Magazine Research

by Victor Chi-Chung Chan

Classic Rock

• Circulation (2010): 71,242 • Readership(2010): 149,608 • Target Reader: 35+ Affluent Informed

Influential Men, many of whom are entering a lifestage when they are regaining their wallets, freedom and teen spirit

• Sharing :- news, views, in-depth features and exclusive interviews with the rock celebrities of all time - tour dates, retrospectives, the hottest newcomers, backstage stories and reviews section

Published by Future Plc

Metal Hammer

• Circulation (Jan-Dec 09): 41,777 • Readership: 91,909 • Monthly magazine • Target reader: the notoriously

unobtainable young male audience • Covers both traditional and

contemporary bands in different genres, like metal, punk

• Reporting: - the burgeoning British scene- latest bands around the world - comprehensive news and reviews sections - interviews with rising stars

Published by Future Plc

NME

• Circulation (Jan-Dec 09): 41,777 • Readership: 91,909 • Monthly magazine • Target reader: the notoriously

unobtainable young male audience • Covers both traditional and

contemporary bands in different genres, like metal, punk

• Reporting: - the burgeoning British scene- latest bands around the world - comprehensive news and reviews sections - interviews with rising stars

Published by IPC Media

Q

• Circulation (Jan-Jun 10): 89,450 • Readership (Jan-Jun 10): 550,000 • Monthly magazine • Median age of reader: 29 • Mission:

- guide readers through just the good stuff in all forms of music each month via its unparalleled access

Published by Bauer Media

Kerrang!

• Circulation (Jan-Jun 10): 44,013 • Readership (Jan-Jun 10): 421,000 • Weekly magazine • Median age of reader: 22 • Covers both traditional and

contemporary bands in different genres of rock music – from emo to thrash, etc

• Mission: - focus on the things that are going on in our world each week - provide for our readers’ need for variety and their passionate appetite- introduce new music

Published by Bauer Media

Mojo

• Circulation (Jan-Jun 10): 91,678 • Readership (Jan-Jun 10): 218,000 • Monthly magazine • Median age of reader: 37 • Mission:

- deliver a monthly dose of world class journalism and iconic photography- provides a “hand-made” experience in a mass market environment

Published by Bauer Media

Magazine Analysis

Headline:Revealing the cover story with a large font size - “You’re fired!” to attract audience forwards to the story behind the news. It also uses ‘revealed!’ to describe this news, to emphasise this news is hot.

Main image + Sub Image:Two images of these celebrities shows them two are the cover story of this issue. They both are wearing sunglasses so the connection between them is shown. But Slash’s image is much bigger than the one on the left, it means Slash dominates the band and the whole situation about their split.

Plug:A big font size - “Free CD” in orange tag at the top-left corner, it even covers part of the magazine logo. It totally draws audience’s attention. Audience would like to have free music from this magazine as they don't need to pay extra.

Feature List:From the list under the headline, there are many bands’ name mentioned. It means other bands will be introduced or reviewed in the articles of this issue. It provides more information about what’s involved in this issue. Audience can consider should they buy this issue according to the list whether it has any band they are interested.

Language:Informal language used for the headline. Readers can directly feel the conflict of their split. They can tell from the headline that their split is not peaceful but angry, by the emotion of it ‘You’re fired!’, which provides an rude feeling to everyone.

Masthead:Only this can tell what’s this magazine. Otherwise audience would never buy a magazine which they don't know what’s it.

Sub Heading:Another story which may attract audience want to buy. This sub heading simulates how Weiland thinks. It doesn't reveal all the things in the sub heading but leaving ellipsis, waiting audience to know the story when they have bought it.

Sub Image:The image to illustrate the side story. It has a sad expression with a black-and-white image. Also he is wearing sunglasses and only half of his face is captured, as if he doesn't want to connect people. Audience can feel the sadness even without looking at the sub heading.

