Masthead- The font is

very big and bold

connoting that the artists

featured are people who

like to stand out in the

industry. The name

‘Billboard’ suggests that

the magazine prioritises

in promoting and

advertising music rather

than providing

information about the

artist’s private lives or the

latest scandals in the

music industry. The use of

primary colours suggests

that its target audience is

young people

Anchorage text-‘How she

writes top hits’ emphasises

how the charts, the

success of the artist’s

career and the actual

music itself is the most

important factor for this

magazine and is therefore

written in a very large and

bold font. Underneath that

it says ‘why she doesn’t

wear pants’ in a smaller

font. As this is about her

private life and public

image, it takes less of a

priority. This text was

added in to attract fans of

Lady Gaga to buy the

magazine. Colour scheme and layout- The

colours used are quite subtle. Mostly

black, purple and white colours are

used. These colours make the main

image stand out connoting that the

artists take priority in the magazine.

These subtle colours contrast with

the bright, bold colours used in the

masthead suggesting that they might

target a more mature young

audience. Lady Gaga’s wig and make

up conforms to the colour scheme.

The layout is simple and easy to read

with big, bold fonts for every story.

Slogan- It’s quite unconventional as it makes the magazine sound more like a business magazine. This

connotes that the magazine prefers to focus on the actual industry of the music business and making

money is their main priority. This could help to attract a niche audience of older people and people who

might be more interested in the money making and more serious side of music. Alliteration is used to

emphasise the slogan, to make it seem catchier.

The main image- Lady Gaga is dominating the whole

page and even taking over part of the masthead

connoting her dominance over the music industry. Her

popularity could attract more people to buy the

magazine therefore making more money which is what

they want. Her purple wig stands out from the subtle

purple colour scheme used suggesting that she stands

out the most in the industry and is bold like the

magazine. She is posing quite provocatively connoting

that the magazine believes that sex sells and maybe that

her interview is quite provocative. The fact that she

looks weird suggests that the information about her

featured in this magazine will be a bit on the unusual

side. Her expression is quite aggressive suggesting that

the magazine might reveal another side to her. A

medium shot is used in order to show her body

connoting how she is in the male gaze, attracting men to

buy the magazine.

Sell lines-None of the

stories contain something

about an artist or the

conventional music news.

This suggests that the

magazine is more

concerned with issues of

the music industry

affecting the whole world.

The words used are

‘buying’, ‘deal’ and

‘invades’ suggesting that

this is a magazine for

people who don’t just

want celebrity gossip.

Music magazine cover analysis

Introduction to ‘Billboard’ magazine

It is produced, distributed and only available in America.

It is a weekly magazine.

It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular

songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis. The two most notable charts are

the Billboard Hot 100, which ranks the top 100 songs regardless of genre and is based on

physical sales, digital sales and radio airplay; and the Billboard 200, the corresponding chart

for album sales.

The magazine is designed to keep up with the latest music news so pop is the most featured

genre.

The mass audience would be young people who are interested in the weekly pop news.