AS Media - Music magazine analysis

Music Magazine AnalysisBy Jodie Allen

Codes and Conventions of Music Magazines• Masthead

• Sell Lines

• Tag Lines

• Strap Lines

• Main Image

• Main Stories Sell Lines (Larger Than Others)

• Barcode

• Price

• Issue Date/Month/Number

FRONT COVERS:

Masthead: UNCUT’s masthead has been sent to the front of the magazine apart from the little circle which reads “FREE CD!” The particular font used in the masthead is iconic to the magazine because it is a recurring theme.Main Image: The main image is relevant to this issue of “UNCUT” because it is linked to the main story “’I have no regrets’ the (mostly true) confessions of Jack White.” The image is a mid shot and Jack White is looking into the lens of the camera, this also draws the readers attention because they would feel like he is gazing into their eyes.Cover Lines: There are many cover lines used on this magazine front cover. One of the most obvious ones is the one titled “there were evil spirits around”. The reason for this being because it is in bold and contrasts

with the blue in Jack White’s shirt.House Style: The house style of UNCUT magazine seems to be red and white in a lot of the front covers. In this issue it also seems to follow this particular house style, proving that it doesn’t break the codes and conventions.Price: The price of this magazine isn’t located anywhere on the this issue of UNCUT magazine which breaks the code and conventions because the audience would look for this before purchasing. Target Audience: The target audience for this magazine is males aged between 25 and 45. This is because it focuses mainly on Americana, rock and alternative country.

Masthead: Q’s masthead is beneath the main image because it is such a well known magazine therefore people would know the house style and therefore would know what the masthead is.Main Image: The main image is relevant to this issue of Q magazine because it is linked to the main story “One year on… AMY” Another thing is that the medium close-up and Amy is looking into the lens of the camera, this draws the readers attention because they would feel like she

is gazing into their eyes.Cover Lines: There are many cover lines used on this magazine front cover. One of the most obvious ones is the one titled “Rolling Stones at 50”. The reason for this being because it is in bold and red which is a colour used to draw attention and is against a black background, which makes the red stand out more.

House Style: The house style of Q magazine is mostly red and white in a lot of the front covers. In this issue it also seems to follow this particular house style, proving that it doesn’t break the codes and conventions.Price: The price of this magazine is located above the barcode and is £4.50. I was rather disappointed because it is really small.Target Audience: The target audience for this magazine around 25 because this is a working age and therefore the price of the magazine could be increased quite a lot.

Hello

Masthead: Classic Rock’s masthead has been sent to the front of the magazine apart from the banner at the top of the magazine where theimage is slightly covering the “K”Main Image: The main image is relevant to this issue of “Classic Rock” because it is linked to the main story “The kidnapping of Jimi Hendrix.” The image is a mid shot and Jimi Hendrix is looking into the lens of the camera, this draws the readers attention because they would feel like he is gazing into their eyes.Cover Lines: There is only the main story cover line on this magazine which is only applicable for this issue.House Style: The house style of Classic Rock’s magazine seems to be black and white in a lot of the front covers. In this issue it also seems to follow this particular house style, proving that it doesn’t break the codes and

conventions.Price: The price of this magazine isn’t located anywhere on the this issue of UNCUT magazine which breaks the code and conventions because the audience would look for this before purchasing. Target Audience: The target audience for this magazine is at a younger audience and guitar players because usually they give out free guitar picks which implies this.

Hello

Masthead: Clash’s masthead has been sent to the front of the magazine because it is overlapping the main image which draws attention. Also it has a really big, bold, and vibrant coloured font also drawing attention from the readers.Main Image: The main image is relevant to this issue of CLASHbecause it is linked to the main story “The best is yet to come.” The image is a mid shot and A member of foals is looking into the lens of

the camera, which draws the readers attention because they would feel like he is gazing into their eyes.

Cover Lines: There is only the main story cover line on this magazine which is only applicable for this issue.House Style: The house style of Classic Rock’s magazine seems to be purple and yellow in a lot of the front covers. In this issue it also seems to

follow this particular house style, proving that it doesn’t break the codes and conventions.Price: The price of this magazine is located next to the barcode on a slant which is the usual placement of the price on a front cover.Target Audience: The target audience for this magazine is 18 – 35 year olds because it is the “download generation” This is because they alternate in modern bands like: Coldplay, Oasis and Prodigy to artists such as Kanye West and Jay – Z.

CONTENTS PAGES:

Layout: I like the simple yet effective layout of UNCUT’s contents page. The main title reads “contents” which followsthe same font as the masthead on the front cover sticking to the house style. The main title was the first thing on the contents page that I noticed other than the only image that is place on here of Dave Davies.Colour: The colours used in this contents page are following the same house style as the colours on the front cover. These are red and white which could remind the consumers of another brand that uses these colours for example: Vodaphone.Images: There is only one image that has been place on this contents page. This is of Dave Davies whom the main articleis about. However usually on a contents page there are many images to break up the text so that it doesn’t take a long period of time for the readers to skim through. Voice: There isn’t really a voice used in this contents page because there aren’t really any advertisements or parts where the contents page informs the reader.

