Magazine analysis - Mixmag front cover

The magazine is called 'mixmag' because it specialises in mostly dance music which is very mixed and uses elements from many different music genres. The main genre of the magazine is British dance and clubbing music and therefore is aimed at the British market.

Mixmag was launched in 1982 and also covers music reviews, club nights and dance events.

The first editor was DMC’s Tony Prince and the first advertiser was a company called Technics Panasonic. The first issue was in February 1983. Mixmag was sold to EMAP Ltd. in the mid-1990s before being bought by Development hell. In 2006, Development hell relaunched and revamped mixmag, making it appeal to a wider audience unlike before, where it was specifically targeted at young, hardcore clubbers. It is now targeted at both young clubbers and those who have outgrown clubbing but still enjoy the music.

Mixmag is still targeted at the younger audiences since it is £4.20 and therefore appeals to those who have a disposable income. The target audience of this magazine is young adults, who enjoy club music and usually enjoy clubbing themselves.
Readers can interact with the magazine by going on to the website that is shown on the cover, near the bar code. They can read certain magazine features and enter competitions, as well as leave comments on the site for other people on the site to read and comment. This has become a recently developed convention of music magazines because of the upsurge in internet use and magazine sales are plummeting due to fans finding out information via the internet.

There is very little writing on the page apart from the headline “Boom!2010!” and a list of artists that are featured in the magazine. This emphasises the genre of the music and connotes that it doesn't spend too much time on any one thing which appeals to its target audience, which is also ever changing and adapting to new things.

There is no main image on the cover but instead many different, smaller images. There is no entry point on the magazine which is very unconventional of a music magazine. However, this is because there aren’t any particular artists in dance music and the genre focuses more on the music than the artists. This is also shown by the fact that there is a list of artists at the edge of the magazine and all of them are in the same typeface and size text. This connotes that no artist is any more important than the others since none of them are particularly in the public eye, which is usually the case in other music magazine in which the most popular artists will be featured more heavily in a magazine. The representations in the magazine are that clubbing music is fun and exciting which is emphasised by the party scenes shown on the cover, as well as the bright and eye catching colours used. These representations and ideologies appeal to the target audience as they can relate to the parties and clubs as they themselves enjoy them.

The masthead is displayed clearly at the top of the page which makes it clear to potential readers what the magazine I which is important since Mixmag would most likely rely on a dedicated audience due to the fact there is no entry point for readers.
The three main colours used on the magazine are pink, yellow and black which give a very bold and distinctive house style to the magazine, especially against the white background. This makes the cover look uncluttered and therefore sophisticated which would appeal to the older audiences but the colour would also attract the younger audiences. The strips of colour also act as a narrative and guides the readers eyes around the page and to each picture on the cover. These bright colours connote parties and excitement.

The use of the language 'owned' and 'tunes' in the strap line under the head line makes the magazine seem friendly and of the same mind as the readers and therefore they can related to it.

Because of the use of many smaller pictures and colours rather than one main image and smaller images around it, it gives the reader the impression that the magazine is full to the brim and offers a lot for the money. This is very important since the magazine is published monthly and therefore would need to look more high quality than a weekly magazine such as Kerrang!.

Mixmag addresses its readers quite unconventionally for a music magazine because instead of pulling the reader in with an image, it first uses the masthead and relies on the brand's success to sell. It then provides the reader with a selection of artists and gig locations they may be interested in.

Readers can interact with the magazine by visiting the website situated near the bar code or on the spine of the magazine and in doing so can email the magazine with their own opinions and views.

Mixmag magazine doesn't follow a huge amount of conventions, breaking the majorty of conventions that are followed by music magazines. It doesn't have a clear entry point, or a single anchor image. This is because, unlike most magazine, Mixmag focuses on the music rather than the artists. However, it still follows certain conventions such as having the Mast head at the top of the page and having the headline as a main focus of the cover.