My magazine - Corrupt front cover

My magazine - Corrupt Contents

My magazine - Corrupt double page spreads

My Magazine Evaluation

My Magazine Evaluation

Who would be the audience for your media product?

After looking at a range of Rock magazines, I soon realised that the majority of them are targeted at a young audience yet focus mostly on male audiences. Some of the magazines, however, could be considered unisex by the colour schemes and pictures used. In Rock magazines the images tend to be of both males and females who look either intimidating or laid-back, which are stereotypically younger attitudes.

Rock magazines tend to be focused mostly on male audiences since most of the images are of male artists since the majority of Rock artists are male. However, as a woman I am still attracted to the genre of music. For my magazine I chose to create a magazine that appeals more to the niche audience of female fans of Rock music but also still appeals to the male audience. 

A typical convention of Rock magazines is to use images of males looking aggressive or they use images of gigs and concerts, where the artist isn’t posing. The images from gigs show the artist in their element and connote fun and excitement for both the artist and the reader. This is one of the main ideologies of Rock magazines and appeals to the readers. I have followed this convention in my magazine for images of both male and female audiences.

My music magazine has a target audience of young males and females which is shown by the images used. The target audience is aged between 16 to 19 and is therefore relevant to the content of the magazine and this target audience would have a more disposable income than an older audience.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Once I decided on my target audience, I conducted some research into what would appeal to young people and, more specifically, a female audience. I also looked into the conventions of Rock magazines and how much they would be used in my magazine.

I found that Rock magazines aimed at my target audience tend to use colour schemes that involve red, black, yellow and white.  I chose to challenge this convention in my magazine and used the colour scheme black, white, blue and purple. In doing this I still had two of the typical colours from Rock magazines but I also used the more feminine purple colour which, when combined with the blue, still looks typical of a Rock magazine colour scheme. The use of the blue also balances out the femininity of the purple, making it still appealing to the male audience. Although I thought this was the case, I also found through my research that 53% of those that answered my questionnaire found this colour scheme most appealing. 

Typical conventions of Rock magazine layouts are that they are quite explosive, with text spreading across the page rather than being contained in boxes, such as in Kerrang! I chose to follow this convention because it makes the magazine more recognisable as a Rock magazine and is therefore a typical convention of this genre.
As well as looking at Rock magazines such as Kerrang! I also looked at more varied music genres such as metal and indie music magazine to see the variation in the mode of address between the different genres. I found that in Rock magazines, the mode of address is more conversational than indie and metal. However, I also found that the conversational tone of address tends to appeal more so to the female audience yet the majority of magazines use this tone.

From my research I found that most people would not be willing to spend more than £2 on a magazine so, with this knowledge I decided to make my price £2. This would mean that it appeals to the majority of my target audience.
Within the magazine I used a combination of colloquial language and subject specific lexis so as to make the magazine appear well informed about the genre, but also to make the mode of address appeal to the target audience.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In my magazine I wish to challenge some of the conventions of music magazines in the way that they appeal to the target audience and, more specifically, who the target audience are. However, I kept most of the conventions because it needs to be clear to the reader what genre of music magazine they are buying. I used certain aspects from music magazines that I analysed to determine what my magazine would look like as well as the layout. 

Since my magazine is focused more on the female audience rather than the male, the colour scheme is the most affected.  My colour palette was limited to four colours, the limit of colours being a typical convention of music magazines. The use of the colour black has many connotations, for example dominance and strength, both of which are typically male traits. This is then paired with the more feminine colours of purple and white; white connoting innocence and calm.

Unlike other genres of magazines, such as RnB, Rock magazines tend to not have any white spaces and instead fill any space with text or images. I have followed this convention and filled as much of the magazine as possible to give the impression of fullness to the reader so that they feel as though they are getting the most for their money. Since my magazine is a weekly issue, it doesn't need to look as high quality as a monthly magazine and instead the reader is buying for quantity in a magazine.

In my magazine, I chose to use a female image on the front cover, and more female images than males which is contradictry to the conventions of most Rock music magazines. Also the images are not sexual which, although not as common in Rock magazines as others, is also a frequently used image style. These sorts of images could be seen as degrading and, since my target audience would be strong, independent woman, sexual images would not appeal to them. For this reason I chose a mid close-up image of a slightly aggressive looking female. The aggressive expression would suit the genre of music as well as connote masculinity so as to appeal to the male audience. However, the long hair and make up connote femininity and the mode of address and entry point of the magazine is her eyes, which allows the reader to connect with the magazine.

The colour scheme I have chosen, although follows the typical 3 colour convention, are quite unconventional. The use of the colour purple, which isn't a primary colour is quite unconventional for a Rock magazine, the most common colours being red and yellow. However the use of the colours black and white is conventional for a music magazine of any genre since it creates a base for the other colours and also are aestetically pleasing since they do not clash. The colour blue is stereotypically a masculine colour, which is why I have used it in my colour scheme. Since it is both a primary colour as well as a bold male colour, it balances out the femininity of the purple whilst still maintaining the Rock image. The fact that it maintains this image is vital for a magazine so that it is instantly recognisable as a Rock magazine.

Finding the balance between following conventions of music magazines and challanging them was difficult since it meant I had to think carefully about all the aspects of my magazine. This was particularly difficult since I was challanging the audience of an alreadly highly established music magazine genre and in order to change this target audience I would have to change certain aspects of the magazine such as the colour scheme and style of images.As this challenged the conventions of a Rock magazine to a degree, this meant that some aspects, such as mise en scene in my images, had to be conventional of Rock magazines so the magazine wouldn't be so unconventional that its genre would become unrecognisable.

