Analysing music magazine Analysing music magazine cover, content, and double cover, content, and double

page spreadspage spreads

James ChristmasJames Christmas

Images

The large dominant image on the cover is the group, medium long

shot of a girl group called “All Angels”. They are smiling at the

camera and are dressed in formal white clothing to make them look

“angelic” or “heavenly” to relate to their name.

Part of the dominant image is also another group-shot of three young

boys called “The Choirboys” who are dressed in black suits to look

formal and are smiling and posing casually to show their adolescence

and friendship to each other. The photo is smaller and positioned

towards the corner to be more “out of the way” so the reader can

instantly focus on “All Angels” who are probably featured more in the

issue.

Masthead

The masthead Classic FM is in large black serif font to look formal to it’s readers. The letter F is in red italics to relate to the symbol in music; Forte (meaning to play the piece of music louder). Despite one of the dominant photos covering part of the masthead the reader still can see that it is Classic FM as the majority of letters are still visible.

Text and font

Underneath the faces of All Angles and in the centre of the page is their large name “All Angels” which is in serif font with bright gold lettering, again to make relate to their name as “heavenly”, perhaps to relate to the golden gates of heaven or a golden halo that sits on top of an angel’s head.

The majority of this front cover has text in serif font to look formal to it’s audience. The only exceptions are the sans serif plugs such as “New voices of Christmas!”, “2 FREE CDs!” and “THE UK’s FAVOURITE CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE” which all have a red background to grab the reader’s attention.

Coverlines and straplines

This front cover has very few coverlines. They are both in a smaller text in red font with the straplines underneath in an even

smaller black font to provide extra information about the coverline.

Images

The large dominant image is an artist who represents Foo Fighters

in a medium long shot who is wearing a casual red shirt and giving a serious expression to

relate to look rebellious. He takes up two-thirds of the right side of

the page where as on the one-third of the left side shows a smaller

groupshot of another band, again looking serious and “gothic”.

Masthead

The masthead Kerrang! is large, bold, white, capital serif font at the top of the cover, possible to emphasise it as onomatopoeia. however it has scratches through it to show that it is “rebellious” and that it has been damaged, like the younger, rock-listening readers are.The head of the artist in the dominant photo however also covers part of the masthead, yet people can still recognise it as Kerrang! due to the majority of letters still being visible.

Text and font

All of the font on this front cover is in capitals to express anger and rebellion as it relates to the rock genre of music it contains. There are also very few colours of Black, White and Yellow which together could create a contrast which could imply danger which again links to it being related to anger and rebellion.

The main headline “Foo Fighters” is written in large, bold sans-serif font and is just below the centre of the page and below the image of the dominant artist’s chest. It is also surrounded by straplines above and below it; “UK TOUR EXCLUSIVE!” and “BACK TO BLOW YOUR MIND!” in capital yellow fonts to imply danger.

Coverlines and straplines

There are only two sets of coverlines and straplines on

this cover which are in the bottom left of the page, but there are also a list of four artistes who the reader will read about in the “8 PAGE SPECIAL” advertised. The

very bottom of the page has a thin strip of what else to

expect in the issue fronted by a large yellow sans-serif-fronted “PLUS:” to grab the

reader’s attention.

Images

There is only one image on this cover which is the dominant image of Janet Jackson in a medium long

shot, who is wearing a casual top and jeans and is in a casual pose holding a camera towards her eye

while still looking happy. This relates to it’s younger audience as

looking more casual.

Masthead

The masthead, VIBe is in large orange sans-serif font to look casual and informal to it’s younger audience. Once again this masthead is partly covered by the artiste in the dominant image’s head but is still recognisable as VIBe. The e is lowercase while the VIB is in capitals to look informal to the audience.

Text and font

The only colours used in the font of this magazine cover are black, white, light blue and orange to make it contrastable and aesthetic to it’s younger audience.

All of it however is in capitals so everything stands out.

Coverlines and straplines

This cover contains many coverlines but hardly any

straplines, except for the dominant coverline of “JANET JACKSON’s” name which is position next to her

photo and in blue which has a short strapline of “LIKES TO

WATCH” in black font. The list over coverlines bottom left of the

page are coloured in a pattern (orange, blue, orange, blue,

orange blue) to separate each one and prevent confusion while the

opposite side is in black and white.

Text

Once again, for Classic FM the font is in serif and formal

while the font’s colours are mostly red, black and white.

On one third at the right side of the page has the word

“Contents” at the top right, the magazine “Classic FM”

with the month and year “December 2007”

underneath but small and more “out of the way”. The

contents are again coverlines and strap lines in

a list down the side of the page. Red numbers and

coverlines with black straplines underneath to

provide extra information.

At the very bottom right of the page contains the

masthead “Classic FM” and page number in a very small black font which presumably

will appear on all pages to remind the reader of what

they’re reading.

Images

This contents page contains 8 images relating to what the reader will see in this issue. They take up two-thirds of the left side of the page and are positioned in two rows of four. The all contain in the corner what or who the photograph is in white serif font with the page number in a smaller font in either the top left or right corner.

