Music magazine analysis

NME

House Colours The main house colours of this magazine is black, white and red. They are all quite common, bold colours that can easily be seen .

The lead article ‘Liam’ is a bold red colour, one very much the same as what the masthead ‘NME’ is shown as. This use of colour connotes power and maybe royalty. It also allows these two pieces of text to stand out from the rest of the magazine. It appears to show that these are the two most important pieces of text on the cover of the magazine.

The picture in the centre of the page is shown in black and white, a greyscale effect. This allows it to cover the background with out taking over the whole magazine. I believe this effect connotes a traditional, old fashioned feel, reflecting the artist and the amount of time they have been around for.

The background of this magazine is just a pure white colour with a hint of grey. It is very simple so detracts from the rest of the cover. It also enables the photo to stand out from the background because of the contrast of the black on the dirty white colour. I believe the white colour is not completely clean and crisp purely because that is not the feeling the magazine wants to convey. It does not want to portray a perfect image, only one their readers can relate to.

Images

There is one main image on this cover, and it takes up almost the whole of the page. It is a Medium close-up shot of Liam Gallagher who is an extremely famous artist.

This photo has an indirect mode of address, as he is looking towards the side of the camera rather than straight into the camera. This photo still invites the readers to look on inside the magazine but it suggests a much less casual style and tone, reflecting the artists image that he tries to portray.

The medium shot cover the whole page, although it appears to be in the background, one layer behind the text. This really shows that although the magazine wants the photo to be one of the main attractions on the cover, they do not want this photo to dominate the whole page, so that is why it is place slightly in the background.

There is only one photo on the cover of this magazine keeping the magazine central. It also keep the focus on the one photo, keeping it simple and attention grabbing.

Font

The only font used throughout this magazine is a Sans Serif font.

This use of Sans Serif highlights the audience and style of the magazine. NME produces a very informal, relaxed style focusing on very free and interesting music. I believe this style of font connotes an informal, relaxed tone so reflects this magazine well. The target audience of this magazine is mostly people who are passionate about music. It is mostly focused on contemporary music so therefore attract a younger audience, hence the use of the Sans Serif font.

I believe this text works well on this magazine because it is easy to read and also captures the audiences attention. I believe it is effective helping to attractive a younger audience.

VIBE

Vibe is a very popular music magazine produced by the  music producer Quincy Jones.It is a savvy, streetwise magazine that celebrates and educates people about urban culture. Along with coverage of art, style and social issues, Vibe focuses on the hip-hop music scene and it's musicians.

The main colours of this magazine is a cool baby blue, black and a crisp white which is used for the masthead 'VIBE', which is different to the normal style of Vibe magazine, because the title is usually supported by a bold red colour that allows the title to stand out from the rest of the magazine. But instead on this cover they have used the clean, crisp white colour. This still allows the masthead to stand out from the rest of the magazine but instead creates an over all much more purified/ clean cover, which I believe promotes a completely different style that it normally would do.

It appears to be a lot more fresh, the baby blue background emphasises this image. I believe the background is very clever because not only does the colour denote a calm, clean style but also allows the photograph and the masthead to stand away from the background because of the clear contrast.

The Lead article and the cover lines are all presented in black and a hint of blue, this keeps within the house colours but also allows them to stand out, especially the lead article which is in the bold colour of black which contrasts with all the other colours featured. I believe the black also adds a slightly mysterious feel to the magazine, keeping it within the style of VIBE.

House Colours

Text/Font

There isn't a lot of text on this magazine. The Lead article is on the bottom left hand corner of the magazine which is very common, this piece of text is clear and very large. It was the first thing that I saw when I first looked at this magazine cover. This Lead article simply states the name of the artist that feature on the cover, emphasising her importance in this industry, encouraging more people to read on. 

The cover lines along the right hand side of the magazine all state names of the artists/bands that feature inside this magazine. These names create interest within the readers again encouraging them to read on. 

These are the only pieces of text within this magazine cover which I believe keeps the cover simple, not to busy and manic.Over all, although this cover is minimalist, I believe it works well creating a clear, thoughtful magazine cover

All the the text presented is Sans Serif apart from the & in Rihanna and Chris which is Serif. This use of Sans Serif keeps an informal tone, which represents the audience/readers who are mostly at a younger age gap between 15-35, so would be attracted much more to Sans Serif. It also keeps the cover simple keeping all the text the same. I believe the & is in Serif font because it creates attraction to this Lead article, as it is different so therefore would stand out. It also creates a hint of interest within the magazine cover

There is an indirect mode of address which still captures the audiences attention, inviting them to read on, but creates less involvement with the audience. I believe this works for this cover because it reflects the relaxed tone of this magazine and this cover. 

There is one main image on this cover, and it takes up almost the whole of the page. It is a Medium close-up shot of Rihanna, who is a famous R&B artist.

There is only one photo on the cover of this magazine keeping the magazine central. It also keep the focus on the one photo, keeping it simple. I believe this works well taking little attention away from the main title and the main artist.

Image

Top of the Pops

This magazine cover is very busy and bright. But I instantly am attracted to the picture in the centre of the magazine, because it is bold and stands out within the magazine, also his finger pointing at you draws in your attention. It takes up almost the whole front cover of the magazine, it even covers part of the title 'Top of the Pops', this is a very conventional/common method used by many magazines, because they want to get this main photo as big as it can be to attract the target audience. With this photo there is a large block of text with a highlighted background, the colour yellow, which states more information about the article involving this main artist, who to many would be seen as the 'King of Pop'. These two items are the main focus, I believe, because this is what the publishers would believe to be the highest attraction to the magazine. They also feature two other medium shots of boys which instantly shows that this magazine is aimed at girls, mostly girls in there teens. Although there are photos of girls the front cover is dominated by boys, reflecting that the target audience is girls. The bright pink/ purple colours also reflect this because they are very much associated with girls and will definitely attract a female audience over a male audience. There is also the hint in the bottom right corner 'Cheryl's £3.89 beauty secret' which immediately focuses on a female audience, because they feature a picture of a dress, sandal and make up. This use of text throughout this front cover indicates what features inside the magazine, encouraging you to read on. It hints the various range of articles they provide. Displaying a lively magazine that many girls would be interested in. 

The title of 'Top of the Pops' is a well established brand, hence the reason it does not have to be fully shown, the use of a logo in the top right corner also is very recognisable attracting a greater audience. All the writing is sans serif reflecting the bubbly, excitable, very much not serious tone of this magazine, this certainly reflects the music that is stated as 'Pop'.