Front cover analysis

• The three genres I will be analysing are : -Multigenred

- Rock

-R’n’b

I have chosen this genres because the front cover of my music magazine will have elements of all these genres.

Masthead and GenresThe masthead of this magazine is called ‘Q’. From what I personally can connote from the masthead is that the letter ‘Q’ is quite unique as there are not many words containing this letter so it symbolises that the magazine is unique and special and the reader should pick it up.

Research showed that the magazine ‘Q’ was to be originally called ‘Cue’ relating it so a person cueing a record, or playing a record however it was changed to the letter ‘Q’ so that it wouldn’t be misinterpreted as a snooker magazine.

This magazine contains a lot of genres, research showed me the different artists which have appeared on the magazine such as rock artists, hip hop and R'n'b artists, also pop artists. I believe the reason why the magazine had done this so that they can appeal to the mass market instead of the niche market.

Target audienceThe target audience is quite hard to detect as the magazine represents a lot of music genres but my guess would be the young demographic of 18-30 .

Colour themeThe use of colour is quite effective, the use of primary colours really helps the magazine stand out. The colour red can connote many things but the main one in this occasion is seduction. Cheryl Cole is the model in the magazine and she is wearing red lipstick adding a sexual appeal to the magazine and this helps to appeal to the magazine’s target audience.

LanguageThe use of language within the sell lines is quite simplistic yet engaging . The use of words like ‘best’ ‘rocks’ in big, bold fonts are really intriguing and makes the reader want to pick up the magazine.

Masthead and genresThe masthead for this magazine is called ‘Kerrang’. Just like the ‘Q’ magazine, the name is quite unique as well, research showed that Kerrang means the sound heavy metal makes while being distorted through ‘teen hormones’ yet still ringing through your ears. The words Kerrang scream at you and that’s how the magazine is portrayed.The genre of this magazine is rock. We can tell this by looking at the artists which are mentioned. The use of photography is also similar to the Q magazine as once again there is one person on the front cover however this artist is not looking into the camera which is one convention that the magazine is breaking.Colour theme

The colour scheme for this music magazine is a bit more brighter than the Q music magazine, the Kerrang uses primary colours to engage the reader. Yellow, green and white blend well together to create this ‘in your face’ moment to really emphasise the rock element of the magazine.

Target audience

The target audience is a much more older demographic of about 25+, this is because the genre is more appealing to older people however the use of colors is to appeal to a younger audience.

The layout of the magazine gives it this sort of an ‘edginess’ to appeal to a younger audience. The use of language amongst the sell lines is quite effective, the abbreviated word ‘WTF’ is used by the younger generation so by using in the front cover already intrigues the younger demographic.

The masthead for this music magazine is called ‘XXL’. XXL symbolises something very big so from what I can connote from this is that the music magazine represents a lot of artists which are huge in the R'n'b and Hip Hop genre. Also by the hiding the masthead behind the artist can emphasises the fact the magazine is huge in itself and doesn’t need the masthead to be seen.

The magazine represents the R'n'b genre so the target audience is looking around the young demographic of about 18-30, similar to the Q magazine.There is not much colour exposed in the front cover however the use of primary colour is quite effective to highlight the importance of Big Sean. The background has been made extremely light to bring out Big Sean. The design is very simplistic, all it wants to do is show Big Sean as the superior figure and topic of this issue.