Music magazine research

For my music magazine I decided to go for an Indie genre. For it to look authentic I researched existing magazines similar to my chosen genre and studied the codes and conventions they followed.  The magazines I chose to study were that of Q magazine, NME etc. They followed the conventions of being hip and cool, sometimes edgy. The chosen models often look either seductive or rough.

On this cover of Q magazine, the main image is the well-known Madonna, her head covers the logo of the magazine suggesting its popularity, more famous then the model herself and at a glance the audience will know the magazine and can guess its content. The model is also recognisable from a glance. The choice of clothing the odd-looking glove, suitable for Madonna who iconicly wore or wears weird gloves. As she is so famous this follows code and conventions as it is what the audience expect to see, a familiar recognisable Madonna. Her pose is a over the shoulder, seductive look, appealing to a young adult audience, therefore following the codes and conventions of this magazine. Her name is in block red capitals making it bold and eye catching. The red colour is also part of the colour scheme of red, black, grey and white. The colour scheme makes the overall image attractive, appealing to its target audience. It also ensures every image and piece of text stands out without creating an image that is too busy and difficult to look at. Other text includes lists of other artists or celebrities. They don’t cover the model of detract from her face as she is the main image, however it stands out in capital letters in white, which stands out in front of the black background. In the top right hand corner there are three artists or bands. They are in red capital lettering which doesn’t make them as easy to see on the black background as the white, which the wording describing information about the artists is which is more readable. The information sounds like personal information about the artists like ‘At the movies’ or ‘In the pub’. Its sounds like the audiences favourite bands getting up to everyday ‘normal’ activities, something that may interest the demographic audience and help them relate to the artists they know and love. The bold text of ‘woman in power’ at the bottom of the cover is also eye catching, the white lettering against the grey background. When introducing the artists the word choice of ‘Girl powered by…’ suggests quite simply women empowerment, which would likely appeal to a female audience and that their favourite artists are strong women. The best of British albums logo stands out with nothing covering over it. The British flag as part of the logo suggests Q pride to be British, country proud appealing to its demographic audience, the magazine includes music from the audiences’ country. It also says ‘voted by you’ making the audience feel more involved and in control of what they are listing to.  The wording of ‘Stupid question! Next!’ is informal appealing to a young audience. The exclamation marks and the use if ‘next’ being in italics suggests force or excitement. 

Again the recognisable magazine logo is partially covered. This time by the band ‘Kings of Leon’. The image of the breaking glass synchronizes with the heading ‘Breakthrough’. It also suggests an exciting time for Kings of Leon and in Q, there is something about them worth reading about. The breaking glass overall makes the magazine look cool and exciting and edgy possibly make the young demographic audience feel like their buying something dangerous. This is successfully following the codes and conventions of an indie magazine. The modelling band, the main image, is styled casually following the codes and conventions of an indie/rock band. They dress laid back and cool. The makeup is natural. Their positioning, highlighting them breaking the glass symbolises their forceful breakthrough and them making it to the top. As the broken glass makes the overall image look busy, the bolder text that is important for the audience to see has a white background around the text so the writing stands out as opposed to the smaller text in the bottom left hand corner, which isn’t very clear. The white backgrounds match the Q letter on the logo, creating a colour scheme. The text tells the audience that inside the magazine they have 50 of the best albums of 2008. This encourages the audience to buy the magazine, to find out which albums are the best of 2008. It is something of interest to the demographic audience therefore following codes and conventions of an Indie magazine. The magazine uses different colours to highlight the important information to the audience. ‘The Killers’ is highlighted in red as ’50 best albums’. 

On this cover of Q the most noticeable thing was the guitar held by the model being smashed into the Q logo, where it looks cracked, however still recognisable, this again displaying the popularity of the magazine. The image conforms to the codes and conventions of an Indie magazine. The action is violent and gives the audience a feel that they are buying something dangerous, which would also be interoperated as exciting and targets its young demographic audience. The action on the main image synchronizes with the sub heading ‘Matt Bellamy is out of control’ so it the action of smashing a guitar almost makes sense therefore in effective on the first page. The guitar also symbolizes the music of the band Muse and suggested that it’s also the music that is becoming wilder and out of control and suggests to the audience that there is something worth reading about in Q about Muse. The cover has a colours scheme of red, white, grey and black. The model in dark clothes blends into the colour scheme. There is a quote from Matt Bellamy which follows the codes and conventions as young fans of the band Muse will be interested in what the band has to say. The quote seems a bit quirky; ‘I bought 50 cans of beans and an axe’ Its strange quality also follows codes and conventions as the fans will ask why and are then encouraged to buy the magazines to find answers. Also as young people they strive for individuality and to appear unique and look for something different. This quote will appeal to them. Under the heading muse in bold white writing there are sub headings ‘Rock’s greatest nut jobs’ like Matt Bellamy, ‘On tour with Coldplay’ and ‘Hitsville uk’ all highlight what the audience will want to read about. In addition to this there is also the feature of the ‘200 things you didn’t know about the Beatles’ with a photo of the band to 

