turnstrum.files.wordpress.com · Web viewDJ Magazine Textual Analysis I am going to be carrying out a textual analysis on ‘DJ’ because although it is not exactly the same genre

Paul Turner Textual Analysis

DJ Magazine Textual Analysis

I am going to be carrying out a textual analysis on ‘DJ’ because although it is not exactly the same genre i am covering and focuses on dance music, it is very similar in the target audience that it reaches. It targets people that go out to parties and clubs that have DJ’s that play the same genre of music my magazine covers with some small differences.

DJ Mag was first established in 1991 and it is owned by Thrust publications ltd. It is the Market Leader, meaning it is the most popular magazine of its genre (dance music). The magazine provides a engaging platform for reaching a youthful audience who are inspired by dance music. The magazine is also translated into several different languages every issue, in order to reach an audience in other countries.

The magazine has a circulation in the UK of 20,000 and a global circulation of 32,500. DJ Mag has a mean audience age of 25, a massive 94% of the readers are male. 67% of the audience are single, 70% of the audience are employed and 18% are students.

Paul Turner Textual Analysis

Front Cover

The magazine’s front cover uses a color scheme of; red, yellow and white with a orange tinted background. Both red and yellow are colors that have a connotation of warning and danger and are associated with hazard signs, and traffic lights and fire. These colors are used in an attempt to grab the audiences attention. The white is a clinical and clean color and has a connotation of purity which creates contrast with the red and yellow, white is often linked with technology which relates to the audience of the magazine and the fact that they will most likely buy the latest technologies. The orange background helps created a lively front color as orange is a color that connotes energy, which is what the audience are generally filled with when they go out partying and listening to the genre of music. Overall I think the front cover gives off a powerful and lively impression/mood however I think that too many similar colors have been used, especially with the background.

The text on the front cover is san serif and titles and headings are all bold to show their importance, helping them stand out. The text fits the theme of the front cover as the text looks serious and important as well as the pose used in the main image. The main image is large and takes up around 70% of the front cover, the text has been placed in front of the main image however the design still looks clear as the colors do not blend and stand out clearly.

The main image has the subjects posing in an serious and intimidating pose. A low angle shot has been used showing superiority, making the subjects look down upon the reader. The male gaze model is evident here as the image would make the readers envy the subjects in the image, and make them want to be them as they are successful DJ’s and 50% of the employed members of the audience are also DJ’s, this would be especially important due to the fact that 94% of the readers are male also. The subjects are posing with their heads held high dressed in smart casual clothes (similar to the target audience). The pose gives off the impression that the subjects think that they are better than the audience again created envy and lust in the audience’s eyes.

The shot used is a low shot, this makes the subjects in the image look bigger than they actually are, giving them a position of superiority over the readers. The subjects have not been digitally manipulated however the background has been completely tinted orange, i think this has been

Paul Turner Textual Analysis

done to add liveliness to the image as orange connotes energy and the subjects in the image create music full of energy.

The masthead and the main headline stand out mainly due to their size in comparison with the other text on the front cover. This enables them to be seen from a distance which is good because it will help attract readers that take a quick glance away from the magazine rack. The headline is fairly vague and says “Chase & Status Stir Things Up” this will make the audience wonder what the “things” are and so will make the audience want to buy and read the magazine

The magazines front cover gives a really good indication as to what kind of content is inside however it does not give too much away and attempts to entice the read to actually look inside the magazine and look for themselves. The front page appeals to the audience by keeping their cover lines vague and no going into too much detail for instance they some headlines just have have an artists name and nothing else which the target audience will automatically recognize and seeing that the magazine has content about an artist they like will help entice them into buying the magazine. The magazine does not appeal to some types of readers as it does not have artists that would not typically be found to be involved with the genre of music that the target audience would like. These would be rock, metal, classical etc. Artists like My Chemical Romance, Slipknot or Mozart. The colors of the magazine do not appeal to fans of heavy metal or rock as most of the colors are bright and colorful like yellows and oranges and there is not a great deal of darker colors which other readers may be fans of.

