Q Contents Page Research (2)

Here i am going to analyse my second contents page for my research on music magazines.

The main outstanding features of this contents page is the main presented image of a recent band 'The Courteeners' and the masthead. The masthead is placed at the very top of the page and is a completely different colour to the rest of the page which sections it off from all the information, allowing it to stand out. The main image is an aspirational image for the audience, and the camera angle which has been used is a medium long shot, which allows the reader to see all of the band members and not just a section of them, it also allows the reader get a clear idea of what through their appearance. The page carries a particular colour scheme throughout it, which is the commonly used through all of the 'Q' magazines, which is white, red and black, the black usually being used as a background for the writing so it stands out to the reader. Placed down the left hand side of the page is the contents, which includes features, a special, and monthly regulars. The contents have been placed down the left hand side because this is the first place where you look when reading due to reading from left to right. The main subtitles for the contents are in a larger font, with a red background, so that you can tell what parts of the text are the titles. The 'Special' subtitle in the contents information is in a gold coloured font, the colour gold is associated with wealth and good quality, which is why it has been used for a special part of the magazine, to symbolise the good quality of the information within the special articles. The layout of the contents page is very simple and is the same as the majority of the other contents pages published by 'Q', they have done this so that those who read the magazine are familiar with the layout and can get straight onto reading what they want to know rather than having to familiarise their selves with the layout of the page.

  The target audience for this magazine would be generall students, younger people around the ages of 18-30 who like the music which is within the magazine. Generally, magazines of this price would be aimed at those of a middle/higher class because people who have a high economic spending power have the spare money which can be spent on luxury items such as magazine containing quality music, just like this magazine. The magazine also looks very sophiscated which reflects the target audience again because of how much they have spent on the magazine, they expect the audience to also be sophiscated so the style has been created to benefit and reflect the target audience.  The main image represents the genre because of the bands indie style, and they would be expected to producing music of a similiar genre which ties the two together. No editorial is contained within the contents page, which could suggest it is on a different page to show the importance and again quality of the written articles.

Overall, the contents page all fits together and represents it's target audience, but more colours could have been added to brighten up the page or certain techiniques could have been used to make particular things on the page stand out.

Q Magazine Front Cover Research (2)

This magazine cover is known as 'Q magazine' and is very popular in the magazine industry which is published monthly. Q was first published in October 1986 and from then on has been very successful UK magazine.

The first thing which you instantly notice about the magazine is it's main image, placed directly in the centre of the cover with the main text wrapped around it. The image is of a celebrity, Lady Gaga, who has only recently just achieved fame, which is what the main subtitles points out. Reading 'Move Over, Madonna....LADY GAGA Has RISEN! informing the reader of a new music star, and the text insinuates that Lady Gaga will be better than Madonna, which will encourage people to read the article due to Madonna being a very successful and popular artist. The image portrays Lady Gaga as a younger version of Madonna and is comparing the two together, and as a result Lady Gaga becomes known as the 'one to be' or an inspiration to the readers. Below that piece of text it reads 'PLUS' and a list of other artist included within the magazine which again will leave the reader intrigued and will want to read the magazine to find out what the magazine says about the artists. Also down the whole of the right hand side are other pieces of text which have been made to encourage people to read the magazine, for example, it says '100 Most Shocking Moments In Music' and as a reader they would be unaware of the moments and will want to read the article out of curiosity. The main colour of the back ground is a very light grey colour, but it works well with the rest of the magazine because all of the text it either black or red, setting a coloured theme on the magazine. The layout of the magazine is very clustered, but this is a good thing because it makes it seem as though the magazine contains a lot of information which people want to know.

The camera has been placed at eye-level angle to try and create a sense of communicaton between the reader and the character, which will catch the readers attention when looking which magazine to buy. The shot which has been used in the main image is a mid shot, and allows the reader to see the whole of the characters body so they become aware of her personality, which is reflected in her attitude and style.

Q's institution which they rely on to publish their magazine is called 'BAUER.' Like many other instititutions , this is a very large business who is relied on by many other companies other than Q.  Bauer is Europes largest privately owned publishing group, which again allows the NME producers to be able to rely on them.

