Analysis of music magazines

AS Media Studies

Front covers of Q, Kerrang and Rocksound

• Each of these magazines has a very similar target audience - teenagers and young adults, as they all contain the same or similar genres of music.

Kerrang!Masthead

Big, attractive and appeals to the target audience. Now become a worldwide logo.

Skyline

Quick burst of information, usually used to advertise.

Main Article

Kerrang’s main image and article focus usually on a lead singer of a band, a solo artist or a whole band. Main article features Pearl Jam with the lead singer standing tall and looking serious.

Pull Quote

Quote from the main article, supports the main band being featured.

Left Third

In Kerrang, the left third usually features free items to give away, an attractive prospect first seen on a store shelf.

Selling line

“The UK’s biggest gig guide!” – This already suggests to the reader about the popularity of the magazine, and how useful it can be.

Coverlines

On Kerrang, these feature bands, interviews and the occasional competition. Displays general info about what’s in the issue so the reader knows what to expect.

Flash

Usually featured in Kerrang, sometimes featured in other magazines. Displays a quick burst of information, on only one particular topic/subject. They are useful because they display a topic in the magazine that the reader might not expect, but that they would enjoy.

Kerrang

Kerrang tends to contain an organised front cover layout. The front usually contains a few flashes which perhaps try to give the magazine a more rockout and rebellious design, appealing to it’s target audience – teenagers and young adults.

Circulation Figures - 43,253

Q• Although Q contains a similar

music genre advertised in Kerrang, the layout appears to be more sophisticated and organised.

• The coverlines are in a suitable font and order.

• Red, white and black appear to be the main colours used throughout the magazine.

• The main image is the lead singer of muse, the guitar smashing the Q displays the bands “rebellion” and the seriousness of their music.

• Circulation Figures - 100,172

RockSound

• This magazine cover appears to appeal to teenagers mainly due to the bands featured and its artistic-type font.

• Coverlines are in an organised manner.

• The main image represents the lead of a band. The tattoos, his facial expression, his hair and his pose represent his taste for music and perhaps his distaste for conformity.

• Free items featured. This would appeal definitely to a younger target audience.

Contents of Kerrang, Q and RockSound

Contents of Kerrang• This contents contains a letter

from the editor and keeps with the house style of the magazine, and is kept in colour with the front cover, with the use of black, white and yellow to illustrate titles and the features of the magazine.

• Many pictures used to illustrate the features of the magazine, all containing rockers or punk-type bands.

• Page numbers marked clearly, issue number and date of the magazine displayed.

• Contains an advertisement for subscription to the magazine, tucked away in the corner as last minute info for the reader.

Contents of Q

• Very neat and tidy layout for the contents, keeps in the same style for the front cover, which also was well organised.

• Page numbers and features clearly displayed, each with a little written explanation of the articles.

• Pictures feature more sophisticated bands and artists compared to Kerrang.

• Keeps with the house style, same colours are used, red and white, with little elements of black.

Contents of RockSound

• Keeps with the same font style as with the front cover, displaying the features in the contents and the coverlines on the front cover.

• Features and page numbers clearly displayed, each with its own explanation as to what is in each article.

• Features a main image rather than several separate images, illustrating one particular article. Useful pull quote added.

DPS for Kerrang• This DPS is mainly textual,

with a few pictures all on one pictures. 6 particular columns have been used to get every piece of detail from this interview, as this is the main article from the front cover.

• The Main article features the band Pearl Jam, with some pictures on how they were like in the past. They look much more rebellious in these pictures, demonstrating what they were once like many times ago, perhaps when they first formed as a group. The interview must contain their explanation into what these pictures meant to the group.

DPS for Kerrang

• This article does not feature a headline, but it does have a few pull quotes. The same font is used for both the pull quotes and the main text. The layout and colours have a continuity that is consistent with the house style of the magazine. The pull quotes interest readers since they are inspirational.

• The journalist and the editors have organised this article to be more like a newspaper for the interview. The band would be happy with this layout as the article makes them appear more sophisticated as a rock group.

DPS for Q• This DPS continues the house

style with the contents and the front cover, using the same fonts and colour styles.

• The layout of this article is a newspaper-type, containing 3 columns of text and a main image of the band on the separate page.

• The main image on the second page supports the interview and the pull quote, by their poses, their facial expressions and how they are holding their instruments. They are each holding a different instrument and facing a different way to one another, perhaps expressing their music from three different perspectives.

DPS for Q– The pull quote used is from the

lead singer of Muse, Matt Bellamy. It just describes the band as how they see themselves and how their fans should see them also.

– The journalist/editor has made this article into perhaps a personal article for the band, allowing readers to the see the band behind the music, and their reaction to everything they’ve made for themselves.

– I like the photoshop effects used on the background of the main image, to create a mysterious blue atmosphere, which describes the band at best.

DPS for RockSound• This DPS does not follow a

particular style and seems to use different colours and font styles. The article is mainly picture-led, displaying the artist as acting like a young teenager, playing on an xbox, riding a bike inside, using a guitar and reading a book. Each of these things a young teenager can identify with.

• The pull quote from the artist is another inspirational-type quote, talking about the representation of the band, and their abilities in their music.

• The style of the DPS seems more casual, with not as much text and more images.

DPS for RockSound

• The journalist/editor has laid out the article in this form in order for the artist to appear very rebellious and young in nature, yet seeming more like an inspiration in his music also.

• I like the photoshop effects used on adding a smaller group picture on top of a main image and I think this would work well in my music magazine production work.