Contents Page

DJ Magazines contents page has a white background which helps the colorful text, text boxes and images stand out. This dull background also helps the writing to be easier to read and more legible. The contents page has different colored boxes and text throughout the page. Most of the colors can be found on the front cover which creates consistency and follows the house style of the magazine. An example of these colors would be yellow and black, these colors are used on the left hand side which is relevant because we read the english language from left to right. The use of the colors is especially relevant because yellow and black are used in

Paul Turner Textual Analysis

traffic signs and general warning signs and these colors help grab a readers eye who may be taking a quick glance through the magazine and encourage them to read on. There are also other colors like bright pink/red, blue, dark green and blueish colors. These pleasant looking, vibrant colors are easy on the eye and the pink/red and blue colors are colors that DJs often use in the lighting of their show and the audience would respond to this link.

The main image has been placed on the bottom left hand side of the page, it has been placed here because the audience will have been drawn to the text above it and then they will look at the image which is one of the main attractions to this particular magazine. The font style is san serif and clear an easy to read which once again would help readers paying a quick glance of attention at the page. The majority of the contents page is text however a large portion of the list of contents has no text but images that help break up the page making sure that it is not too text heavy. The images are up the right hand side mostly and have the numbers that the corresponding content can be found on, the majority of the images has something interesting going on in them and they are mostly bright a full of color which could excite the reader (especially the images of people dancing and partying).

The contents page has been laid out in 3 columns, these are split up by different titles and colors. The far left column is entirely about features and focuses on the type ofarticles that could usually be found in the magazine every week. There is another title named ‘comin’ up’ this is about upcoming events and dates that are coming up. Below this is a section titles ‘aaa’ meaning access all areas which is an interesting title as not everyone would know what this means however the target audience probably will, this section contains things like inside looks at upcoming venues etc. Next there is a section titled ‘music’ which ironically enough focuses on music, containing articles of albums, artists and songs. DJ mag also has their own music chart found in this section. The final titled section is ‘tech’ and this contains articles that look at all the new music technology being released and also has information about the genre of music giving help and advice on how to improve the audiences own production of music.

Paul Turner Textual Analysis

Double Page Spread

The double page spread in this particular DJMAG is actually 4 pages in length. The contents of the spread is similar to an interview where DJMAG intorduce a subject like how Chase and Status have worked with Rihanna and Snoop Dogg. Then Chase and Status give detailed answers that an audience interested in that genre of music and Chase and Status would find interesting.

The magazines double page spread is written with black text and a white background. This is possibly because the spread is about such important people that DJMAG feel the use of those colours is neccessary because they are generally serious, bold and important colours. Black on white is a good choice of colours for the text because it ranks very high on the list of colors that are most legible and best presented that was found out by research carried out by Karl Borgrgrafe.

The images are set in the same place as the one on the front cover and still have an orange tinge in the background, although the shots could have been taken at night underneath a street lamp. One of the images is very similar to the one on the front cover with both of Chase and Status in and there are 2 more images which show them individually however in all of the images they are looking down at the camera making it seem like the subjects are better or important people in the eyes of the audience, using the male gaze theory making men want to be like them. The images are all mid-shots which makes the audience at first focus on their face and their facial expressions which in this case is very serious which gives off the impression that the subjects take themselves seriously. It could also tell the reader about the nature of the content of the spread. The subjects in the images are wearing up-to-date and urban clothes that fans of their music would wear, helping create a connection between them and the audience other than the music. There are 2 pictures within the double page spread of other artists that Chase and Status have spoken about, the images of the artists and the text about them have been separated into black boxes with white text reversing the colour scheme.

The introduction to the spread on the right hand side has been placed in a larger, bold font that the rest and is in block capitals, words like “RABID, MEGASTARS, WHIRLWIND, SMASHING and GIGANTIC’ have been used to describe Chase and Status and the work they do. This entices the reader and interests them through the use of these powerful words. Each paragraph has a sub-heading above it in bold to describe what that particular paragraph is about with witty words like “COMMANDING CLOUT” rather than commanding shout.

The overall impression of the magazines front page, contents page and double spread is a good one as i think they work well in attracting and appealing to their target audience. I think the images of Chase and Status should have used a different background as after a while the colours strains your eyes.