Task 4. Research into a specific music magazine.Kerrang!

Background of Kerrang! magazineKerrang! Started off as a one off issue in ‘The Sounds’ newspaper in 1981. The name comes from the onomatopoeic word of smashing an electric guitar. Kerrang! was centred around heavy metal music and the rise of acts such as ACDC (who appeared on the first cover). Due to it’s heavy demand, Kerrang! Was made into a monthly magazine.

Kerrang is published by Bauer consumer media, the same publishing group that own over 238 magazines (Kerrang!, Q, Mojo, Heat, Grazia, FHM, ZOO etc ) as well as worldwide TV and radio stations.

Starting out with mainly thrash metal and glam rock bands, Kerrang! Later changed to cater to the grunge scene with the rise of Nirvana. Then, around the turn of the millennium, Kerrang! Started to focus of Nu Metal bands such as Limp Bizkit and Slipknot. Kerrang! Has been criticised many times about this chopping and changing of genres, as it seems that they change depending on the current trend.

When Nu Metal started to die out, Kerrang!’s sales began to decline. This led the magazine to focus on the new trend of music labelled “emo” and metalcore. This also received a lot of bad comments as the main readership were people who listened to heavier music and did not like this new, softer, more emotional “emo” rock. Nowadays, Kerrang! Focuses on any kind of rock music, ranging from thrash metal to indie rock and pop punk. This appeals to a lot of readers and causes less tension between music groups. There still are people who criticise Kerrang! For over-hyping some bands and neglecting others. This comes from the repeated articles and covers about Black Veil Brides recently.

Features of Kerrang! magazine

Every week, Kerrang magazine has a different artist/band (usually band) on it’s cover. It is usually a close up shot of them doing different things to reflect who they are and what their music is like. For example, if their music is dark then they will be wearing dark clothes and look quite moody.

Most issues of Kerrang! Have competitions and freebies within them. This Is to draw in the reader and make them feel like they can’t miss this issue.

The magazine, along with it’s main image, will always have small images of other people, relating to the other articles within the magazine. This shows the audience who else is featured and attracts the fans.

The target audience is clearly youths as the magazine is mainly focused on new, heavy music. The use of people with tattoos and piercings backs this up as it is a trend today to get one or both of these.The fact the magazine costs only £2.20 shows it is for people around working class.

Kerrang! In relation to my magazineFor my magazine I would like to use elements of Kerrang! Magazine. My music taste is similar to that shown in Kerrang! And I am subscribed to the magazine myself. I would like to make a magazine similar in regards to the main genre of rock music, and looking at kerrang! Gives a clear idea of how to portray this type of music and how to make it work.

The majority of Kerrang! Readers are male, although it is not a large difference. Male – 57.4%, Female – 42.6%