front covers music mag

Front Covers Basic conventions – Strong masthead and (usually) simple colour scheme gives recognisable identity.

Q frequently uses black, red and white.NME – Black, red, white and yellowRocksound – black, red, white and yellow. Sometimes another font colour is added. Usually - only a limited number of fonts are used 3 or 4

• Instantly recognisable title• Of historical significance like NME – the

UK’s oldest music magazine, stated off as the New Musical Express – now abbreviated form appears on the cover – a recognisable brand name and though long past the days when it dealt with cultural issues around the music, has connotations of edgy writing and indie bands new to the scene.

• Mojo – “spell” connotations of the idea that music can cast a spell over people and hook them - it targets an older audience, with its focus largely (but not exclusively) on artists from past decades,

• Q – comes from the word ‘cue’ as in, ‘Cue the music, but it was abbreviated to make it more unusual and eye-catching – has become a recognisable brand name

Titles and fonts become recognisable brand names and cover artists can partially obscure the masthead with the confidence that the magazine will still be recognisable to its readers. Most magazines use ONE major image, though other, similar images can be used as hooks to draw in the readers. Main image is usually medium to medium close up; smaller images are often medium close up or headshots.

• Storylines often justified down either or both sides, sometimes with a line or two as a subheading then another line with more information. Text concerning featured artist is usually larger, bold and across the middle of the page, sometimes with a strapline (sometimes in the form of a quotation)

• Header and footer hook bars are common, sometimes against a single field of colour; sometimes against the image on the cover.

Kerrang! – implies the impact of a power chord – the exclamation mark adds emphasis as does the fact that the font is shattered, as if by the loudness – therefore has connotations of heavy rock, the genre it covers.

Note the use of footer and header, both on colour fields. Note the use of smaller images – framed in white to give the impression of a printed photograph.

The angled text of the story lines gives the magazine an edgy feel.

• Mojo – also uses a limited number of fonts and colours; some times the cover photo is black and white because the magazine deals with artists of historical importance, targeting an audience of over 40 – monochrome has connotations of the past. Note use of logline – The Music Magazine – implying it’s the one to get if you’re interested in music – using a script font as if it's handwritten and a personal guarantee

• Cover assumes target readers’ familiarity with the Beach Boys’ classic album Pet Sounds – adopts colour (green, yellow, white and black) scheme and font (Cooper Black) from the album art and uses an outtake from the album photo sessions for main image. Some red is added for impact to highlight the storylines.

• Carefully targeted towards their primary audience (male; mean age 43, according to its publisher, Bauer Media) but there references to younger artists to appeal to a secondary audience.

• Like many magazines, has free CD – helps promote music. Often other artists’ interpretation of classic tracks from a particular band – thereby promoting the classic artist as well as a range of others.

• Mojo – Beach Boys cover but story lines refer to older and newer artists who talk about the band (e.g. Flaming Lips), and new bands that musically allude to bands that Mojo readers will know e.g. Beach House. This issue has stories about bands across the decades – Beach Boys (60s and 70s), Rush (70s), Public Image (80s), David Bowie (70s-now); features on classic albums, classic artists and newer artists whose style alludes to the classic artists that appeal to Mojo readers.

• Uncut – implies the reader is going to have access to rare material – interviews etc – as if it’s more exclusive than other magazines; also has connotations of movies and this, unlike most other music magazines, does have monthly film reviews.

• Note limited colour and font scheme

• Note free CD• Uncut readership is similar

to Mojo’s – mix of artists from different decades – e.g. Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Buckley. Laura Marling

• NME retains the Indie values with Peace as cover artist, but there are story lines on Blur, Noel Gallagher, Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys – all NME favourites from the last two decades.

• Published by IPC.• Readers 69% male; average

age - 24 • Inside NME – weekly

magazine. ‘News’ section featuring old favourites, like Morrissey, and new, like Milk Music. Round up of events this week in music – but those events appealing to its target audience (Gallagher and Albarn); festival news – SXSW – and indie festival.