The ideology in this magazine has been used to inspire the readers to encourage them to listen to that specific genre of music which is presented on the magazine cover, and in this case it is pop/dance. Usually music of a similiar genre are presented on a front cover, but in this case, a range of genres are presented, for example lady gaga is a very contrasting genre compared to Jimi Hendrix and The Who. Q is a fairly expensive magazine, which is why it features quality music and the quality of the magazine is good in general, which will target a specific social class as to who buys the magazine, for example, the magazine costs around £4 which only certain people will be able to spend on a magazine compared to other magazines which are selling for around £2 which will attract the lower class people to buy. The people who are most likely to buy Q are those of a higher age due to the price and genre of music featured within the magazine. People in their mid 30's are likely to spend alot of money on a magazine due to having their own job etc but if they're aiming their magazine at the older audience, it will require them to contain particular music which suits them too.

The representations created in this magazine refer again to the target audience and what will inspire them, due to Lady Gaga being the main image of this issue, men are likely to buy it because of the half naked woman on the front and not because of the music within it, so this specific issue targets men because of the main image. The magazine represents Lady Gaga as a very succesful artist because the magazine claims and insinuates she is the 'new Madonna'.

Overall, the various conventions and representations on the magazine cover create a specific theme which targets the audience intended for the magazine. The produced has been very succesful inc creating the magazine to reflect different genres of music. Although the magazine follows a specific colour theme, i think that more vibrant colours could have possibly been used to make the magazine stand out more.

NME Contents Page Research

Here i am going to analysis the contents page of the magazine 'NME.'

The first thing in this contents page what gets my attentions is the masthead, main sub title and main image. The masthead stands out mainly because of it's font size, which is the largest presented on the page, the producer will have done this to inform the reader that it is a weekly issue due to it saying 'THIS WEEK.'  Placed underneath the masthead is a very small banner stating the date of the issue and is therefor an informative piece of text. Another main section of the page is the editorial, which is placed directly in the middle of the page and contains large/bold fonts and images to attract attention. Beneath the editorial is a small advertisement benefiting the magazine because the magazine are advertising their self for subscriptions and claiming you save 33% which could result in more purchases of the magazine. Down the left hand side of the page is a 'band index' which makes the magazine unique because not many other magazine contain this kind of information, the background of the section is red, and the text has been highlighted white, to allow it to stand out from the background. Placed beside the band names is then a page number in a different colour to everything on the page so that the numbers are separated from the text to make it clear to the reader. Down the right hand side of the page is all the other necessary information which is needed for the readers, to allow them to know where everything is within the magazine. The subtitles for this section are separated from the informative text below it by the font and background, for example the subtitles are colour white on a black background, then beneath them is just a plain black coloured font stating the necessary information.

The camera angles which have been used for the images make it seem as thought you're part of the audience, watching the performers onstage which give a very realistic feel to the magazine. The contents page of this magazine cover seems to have a colour scheme, which is red and white, commonly used by NME. The layout makes it easy for the readers to navigate the page without becoming confused.

NME Magazine Cover Research

This is a music magazine cover, known as NME, which stands for New Musical Express. I am going to analyse this magazine cover, and state the conventions and look at the things which make up the magazine so it suits it's audience.

The first thing which stands out on this magazine cover is the main image, which is the band members of 'The Last Shadow Puppets,' which are presented as very sophisticated men. They are both wearing black coats, and have very pale faces, which makes their faces stand out to the audience. Overlapping the image is the main piece of text on the front cover. There is 3 different parts to the text, the first one states the band members names, and is presented in two different colours which are red and white. Red is one of the main colours commonly used in the NME magazine which is a factor as to how people recognise the magazine and know it is the NME magazine. The names are placed directly underneath the band members in the correct order allowing the audience to know who is who in the image.  The second piece of the text is the band name which is put in a slightly larger font than the rest of the piece of text so that it stands out to the audience and is in a red font to stand out from the image which it is placed on top of. The third piece is then written in italics and a white font which separates it from the rest of the piece of text and is part which encourages the reader read the article. The camera angle used is medium close up and the characters have been made to look like they are looking directly at the audience which will grab their attention when looking at which magazine to buy. Usually NME have a consistent look and style to all their magazine, and they do this by placing their main cover line in the centre of the magazine and their masthead is always placed in the top left hand corner, because this is the first place the audience will look when reading the front cover.

