Analysing Music Magazines:Front Covers

Sophia Leiper 12FG

Kerrang!

Examples of the front cover of Kerrang! Magazine. You will notice that the colours used are usually Black, White, Yellow and Red.

MastheadKerrang! Magazine has had the samemasthead for many years now, so muchso that it has practically become theirlogo. They use a base font which isquite simple, bold and clear, but use ashatter effect on it to make it stand outmore. The colours usually used arewhite and black, as the colours on thepage are usually bright, to be easilyvisible.

Main CoverlineThe main coverline forKerrang! is usually in a largefont across the centre of thepage. This draws attention tothe text/article. As mentionedon the first slide we see thatthe colours used are thosethat the magazine usescommonly: red, yellow, blackand white. The font is usuallyquite stylised. This is alsousually quite simple because alot of the band names that areused are quite suggestive andhave meanings behind themanyway.

Other CoverlinesUnlike most magazines, Kerrang! has itsother coverlines on both sides rather thanthe traditional ‘left third’ and are usuallyaccompanied by an image of the mainsinger of that band/the artist themselves.They tend to be quite small. Above themasthead, rather than a strapline, Kerrang!usually has a competition and the artist itrelates to (see below for examples) in thepuff this is a common feature. It is a goodway to attract readers.

Strapline/Issue Number

This is a typical example of Kerrang!Magazine’s barcodes. Here as well as the pricethey have the issue number and website. Thisis because the rest of the magazine is quitebusy and this is a clear space so the details canbe seen clearly. You may also notice that thereis not only the price in pound sterling but alsoin Australian dollars. This is because themagazine is now also sold abroad. Kerrang!magazine does not have a strapline on it.

Language UseThere are a variety of language features thatare featured in the various issues of themagazines. For example, quotes from theartists, numbers as figures rather than wordsand coverlines written as short statements andnot as sentences. Some may say that thecoverlines are quite short to suggest that thereaders are uninterested in the text but ratherthe images that come with the magazine. Thewords that are used tend to be quite readerfriendly, using colloquial words such as‘awesome’.

The colours that are primarilyused on the covers of Kerrang! areRed, White, Black and Yellow.These colours are used becausethey match the style associatedwith the genre. The colours usedtend to be associated with‘manly-ness’ which is commonlyassumed to be the targetaudience.

Colours

ImagesThere are many images on the cover ofKerrang! magazine. There is a main imagewhich is typically a mid-shot of one person,however sometimes it can be a mid-shot ofthe members of the band. The ones ofsingle artist are usually side on but theirface towards us, and the ones with multiplepeople are again facing us. If they at thecamera it is as if they are looking at us. Thebackground is usually a plain block colour.As well as the main image, however,Kerrang! also uses many smaller imagesthat are relevant to the contents of themagazine; inside Kerrang! they often havepull-out posters and so there are usuallysmaller versions on the front cover toattract the readers.

Design

The overall design of Kerrang! magazine isquite messy and unconventional, however,they have been using the same stylesuccessfully for many years now. All of theimages used on the front cover are relevantto the articles/content of the magazine. Thedesign clearly works well because this is oneof the most well known rock magazines.

Target AudienceThe target audience for Kerrang! tend to be anyone from about 16 to about 28 who have an interest in the style of music. Inside Kerrang!, there are often tour dates and concerts near you, not many people over 28 will be able to attend such events due to work and other engagements that will take priority.

Kerrang! have a ‘messy’ image to their magazine. Although well known, they are not an upmarket magazine. Also at £2.20 per magazine it’s not very expensive. This means that they try to get as much information as they can in the magazine. This is another key feature because the target audience would want as much as they can get for their money.

Q

These are examples ofthe front cover of QMagazine.

Masthead

The masthead of Q is simply the letter in whitefont on a red background. However, it hardlyappears fully/clearly. Most of the time it ispartially concealed by the main image or aneffect such as the shatter effect on the ‘Muse’edition. The minimalistic masthead suggestsquality rather than quantity.However, it was not always called this. Up untilthe 200th edition it was called ‘Cue’ adoptingthe idea of ‘cueing the music’. It was changedbecause it was easily mistaken as a snookermagazine!