However, by balancing the unconventional aspects with convention ones, I managed to my magazine appealing to the target audience whilst stil making it clear that its a rock genre magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I realised in the magazines I looked at many of the images are of male artists, represented in a way many males would idolise such as dominant and aggressive. This is a convention I wanted to keep in my magazine, but also extend this aggressive idology to the female images to address my target audience more completely.

I found that the majority of the images in rock magazines are of artists either looking very serious or during a concert where they are in their element and clearly enjoying themselves. This connotes that although rock music is a serious genre, it can also be fun and exciting. Rock artists are very rarely shown to be sexual and both male and female artists are depicted in the same way. This shows that males and females have equality in the genre of rock, unlike other genres such as RnB, where female artists are depicted as mere sex symbol rather than a music artist.

The images themselves range from mid-close up to big close-up, the main focus of the image being on the artists faces. This is a typical convention of rock magazines that I chose to follow since it connotes that the beauty of the artist isn't as important as their recognisability or their music.

In the magazine I wanted to show that rock music is a fun and exciting genre rather than a serious one and in order to do this, I made the mode of address friendly and casual so as to connect with the reader.  I also wanted to make it clear to the reader that the artists are passionate about their music and enjoy what they do. In order to achieve this connotation, I got my model to smile whilst in the interview images, but in the front coverr images however, I made the model look aggressive, serious and dominant which is a common convention of rock magazines and portrays her to look like a real music artist. However, the use of the eye contact makes the magazine look more friendly than it would have done so otherwise and therefore draw the reader in.

I chose to combate the stereotype of feminine colours in my colour scheme so I chose to use the colour purple rather than the typically 'girly' pink to entice the female audience. I used purple because I looks more typical of a rock magazine but also because most females that enjoy rock music are not 'girly' but may still be very feminine.

The language I used in the magazine is mostly informal and uses some colloquial phrases yet it also uses quite formal language which is unconventional of a magazine aimed at younger people. This is because, although my magazine has a target audience of young adults, I want to make it seem sophisticated, rather than a cheap and tacky 'gossip' magazine.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Many rock magazines are published by different companies and they vary a great deal in their range of magazines. For example, Kerrang! Is published by Bauer Consumer Media (BCM), which also publish womans weekly magazines. At first I thought BCM would be able to publish my magazine but then I realised that Kerrang! Is already a stable rock magazine for the company and wouldnt make a profit since Kerrang! Is already a well established brand. Instead I thought that a different company that have produced similar genres of music but for a different target audience would be the most successful. An example of a company would be Emap, which publish Q and Mojo.

Another way of publishing my magazine would be to do so independently, which would allow me to change and challenge the conventions of my magazine more so than if it were published as part of company. 
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The majority of the contrustion of the magazine was done using Photoshop. Through using Photoshop outside of college and independently, I already had a strong understanding of Photoshop and the tools and effects that could be achieved using it. However, throughout the preliminary task, I found how to make my product look more professional than I was able to beforehand.

Since the image is the entry point on most magazine, I wanted to make sure that the image was clear and had the conventions of more rock magazines. I chose to fill up as much space on the cover as possible as it followed the conventions of rock magazines and therefore made it look more professional.

To get the main image, I used the magnetic lasso tool and cut the image out from the original image and, after using the feather tool, I placed on a white background and blended it in. I chose to do this main image first and layer the rest of the magazine on top of the image. I achieved a similar effect by using the magic brush tool around the backgroun of the original image and using the eraser tool to remove it. However this made the image impossible to feather and therefore did not produce a professional effect.

I took the image in an area with a block coloured background so as to make it easy to edit, producing a similar look to images in a studio.

I used smaller images at the bottom of the page to create posters, using the free transform tool to resize them and make the posters looks realistic, as though they are really inside the magazine.

I did the same in the contents page to resize the front cover image to make the subscriptions option look realistic and professional.

I created my house style by making the majority of the images encased by a box shape, giving the reader a sense of closure and drawing them into the magazine such as the straplines at the top and base of magazine. I did this by using the rectangular marquee tool. To make the housestyle typeface, I downloaded it from dafont.com. I used several different typefaces before I was entirely happy with my choice.

I found Photoshop to be very useful when layering images as the image can be hidden when unwanted or moved to another layer when needed to be edited. Layering images is a typical convention of magazines and in learning how to do this, I was able to make my magazine look professional.

A major new ability I have aquired is learning how to keep an online log og my progess on a blog. Before this task, I had never kept a blog before and was very confused about what to do and how to make a blog. However, although I have struggled with the blog I persisted and have learned how to blog accurately. I also learned that this is a very important part of this task because it shows what I have done and where I have need for improvement and helped me to develop my ideas. The most important thing about the blog is making it clear and easy to read so that the examiner can easily navigate through the blog.

In conclusion, I have honed my skills in Photoshop, as well as aquired some new ones. I have also learned how to make images look more professional and have grasped the technologies and use of technologies well.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The skills I have honed in my preliminary task allowed me to create a professional and realistic magazine and has allowed me to accurately display my ideas, more so than I would have been able to beforehand. Also my knowledge of magazine conventions has allowed me to decide whether to follow or challenge certain conventions so as to make the magazine appeal to the target audience but also the look professional and aestetically pleasing to my core target audience.

My housestyle and colour scheme of my preliminary task is significantly different to my final product. This is because I thought that my preliminary task did not look professional enough as it was and the colour scheme did not tie in with my music magazine genre. Throughout my final product, the colour scheme and housestyle remained the same, creating cohesion between the pages, whereas my preliminary task changes the housestyle and colour scheme more frequently, making it look much less professional.