Barcode:To avoid there is any fake copy of this magazine. To the audience, it gives them confidence about the authority from this publish company.

Kicker:There are band’s titles and a brief comment below, which encourages the audience to read the reviews in order to know how’s their new music.

Font:The size of the font implies the importance of the articles, the larger title the more important. It also draws audience’s first sight on it. Audience can read the cover story at the very first moment when they look at the cover.But the colours of the font are not variable, the font colours are mainly white and yellow. So the factor to attract audience’s attention relies on the font size.

Blocking:Three pictures on the left are group photos of the bands. The members are lined up so a message is sent to the readers which the people in the photo are a team. They are acting casual, as if they don't notice the camera.

Camerawork:Medium long shot and long shot are used for these three photos. Those are kind of typical group photos because audience can see their costumes, and they are all looking at the camera directly.

Captions:Questions are used for the brief descriptions of the articles. Audience would not know what is it about until they turn to the page of these articles. It encourages audience to think and discover more about the bands instead of providing them impressions directly.

Mise-en-Scene:The top one is a studio shoot, compared to the two below, this one is more decorated so the message can be expressed clearly. The words on the background implies the theme of their music.

Costume:‘Deep Purple’ are dressing old-fashioned, such as bell-bottom pants and tight shirts, which means it has been a long time since this band was founded.

Colour scheme:The has no a certain colour adapted the most because most the page is white. It provides a simple style of this contents page. The colours are mainly red, black and white as the background, only the images’ colours are distracted as the themes of the images are not constant.

Magazine Logo:It is placed in the middle and the top of the page because the magazine’s name is important. Also highlighted as a red font colour. It can be seen obviously by the audience. Even the size of this logo is not large, but it is still enough to let audience notice the name of it.

List of contents:A typical list of the articles or review included in this magazine. Pages of the articles placed on the left with red font. It is convenient for the audience to see where the pages are. This list is placed at the bottom-right of this page without any pictures so it’s reckoned not so important than the articles with sub images.

Sub Heading:It uses a bigger font size for the titles and a smaller font size for the brief description of the articles.

Sub Images:The images in this page are about the bands/musicians introduced in this issue. The size of them are almost equal which means they all are important in this issue. Plus there’s no main image in page, only the images would attract audience’s attention first but none of them dominates the page.

Layout:Large photos are used for the focused stories. Pictures can draw audience’s attention at the very first moment instead of the words. The images are put on the left and the top, which audience would look at the page from top-left to bottom-right, so it helps audience would at the images first then at the words on the list.

Banner:A banner with a ‘Q&A’ sign, showing this section is interview. Also the font style of it is mild, providing a comfortable tone, like the genre of his music, to the audience.The banner is placed on the top of the page, it frames the text below to imply that all the text below this banner is ‘Q&A’ section.

Font:The first alphabet of the first paragraph is usually in a super large font so it will not be confusing to the audience where should they start reading.For the questions, the questions are highlighted in bold font, so the audience can look at the questions quickly.

Layout:The main image and the text are separated. This is a typical separation so audience will not be confused as the text does not dissolve into the image.The text section is also cut in half by a line in the middle, the audience will know they should read from the left column first.

Interview:This article directly quotes what did Joe speak in this conversation. So there won’t be any misunderstanding from the reporter. Also audience can easily imagine how was his emotion (if there’s any) when Joe was speaking. It provides an intimate image to audience as if they are actually witnessing the interview.

Introduction:A brief sentence introduces what’s this interview about, such as the genre of this artist - blues, who will cooperate with Glenn Hughs. Also it mentions Joe’s new project is inspired by plant, that’s why the colour scheme is yellow green. This introduction provides all the basic information of this interview so audience can decide whether to read it by this introduction.

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Costume:Joe’s dressing casual which fits his music because classic rock is also seen as the main, stereotypical kind of rock. This means that it is not very vibrant and different, it is “casual” rock.

