Analysing Music Magazines

Masthead- Creates a brand for ‘Vibe’ it is situated at the top of the magazine, the coloring used fades from black to red, which is consistent through the front cover and makes the masthead stand out. Vibe is a slang word meaning atmosphere and ambience, which gives the idea of the magazine being the rage, and what everyone wants part of, with headlining names, so an ‘vibe’ you want to be involved in.

Central Image- The image of Eminem is the feature of this front cover, he is well known so is used to attract the audience, his image covers up some of the masthead, this is able to happen because ‘Vibe’ is so well known, that regulars will know the magazine by the ‘V’, but the majority of the audience will be attracted to the featuring article about Eminem, so he is able to cover the masthead.

Colour- The colours used contrast to the white background, making it stand out. The red and black complement each other well. Word which ‘Vibe’ want to stand out are written in red, this is done to attract the readers eye, because the red is more vibrant.

Font- The font used is bold across the front cover. This is to make the cover lines and masthead stand out, as well as linking into the ‘bold’ genre of R&B.

Cover lines-None of the cover lines overlap onto the main image, meaning he is most featuring, the colour of the font in the cover lines vary depending of the importance of the words, things like “the best rapper ever?” are red because they are important and need to stand out. The cover lines contain shocking quotes “I literally almost died” which leaves the reader with questions, so makes them buy the magazine to find out why, so brings in the audience.

R&B

Masthead- The masthead of ‘Kerrang’ has a shattering effect, and the font used has gaps in and pieces missing, as if it is breaking, which suggests the the genre of this magazine is rock. As well as this there is a contrast between the black box surrounding the text and the white font of the text, which makes the masthead stand out, because of the juxtaposition in colour. ‘Kerrang’ is also a made up word that sounds energetic, the exclamation point of the end makes it stand out, as if the page is shouting the masthead, which makes it easy to remember.

Central Image- The center image is of ‘Green Day’ a well known rock/punk band, which catches the readers eye, they take up the majority of the page because they are there to advertise the magazine and entice people to read/purchase the magazine.

Layout- This cover had bold font which stands out and the image of ‘Green Day’ featuring, but also have other images in the left third, which would be seen on shelves and attract the audience.

Cover lines- The use of yellow on some of the cover lines directs the audiences eye here. “Plus!” is put in yellow so the the reader reads the information along the bar, which would persuade people to buy the magazine, to find out about these musicians. The cover lines also include collective words like ‘you’ which involves the audience, making the reader feel a part of the article.

Colour- The colours used are quite dark, which you associate with the rock genre, using a lot of black and white, which is also continued in what the members of ‘Green Day’ in the featuring image are wearing. However, yellow and orange are used on certain parts of the magazines which ‘Kerrang’ want to stand out and catch the readers eye.

Rock

Masthead- The masthead is ‘Classical Music’ it gives away the genre of the magazine, attracting those interested in that genre. It is situated at the top of the front page, in white which contrasts to the background making the masthead stand out, which catches the readers eye.

Layout- The image is down the left third, so when placed on a shelf this is what the audience will see, and as she is a known face she will catch the readers eye. The text is clearly laid out, using different colours and faint lines to section off different sections, for example the masthead is sectioned off and the smaller cover lines are also sectioned off, this gives direction to the magazine.

Cover lines- The cover lines contain well known names within them, which links to the genre and the audience. The cover lines are set out in a way which they have the article name ‘Flute of distinction’ then have a basic of what the article is about ‘Katherine Bryan on going solo’ which gives the reader an insight on what is present inside the magazine, persuading people to buy the magazine to find out more.

Central image- The image is placed within the optical center, where the eye hits first, because she is a known face in classical, so it would attract people interested her, as well as classical music. The image goes well with the background of the magazine cover. The white poker-dots on ‘Katherine Bryan’s’ dress stand out, also catching the readers eye because of the difference to the background.

Colour- The colours used on this front cover contrast to the background. The background is quite dark, which contrasts to the white and yellow text which compliments each other well.

Classical