Although there was a colour scheme for my preliminary task, this is not clear since the scheme is not ridgedly followed, as is done in my final product.  As a result, my preliminary task had white spaces as text that did not match up with the rest of the magazine as much as I would have wanted it to.

Throughout both the preliminary task and my final product I found the marquee tool very useful, especially when making the magazine appear more professional and encasing the text or images within a box or shape which is a very strong, common convention of rock music magazines.

I also learned how to use the feather tool in my preliminary task, which I hadn't perfected the use of until I began my final product. I found the feather tool a very important tool in my magazine as it produced a very professional finish to the images.

The use of the marquee tool and set colour scheme gave the magazine a distinguished housestyle, which I found, during my preliminary task, to be a very important convention of music magazines; to be recognisable.

I think that now I can understand the conventions of different music genres and the magazines that accommodate the genre. This knowledge had allowed me to create my own media product which fits the conventions of a rock magazine whilst appealing more to a female audience than most rock magazines. I realised the most important aspect of a magazine is to appeal to the target audience. I also noticed that the magazine should have certain aspects and features that make it clear to a reader what genre the music and that the magazine should have its own distinct housestyle for example having the masthead behind the main image. I didn't do this for my preliminary task and found that this made the magazine look slightly unprofessional and therefore chose to do this for my final product.

My research and questionnaires helped me to understand my target audience and how they will interact with the magazine for example how well they need the contents page to be contructed to be able to understand and find what they are looking for. My preliminary task achieved this to a certain respect since it was releitivly clear to the reader what they were looking for, yet it looked very unprofessional. Also the images used in my preliminary task did not accurately match up to the images  on the page. Using this knowledge, I made sure not to make the same mistake on my final product. I used less images on my final product than on my preliminary task because too many images made the magazine look too crowded and unprofessional.

In conclusion, my skills have improved considerably since the preliminary task, mostly though my analysis and also through my research on other magazine conventions. The knowledge of these conventions allowed me to think more clearly about the positioning of the mastheads and coverlines and has made me think about how the audience would react to the ideologies of my final product.
Through my preliminary task, I have learned how to make my product look more professional and therefore attractive to my target audience.

My Magazine Brief

Magazine brief

I have decided to create a magazine for the rock genre which will appeal to young audiences such as teenagers to young adults. In order to achieve this, I will follow certain conventions of the rock genre and focus the design at people that are adverse to the mainstream and enjoy rock music. This magazine would have quite a lot of competition with other magazines of the same genre such as Kerrang! or NME since this is a very popular genre. However, to make my magazine successful, I will aim it more at the female audience, using a more feminine colour scheme to attract them.
Although the main genre of my magazine will be rock, I will also branch out to indie and metal music so as to attract the widest audience possible. I will ensure that my magazine is eye catching and colourful as well as full and explosive. This will attract the audience of rock music as it will reflect the rock music; loud and aggressive. I will make sure that my colour scheme, although more feminine, will reflect this.
I feel that there is a gap in the market for female magazines, more specifically rock music magazines. However, I will not alienate males from the magazine, making it still appealing to them, just more so to females than typical rock magazines. This would provide my magazine with a unique selling point and in doing this I will double my audience.

My magazine will provide the audience with many guides and reviews of gigs, as well as album reviews and a list of what is popular now. Although this is not a common convention of a rock magazine, I think it will create a bond for the reader with the magazine and therefore allow the reader to identify with it. Also my target audience would be very passionate about music and want to know what music is right for them.  I plan to run features and interviews with artists so that my target audience can feel close to the artists, a common convention of music magazines.
The target audience of this magazine are teenagers and my magazine will reflect this. I hope to appeal to both genders and in turn double my target audience which will also double my profit.

Magazine analysis - Report

After looking at the a range of different music magazines ranging from the rock focused Kerrang and the hip hop and Rnb focused Vibe, I have found a range of different techniques that the magazine uses to portray different ideas and that small changes can be made to the front cover to make it clear to the audience what genre the magazine focuses on.

The majority of magazines had one main image on the front that dominated the front cover. The image was always related to an artist that was currently popular in the specific genre. I also found that the image used helped the audience to understand what age group the magazine was aimed towards. On the front of all the magazines the artists were looking serious which is a typical convention of music magazines because it makes the artists look cool and uncaring, something which is attractive in music artists. The main images had more of a sex appeal when clearly targeting an older generation. However rock magazines such as ‘Q’, focused more on the music rather than trying to appeal to the audience through the glamour of the artists. The image used on the front of ‘Q’ magazine clearly portrays the rock genre however it doesn’t show the artist (Mark Potter) as being ‘sexy’ or appealing to the opposite sex. Instead it shows the artist being cold and cool, typical rock star qualities.

No direct mode of address                                                   Unconventionally, the main

                                                                                                                  focus is on the masthead

The cool metallic colours of the

background connote coldness

When using one main image on the front cover to dominate the page it makes the magazine seem more expensive and has a better finish to the magazine as it looks more organised and structured. However depending on the target audience’s age group that the magazine is trying to attract depends on the amount of images used on the front cover. For example the front cover to Kerrang!, is very busy with many different images and captions covering the page giving the illusion that there is a lot of information and articles featured inside the magazine. It also appeals to the target audience because it is exciting and it reflects the nature of the magazine. The kind of front cover also becomes very eye catching but is also clearly trying to attract a younger age generation.