Main Coverline

As with most magazines, the maincoverline is the largest text on thefront cover. They tend to stretchacross a while section of the frontcover, but sometimes is on the side.Two of the examples given havequotes alongside them. This is usedto entice the reader.

Other CoverlinesThe coverlines on Q tend to be quite short andto the point and are usually on the edges of thecover in small font. This is so as to drawattention to the main coverline/image used onthe magazine. The coverlines are not onlyphrases, but are usually artist names . This is auseful device as it grabs the attention ofpossible buyers; people will not pick up amagazine that has names of artists that they donot recognize.

Strapline/Issue Number

Q has two straplines. ‘TheUK’s Biggest MusicMagazine’ is one of them,although the use of ‘biggest’is sometimes interchangedwith ‘greatest’. This is usedas a banner at the top of thepage, against a blackbackground and with whitewriting. The second that issometimes used is ‘DiscoverGreat Music’ this is usually inthe same red square as theMasthead and again in whitefont. These suggest that Q isthe best available.

Q magazine has the price, issue numberand website in the same box as thebarcode because it is easy to read; if itwere elsewhere in the magazine it wouldbe hard to notice amid the bright coloursand images.

Language UseQ uses a variety of language featuressuch as quotes and numbers as figuresrather than the words. These are used tograb the attention of the reader.However, Q also tends to use quite acasual choice of words such as ‘nutjobs’and ‘barmy’. These make the magazineseem more reader-friendly. Anotherfeature that is sometimes used is rhyme.‘Barmy Army’ is used to add humour tothe article, but as with the casual words,makes the magazine more reader-friendly.

Colours

The colours used for the font tend to be black,white an olive green. These are commonlyused in Q magazine. Although sometimes yousee grey used.

Even though these colour are dark, they makean impression on the reader that the magazineis of good quality/high standard.

ImagesQ usually only has onemain image on the frontcover. This can vary from along shot to a mediumclose up. Unlike a lot ofmagazines, however, themain person in the mainimage doesn’t always makeeye contact with thereader, they are oftenstanding to the side andlooking away.On the example of theMuse edition, however, wesee that there is anotherpicture. This is anuncommon feature for Q.

DesignQ magazine is normally quite clearly laid outwith the main image in the centre of the page,not being concealed by coverlines. They donot follow the convention of ‘left third’ andinstead have their coverlines all around theimage. The design work well as it is easy toidentify the articles and in turn whether or notyou want to purchase the magazine. Theminimalistic layout of the magazine allow us tobelieve that it is more a magazine of qualityrather than that of quantity; it is a moreupmarket magazine.

Target AudienceThe target audience for Q is the ‘older generation’, people in their 30’s and 40’sof both sexes. the founders of the magazine, Mark Ellen and David Hepworthfelt the older generation of music buyers were being neglected.

Although now, many editions are about more modern music, most are stillabout old ‘classic’ albums. The fact that the magazine is aimed at an olderaudience means that it can afford to be a little bit more expensive.

Also, many people of this audience would rather have a large article with factsand truth rather than lots of smaller articles about hot gossip etc.

Comparing the Two…Overall, we can see that the two types of magazine are completely different. WhereKerrang! puts as much information as possible onto its cover, Q tends to beminimalistic.

This could be associated with price, Kerrang! at £2.50 is the cheaper of the two butincludes less information and more advertising for concerts etc. Q, on the otherhand is more expensive but has in depth articles and less advertising.

The age group that the magazines are aimed at plays a lot in the role of how thetwo magazines are arranged/priced. Younger audiences, for example, are less likelyto spend more money for a magazine even if it has a lot of articles. Another keyfeature that determines the audience is the content of the article. Q tends to use alot of ‘older’ music and musical references whereas Kerrang! uses newer, morepopular bands.

In my OpinionAs a teenager myself I prefer to read Kerrang! I find that Q caters much better to anolder audience and as this is what they aim to achieve then they are clearlysuccessful as they achieve 64,596 Total Average Net Circulation / Distribution PerIssue.

Using what I have learnt in this analysis I am able to understand more about thegenre of magazine that I want to design.

I shall be using Kerrang! as a template and hope to produce a similar style ofmagazine.