Analysis of a Music Magazine Cover

 

• Age: The age range of this magazine looks to be directed towards an adult audience, starting from about 19 – 29. The sophistication of the magazine and hint of something a bit younger directs it towards any music lover.
• Gender: The fact that only one female artist has been mentioned on the page shows that it is maybe a more male-based magazine, possibly a ratio of 3:1 with men and women in the music industry. However, the audience is more likely to be made up of females, as the majority are attracted to male artists. There is no doubt about the male audience being involved, but it looks like it’s closer to 60:40 on the female/male ratio.
• Personality: The personality of the audience shows that they are interested in new music. This magazine often shows off big stars, which in return promotes their music and guides the reader into their music genre. The audience is more likely to be open to different genres then solely one or two.
• The layout of the magazine shows everything is very formatted and straight, showing that it’s a more adult magazine. The only thing that throws off this image is the ‘punk pig out’ section in the top right corner, which directs the magazine towards possibly younger and more rebellious people. This detail allows the magazine to show how much variety the magazine has in terms of music, from the more sophisticated looking Muse on the front of the magazine to the punk-looking Lydon and Strummer in the top corner. 

• Strap line ‘punk pig out’: suggests punk audience
• Strap line made to look like ripped paper – suggests rock,  rebellion and against the rules
• Text used on strap is all different, suggests variety of genres mixed into one - that being punk
• Has red behind the words making it seem more ‘dangerous’ which suggests metal and rock music as well.

• Advertises other bands: offers promotions for other bands – already known, not new bands – suggests loyalty to music instead of only looking for new music
• Other bands section: Cat Power – pun – connects with audience who own a cat, who like cats etc. the pun suggests Cat Power is bringing out new music or ‘kittens’

• Advertising new albums on sale: gives reviews of albums, guides readers into their opinion to keep their community united as one with more similar interests
• This shows us the other sorts of music that this magazine includes; looking at the artist names, I can tell that it’s a large variety. The variety of different music genres suggests that the magazine interviews the bigger stars instead of aiming it at a particular music audience. Instead of interviewing and reviewing only artists in their genre, they interview tons of different artists from different genres who have recently gotten big. This means they have a much wider audience as it will include many fans from different genres.

• Picture: Matt – eye contact with reader, suggests connection between reader and artist
• Picture: Dom & Chris – on either side of Matt (lead singer, head of band) looking off into space, suggests unity
• Body language: Matt’s body language shows off that he is superior. The angle of the camera is tilted upwards at him to make him look down on us, making us inferior to him. This ties in with the religious nature of music in which fans will often have musicians or bands as their gods; Matt Bellamy is a prime example of this.
• Background: links in with theme on the artist – space. This suggests that the music they produce is very different and individual from other music, shown by the space background showing them as ‘out of this world’. This tells us that the genre of music may be something similar to alternative, possibly mixed with rock.
• Q: Puff reading ‘The world’s greatest music magazine’ shows that it is a well-known magazine doesn’t even need to show the entire puff for people to know.
• Shows that the magazine often gets to interview big names such as Muse, Lady Gaga etc.

• To do with their biggest ‘challenge’ yet, suggests new music with a different style than their music before
• References Star Trek: “Boldly go where no band has gone before” and space theme
• Exclusive interview: makes the reader feel like they are important enough to read it and that they are one of the first and only.

Problem Page Analysis

Problem Page

Mock-up Problem Page

House Style

Readership Profile

Age range: Seeing as my problem page will be aimed at those in Sixth Form, the target age will range from 16 to 18-year olds. It’ll cover issues such as relieving exam stress, how to revise properly and will include more personal issues such as home life, out of school activities and friend problems, as these are also important to being a healthy, happy student. With the larger range of subjects that will be covered, it will gain a wider audience and attract more readers.

Gender: My problem page will be aimed at a female audience, as it is more common for women to write in with their queries than males. Although most subjects covered will be aimed at both genders, there will still be some gender-specific topics included. I will have a female agony aunt for that reason, so that they are able to relate and give proper advice using experience. Having a female agony aunt will also make it more comfortable for people to write in.

Personality: My problem page will include questions and answers that will appeal to many different personalities in order to have a wider audience. There will be questions more directed at the studious type who is interested in finding more helpful ways to revise or how to plan the time they have for exams, as well as questions directed at people with a more active social life who have questions on how to deal with certain social situations.

Interests: My audience will have a variety of interests, including music and films and such. These subjects will be included in my magazine, as well as other articles on after school activities they could try out. Obviously there will be pages dedicated to usual tips on taking exams and revision.

Annotated Problem Page

Problem Page Conventions

Conventions and style features of problem pages:

• Aimed at women – colours and font; font is often soft
• Q & A: most questions are set out in this way, a large Q and A distinguishing the difference between to make it clearer to the reader
•  Uses loud question titles to entice the reader e.g. “Has Dad gone too far?”
• Title: Usually involves the words “Dear ____” or “Ask ____”
• Often include a piece of information on the page, such a fact about health unrelated from the topics spoken about
• Colour scheme: the colour scheme usually includes pink and other soft colours to represent femininity and to for comfort purposes
•  Normally has a slogan: Such as ‘Having problems with your nearest and dearest?’ or ‘Got a problem to share?’, although often it may be ‘_________ answers your questions
• Often there are images of distressed looking women/families or an image relating to the topics
•  Normally includes a picture of the person answering questions
• Often has celebrity references to attract and encourage the reader