Signs and signifers of a music magazine

Signs and signifiers Billboard magazine

The Billboard magazine is produced in America by a company in new york and is owned by Prometheus Global Media.

Q Magazine

Q magazine is a popular music magazine which is produced monthly in the united kingdom. It was founded by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth.

Cover Page: Billboard Magazine

There is a heavy theme of the colour red which could be a symbolic sign of love. The image is a mid shot of Rihanna looking quite provocative which is a sign that ‘Billboard’ magazine are using the male gaze to attract a wider oppositional audience. Other colours like purple/blue and white are used showing that the magazine is made professionally by keeping to a colour scheme. This may also signify that although the target audience is young adults they still like to be seen as mature and sophisticated.

The typography is bold and sans serif meaning that is informal, which is typical for a downmarket magazine. This could signify that the target audience is for young adults who are reading this magazine for pleasure and to not necessarily to be educated, this would effectively entertain and create a sense of escapism whilst they are away from work or college.

The masthead is bold and is the logo of the company ‘Billboard’. This signifies that the magazine is to advertise music and role model artist like Rihanna, as that is what billboards do. The logo is an iconic

sign as the preferred readers would recognize the company name.

The close up of Beyoncé is an iconic sign as most people would be able to recognise her and look up to her. It is also an iconic sign as he is looking directly at the camera inviting the reader to the magazine. The main colour on this double spread is a pinkie/purple colour showing an indexical sign of gender. This page appears to be very feminine.

The text is san serif making the contents page informal. This signifies that the magazine is serious.

The contents page has a white background on it and uses black and blue text to create a contrast on the page. This also continues to show that there is a colour scheme used like on the cover page. The colours are consistent throughout the Billboard magazine and therefore creates a feeling of familiarity for the preferred readers. The colour blue is also seen as a positive vibrant colour, this could be seen as a sign of confidence which would positively effect the reader when they open the magazine.

Kiera Hilson is an iconic sign as she is recognisable in the pop industry, this also is indicating that ‘Billboard’ magazine focus mainly on the pop genre and would attract the preferred readers.

This magazine uses three mean colours, these colour are red, orange, white and grey. These colours are very sophisticated and mature signifying that ‘Q’ magazine has a target audience of adults. The washed out grey colour in the back ground colour allows the brighter colours like red stand out, making it clear that the colour red is the main colour. This could be a sign of love, this sign could indicate the love for music.

Cover Page: ‘Q’ Magazine

The main image of rihanna holding the mega phone in her hand is an iconic sign as it is like she is calling out to the readers, making the readers want to continue reading because the mid shot of rihanna is engaging.

The heart is a sign of love refereeing to Elton john’s song ‘can you feel the love tonight’. Both Elton John and his song is iconic as it is recognisable to both oppositional and preferred readers.

The colour red is consistent throughout the magazine showing a sign of love. Love being welcoming to the reader.

Elton john generally attracts an older and mature audience, as he this long shot of Elton john is the main image this iconic sign indicates the type of target audience ‘Q’ magazine are aiming for.