ANALYSIS OF MUSIC MAGAZINES FRONT COVERS.

I have Analysed three different magazines covered. I have highlighted the codes and conventions of a magazine front cover and explained about the different codes and conventions are used and where they are on a magazine front cover. I analysed an acoustic, Blues Matters and a guitarist magazine. This will help me when coming to the planning of my music magazine that I am going to produce because those are the genres of music I want to produce my magazine for so I can see how each magazine was laid out on the page and also which codes and conventions they have used because each magazine has a set of codes and conventions. I have analysed these magazines using PowerPoint then uploaded It to slideshare and inserting it into the html section. 

MastheadThe Masthead of this Magazine ‘Acoustic’ is the biggest text on the page, as it is the title of the Magazine that is going to be read so it stands out to the audience. The font of the title is a clear and basic font so it attracts the audiences attention and also that it is clear and easy to read. It also suggests the house style of the magazine as it is simple and basic. The masthead is partially hidden by the cover star.

SkylineThe Skyline on this Magazine has different headings across the top, it has features that are in this specific Magazine. It has black writing which says the persons name and then underneath red writing with the title of the article that it is or what it is about. Also the text on the skyline is easy to read.

Cover StarThe cover star of this magazine is a mid-shot and is in the centre of the page with the cover lines around. The Artist is looking directly at the camera, and is holding a guitar and the magazine is an acoustic magazine which relates to instruments such as guitars.

BannerThe banner is at the bottom of the page and has information in about a guitar show announcement inside this specific magazine. The text inside the banner is small, and is in 2 different colours yellow and white this could suggest that the font in white shows contrast to the other text which draws the audiences attention to the event.

PuffThe puff on this magazine is there to attract the readers attention to advertise an exclusive in this magazine. The text in this puff is small and in 3 different colours yellow, white and black. The reason for this is so each colour contrasts each other so they stand out for that event.

BarcodeThe barcode is located at the bottom right hand had side of the magazine. It is quite small as it is not as important on magazine, the only use of it is for when you buy the magazine and a member of staff scans it for the prices.

Cover LinesThe cover lines on this magazine are located around the main image. The cover lines are all in the same font, and are different sizes, colours. The biggest cover line is the name of the cover star as there is an article about her and she is the feature of this magazine and then it has different cover lines for different articles that are smaller such as interviews, and other exclusives.

Colour SchemeThe colour scheme of the front cover of this magazine is mainly blue,red,white and black. The colour scheme makes the magazine more eye-catching to customers they stand out more as they are bold.

Sell LineThe sell line which says ‘the UK’s only dedicated Acoustic Guitar Magazine’. This makes the reader think that they are buying an exclusive magazine and also has the price at the end.

MastheadThe Masthead on this magazine ‘Blues Matters’ is the biggest text on the page, and is also slightly covered by the main image which you see on most magazines. The masthead is an easy font, and is blue with an white outline to make it stand out on the black background so it attracts the audiences attention to the magazine. It is clear and easy to read, the masthead also suggests the house style as it is basic and simple.

Cover StarThe cover star is the biggest image on the page, and is to the right hand side of the page. The artist is looking directly into the camera, and is sitting down . It is a medium shot. The cover star covers some of the masthead.

SkylineThe skyline on this magazine is red, and has some of the exclusives in or regulars such as gigs, gears, and reviews it also includes the number of pages in this specific magazine and the cost on the skylines. The font of this magazine is small and basic to read, it is in white so it stands out amongst the magazine, it also has stars in between each texts this could suggest that these are exclusives to this magazine.

BarcodeThe barcode on this magazine is small and is rotated at the bottom of the right hand side corner of the magazine as it is not as important as the rest of the information as its only used when you are buying the magazine. Above the barcode it has the issue details in small blue and white writing.

Additional ImagesThis magazine has not just got the main image on the front cover it also has another 2 mini images on at the top right hand corner and the other in the bottom left hand corner. They are used to make the magazine look more busy so it fills up the front of the page.

Cover LinesThe cover lines on this magazine are on the left hand side mainly and are in two different colours yellow and white, the white is a little bit of information about the article and then the white is the name of the article or who the article is about. There is also a cover line that overlaps the main image and links to the main image as the main image is of Jonny Lang and the cover line is the biggest cover line on the page, there is also feature cover lines in the middle at the bottom of the page with little banners above.

PuffThe Puff on this magazine is red to link with the skyline, and is also small, and in white, and ‘plus’ in gold to draw in the readers attention as there is additional articles in this specific magazine.

Colour Scheme The colour scheme of this magazine is black, blue, white and red. It keeps the scheme throughout the front cover, also that is stands out the reader as the colours are bold.

MastheadThe Masthead on this Magazine ‘Guitarist’ is the biggest font on the page, it is white as it stands out on a dark blue background, and it is a simple and basic font as it is easy to read. The main image covers the middle of the masthead and the masthead also covers slightly the skyline.

SkylineThe Skyline on this magazine is just text across the top of the magazine. The text is in a clear, basic font so it is easy to read. The colour of the text is white so it stands out on a blue background.

FreebieThere is a freebie with this magazine. The freebie is actually allocated inside the magazine but where it has information is in the top right hand corner, the information is in a CD as the freebie is a CD so it links, also the colours used for the CD is black and a white outline, with red and white text, the red one contrasts the white as it draws the readers attention to that there is a freebie inside this magazine.

Main ImageThe main image of this magazine is an electric guitar, it is in the centre of the magazine front cover, and takes up a majority of the page, it also covers up some of the masthead and skyline.

PuffThe puff on this magazine is quite small and is at the side of the magazine, it is in a clear font. The font is also in black and white, the black contrasts the white to attract the readers attention as the want them to know that there is ‘hot new gear’ so it is an exclusive.

Issue InformationThe issue information is located underneath the masthead, it is in a small font, and is in white so it stands out as its in a white font, and a clear font to read.

Cover LinesThe cover lines on this magazine are on the main image of the magazine and down the right hand side of the image. The cover lines are in three different colours white, red and blue. The ones in white is the information about that article, in red suggests that they are words to stand out in the cover lines to attract the audiences attention and the one In blue is the title of the article.

BarcodeThe barcode is at the bottom left hand side of the magazine, it is quite small as it isn’t as important as the rest as you only used it for the magazine being scanned.