Calm, metallic colours                                                                                                

Typically sexy woman,                                                                                            posed seductively                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                              

Bright, Bold colours

Typically unattractive woman, also posed seductively

The representation in the two magazines is significantly different, which is shown by the front covers. Vibe is a very serious magazine, which focuses greatly on appearance, where as NME doesn't so much, making it seem like a more 'fun' magazine. These representations would appeal to the target audience of the magazine since people that focus on their appearance and are worried about what other people think would be more attracted to Vibe.

It is important to choose a colour theme that reflects the images and genre of the magazine. Magazines targeted to younger age groups used more colours that contrast against each other, however the majority of magazines focused on three or four colours that contrast against each other, but more subtly, making the magazine seem sophisticated. The colour schemes from the different magazine differ significantly depending on the target audience, as well as the music genre. For instance, the classical rock magazine Rolling Stone used more subtle colour on the contents page as well as greyscale images, with little colour throughout the page. A sharp contrast to this is Kerrang!, also a rock music magazine, which uses vast amounts of colour and bold text throughout the magazine, as well as the contents page with the focus of the page being on reflecting the nature of the music, which is often loud and explosive. This is because of the difference in the age of the magazines demographic, with Rolling stone being aimed at an older target audience and Kerrang!'s audience being young adults.
Another contrast in colour schemes is Vibe and NME. Both magazines are aimed at roughly the same aged demographic and yet the colour schemes are very different. The Vibe colour scheme is of calm colours, which blend together flawlessly and create a flow throughout the pages such as metallic blue and silver, where as NME uses bright, bold colours which create a very eye catching effect, such as red and yellow.

While researching and analysing contents pages I have been able to realise the importance of using a colour theme similar to the one used for the front cover, to show the continuity between the pages and to show that they flow together and are part of the same magazine and create a house style. Along with the importance of layout and spacing as over crowded contents pages can show different genres depending on the images that are used. For example for the Kerrang! Contents page, it is very structured however is also crowded with all the information present on one page.

The images used for Kerrang! Are all very natural, there is nothing posed or modeled about the shots, they are just taken as snap shots of the artist producing there music, showing that the magazine is focusing more on the music itself rather then on the artist producing it. This makes it very clear to indicate that the style of music being portrayed is rock. However other magazines such as Vibe and Q spread their contents pages out over a double page spread, making it much more simplistic however easily readable, and easy for the reader to identify the aspects that are of main attention to them. The simplistic view makes the magazine look more sophisticated and more expensive, as it is not over crowded.

The Vibe article and the Q article put a lot more into the article and cram as much on one page as possible, unlike the Kerrang! Article which spaces out the text more evenly. This is because Kerrang! and other magazine that are aimed to a younger target audience try to make their information 'bitesize' and easy to read, so as to appeal to the 'MTV generation' and stop readers losing interest.

The language used within Q and Vibe is more sophisticated than that used within Kerrang! and NME so as to appeal to the younger audience, whereas the more sophisticated language would be similar to that of a newspaper and would appeal to an older audience.

The contents pages on all the magazines I looked at showed that there were lots of writing and headings across the page, indicating exactly were to find the articles, and giving page numbers to each of the images, making it easy and understandable. In Kerrang! And NME, the contents was all on one page unlike Q and Rolling Stones where the contents is spread over two pages, making them easier to navigate around and understand which would appeal to older target audiences.

In conclusion, I have found my research into other successful music magazines on the market now has helped me to understand the conventions of music magazines and which ones I should follow in order to create a successful magazine. However, I have also learned that I can change certain conventions in a magazine, such as an unconventional colour scheme or language style, and still create a magazine that would be successful in today's market.

Magazine Analysis - Kerrang! Front Cover

I have decided to analyse Kerrang! as is it aimed at young people and fans of rock music. It will help me to find out what fans of rock music and young people enjoy in a magazine and aid my decision on choosing my target audience.

The title of the magazine is ‘Kerrang!’ which, although a made-up word, has an onomatopoeia sound to it and sounds explosive. This symbolises the music genre as it is often loud and has instruments that make loud, explosive noises such as drums and electric guitars.

The publisher of the magazine is now Bauer Media Group. Previously it was published by EMAP. The Bauer Media Group is a large German publishing company which operates in 15 countries worldwide. Worldwide magazines amount to around 38 million a week. The Bauer Publishing Group comprises 282 magazines worldwide in 15 countries, as well as TV and radio stations. Bauer started in the UK with the launch of Bella magazine in 1987 and as H Bauer Publishing became Britain's third largest publisher. Bauer further expanded in the UK with the purchase of Emap Consumer Media and Emap Radio in 2008 to become the UK's biggest publishing group. H Bauer brands include women's weekly and TV listings magazines: Bella, Take a Break, that's life! TV Choice and Total TV Guide.
The cost of Kerrang! is £2.20 and is produced weekly. It also has an official website on which it advertises the magazine, as well as a TV channel which also advertises the magazine. The total circulation of the magazine is 134,000.

The main audience of Kerrang! Are fans of rock music between 14 and 20. The majority of readers are males and this is shown through the pictures which are mostly of males. However rock music is heavily dominated by male artists which may be the reason for this.
It also uses slang terms for words and has sections for twitter and facebook groups which show that it is up to date with technology and therefore will appeal to young people who are, generally, up to date with technology.
There are several pages at the back of the magazine with opinions and reviews of recent music and interviews with music artists which allows the reader to interact with the magazine.