Props:Audience will look at the image first before they start reading the article. A guitar is being held by Joe so it illustrates his identity as a guitarist clearly.

Colour scheme:The whole page tends to yellow/ warm colour tone. Providing a fresh, natural, soft and comfortable image of this young artist.

Lighting:The main light comes from the left side of Joe, plus the background is reflective so it is the back light as well. It creates a sense of Joe like a three-dimensional subject to audience.

Quote:It quotes directly from the celebrity without any interpretation by the reporter. So the audience will know how he regards music as enjoyment instead of only a job.

Main image:This is obviously the main image as there is only one picture in this double page spread. The main image dominates the page so the person in this picture must be the one who is introduced in this article.

Background:The background of this image is the reflection of Joe’s back. As if audience can see all the sides of Joe, understanding him. It is not decorated much but using a wall with reflective texture, so the audience will not be distracted by the colours or decoration of the background as Joe is dressing casual.The left of the background tends dark and the right is bright. Because the left side of the image next to the text, so the darkness would make the background look dissolving into the text.

Masthead: Using gold font to fit the whole tone, which is dark, mysterious and evil.

Plug: There is a promotion of a contest, about a chance to win VIP tickets by buying this magazine. It does encourage audience to buy. Especially the ‘WIN!’ is much larger than other words and in colour gold. It draws attention on this word.

Mise-en-scene:They dress in black, anti-christ and gothic costume matches the theme of this cover. It tells audience what are their music about, this powerful impression is shown to the readers. But we can see a bit different between them, the middle one - Tony Iommi in Black Sabbath, he doesn't dress like a devil like the two standing next to him do. So we can tell his music is not extreme as their music, even though they all play metal.

Camerawork: Medium close-up for them three so their makeup can be seen detailedly. The makeup is their symbol so they chose medium close-ups for them then we can see the makeup more.

Quote: The quote from the celebrity so audience would know what is their music about. It is directly told by the musician so the message is clearer. The quote is placed next to King Diamond, so it is obviously quoted from him even it is not specified.

Colour scheme: Mainly black and gold, creates a tone of evil, dark and gothic image to the audience.

Band’s titles: The band’s/artists’ names are introduced in the centre of this front cover. The names are placed just below the images of each member. Audience would know what bands do they belong to. Black Sabbath’s name much larger than King Diamond and Ghost, it tells Black Sabbath is the domain of this cover, as the popularity of this band is much bigger.

Barcode: The barcode at the bottom-right corner which doesn't affect the layout of the cover but also visible for audience looking at the price and the date of the issue. It is easily for them to scan the barcode as well.

Main image: Three of them are looking at the camera directly which is called ‘direct address’. They don’t look happy or friendly but angry and evil. They want the audience fear them as their music is horrible.

Props: Tony Iommi is holding a guitar in his hand, it simply tells Tony is a guitarist in his band. Papa Emeritus II in Ghost is wearing a Roman Catholic pope hat and holding a cross. The pattern on his hat is an up-side-down cross, it is an insult to Catholic, the theme of this band is obviously anti-christ.

Motifs (Anti-Christ):There are many symbols to emphasise their anti-christ idea on this cover. There are invented crosses and inverted pentagrams to imply this message.

Magazine cover:Refers to the cover of this issue.

Layout:The whole page’s showing different categories of contents , such as review, editor’s speaks, so readers can identify the articles easily.

Sub Images:Bands and musicians in the images refer to the articles so audience can easily recognise the bands they are looking for.

Mise-en-scene (Modeling):In the first one, their pose are calm and firm to express the high and respectable status they have.They rest of them look young and wild, which shows the contrast of different generation and popularity.

Colour Scheme:The colour tone tends dark to provide an impression of evil, hell, burning.

Number of issue:The number is clearly stated in the contents page.

Contents list:The left side of the page is the list of the contents. Audience can look for the articles according to what they like.

Font Style:A gothic font is used for the sub headings. This historical font fits the tone of metal.