Layout: The layout of Q magazine is simple yet also really well laidout. All of the text is down the left hand side with the close-upimage placed on the right hand side, this is of James Blunt.The image is also the first thing that I noticed because of the scale of it. Colour: All of the colours used on Q magazines contents page are red, black and white. This sticks to the house style because they are the same colours used on the front cover. These colours are also used in the company: “Foot Locker”Images: There is only one image on this contents page which is James Blunt. This is unusual for Q magazine because they usually use a selection of images to break up the text.Voice: There isn’t really a voice used in this contents page because there aren’t really any advertisements or parts wherethe contents page informs the reader.

Layout: The layout of Classic Rock magazine full of imagesout. All of the text is down the left hand side with the close-upimage placed on the right hand side, this is of James Blunt.The image is also the first thing that I noticed because of the scale of it. Colour: All of the colours used on Classic Rock magazines contents page are red, black and white. This sticks to the house style because they are the same colours used on the front cover. These colours are also used in the company: “Foot Locker”Images: There are a collection of images on the classic rock contents page. This is to break up the text and stop the reader from having to read massive chunks of writing.Voice: There isn’t really a voice used in this contents page because there aren’t really any advertisements or parts wherethe contents page informs the reader.

Layout: The layout of Clash magazine is very fun, brightly coloured and is full of images out. The text is placed in columns and images are scattered around that are in some relation to the text.Colour: The colours in the contents page doesn’t stick to a house style. The colours used in the contents page are blue, black, white, pink and red. There isn’t a company that uses all of thescolours.Images: There are a collection of images on the Clash contents page. This is to break up the text and stop the reader from having to read massive chunks of writing.Voice: There isn’t really a voice used in this contents page because there aren’t really any advertisements or parts wherethe contents page informs the reader.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD:

The layout of this double page spread byUNCUT magazine is really eye catching. This is because there are images located on the left side and 3 along the bottom. The 3 images are close ups along the bottom and the large one on the left is a mid-shot. Another thing that UNCUT have done is used a lot of red which is alsoand eye-catching feature and drawsattention from the reader. The headline“we’re being the best MCR we can be!” stands out from the Rest of the page because it has big lettering, its in bold and the white part has a cracked effect whichimmediately draws you in. As for sub-headings there are only a few don’t the right hand side in the white box. These are of song titles and answer questions. The language used in all of the text is very technical and hard to understand if you don’t know a lot about music.

The layout of this double page spread byQ magazine is really simple yet effective. This is because there is only one large close-up image located on the left and then all of the text is on the right. Another thing that Q magazine have done is used a lot of red and white which is also and eye-catching feature and draws attention from the reader. This would be because it is the house style for this magazine. There is a Large “J” that is in red and covers the text stands out because it contrasts with the white and is also linked to the text and the image because it stands for Jay-Z.There isn’t a heading on this double page spread which is unusual, however it doesn’t need one because the image shows who the story is about. The language used in all of the text for Jay-Z’s article is very slang based. This is most likely because of the fact that he is a rapper.

The layout of this double page spread byClassic Rock is simple but effective for it target audience. This is because there is one picture on the right side and all of the text is on the left. The image on the right is a mid-shot and the man has a smirk which isn’t quite a smile on his face and looks rather pleased with himself. This could be because of the title: “I still get it up.” This is in large text and stands out on top of the image. Another thing that Classic Rock magazine have done is used a lot of black and white which are very basic shades but contrast with each other, thus making them stand out. There is also a piece of text which is bigger than the rest. It is located on the left side in the centre of the page, and is surrounded by the rest of the text. The writers would have done this to make the quotation easier to spot as it must be the most important part. Lastly the language is not possible to read from the image because it becomes pixelated however I imagine it to be formal rather than slang based, I get this impression from the layout of the double page spread.

The layout of this double page spread byClash magazine is simple and sophisticated. This is because there is one close-up image on its own on the left side and then all of the text is on the right side.Another thing that Clash magazine have done is used a salmon orange colour on the background of the image. This makes the image very eye-catching because it mirrors the colour of the woman's hair. In the image there id also shadowing on her face which give a dramatic effect. The writers haven’t used a headline,however the words: “King Krule” stand out from the rest of the text because they are in bold and have a larger font size than the rest of the text. To split the text from the image they have used a zigzag line which makes the page look like it has been torn. The language used in all of the text has a very formal tone which is suitable for the magazines target audience.

Similarities

There are many similarities between the 4 magazines that I analysed, this is because there are codes and conventions what most magazine editors follow. It is good to follow these because you want the reader to look at it and automatically know the layout and that it is a magazine.

Front Covers- Same angle and position for the image and includes all of the same features.

Contents Pages- The same main title: “contents” and includes very little text usually broken up by images.

Double Page Spreads- Image(s) on one side with the text on the other was the recurring layout and they all had at least one part of text that stood out from the rest.