The main image on the magazine is the main singer from a band called Biffy Clyro whom of which most fans of music magazine would recognise. He is topless and covered in tattoos and face paint which gives the connotation of carelessness and youth. He is also holding a sword which connotes violence but he is smiling which makes him seem cheeky. There are also other, smaller images of rock music artists that would be well known by the target niché audience. There are also images of the free calander that support similar images.
The title of the magazine is at the top of the magazine but since it is so well known by its colours and style, Kerrang! isnt fully shown and it slightly covered by the image of the singer. The title is very bold and uses 'rugged' text that makes it seem broken and tattered; it is published weekly. The images and colours used appeal to the niché audience that Kerrang! targets.
The colours of the magazine are red, yellow and white. The red connotes anger which adds to the image of the sword weilding person on the front. The colours connote youth but not specifically age and can also appeal to older people. 

The magazine is quite dark looking but has very bold titles. The darkness of the magazine represents the type of music of the artists that are featured in it. It also uses very simple language and coloqueal phrases so the younger audience can identify with the magazine. This is also done by the way that the singer is looking at the camera on the image of the front page. There are also lots of pictures of various rock artists so that even if the audience do not recognise all of them, they are likely to recognise, and want to read about at least one of them.
The use of subtitles and smaller titles breaks the magazine cover down into different parts which appeals to the younger, 'MTV generation'. ​

Kerrang! addresses the reader in a fairly casual way through the uses of pronouns (who rocked your world​ in 2010?). However it doesn't use much slang but does use colloqueal phrases such as 'fight back'. The articles shown on the front are the kind of articles tha would appeal to fans of rock music since it is centred mainly on the artisits. There is also a large part of the front cover dedicated to showing the freebies in the magazine (calander, posters) which would entice a reader to buy it. There is infomation about up and comming bands aswell as old bands and various shows they are performing. 

There are a lot of different advertisements that appear in the magazine. These include: Adverts for gigs, phones, against animal testing, magazine subscriptions and clothing advertisements. This is because the target audience of the market are young people and therefore have disposable income. The prices for these items however is quite low​ since young people do not tend to have a huge supply of money. 

The majority of those in the magazine are males since rock is heaverly dominted by male artists. They are generally shown to be carefree and cheeky but lovable which allows people to relate to them and identify with the artists. Also if the artist seems to be just like a regular person it may make someone want to listen to their music. ​
The people that read this magazine may often be musical themselves or be part of a band and can therefore identify with the bands in the magazine. ​
There is a limited range of representations for women since there are very few women in the magazine. Also most of the images are of white males and therefore does not appeal so much to different cultures or genders and have a very niché audience.
However there are also older musicians in the magazine which would appeal to those of an older generation as they would be more familiar with their music.
There are no celebrites in the magazine since the niché audience of this magazine wouldn't like mainstream music and therefore are unlikely to follow mainstream celebrity 'gossip'. The kind  of artists shown are mostly new and up and comming musicians​, or bands that have recently been on tour or started a new album; the type of articles that the reader would be interested in.​

Similar magazine that​ are in competition with Kerrang! are Q, NME and other rock/alternative music magazines. These magazines tend to stay at around £2-£3 with kerrang! being the cheapest at £2.20. The similarites between these magazines is that they follow similar artists and cover the same topics. They also both give dates and infomation about gigs and often give away posters. ​

The reason Kerrang! is so popular is because it is very up to date with popular bands but also because it has little competition; rock is not a mainstream genre. Also the magazine sells at a very reasonable price considering the other magazines on the market.

Magazine Analysis - Vibe article

This is double page spread from VIBE magazine. Vibe is a music magazine that is focused on Rnb and hip hop music, which is aimed at young adult readers . The text on the double page spread is going down in columns which is a common convention of all media texts since it makes the text easier to read.

The layout of the article is very simple and easy to navigate around since it is clearly set out.

The anchor image of the page is only image on the page and is of the artist which provides a mode of address because both he and the child with him are looking the readers, allowing them to relate and with him and feel more involved in the article. The story goes downwards and then around the image in the centre of the magazine, providing a narrative for the readers.

The purpose of the article is to inform the readers about the recent interview with reggae dancehall musician Mavado. The double page spread conforms with the house style because of the font. There is not a title to the article but there is just a pull quote from Mavado which says "Everybody wanna see, what's mavado gonna do? Who's goin up against Mavado? Who's gonna die?"This has an effect on all of Mavado's fans because it is the latest interview with the big star from Jamaica and it also connotes anger and malice which would make the readers want to find out both why he is so angry and who his anger is aimed at.

The use of pull quotes is a typical convention of music magazine interviews because it makes it clear to the reader that they are connecting to the artist and reading their actual words, rather than it just being a review.

The image size for the article is average because there is a lot of information and only one image. The background of the image is of a run down building which links to the article . The image is of Mavado with a little girl in the Jamaica and they both look sad. This is used to make the reader feel sorry for the little girl and it shows she lives in a poor environment. It also makes the reader want to find out what Mavado is doing in this poor enviroment and what connections he has with the little girl. In the background of the image you can see other men sitting around in some poor area. But you can see three other people who are wearing sunglasses and they seem to be Mavado's bodyguards. This is the reason why the image has not been cropped. The text size is very small and lots of information is squeezed onto one page which is uncommon for music magazines since younger people find it difficult to digest big chunks of information due to being part of the 'MTV generation' where everything is fast moving.

The article is about something that is really happening and this links back to the magazine because the magazine is about serious and real things that are happening in Hip Hop. The tone of the magazine is friendly but serious and this also links back to the magazine. There is no intertextuality throughout the double page spread.

The article is set out with dates as subheadings 'January 13 2009 Stephen Megreggor is battling the sniffles through the smoke'. This makes the magazine appear informative but also casual as it is set out similarly to a diary.

The language used throughout the magazine gives the article a conversation feel since slang and colloquel phrases are used throughout to make it seem as though the reader is chatting with a will informed friend. The writing style is both formal and informal at times to appeal to both the younger and older target audience but because Mavado is older, the writing style is more formal so as to connote maturity.