The q logo is shown bold on this front cover, only partially covered with Lily Allen’s arm. The model, Lily, is portayed in a very provocative manner, in her postioning, one hand on hip and other hand near her mouth. She is also looking straight at the camera with is suggestive. The choice of clothing, short bodycon skirt, high heels and topless also reveals sexual connotations. Her hair and make up is also very ‘made up’. This follows codes and conventions as the sexual image will appeal to a young adult audience, who will also know or listen to Lily Allens music. The panthers have be photoshopped into the image to contextualise the sub heading ‘sexy beast’. They are also used to symbolise Lily Allen ‘wicked wicked ways’.

On the contents page of q magazine the purpose of the page is established with the main heading. The brief information establishing the features with page numbers. There is a colour scheme of red white and black, which makes the layout look more organised. The red, synchronizes with the q logo, is eye catching and highlights information like the features and ‘every month’. On the top left hand side of the page there is a date of when the band ‘the Courteeners’ are next playing. The date is in bold white, which stands out over the black

On this single spread contents page of Spin magazine, I noticed it at first as the style was similar to Q magazine.  It is mainly image dominated which gives it more impact on the audience. The use of Photoshop and the lighting emphasises the models face makes the overall image eye-catching. It also demonstrates the main feature of the magazine that is Duffy. The model is dressed casually, as Duffy is often portrayed; her hair is styled and is deliberately roughed up. She is wearing some makeup, heavier eye makeup. This conforms to codes and conventions of a laid back young demographic audience. Duffy is being shown in a mid shot camera angle. Her positioning is odd, her raised hand holding the guitar and her other hand pushing the camera away. Although this might normally be an aggressive pose, the tone of the image is neutralised by her expression which is light hearted and laughing. This also may appeal to the demographic audience as she looks a bit rebellious yet still having fun with it. The contents page also includes the logo of the magazines, slightly covered by the models raised hand which conveys the magazines popularity.There are several different font sizes and styles which each encourage audience to read all of information. There is a colour scheme of black, blue and grey and of course the colour red and white in the logo. The smaller black writing is difficult to read against the grey background. I don’t think this would appeal to the demographic audience as the text isn’t very intriguing and doesn’t encourage the audience to read its contents. The image distracts the eye away from the text.  For my own contents page I’d prefer to have more balance of image and text and use more attractive colours for the text.

On this contents page of Q magazine the separate images attract the audience. The layout of the images appears professional with their polished look yet still not too formal; making the overall layout look ‘cool’ there for conforms to codes and conventions. The bold red colour stands out of the dominating black and white. The images attract the reader to the information text. The main dominating image is the long shot of Cheryl Cole. She is placed in a seductive pose with a seductive facial expression; her costume is quite glamorous, yet rocky. The black and white and her ripped leggings, give the image overall an edgy look.

 The text on the left looks structured and is very simple to read. In a colour scheme of black and white and red is effective, it draw the audience eye to different places. For example is adds to the structure of the text. It also fits with the logo of Q. As Cheryl Cole is the most dominating and eye-catching image and likely for audience to want to read about the page number has been put in the top left of the photo in bold encouraging the reader. It also does this with the bottom image as the audience will be keen to read about it next.

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This has a similar layout to the previous NME contents page. I thought the overall image was too busy, with the addition of the extra text of the left, the index. However it still conforms to the codes and conventions of an indie magazine. It has plenty of information such as news of live events, features advertisements, and allsorts that would interest the demographic audience and is structured so the audience can find it easily in the magazine. It follows a basic colour scheme of black, white and red. This adds to the structure. As is a busy page the white background seems appropriate the subheading for each topic stands out well, the white block lettering on a black box. Page numbers stand out in red font. The largest image if Astoria as it is the main feature. It also successfully grabs the readers’ attention and encourages them to read the article.

