Music Magazines

Genre of Music: Punk Rock / Indie Rock

Target Audience: 16-19 year olds

Editor: Krissi Murison

Frequency: Weekly (since March 1952)

Company: IPCA cover from February 1976

Strap lineTelling the audience about a big feature in the magazine, the question mark shows that it is a topic that people have recently been talking about but are not sure. The black and white writing on and red background instantly stand out.

MastheadThe iconic NME logo is black white and red. Part of it is covered by the image on the front but people can still recognise the magazine from its other conventions.

Cover LinesLarge blocked font with drop shadows so it stands out. The bands name is in the largest letters so peoples attention is drawn to it.Some small images are used to support the cover lines.

Pull QuoteShows that there is an interview inside. The quote used is quite a spiteful one which makes the audience think that there will be a lot of gossip revealed.

Cover ImageThe picture is of the band ‘The Gossip’ which is the type of band that appeals to NME readers. The image was taken in a studio and takes up the majority of the page. Their name is printed in the middle of the page in large bold lettering and so is easily noticed. By having the band on the front cover it indicates that there will be a large feature of them inside.GeneralIn general NME magazine uses three main colours (black, white and red). This is also common throughout all of their issues. They have used a large band image on the front which appeals to their audience and have used cover lines and quotes to give the potential reader an idea about what they should expect.

FRONT COVER

CONTENTS PAGE

• The title is ‘NME this week’ shows that it is the contents of the magazine but also makes it seems more current by saying ‘this week’•The band index down the sides allows people to select the band who they want to read about and go to the page •There is a large image of a music venue which is a main feature •The sub heading down the side are bold and so allow reader s to easily chose the section they want to go to if they are looking for something specific •The advert at the bottom showing how to subscribe attracts the readers as it is in a different colour - the important facts are also highlighted•The red text box at the bottom states a fact that they want you to notice and recognise – this means that if you looked at the contents page before purchasing the magazine you would want to read on further •There is a basic colour scheme of red, white and black which continues on from the front cover to the whole magazine

A DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• Its an interview with a band that appeal s to the audience •A page and a half is an image of the band – this makes the reader stop and look if they are just flicking through the pages•The remaining half is the interview – this makes it seem like there is less writing than there actually is•There is some writing over the image of the band explaining the background for the interview – this lets people know what its about •The interview questions are written in bold and the answers in regular – so it is clear•There is a highlighted section in the middle highlighting a quote – this lets the readers get an idea of the interview before they have even read the whole thing, the quote is also likely to be something shocking like gossip•The text is quite small which can be off putting for the reader •There is a general colour scheme of black, white and brown

Genre of Music: Hip Hop

Target Audience: 16-24 year olds

Editor: Jeremy Miller

Frequency: (since 1988)

A cover from February 1988

Strap lineLets the audience know about a main feature. White writing on a black background stands out and is clearly seen.

MastheadThe logo for ‘The Source’ is very bold and recognisable. The name ‘The Source; also indicates that it is the place to find out all the information you want. The microphone in the ‘O; also shows that this is a music magazine.

Cover LinesThe cover lines are very large and stand out against the red background. They don’t give too much away about the features themselves and are more one line or single names. This is affective as it makes people want to read the magazine to find out why the names are written.

Cover ImageThe cover image is of ‘The Game’ who is a big hip hop start and so will appeal to the audience, The photo was taken in a studio. The image takes up the majority of the page, however no writing goes across the picture apart from the barcode at the bottom. Part of the image covers the masthead but it is still clearly recognisable.

GeneralOverall The Source magazine uses a basic colour scheme of red, white and black which is often the case with most of their issues, although they have recently started to use black , white and green. The cover on the front shows a person that appeals to the audience and the cover lines used are very vague is terms of describing the contents.

AdvertisingThe advert fort the website stands out as it is the only thing on the page that isn’t black, red or white. It is good because if people don’t have the time to purchase the magazine they can clearly see the website for it.

FRONT COVER

CONTENTS PAGE

• The name of the contents page ‘Master plan’ stands out as it makes it seem like an organised way of reading the magazine•The sub heading of each section are in a different font and colour so they are easily recognized •The general layout is very simple and easy to read•There is a small image of a rapper and some large bold text beside it showing the main feature of the issue and where to find it•The basic colour scheme is used which is carried on through the rest of the magazine•Readers may like this style of contents page as it doesn’t make them feel like they are overloaded with information as is it clearly and neatly set out

A DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• Source magazines buyers guide featuring hip hop star Currency advertising the brand ‘Rock Smith’•One page is the picture of the artist and the other is some writing with the brand logo and the main item of clothing being advertised•On the same page as the artist there is writing telling the reader each item of clothing how much it is to buy•The other just has the brand logo and a brief line under it saying the main item•The use of the colours black, white and red and very affective as they stand out to the reader•The image of the person takes up the whole page and is very bright against the white background•The 2 pages contrast with the black and white pages but are very effective as you can see that they go together by the logo of the brand and the logo on the artists jumper

Genre of Music: Pop

Target Audience: 11-15 year old girls and boys (85% girls and 15% boys)

Editor: Laura Hutcheson

Frequency: monthly (since February 1995)

Company: BBC Magazines

A cover from 1995

MastheadThe masthead is in typical ‘girl’ colours and so is automatically noticed by young girls who are their main target audience. The name ‘Top of the Pops’ tells the audience that the magazine is about music. The use of lowercase letters shows that it is informal and so appeals to younger people.

Cover LinesEach cover line is presented in a different way with a different font. This is very effective for attracting its target audience as it makes the magazine seem more fun and less serious. The main cover line says “OMG!” which is the language used by younger people.

Pull QuoteThe quote shows that there is an interview with the band mentioned. It is a comment made about the bands love lives which is what readers of this magazine want to find out about.

Cover ImageThe main image on this magazine is of the Jonas Brothers who are a band that appeal to the target audience. The picture takes up a lot of the page however much of the front cover is also made up of cover lines and smaller images.

GeneralGenerally Top of the Pops magazine uses a range of different colours that appeal to younger people. Unlike most magazines they do not have a uniform colour scheme and each issue is different. The large images on the front attracts attention to the potential buyers.

Cover PicturesThere are lots of small pictures on the front cover. This shows the reader some of the features that they can expect to find in the magazine. This is effective because the younger audience who this is aimed at would rather look at pictures than read lots of writing.

FRONT COVER

CONTENTS PAGE

Top of the Pops magazine doesn’t have a contents page as it wouldn’t really appeal to

the target audience. This is because the audience is young people who would rather just

read through the whole magazine instead of picking

out bits they would prefer. The front cover also gives a lot of details about features and so if they wanted to skip pages they could find out where to

go by looking there.

A DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• An interview with a popular band which is advertising their new movie•The double pages are split into 3 – the first third is a basic report about the movie, the second third is a brief interview and the last part is an image of the band, there is also a section at the bottom introducing you to others characters in the film•The 2 pages have a lot on them in terms of different images, text boxes and colours – in this particular case it is affective because the target audience of this magazine is attracted to a lot of colours and shapes as well as images of familiar people•There is different fonts used to differentiate each section•Although there is a lot of large headings there isn’t that much small print•The page would instantly grab the readers attention because of the bright colours used and large images