The background of the spread is a slightly dusty grey, so as to link to the dusty, dryness of the centre image. It also allows the bright, bold red typeface to show up clearly as well as making the black text easy to read.

The typeface is the same throughout the entire article as it very easy to read and is also a narrative device so as to lead the reader around the page.

In conclusion, the article is reletivly unconventional in the respect that there is a lot of text crammed onto one page, which is unusual for an article which is aimed at young people, in which most text is consolidated into bitesize chunks of writing. However, other conventions are followed, such as the pull quote and the main, anchor image in the center of the page.

It is also very unconvetional for a music magazine to feature an article that covers such a serious topic, since they usually cover topics about the artist and their work, rather than their home.

Magazine Analysis - Q Article

This is a double paged spread from the magazine Q, which as a target audience of older readers who are fans of the rock genre. The article is about the band Red Hot Chilli Peppers and their careers as rock stars. The first part of this page that the readers are attracted to is the image. Three of the four band members are looking at the camera and therefore create an entry point for the audience as well as a direct mode of address which allows the readers to feel as though the band are directly talking to them. This makes the readers feel close to the band and gives them a sense of good feeling towards them.

The last person, who isn't looking at the camera may also make people want to find out why he is distant from the audience, unlike the rest of the band.

There is a headline near the bottom of the page so that it doesn't detract any focus from the image. This makes it clear to the reader what the article is about, if they didn't already recognise them from the image. The language used within the article is quite informal, a typical convention of a music magazine, however it is more formal than most music magazines. This would attract the target audience since it uses more sophisticated language than a rock magazine aimed at younger people.

The layout of the page is very simple since all the text is enclosed by boxes or written in columns which is a convention of all media text, not just music magazines. There are two columns of writing about the main bulk of the article but there is a circle in the middle of the page to give additional information about the band's CD.

The background of the main image is a dark pink/red colour which connotes passion, which is what the band feel about their music.

The opening sentence of the article is 'The Red Hot Chilli Peppers can be rightly regarded among rock's greatest survivors' and shows that the magazine hold red hot chilli peppers in high regard which would mirror the feelings the readers of the article feel.

The small box on the side of the article gives information about the band that isn't strictly relevant to the interview but is still interesting and relates to the band.

The sentences are often long and have a more complex sentence structure than Kerrang! Or NME since the target audience of Q is older and are more likely to sit down and read the article rather than skim over it.

The language used in the text makes the reader feel as though they are chatting to a friend rather than reading a magazine and encourages them to relate to the band. This is done by the mode of address which is very calm and casual, using slang and some music jargon but not too much to scare readers away. The language is easy to understand for both musically inclines readers and those that are interested in the artists themselves. Many colloquial phrases are used throughout the article.
Both formal and informal language has been used so as to appeal to both the young audience and the slightly older audience, both of which are interested in rock music.

There is direct mode of address used by the band since most of them are looking at the audience, making the readers feel more involved in the article

The style of writing is quite formal but uses colloquial phrases and swear words such as would be used in normal conversation, so as to appeal to the target audience who would read this article for pleasure, as well as to inform them about the band. Mixes of both complex and simple sentences have been used so as to make the interview flow and gives it a strong structural pattern.

The background of the page is a plain white colour so as to allow the text so show up very clearly on the article and make it easier to read. It also relates to the white of his hair, which is the part of the image the readers are first attracted to. By using the plain, white background, there is no attention diverted from the article or the images and the black text is easily visible.

In conclusion, Q magazine follows certain conventions of music magazines within the article such as using conversation tones within the text, as well as keeping the topic of the article casual and 'easy reading'. However, the formality of the language used is unconventional for a rock music magazine.

Magazine Analysis - NME Article

This is a double page spread of a magazine NME, a magazine that is aimed at young people who are fans of rock/indie music, from August 2007and has a feature on a band called “The Teenagers”. The article is about the band called “the teenagers” and gives an overview of who they are and what sort of music they produce.

The masthead of the page is the name of the band “the teenagers” and catches the attention of the audience first since it is in the centre of the page.
On the left hand side of this double page spread is an image of the band that takes up the entire side. The band members are all looking towards the camera which gives the magazine a personal feel as you read through it and creates a mode of address so the readers can relate to it. This is a common convention of music magazine articles and makes the reader feel close to the band and therefore more likely to continue reading.

There is a small box in the corner which looks like a a ripped piece of paper with small pieces of information on the band. The ripped effect is used to connote that teenagers are messy and uncareful with things, emphasising the point of the article which is about teenagers the band, as well as the age group.

In the middle of the page is the band name in a box same colour that is used throughout the spread. It stands out as the title as it is bigger than anything else on the page. But not so big that is becomes the only thing. There is also a shape above that says “NME loves” which gives support to the band and encourages people to buy their CD if their magazine likes it.This is another direct mode of address because the magazine is giving its own opinion, making it seem conversational and friendly.

There is an article on the page about the bands history and there are some pull quotes aswell which are highlighted inside a box of the same colour of the title. This makes the page corespond colour wise and makes them stand out on the page as well as clarifying to the readers that this is an actual interview rather than a review.

On the far right of the page in a column is some information on other bands similiar to this band. This is another method to make the reader feel involved in the article as well as folling the convention.
The language used throughout the article is both formal and informal to appeal to both age groups but mostly informal to connote that is how 'teenagers' speak, as well as appealing to the target audience and making the tone of the article sound conversational. Colloqual phrases are used such as 'Everyones talking about' and 'young dumb and full of.... fithy tunes'. These sorts of phrases wouldn't be used in magazines aimed at an older target audience.