The contents page of a magazine purpose is to give its audience information on the content of the magazine what where to find it. It should be structured so it is simple and easy to read. On this contents page of NME the magazine holding recent news which would appeal to the demographic audience is highlighted with the headline This Week. The overall image of the contents page is busy however still remains structured. It is quite text dominated which is still effective as it is balanced and contextualised with image. Text on the right hand side is structured in single columns with sub headings. A colour scheme of black and white helps draw the eye separately from the sub headings and the detailed text underneath and the red stands out effectively for the logo and such. The main images show the band oasis play at a gig. The images haven’t been stylised and have been taken live. This conforms to the indie theme codes and conventions as it appears laid back ‘cool’ not too polished, like they take their music too seriously to care about how the picture looks. Details of arrows and border also give the contents and professional look.

On this double page spread the model (Florence) is taken in a long shot which takes up the whole left page. What she sitting on and the white and light grey screen and the lettering, USA, also act as the background for the spread. It’s not too busy so text is still easy to read. The model is also looking into the camera therefore straight at the audience which is a powerful image and makes it seem like she has something to say. Her costume is quite stylish almost theatrical, hair and make-up is feminine. It also evokes the audiences’ interest to read the article itself.

The bold, black heading further enforces this and grabs the reader’s attention with a quote for one of Florence’s songs and it stands out well from the pale grey background. Quoting from one of her song illustrates how popular the artists is and how herself and the lyrics to her song are instantly recognisable. The article is written in three columns (which I will do for my magazine) on the right page, again the black text on the grey background stands out well, something I will take into consideration for my own double page spread.

I liked the layout of this spread, particularly the quote of the artist song as a heading.

On this double page spread of NME magazine the article is about a recent gig performed by the indie rock artist Florence and the machine. It shows Florence in a long shot. In the top left hand corner it shows the word LIVE in block capitals telling that the photo was taken live at the artist performance this is effective and conforms to codes and conventions as likely fans will be interested at what happened at the gig and the photo live shows the audience how it looked. In a colour scheme of black white and bright pink the bold colour stands out and also draws the eye to different parts of the page. The choice of pink instead of say bright red is ideal as the article is about Florence and the dominating image of her on the left is quite feminine with her dress and pink flowers. The text is set in columns, standard black text against a white background; however some is highlighted in pink, following the colour scheme.

 

Like the front cover by q this double page spread of Madonna shows her to her seductive, yet with an edge, displaying Madonna diversity. The colour scheme draws the eye to different parts of the magazine. Madonna’s name is in bold white font against a solid black background. Also the red lettering at the top left, this isn’t bold or bright enough to stand out against the dark background, which I will take into consideration for my own double page spread. The black background also makes Madonna’s pale airbrushed skin stand out. It creates contrast and is a powerful image.

I thought the pose of the model is quite dramatic, which I would consider trying to interpret into my own double page spread.

This double page spread of q magazine has a simple design, the left page dominated only by image and the right dominated by text. It’s simple yet effective the image of Lady Gaga shows the popular artist in a mid shot showing only her head and her upper torso. She is naked and covering herself up with her hands and metal chains. The nudity conforms to Lady Gaga conventions as a well-known controversial pop star. This controversy gains an audience. It appeals to young adults and Lady Gaga fans, they are always interested in what she’ll do next. Her pose and facial expression is very provocative adding to the tone of the image.

The heading at the top of Lady Gaga is small and in the top right hand corner of the right page. It is not bold or eye-catching however matter as the model is so famous and the photo is what immediately draws the eye, she doesn’t need a huge introduction. The image in black and white give the photo a timeless look and suggest Lady Gaga is truly a great pop  star that will outstand the test of time. On the right page the small black text is easy to read against the white background, however some is partially covered slightly by a red L for Lady on top of the text. The writing is still legible, yet it makes it harder to read.

I like the image in black and white and would consider it for my own magazine.

The main heading is a quote from the artist. It’s in a bold font and in a very large text size, which seems fitting as the statement is bold. On the right modelling is Lily Allen. The image takes up the whole of the right page. Lily has been styled in a masculine shirt showing she is more masculine than feminine. It also blends in with the colour scheme of black white and red. Her pose is slightly defensive looking and synchronizes with the tone her quote. It also has connotations of her being strong and demanding. In the sub heading Lily’s name is highlighted in red meaning the article is all about her. The model and the text stand out well from the pale grey background.

On this front cover of q magazine the magazine logo is clearly established at the top of the magazine and is easily identifiable. Along the top of the magazine it states ‘The Uk’s biggest Music magazine'.the model looks edgy with the dark eye make up and the spiky ring held up close to her face, which is to look seductive as well as edgy. the illusion of her being in the rain also contributes to the rick glam look of the photo. the close up makes the model look forward and purposeful. her looking straight into the camera makes the overall image powerful.