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.
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