Text

Once again, for Kerrang! the font is in capital sans-serif font and informal while the

font’s colours are mostly white, black and yellow. The

headline “contents” at the top of the page and a sub-headline “This Week” just

underneath the images and the contents is also capitals

and scratchy to represent rebellion and anger.

Also at the very top left of the page in small font is the

issue number and publishing date.

The contents are also in a list of white text and placed into categories with yellow

capital font. These contents are positioned to stay out of

the way of the man in the bottom half photo.

There is also a small advertisement in the bototm

left of the page to receive your copies of Kerrang!

Through the post and at the bottom right of the page in

extremely small font and positioned vertically is the

picture and copyright credit.

Images

This contents page of Kerrang! contains three small images of the artists who will appear in the magazine with a coverline in the corner of them and the page number. These are in a row underneath the headline “Contents” at the top of the page while in the bottom half of the page is a large photo of someone on the floor, perhaps a drunken person at a gig to represent it’s audience’s “rebellion”. At the top left of the page is also a very small image of the editor to accompany a message from him.

Text

The style of NME is casual as it’s target audience is

aimed for teenagers to young adults. The masthead

and top banners and index list are in red to connote attention, but not danger perhaps a magazine like

Kerrang! would. The font is in serif text however it is

meant to look like a type-writer’s font to look stylish.

As well as red, the other colours that are mostly used

are black and white as the headline: “CONTENTS” and publishing date are in white

capitals font. The list of bands, just before the centre of the page on the left hand

side are in white font with black page numbers, which

breaks conventions as it has this rather than a contents which takes you directly to an article and not just who

the article is about.

The very bottom of the page also advertises a “Gig

Guide” with “477 GIGS LISTED IN THE UK’S

BIGGEST GUIDE” in large black capitals font.

Images

NME’s contents contains many photographs, the majority of them position of the right hand side which takes up around two-thirds of the page. The largest one takes up half of the page which sits onto of a coverline and strapline and page number, while four mage up a two by two grid . They have the category (ie news, radar, album, live) and page number in the top left corner and a coverline and stapline at the bottom of each photo. Other photos include a small photo of a particular band in the band index list and two of the editor which represent Polaroid photos. Also underneath the editor’s message in the thin gap of the left side of the page contains a subscription advert which contains three very small photos of previous issues. Also to accompany the contents is a yellow sticker with a coverline and strapline to direct the reader to an individual feature in the magaizne.

For this double page spread for Classic FM, the font still remains to be in serif font to be formal to the readers who enjoy listening to classical music and who are likely to be of a higher class or an elderly audience. The top half of the spread though contains many photographs of the various artists and orchestra the article is referring to which is quite neatly positioned at the top to look untidy and to be formal. The pictures are in black and white to make them look like they are in the past as they could be the preparation or a rehearsal for a concert or maybe a new CD. Captions also accompany the photos so the reader knows what is happening in each photo. Once again, it also makes the article look more formal.

The text of the article is positioned into columns of three to make it easier to read and so it can all fit on the pages. The headline of the magazine “DOCUMENTING RALPH” is at the top left of the space for the text as it is the first thing that the readers will look at. It is in capitals and a large text to stand out and to make it look like a title while underneath is the standfirst in a smaller non-capital font which gives the reader a bit more information about what the article will cover. The byline is underneath the stand first but smaller to give credit to the writer of the article and the photographer of the photos above.

There is a drop cap on the first letter of the article which is the “G” to stand out and look formal so the reader knows exactly where the article starts.

The text of the article is also positioned into columns of two, once again to make it easier to read and that it all fits on the page. . The text is in a white font to stand out on a black page to also make it seem “rebellious” while there are pale blue and grey strips behind the stand first and the by line to indicate that they are not a part of the article and also to seem more “rebellious”.

For this double page spread for MOJO, the music genre is more modern than Classic FM it is aimed for a younger to middle-aged target audience. The text is in sans-serif to look more casual to suit its target audience while the headline is in a messy font to look “rebellious” like it’s target audience is and so is the two drop caps, which once again indicate where the article starts.On the right side of the double page spread it is completely dominated by the artist that the article refers to, Pete Doherty, who is making a childish pose to look informal and casual to it’s audience. The photo is a medium close up where you can see him from shoulder level to make the article personal to him, which again is also accompanied by a caption.

There are only four photos on this double page spread, the first being a large photo of AC/DC performing to accompany it’s long review, which takes up the top half of the left page. It also has the DVD cover underneath it and besides the review while there is a large capitals AC/DC in white to tell the reader who they are and a caption in the photograph. This also is the same (but on a slightly smaller scale) for a photo of Paul McCartney which takes up the top right corner of the right page with the review underneath. Finally there is another photo of another band at the bottom of the right page with a small caption inside, again to accompany one of their reviews.

This article for Uncut is a review section of new music DVD. The font is mostly in sans-serif and the main colours used are black, white and blue. Each review has the title in blue of the DVD the section is reviewing as well as a “strapline” in bold black font to accompany it as well as a star rating out of five. Each review is in columns with the number of columns depending on how much room it takes up (ie long reviews have three columns while short ones only have one column) to make it easier to read. Once again at the very bottom of the pages, it contains the page number, magazine title and month in small black font in each corner to remind the reader what they are reading.