Analysis Of Music Magazine Covers

Jack Fell

The masthead is clearly presented at the top of this music magazine. It is positioned to the left, and has a unique font which isn’t used again on the magazine, like all typical magazines. The masthead is in bold, large and bright red, relating to the colour scheme and shows it’s significance.This magazine features a incentive in its banner which is positioned at the very top of the page, slightly above the masthead. The banner and incentive are advertising an ‘exclusive’ artist interview. The cover also features a main image, like every magazine cover. The main image is centrally positioned and appears to be a male music artist which is obviously relevant for a music magazine. The camera shot for the artist is a medium shot/medium close up. Musical Iconography also appears on this cover as the main image also features a CD Disk/Record, which is used as a prop to represent the genre of the music magazine. Many music magazines use an instrument to represent the genre.

This magazine also uses a buzz word to attract people. The ‘Plus’ is the buzz word in this case and is used to promote a section inside.

The typical barcode, date and price all feature on this cover. They are hidden in the bottom right which is typical of a music magazine cover. They aren’t significant in comparison to cover lines and main image so are usually hidden away.

A puff is also featured on this magazine’s cover. Despite not being like the typical music magazine’s puff, it still exists on this cover. In this case, the puff is used to attract attention and advertise a section of the magazine. It’s not the same as the usual puff as it doesn’t advertise something ‘FREE’ or ‘EXCLUSIVE’, however still very effective.

Cover lines also feature on the cover. These cover lines are slightly unusual in that they are small compared to everything else on the cover and then they have a main cover line on the left side. The cover lines alternate colours between red and black and link in with the colour scheme.This magazine cover also features something quite unusual. On the left side, their main cover line goes vertically downwards across the whole side (Top to bottom) and then they use a question aimed towards customers at the bottom. It uses a list of bands followed by ‘Artic Monkey’s in larger text (suggesting they are the main band from that list), and then the rest of the cover line at the bottom and eventually a question towards their audience.

The cover’s masthead is just like the typical masthead. Its positioned centrally at the top of the magazine cover. It has its own unique font which isn’t used again. The font also represents the genre of music which the magazine is based around as it you can tell from looking at the masthead, the magazine is based around rock/indie/alternative rock.

Another feature they have used is sub – images. These are used on the right side of the page, once to advertise a recent ‘Kerrang’ issue (top right of the page) and used again to advertise, what seems to be, a heavy metal band. This obviously relates to the magazine’s genre and style and tells the viewer what is included inside.A quote from artist on the main image is also featured on the front cover. This is usually typical of a music magazine as most include an artist quote like this one.Buzz words also feature on the cover. Words such as ‘PLUS’ which is included twice, they are used to make something stand out on the page and promote the magazine furthermore.

This cover uses two splashes which is quite different to most magazine covers. Most of the time, splashes may not even feature on the magazine cover. The splash which is positioned in the bottom left of the cover is like the typical splash, containing a buzz word and incentive. The splash in the top right is advertising a rock guide featured inside the magazine. Unlike the other splash, this one doesn’t use a buzz word but still exists.

A banner also features on this cover. Like all front covers, the banner is positioned at the very top of the cover page. This banner is used to make the positioning statement stand out.

The main image for this cover is not as centralised and is more to the left side. Once again, the shot is a medium shot and uses an electronic guitar to represent the genre of music – rock. The artist is well known and is part of a band which is named next to his image. They way he looks and is dressed connotes the genre of music he performs and the magazine is based around.The cover page also features cover lines. Unlike most magazine covers, this one only features two cover lines. Most music magazines use around 3 – 6 cover lines on the cover. One cover line uses profanity which we would associate with the heavy metal genre of music.

The masthead is clearly presented at the top of this music magazine. On this magazine, it is very centralised and runs horizontally across the page using all space. The masthead relates to the colour scheme as it uses a black fade to red which are two colours the magazine use on the cover throughout.The main image on the cover is Eminem, who’s clearly featured on the cover and inside the magazine. The page also use a quote from the man himself and use his name as the largest bit of text on the page (besides the masthead). The cover line which relates to Eminem is positioned just next to his face, which clearly talks about his previous experiences with drugs. On the main image, he looks quite serious and gives direct address. He also wears black clothing which also connotes with the colour scheme used.

Several cover lines also feature on the page. The main cover line is obviously the one which relates to Eminem (the main image), which is the largest. Several other cover lines feature on the page, all relating to articles included inside the magazine and associated to the colour scheme (Black, Red, Grey).

A positioning statement is included on the cover. The statement uses words which associate with what features inside the

magazine.

The magazine cover also features a teaser which refers to the change in rap music.

The issue date tell us that this magazine is distributed monthly and features in the bottom left of the page.

The background colour that is used is a white/light grey which makes everything on the page stand out and is easily readable as the background is plain and just one block colour.