Lighting:The top one uses low-key lighting which the fill light tends dark so the characters look mysterious.Another one uses a warmer colour tone(red) as if they come from hell.Mise-en-scene(Costume, props):They are representing an image of war and destruction by dressing like soldiers and holding guns.

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Magazine’s website:There’s a website link next to the page number so audience know more about this magazine in their website.

Band name:The band title marked at the corner of the page. So audience can easily look for this article.

Main Image:Jill Janus, The female vocalist of the band dominates a whole page. The article is probably focused on her.

Colour Scheme:Red and black are the main colours adopted in this page. It expresses an impression of darkness, blood and death.

Props and costume:Jill’s hands are full of blood, wearing a cape. It provides an image of evil to the audience. She also dresses sexy which attracts male audience to read.

Direct Address:Jill’s looking at the camera directly, putting her hands framing her head as if she’s mind-talking to the audience.

Camerawork:Medium shot is used to show her clothing. It fits the whole page so her costume and facial expression can be precisely shown.

Language:The first alpha-bet is ‘I’ with a super large font. So audience will know where is the start of the article and this article is from her first person perspective.

Introduction:A brief introduction about Jill above the title, it provides some basic information before the audience read it.

Font style & colour:The text uses normal font in white but the other text usually uses special font style in red.

Corner border:A gothic border is used to fill the page the page. So the corner of the page won't be empty.

Title:‘HUNT OR BE HUNTED’, it matches the band’s name - Huntress, expresses the name with a sense of hunting/killing.

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Masthead:The title is like broken, crashed, matches the rebellious image of this band and the image of ‘KERRANG!’. It attracts the young readers (median age: 22) to read.

Main Image:The image obviously is the band called ‘Avenged Sevenfold’, as the group photo of them dominates the cover from the top to the bottom. It directly suggests this band is the cover story in this issue they want to introduce.

Headline:The title refers to the main image on the cover. It’s not only introducing the band’s title, but also providing an impression to the audience by using the caption - ‘sex, drugs and violence… The world’s most dangerous band’. The band’s name is in the largest font size on this page, which emphasises the importance of them. Also the font colour in white which has a contrast to the warm-colour tone subjects around it. Audience will look at their name first instinctively.

Plug:Two free posters included in this issue is absolutely an attraction to audience that they can get a direct benefit from this magazine would make them think it’s worth buying it. The sign ‘FREE’ is highlighted as red which is another eye-catching colour similar to the warm colour tone on this page but it doesn't steal audience attention from the headline at the same time.

Font Colour:This cover’s font uses different colours to highlight the sections in this issue. The colours tend to warm to fit the whole tone of both the cover page and main image.

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Mise-en-scene:Most of them are wearing leather jackets, jeans and sunglasses which is viewed as biker-costumes, M. Shadow (one in the middle) is even holding a chain as a props, a symbol of danger, destruction and rebel has been made to the audience.Camerawork:High angle to the band. Most of them are shot in long shot, but half of their bodies are covered by the headings, so only up from their chests would be noticed. So their costumes and facial expressions can easily be seen.

Date line and price:The price is only £1.99 which is cheaper than the other similar music magazine relatively. One of the reasons is the target audience is young, the purchasing power is not strong as the older adults.

Sub Heading:It’s placed near the bottom-right of the cover to introduce what articles or interviews are included. The font size of them is small relatively, as the importance is less than the cover story. But they still use red for the font to draw audience’s attention.

Colour Scheme:A warm colour tone is used for the whole cover page including the main image and the font. Giving an impression of fire and burning to fit the cover story band as if they came form hell.

Blocking:There must be someone has the highest popularity in a band, which can be told by the blocking on the cover page. In this cover, the vocalist of this band - M. Shadow is standing right in the middle which is dominating the frame. Rest of the members are standing behind him as if he is the boss.