All of the sub headlines in the magazine are placed down the left hand side, which benefits the magazine because it's the first place as to where the audience will look and also when the magazines are stacked they are placed so that is the only part of the magazine visible. If the sub headlines are on show and look interesting, more people will want to read the magazine. The sub headlines don't vary in colour very much, but enough to make it clear that they are all on different subjects. The only colours used at black and red, which are common colours in NME magazines and allow the text to stand out from the pale white coloured background.

A puff is used in the magazine, and a generally used at least once in all NME magazine covers. The puff in this magazine is black in colour, and again has been made to stand out from the background of the magazine which is a very simple colour and has been made that colour so that the texts could be made to stand out. The puff is stating 'JACK WHITE'S SHOCK NEW ALBUM Out this week!' which is giving the reader information that a new must have album is out this week.

At the top of the magazine is a banner, which is used to present more information which is included within the magazine. Again, it's main colour is red, which is the colour of the background of the banner, and the font is coloured yellow and white, which follows the style of the rest of the magazine and is the commonly the default colour scheme in magazine designs.

Many various different languages are used in the magazine so it attracts the magazines target audience, for example the style of the magazine cover. It's style is very individual and has been created to suit the music genre presented in the magazine. The camera angle which has been used for the front cover image is medium close up and the band members have been made to look at the camera which will attracts buyers attentions and therefor lure them into buying the magazine. The main colours in the magazine are red and white, as mentioned before, these have been used to allow the text to stand out from the rest of the front cover. The layout of the magazine had been made to look very full and clustered, making it look as though the magazine contains a lot of information which will again lure the audience into considering to buy the magazine if they think it contains a lot of information which they want to know. The main characters in the image are presented quite confident, just like the rest of the characters in the NME magazine issues, which is usually done to reflect the target audience or to inspire them.

The institution's which created and publish the magazine covers are very large businesses. The institution's are chose as to which one suits the magazine best, and in NME's case they chose IPC, which is the UK's leading consumer magazine publisher, which suggest it's a successful business which the magazine are able to rely on.

The ideology of this magazine has been presented to inspire the target audience by the type of people which are presented on the front of the magazine as well as the genre of music. The chosen music genre for this magazine is indie, and you can tell this just by looking at the front cover because of the way the band members look and also because of the music which is mentioned in the magazine.

The target audience for this magazine is people between the ages 16 to late 30's depending on the audience's music choice. But the audience would have to like indie music in order to enjoy reading the magazine. The magazine is mainly aimed at those of a working or lower class, mainly due to the fact the magazine is very low in price and the music is as good at those in the more expensive magazine such as Q. The magazine also doesn't look very sophisticated like the more expensive ones would, but this look is generally the one which the NME producers are aiming for.

The representations made in the magazine are very positive, and in all the sub headlines they mainly aim to have a positive benefit on the audience and what they want to know and have purely been written for the audiences' entertainment. The images and text all represent the magazines target audience because of it's style.

Overall, the magazine has been produced in a very good way to represent it's target audience and contain all the informaiton on the front cover which would encourage people to read it, and this is usually one of the main aims of a magazine producer.

LIIAR in music magazine covers

Language-various different camera angles used to represent certain things, colour codes used usually have a meaning for why they have been used, and the layout of the magazine cover gives off a certain idea to the audience.

Institution-Publisher publish the magazines and are usually picked to suit the magazine and it's target audience in the best way possible.

Ideology-Values, morals and messages expressed. Most magazine aim to aspire people, to make them want to be like those featured in the magazine. Magazines sold at different prices to meet peoples' requirements, cheaper magazines have less quality, which is why they're cheaper, and are mostly bought by people of a lower or middle class and students. The more expensive magazines contain more famous people, and are often targeted at those of a higher class, usually those with more money.

Audience-Magazines are usually produced to meet the needs of the target audience, those of a specific age, social class or 'type.' Often based up the buyers profession and their economic spending power, those of a higher wealth are more likely to buy the more higher priced magazine of a better quality, compared to those of a lower wealth who may only be able to afford the lower priced magazines with a lack of quality that doesn't meet their standards.

Representation-Representations often made in the magazine are contained within the magazine and the things used within it, for example the genre of music, or the type of people.

Brief for Music Magazine Cover

For my media coursework, I have been asked to produce a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a music magazine, along with the necessary research and planning which is relevant to my work. I am using the website 'blogger.com' to present my work, because it is a good way of uploading my work instantly.