The background behind the band is mostly of half naked women which is a typical stereotype of teenage boys. This is also linked to the pull quote in the centre of the page 'of course we're a sexual band. We're the teenagers and thats all they think about'. The language used in the text makes the reader feel as though they are chatting to a friend rather than reading a magazine and encourages them to relate to the band. This is done by the direct mode of address which is very calm and casual, using slang and some music jargon but not too much to scare readers away. The language is easy to understand for both muscially inclines readers and those that are interested in the artists themselves.

The sentence structure used is a mix of both short and long sentences so as to make it sound very professional.There is direct mode of address used by the band since they are all looking at the reader, making them feel more involved in the article

The style of writing is informal, using colloquial phrases and swear words such as would be used in normal conversation, so as to appeal to the target audience who would read this article for pleasure, aswell as to inform them about the band. However, the writing is also formal at times so as to appeal to the slightly older audience, who tend to use more sophisticated language.

The background of the page is white so the bold blue colour shows up in strong contrast against it. The black text is also easy to read against the background. The typeface used is the same throughout the magazine and is easy to read and understand.

In conclusion, the NME article follows certain conventions such as having a main image as the focus of the page, as well as the headline being central on the page. However, the mix of formal and informal language is quite unconventional for a music magazine aimed at young people, especially fans of rock music.

Magazine Analysis - Kerrang! Article

This is an article from Kerrang!, a rock music magazine that is aimed at young adults. The first part of the article readers are attracted to is the image which shows the focus of the article since they are the only image on the page. All three members of the band are looking at the screen and therefore create an entry point for the audience as well as a direct mode of address which allows the readers to feel as though the band are directly talking to them. This makes the readers feel close to the band and gives them a sense of good feeling towards them.

There is no mast head because most of the people that would read the article would already recognise the band from the image but there is a pull quote which is situated where a masthead usually would be. This makes it clear to the reader what the article is about and also clarifies to the reader that it is an actual interview and not just a review of the band.

The layout of the page is very simple since all the text is enclosed by boxes or written in collums which is a covention of all media text, not just music magazines. There are very small captions to each image and bylines so that the reader can read what is happening and who took the images, but are not distracted from the images themselves. There are two collums of text for the main bulk of the article but a third colum with small extra infomation about the band.

The background of the main image is what appears to be the studio of the band, making them appear relaxed and calm in their own enviroment. This makes it easier for the audience to relate to them. The two smaller images on the second page help connote that they are in the studio as there is an image of Mark Hoppus with his signature guitar. This makes certain readers feel as though they are part of an exclusive club since they recognise the importance of the guitar but they also relate to the article since it describes their stuggles in music and also their new tracks and times spent in the studio so readers that do not understand the guitars significance are not hindered by the image. Also, the fact that they are in the studio allows the reader to see their personal space, giving them a privileged position.

The opening sentence of the article is 'There's a surveillance camera trained on an alleyway behing the hollywood recording studio where blink 182 are making their new album'. By using this sentence, both drama and expectation is produced, making the reader what to find out both why there is a surveillance camera and also find out about the new album. This is a very clever use of sentence structure since it first pulls the readers in with the excitement of the camera and then the promise of information about the new album. The readers are then kept interested throughout the article through a mix of information about the band and what they are doing, and speechs and opinions from the band.

The small box on the side of the article gives information about the band that isn't strictly relevent to the interview but is still interesting and relates to the band.

The sentences are often quite short and in small chunks of information which is perfect for the 'MTV generation' that the target market of Kerrang! is.

The language used in the text makes the reader feel as though they are chatting to a friend rather than reading a magazine and encourages them to relate to the band. This is done by the mode of address which is very calm and casual, using slang and some music jargon but not too much to scare readers away. The language is easy to understand for both muscially inclines readers and those that are interested in the artists themselves. There are also several colloqual phrases used such as 'Travis has to pull another all-nighter' appeals to the young target audience as it addresses them in a conversational tone.
Both formal and informal language has been used so as to appeal to both the young audience and the slightly older audience, both of which are interested in rock music.

There is a lot of speech in the interview, with the band telling the story more so than the interviewer, which emphasises the idea that the reader is feeling close to the band, rather than just reading an interview.

There is direct mode of address used by the band since they are all looking at the audience, making them feel more involved in the article

The style of writing is informal, using colloquial phrases and swear words such as would be used in normal conversation, so as to appeal to the target audience who would read this article for pleasure, aswell as to inform them about the band. However, the writing is also formal at times so as to appeal to the slightly older audience. Mixes of both complex and simple sentences have been used so as to make the interview flow and gives it a strong structural pattern.

The background of the page is a metallic grey colour so as to relate to the colour in the background of the image of the band. This connotes that the band are quite cold and emotionless which is an unusual connotation of a music magazine. It also relates to the silver of the guitar. By using the plain, grey background, there is no attention diverted from the article or the images and the black text is easily visable.

In conclusion, Kerrang! follows a lot of conventions within the article such as the subheadings and having a single main image. However representation of the band within the pictures is unconvential of the music genre as it shows the band looking quite placid, breaking the steriotype of rock muscians.

Magazine Analysis - Vibe Contents

This is the contents page from the magazine Vibe. Vibe is an American publish magazine and would appeal mostly to a younger audience who enjoy Rnb and hip hop music. The layout is very simple and easy to understand with one main image and the text pushed to the side of the image. This also includes the masthead which is kept on the right hand side of the page and split into 3 levels which is a housestyle of Vibe magazine and therefore makes it easily recognisable for frequent readers. It also makes the magazine look hip and trendy which is very important to the target market of the magazine.

