Kerrang magazine

History• Kerrang is a UK based magazine,

published by Bauer media group. It is devoted to the rock music genre. It began on June 6th 1981, as a one-off supplement in the sounds newspaper. In its very early stages, Kerrang was devoted to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the rise of hard rock acts. Its original owner united newspapers, sold it to EMAP in 1991. In 2008 Kerrang was sold again, this time to current owners, Bauer media group. Kerrang is currently Britain’s highest selling music magazine.

Target audience• The target audience of Kerrang is 18 to 25, and is usually aimed at males rather

than females, due to the magazines focus on rock and metal bands. Another way this magazine appeals to its target audience is by having a front cover with a band that is relevant and current. This appeals to the target audience, making them more inclined to by the magazine. The magazine uses black a lot throughout. This is often paired paired with another bold colour, showing that, much like the music, it doesn’t conform to society this would have a great appeal to this audience. This would make them more likely to want to read/purchase the magazine, as they feel like they can relate to it. by having a bight colour combined with black, the cover stands out a great deal, making it look more unique to potential customers Kerrang magazine features a bold font, consisting of black lettering, featuring distorted edges and what appear to be white crack lines running throughout the font, in a similar style to a broken pane of glass. This is a very stylized and aggressive font to use, and it is thematically similar to what the magazine is offering, in terms of the bands it covers. A further way that Kerrang appeals to its target audience on 18 to 25 year old males is by offering various gig tickets that can be won to go and see bands that the magazine covers. This is obviously appealing to the target audience, as the tickets are for people 18 or older. The magazine also lacks any femininity, having little in the way of female perspective. This could be intentional, as rock is predominantly a genre aimed at males, something that Kerrang aims to capitalize on.

Consumption of Kerrang

• The main aspect of Kerrang is to allow music lovers to be able find out more about their favourite bands. To further increase appeal to their target audience, Kerrang often offers gig tickets, posters or promotional CD’s in an attempt to increase sales. Due to various forms of different media, Kerrang can be consumed in a variety of ways. Some of these are:

Kerrangs website• Kerrangs website let users find out more

information about the magazine, current bands and upcoming events. The website also features an online shop, podcasts, message board, TV and radio segments, allowing greater appeal to its audience and generating money from sales of merchandise.

Kerrang TV•

much like Kerrang radio, Kerrang TV will have great appeal to consumers who read the magazine. It covers a more mainstream area of the rock genre, and was launched in 2001, also by EMAP. Kerrang TV allows consumers to listen to the bands that they have read about in the magazine, which gives them more of what they want to consume.

Kerrang radio station

• In 2000, EMAP launched a Kerrang radio station in the UK, which played back to back rock songs and alternative music. This resulted in the radio being promoted by the Kerrang magazine, as the target market will be likely to listen to the radio station if they enjoy the genres of music and if they enjoy reading the Kerrang magazine.