre. The background genres overall as its like when someone writes is similarly dark but also quite casual which lyrics to a song. It can also create an intimate can help balance the moods and emotions feel for the audience which is used in music portrayed enticing the intrigued audience magazines as they are for niche and dedicated audiences as well as those just passing by Reference to winning a guitar can link to rock as guitars are used in this genre. What makes it really clear though is the reference to coffin Reference to rock artists and bands which links to Halloween and is quite extreme such as Metallica and Alice cooper and loud like Rock music can be can support that the genre is rock
- 7. ‘Kerrang’ target audience I think ‘Kerrang’ Magazine has a core target audience of 18 to 30 year old males with perhaps some younger males reading it and also some females buying it. This is because the price of £2.40 is accessible for this age range who are likely in a job or in education. Similarly the interesting use of graphics, colours, fonts, layouts and presentation are suited to this age and gender specific group who are drawn in by the modern and slick approach. Also what makes me think the target audience are older is that rock music is an acquired genre that is not really mainstream and therefore not really introduced to a young audience. As young people grow up they develop the styles they like through experimenting with many genres. Similarly the magazine has quite mature images such as on the front cover the band look quite aggressive and scary which would not be appropriate for a younger audience. Similarly there can be quite provocative images of nudity and gigs. Also the dark colours used on the front cover are quite masculine so therefore can link to the male audience. This is because females usually respond more feminine colours such as reds, blues, purples and greens as opposed to deep and dark colours. Also the masthead for Kerrang is quite violent and aggressive which once more can link to masculinity as a magazine for females is usually more calm and sophisticated. Also what else can suit the core male audience is that most of the Kerrang covers contain males so that the audience can aspire to be like them. I feel the social class of the target audience is between the C2 and D demographic as music magazines are a luxury especially in these economic times but affordable to those in working class jobs such as those in these demographics. For more information about Kerrang visit http://www.kerrang.com/ and for more information about rock music as a genre visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music