The main image of the artist Kanye West takes up the majority of the page and is clearly the most important part of the page since all the text is pushed away, making him the main focus. He is also directly addressing the audience as he is looking straight at the camera which provides an entry point for readers and since he is looking quite serious it makes the reader feel obliged to read about him.

The colours used are greyscale and make the page look very professional and high-class but is quite unconvential for a music magazine which tend to cram quite a lot onto the contents page. However it does connote depth and since the magazine is published quarterly, the audiences need to be certain that they are getting their money worth.
The calm, coolness of the artist's face also reflects the music genre which tends to focus as much on the artist as it does on the music. He is also posing for the audiences so as to make him appear sexy and since the demographic of the magazines audiences focus a lot on appearance, appeals to them. His sex appeal is also demonstrated by the female arm draped across him holding the bold red heart which provides a sharp contrast between the monotone. Also male readers will aspire towards his success, weath and sex appeal.

The V behind Kanye West balances out the v of his cardigan, making the page look professional and give the reader a sence of security. This also relates to the name of the magazine 'Vibe'.
The typeface used is very flowing but easy to read however I think the writing should be made bigger.There are clear subheadings so that if a reader wants to quickly skip through the magazine to the bit they want to read it is easy to find for them. There are different types of typeface in the contents table so that the different parts are easily distinguishable from the others.

Contrary to most music magazine conventions, the contents page is quite empty with the majority of the focus just being on the artist Kayne West. However, Kanye West is a global superstar, who would be easily recognised by most people who would read the magazine. It is set out very similarly to many front cover pages and has conventions more similar to front covers than it does to contents pages. However, the simpicity of the page reflects the music genre and the fact that there is only the one image of the artist connotates the target market prefer to take things slower than the target market of a rock music magazine like Kerrang! Which is often crammed full of images and text. However, because the magazine is published quarterly it can afford to spread the contents over several pages.

The language used in the contents is casual makes the magazine seem friendly and therefore the audience can relate to it. There is no subject specific lexis used so it is easy to read for both first time readers and frequent readers. The language used is more sophisticated than most magazines and uses several literary features such as the alliteration of 'dollars for donuts'. This makes the magazine sound poetic and therefore more sophisticated.

The main image connotes that the music genre is a very serious and heavily influenced by appearance of the artists aswell as the music itself. This is shown by the fact that there is only a small caption to accompany to the image and that most people that read the magazine are most likely to know who it is.

This contents page uses the mode of address of the artist looking at the camera to identify with the audiences and make them feel as though the artist is directly focused on them.

The main purpose of this contents page is to show the reader the type of artists featured in the magazine. It also reinforces the importance of appearance and sex appeal in artists for the target audience.

In conclusion, the Vibe contents page is quite unconvential in certain respects such as not having the masthead across the top of the page and only having one image on the page. However, it still uses the narrative device of the numbered pages which is a stong convention of all literary texts, not just magazines.

Magazine Analysis - Rolling Stones Contents

This is contents page of Rolling stone magazine. The rolling stone magazine has a fairly old target audience which is reflected by the ridged shaping of the layout. It is easy to understand and read since everything appears to be boxed which reflects the target market who may prefer the calmer approach rather than be overloaded with information as is sometimes the case with magazines with younger target audiences. This is a very recognisable style and makes it clear to the reader what genre of music magazine they are reading as this clear layout is a convention of classic rock magazines.

Audiences can interact with this magazine by visiting the website and downloading music or viewing photos online.

There is very little colour on the contents which is uncommon of music magazines since the cover and contents pages are the first things the reader see and therefore need to entice the reader, but since the target audience of this magazine are most likely to be middle aged, they may prefer the simplicity of the colour scheme. Rolling stone magazine relies on its loyal audience to recognise the housestyle of the magazine since there are abbriviations that first time readers may not understand.

There is nothing on the page to tell the reader that this page is the contents page and to first time readers it looks quite confusing since there is nothing to guide the reader through. The numbers of the pages, however, are clearly displayed with a bold typeface which is the same as the subheading of the page.

The layout and colours of the page make it look as though it could be an old newspaper or broadsheet since it is mostly monotone and very ridgedly set out, a strong contrast to other rock magazines such as Kerrang! or Nme.

The typeface is consistant throughout the page and is very clear, easy to read and understand, even when in public such as on a bus or train. Keeping the typeface the same is a convention of most music magazines, in all genres.

The background is plain white which provides a sharp contrast between the black and pink of the text but also links into the white of the image that is in monotone.

Another factor of this magazine that is unconvential of music magazines is fact that it begin the story but then stops and tells the reader they can continue reading on a different page. This is generally a convention of newspapers which emphasises the image that the contents page is like a broadsheet.

Each of the images are captioned and tell the reader the number of the page that the image relates to so they can read about it if they wish. This gives the magazine depth and connotes the reader that they are getting their moneys worth from the magazine. Since this magazine is aimed at an older audience this is very important because they have less of a disposible income than younger audiences.

The main image connotes fun, in an old fashioned sort of way and may make the readers nostalgic and therefore wish to read on. Unlike most music magazines, there is no clear mode of address and the language used is very clear, standard english with very little slang. This, in my opinion isn't a very good way to entice readers to buy the magazine as it makes it seem very distant and therefore is difficult to relate to.

The main focus of the contents page is to show the reader where each feature of the magazine is and to provide the audience with an idea of what they will find in the magazine through the use of the images. The layout of the page connotes that the music genre is quite calm and may therefore appeal to an older target audience.