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Magazine Logo:The logo is on the top of the page so it is clear to show what magazine is it.

Date and number of issue:It records what contents is in this issue

Plug:Using a sign ‘WIN!’ with sharp colours to attract audience’s attention on the competition.

Colour scheme:The colours are mainly in red and black, which matches the colours of the prize(the shoes below).

Promotion of a product:This is competition by answering one simple question to win a pair of shoes. Audience would like to join this.

Sub Image:Most members are not looking at the camera looking arrogant, creating a ‘cool’ image.Also they’re wearing leather jackets and sun glasses so

The editor’s note:It refers to the contents of this issue in a comedic way so the audience won’t miss anything such as the price of the competition and the tour.

Promotion:Not every reader has subscribed KERRANG!, so it is a promotion to the audience so they can receive every issue of this magazine with a lower price.

Content list:The list is not ordered by the pages but the categories instead. So audience can search what they want to read quickly according to the categories.

Font colour:They used different colours to categorise the titles, page number and description.But not many colours are adopted. There are only red , yellow and black are used, so it won’t be distracting but it will also be clearly displayed.

Colour scheme 2:The black bars behind the yellow sub-headings on the white background have colour contrast so it absolutely draws audience’s attention.

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Heading:The heading of this article is a quote from one of the members - Frank Iero. It clearly states what do this band think and their direction towards music. Audience can directly understand what is this article about. It also uses red font so the statement looks powerful, matches how rebellious they are.

Logo:Due to this article is about their new album at that time. This logo appears on their new album cover as well. Choosing this ‘spider’ as the symbol of them would provide an image which makes audience think of them, also their new album, immediately.By placing it at the top-left corner of the page, audience will look from this logo first before they start reading this article.Text box:The text box’s colour of this article is black, it makes a large contrast of the colours, since the background of this page and the font are white. So the text box is in black can absolutely make the white font visible. Audience can easily read the words and won’t get lost or distracted by any colour overlapping.

Page number:The page number marked at the bottom-left corner in an extremely small font size which audience can barely see it. It helps audience search for this page but it does not affect them reading at the same time.

Language:It article’s language style is quite simple and informal. As the characteristic of this band is rebel, so it tries not to use difficult words or elegant otherwise the tone doesn't match.

Magazine name:There is the magazine’s name placed next to the page number. Audience know what magazine are they reading actually, but the name is still needed to be marked like a signature. Even people copy this page they still can prove this page belongs to them.

Notice:At the end of this article, it keeps emphasising their interview to this band is not complete, such as ‘To be continued’, ‘Don’t miss next week’s KERRANG!’. They uses a larger font size or even different colour for it to draw audience attention. To remind them to buy their next issue so they can catch up what the rest of the interview is about.

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Lighting:the whole lighting of this page is bright, it shines on their whole body so audience clearly see their costume.It also provides an bright image of this band to audience.Costume:Their costumes are variable in colours, each member does not only have one colour on their clothes. They are full of vitality.Especially the one wearing blue with red hair among them dresses so different. It helps audience identity he’s ‘the man’, the unique one, probably the leader in this band.His red hair also tells us the rebel of them. Like the heading mentions ‘rebelling’ in red, so his hair colour matches the heading.

Blocking:Only the one in blue, his body is fully visible, rest of the members have part of their body covered. It tells who’s the most popular one to the listeners. The popular one dominates the page.Also they are standing close to each other but never try to touch or connect the other members. As they are making a rebellious image that’s why they are playing ‘cool’.

Motifs (animals):There are many representations of animals appeared in this page. Like the logo (spider) at the top-left corner, the spider web tattoo on Frank Iero’s right hand, Tiger skin patterns on Mikey Way’s shirt and the badges (bee, pegasus) on their jackets.

It implies them are like animals, can be wild, which matches their rebellious image. They are sharing ‘animals’ as motifs but everyone of them is carrying different animal on their clothes. So each member has his own personality but they are in the same team.