Music magazine research

Rachael Barnes

MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH

History of the music magazine In 1994 the first music magazine was founded , the magazine was called Billboard

and was an international newsweekly magazine which was devoted to the music industry. Music magazines became really popular in the 1950’s-1960’s when

magazines such as NME and Rolling Stones were founded.

Biggest music magazine publishers There is such a vast variety of different music magazines in the world but there are a distinct few that

are recognisable and popular in numerous countries. The 5 biggest music magazines include;

• Rolling stones- The classic source of music information and popular culture trends, one of the most popular magazines of all time in any genre.

• NME- The new music express popularly known by the initialism NME is a music publication in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952.

• Smash hits- A pop music magazine, which demonstrates the latest music and trends and is aimed at teenagers and young adults.

• KERRANG- A UK-based magazine which is devoted to rock music and also one of the longest running music magazines.

• Billboard-You will find award winning and in depth coverage of every aspect of the music and entertainment business worldwide.

MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCHThe music magazine Kerrang uses the common convention of splitting the page up into 3 main sections. On this particular front page, in the top third there is the masthead, in the second there is the bold heading and in the last third there are 3 main pictures. Although it’s not as obvious as some magazines, you can still see the generic convention of this. I think that Kerrang have changed the normal conventions of a magazine to show that they are different and that it is quite an informal magazine by the way the pictures have been set out, especially the main image. The main image on this front cover stands out individually because even though it’s a background image it is in front of the masthead and in this case the heads of the people appearing on the magazine cover half of the masthead. This is commonly used on big name music magazines because they are so recognisable and well established. The main image tells us a lot that the genre of the magazine is rock, this is because of the clothes that they are wearing we would stereotypically say was rock or indie, as well as their hair styles and tattoos. There are then 3 other images shown in the bottom third of the magazine, which also imply that the genre of this magazine is rock. These 3 images are bordered by red and white, which is the main colour scheme of the magazine, along with black and this makes the images stand out. Two of the images have a red border and the other has a white one, this distinguishes the difference between the images and helps us see what goes together even though they are nearly all the same size. A lot of magazines always have a ‘plus’ or ‘this week’, which gives you a brief detail into some of the other articles and interviews that will only be in the magazine for that week.

MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH

In contrast to the other music magazine Karrang, one of the most established music magazines in the world is the ‘new music express’ more commonly known as NME. Different magazines use different colours, layouts and mastheads to help audience recognise their magazine straight away. On this cover they have chose to go for quite a simple background so that the reader focuses on the picture. They have used a single image instead of numerous smaller ones and have kept the writing on the cover to a minimum. This magazine front cover basically just has the main picture the masthead and a large brightly coloured sell line that will stand out and catch the readers attention and also a smaller sell line which engages the reader and makes them want to read more. The barcode is set at the bottom right hand corner in a small white box so as it can be seen, but doesn't take any attention away from the cover, this is the convention of most magazines.NME uses similar colours in every issue, numerous magazines use the convention of keeping the colour the same in every issue. The colour scheme used in this issue is grey in the background and red or pink in the front so as the red/pink and grey contrasts and the red/pink stands out.On the majority of magazines the masthead or name of the magazine stays the same font, not very often but sometimes designers change the colour/position of the masthead but never the font. In this issue the ‘NME’ is in the typical style of the magazine but unlike the last front cover this magazine masthead covers the top of the main images head. This cover appeals to their audience by putting someone on the front who is recent and they listen to and using common conventions of that particular magazine.

MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCHThis image is a contents page taken from the music magazine ‘NME’. By the text and images of this magazine you can tell it’s a music magazine and the targeted audience would be for 17-26 year olds. There is a lot going on in this contents page which normally attracts younger people because its more fun seems lively and is packed with loads of things inside.Most of the text is little and in black which don’t really stand out but the colours behind the text catches people’s eyes and then there are some big writing in different colours and I think that’s used to draw people in because that catches the eye and is the first thing you notice. There are a few pictures other then the main image of Ricky from the Kaiser Chiefs and even though his image is the main image it still isn’t big and that’s again because they have a lot to offer and it gives you the impression that there’s a lot to offer that is equally as good or major. The little pictures on the right hand side are there to again attract people because when looking at a contents page not a lot of people would stand there and read the whole thing but tend to see what stands out more and if they want to read about that. There is also a promotional feature on the content page which says about the offer of buying NME magazine’s is going to be just 20p an issue for 2 months. This would attract normal buyers of NME who buy the magazine regularly just because they like NME and because they like all the issues they do but also it would attract people who may not have every read NME and bought this issue and really liked it and its such a good offer which will entice more people and will gain more buyers who will continue buyer the magazine even for the offers.

MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCHThis contents page is from the music magazine ‘Q’. Q's old contents page follows all the codes and conventions when making a magazine. This magazine is not as busy as the last one as it seems more calm to look at. The focus image is of a band, The Courteeners in the country on top of a hill as they pose in a shirt, t-shirts and jeans whilst the lead singer wear sunglasses to follow the rock and roll look. As the previous contents page I looked at from the magazine ‘NME’ this image is also not that big which implies that there is a lot more to offer. Both of the images on the page have more than just the band or artist they also have a background. The second image located at the bottom in the middle is of the artist: Nick Cave in an expensive looking suit stood leaning on a pillar. By including a background it makes the picture more visually interesting than the stereotypical band in a studio wearing modern clothes, sunglasses looking cool. All the font on the page are similar and the text is all in drop capitals. Although the colours are different following the front cover's colour scheme. The basic trend of the text is: page numbers in bold red at the start of the sentence and the article title in black. Also there is a brief description about the story in lower case black letters. In the middle of the features list is a box that follows written in bold gold for the title: OASIS SPECIAL then like the other stories the text is in black; however the page numbers are coloured in gold. This part of the page is also in larger text. The bigger parts of the section are: CONTENTS, which is in a black banner at the top of the page and the text is bold white. Other sections that are larger are the title: FEATURES, Q REVIEWS, EVERY MONTH and finally the main story, THE COURTEENERS. By doing this it makes the text capture the readers eye and makes the page more organised.The main image corresponds with the title of the story on top of the picture. This making the article appear the most important and interesting as it the first part the eye is drawn to.

MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH

This is a double page spread from the music magazine NME, which includes a lot of generic conventions of a double page spread.Following the conventions of a music magazine, the copy on these pages are in columns, however they look more energetic. This is because there are cuts in the copy, where captions and quotes cut in, this shows that the magazine has quite a quirky style, and although they use columns they use them differently. Also, instead of using columns for all of the copy, there is an insert box used, which makes the double page spread more appealing to the reader, as it breaks up the information. There is also another smaller insert box, which tells the reader a small amount of information about the band the article is based on. This looks like a piece of paper which has been ripped out of notebook, this suggests that it is instant information and this magazine is constantly updating their readers on the latest information. Also, it is aimed at the reader profile of the magazine, as it is a laid back style and something which makes the layout different. This page follows the house style of NME magazine, as it is the most common font and size which is used throughout the magazine so that they are linked together. However, the puff which says ‘NME LOVES’ looks like it has been handwritten, which again adds to the laid back style this magazine has which appeals to the readers. Changing the font adds to the interest of the page, because everything appeals to the eye differently and therefore there is not one set font and size, which wouldn’t attract the target audience for this magazine.

MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCHThis is another double page spread from the music magazine ‘NME’ .The use of the colors black and white is the main color scheme which runs through the magazine and on this particular page the words are all black and white, these two colors contrast and therefore stand out, making the reader want to read this page.The title of this double page spread is a quote from the interview with Lilly Allen, which stands out because of the thick black boxes around each individual letter, which makes it look like the letters have been cut out of a magazine, which would give the impression that the magazine has quite an informal tone and layout. Using a quote is what most magazines do and this captures the reader’s attention, for NME to use the quote as the title must mean that this is what they think will make their readers want to read the interview. There is also a strapline underneath the article headline, which is used to introduce the article and interview, to give you a bit of information about what the interview will be about.

The layout follows some of the generic conventions of a magazine, in the way that they overlap onto both pages. The quote which is used as a title is overlapped onto the opposite page and the same applies for the photo of Lilly Allen, this is so that both pages are linked together and it looks like one. Also, they have used the same white/grey background which links the pages together. The use of one main image makes the double page spread stand out, so when the reader is flicking through they will notice it. This page doesn’t look cluttered with images and copy, like a lot of the articles do, this would suggest that they are showing they explore different themes and they set the page out in relation to the artist or band.