ANALYSIS OF A MUSIC MAGAZINE

Stephen Neale: 'Genres are instances of repetition and

difference. Difference is absolutely essential to the

economy of genre.' (Neale 1980)

This magazine always follows typical music magazine conventions; this includes having a large image of a music performer or pop star across the front in order to inform the audience what pop star this issue will mainly focus on. They also do this by having the musicians name spreaded across the front usually in bright red font which conforms to the rest of the colour scheme used for the magazine such as the use of red in the magazine logo.. This also allows it to be more recognisable as the audience are aware of what magazine it is even if the entire magazine masthead isn't visible.

Stephen Neale’s theory does apply to this magazine as they follow typical music conventions but over time have developed along with the development of technology. ‘Q’ magazine have repeated typical music magazine conventions but have applied them differently like different positioning of barcodes.

Expectations of ‘Q’ magazine that has been repeated includes the use of bright colours such as red on the front cover. This is also supported by Lady Gaga’s use of direct address as she looks directly into the camera. This magazine also follows typical magazine conventions as it has a barcode which is used for marketing and retail purposes.

Relatable stories to the genre of the magazine.Similar musicians are discussed which helps the audience identify what genre the magazine is.

Main cover story which makes the audience aware of who the main story is about in this specific article. In the double page spread (main article page) its always based on the person in the main cover story.

The colour scheme also helps to maintain cohesion as there is a constant use of red, black and grey colours.

Props and musician used on the front cover to help the magazine conform to music magazine conventions. The use of black clothing helps to identify what genre she is representing. I can conclude that she represents the Rock genre because of the convention stereotypes of spiky things and large use of black.

Barcode; This is a typical magazine convention and is used for financial purposes.

The use of cleavage showing emphasises the fact that she is inviting the audience to be gazing at her which relates and conforms to the Male Gaze theory. She is ‘dressed’ in this way for pleasure purposes. She is perceived as an sexual object for the male which also conforms to female stereotypes in society.

The masthead and main cover line is partially covered which emphasises the popularity of Both the magazine and the celebrity , as there easily recognisable there is no need for the whole text to be showing.

‘Wow’ words and interesting vocabulary has been included in the typography in order to interest the reader and to grab their attention.

‘Q’ Magazine has used a small variety of fonts in order to highlight importance parts of text on the front cover which helps to attract the audiences attention…

A Very dull background colour has been used in order to allow the main image and the use of colour text to stand out even more to the audience.

A mixture between san serif and serif fonts have been used too which does A very similar job.

FRONT COVER ANALYSIS

Image of the celebrity who is included In the main cover story. Professional close-up shot of the Pop star Lady Gaga. The use of celebrity endorsement conforms to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as it creates a sense of safety as the audience is familiar with the celebrity used. It also conforms to Richard Dyers star theory as the ‘pop star has a lasting significance and have brand awareness’. This could also relate to the purpose of having Lady Gaga spreaded over an entire page which shows her importance and therefore popularity.The fact that the image is in black and white allows it to stand out even more.

The use of red conforms to the typical colour scheme that ‘Q’ Magazine uses and therefore is known for.The large use of ‘L’ reminds the reader who the article is referring to and also shows her importance. Not forgetting that it adds more life and colour to the page and exadurates the classiness and originality of Q Magazine as the audience’s familiar with the colour scheme. The colour scheme also helps to maintain cohesion.

‘Q’ Magazine usually uses this layout of having 3 columns of text, which also conforms to typical conventions of a double paged spread.This could also create another sense of ‘safety’ as the audience will be more aware of what this page is and the fact that they're reminded of what magazine they're reading as they are familiar with it.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD ANALYSIS