The Analysing of Music Magazines

This front cover contains a consistent colour theme , being red and white. The colour red is regal colour a connotation that Taylor Swift is the queen of country or royalty of the music genre.

On the magazine front cover there are names of country artists which strongly suggest that this magazine is associated with country music alongside with the subheading.

“Nashville Songwriters” is one of the subheadings on the front page of the magazine. This is related to the music genre as Nashville is considered to be the home of country music. It is therefore used in order to relate to the music genre and to give the audience an insight to the contents of the magazine.

Taylor Swift is a country singer whom is a key symbol of country music. If the subheading had not said “The UK’s leading independent country music magazine” then the audience would have still been able to associate the magazine with country music based on the artist on the cover page.Taylor Swift is centre of the magazine

cover wearing a red dress and black heels. The fact that she’s wearing red creates a sense of consistency to the colour scheme. Taylor Swift is well-known for writing country music ballads. This links to the consistent colour scheme as red is used as a representation of love, an emotion commonly explored by Taylor Swift.

The colour black, used on the magazine’s front cover page, symbolises elegance and secrets. This shows that Taylor Swift has graciousness and elegance, which is also relatable to the genre of country music.

As the colour black also shows secretiveness , it potentially shows that Taylor has hidden secrets that she wants to tell, which the audience will discover later on in the magazine, which makes the audience more likely to buy the magazine, in order to find out the secrets.

The colour red has clearly been used as the main colour on this cover page. This colour was used because red brings text and images to the foreground making them more noticeable.

Taylor swift is looking directly at the camera, and therefore the audience, which provides the audience with the feeling that she’s trying to interact with them, and makes her seem a much more gracious character. Later on in the magazine, it is implied from her being the main image, that there will be an article about her, potentially an interview allowing her fan base to get to know her better, and so the image gives an insight into the magazine’s contents.

Brad Paisley, shown on the front cover is wearing a cowboy hat which is a stereotypical representation of country music. This therefore is used to show the music genre of the magazine.

On the cover of this magazine there is a consistent white and black colour scheme. The colour white is used to symbolise the purity and the calmness of country music.

The colour black is used to symbolise mystery. The fact that Brad Paisley is wearing a black shirt that is open at the top, symbolises that he will be opening up about himself later on in the magazine. This gives the reader an insight into the magazine before actually even opening the front page.

The sell line of the magazine says “the leading independent country music magazine” which makes the audience more likely to buy the magazine because it is potentially the bets music magazine.

Relating to this, Brad Paisley is holding a guitar against his side. Guitars and generically a symbol of country music, however this is an electric guitar which is stereotypically related to a different music genre. This could give the audience an insight into the article about Brad Paisley as it could show that his new music is a mash-up of different music genres, or that he is trying to make country music with a difference in order to appeal to a larger target audience.

The strap line of this magazine is located at the bottom of the magazine saying “embracing the best of country, folk, bluegrass and roots music”. This strap line gives the reader an insight into the contents of the magazine, as well as making the target audience want to purchase the magazine because it contains only the best.

There is a white box on the bottom right of the magazine front cover. This white box contains information about the magazine used for informing the audience what the magazine’s contents are. This is so without opening the magazine itself the audience are able to tell what contents are included in the magazine.

The front page includes the titles of artists inside the magazine in order to allow the audience to know what the articles in the magazine are going to be about.

Above the barcode on the front cover of a Maverick magazine, it says “exclusive, free magazine”. This idea of promoting their magazine from the use of free give-aways such as a demo CD is inventive because it is more interesting to the audience to get given something to listen to, rather than just having to read about. This also means that more people who are fans of country music are more likely to buy this issue of the magazine because the freebie makes it all that bit more interesting

The fact that Brad Paisley has his hand positioned in his pocket, suggests that he is calm and comfortable. This would imply to the readers that he is a more friendly character who is going to speak the truth to them because he seems comfortable. Because he also seems relatively calm, from his body language and facial expressions reflects the genre of music.

The main title of this magazine cover “Country Girls” is immediately and distinctly associated with country and western music. The fact that the masthead is white, could also be in order to connote the purity of country music, and because it stands out shows that the main features of the magazine will include Maddie and Tae – the country girls.

The faded background of the magazine’s cover page includes trees and some. Fields are immediately associated with horses which is associated with country as it is on the country side and since there are country girls on the front page, the magazine is associated with country music.

On the top left corner of the magazine, it says “Nash Magazine” which is a shortened version of Nashville. Nashville is the “home of country” which is how the magazine is associated with country music.

The colour pink is used on the cover page. The colour pink is used to represent friendship, harmony, and peace. The colour pink is also part of the red family which is a regal colour This could be to symbolise that

The front page includes the titles of artists inside the magazine in order to allow the audience to know what the articles in the magazine are going to be about.

Maddie and Tae – the artists on the front cover are positioned in front of the N for ‘Nash’, the name of the magazine. This shows the audience that Maddie and Tae, aka Country Girls, are the main focus of the magazine front cover, because of their positioning.

Maddie and Tae, the artists on the front page of the magazine are stereotypical looking country music artists, young girls with long blonde and curly hair. This is an instant relation between the magazine’s front cover and the music genre that it is suited to.

As there is a pink circle above Maddie and Tae on the front cover of the magazine, it shows that this is what the company want the audience to focus on. This suggests that it is the main feature in the magazine because it has it’s own space and it positioned above the girls on the main image.

The content page includes the titles of articles inside the magazine in order to allow the audience to know what the articles are about. Therefore the target audience are able to read what they find to be interesting, rather than having to read articles that they find irrelevant or boring depending on their likes and dislikes.

Kenny Chesney is the main image on the contents page. Kenny Chesney is a big country artist and therefore by looking at the contents page the audience know that Kenny Chesney is going to be featured in the magazine, meaning his fans are more likely going to want to read the magazine.

On this contents page there is not much text, but instead a large image of Kenny Chesney. This is so the audience of the magazine know what is entailed in the magazine, so that they can choose what they want to read rather than having to read the whole magazine and losing interest. However, there is little text and a large image to show that this issue of the magazine is mainly about this artist.

This contents page has the consistent colour theme of shades of blue. The colour blue is used to symbolise calmness, as it is scientifically proven that when humans look at the colour blue the heart rate slows down. This is directly linkable to country music as it is known to be calming.

Kenny Chesney is wearing jeans in the picture featured on this contents page. Jeans are a generic symbolism of country music as they are generally worn by country and western music artists and so are stereotypically linked with this particular genre of music.

The font of this magazine contents page is simplistic and formal. This is because this is a contents page of a magazine and not the front cover which needs to draw the audience in in order to buy the magazine. The contents page is primarily for people to know where everything is and what other features are included in the magazine.

On this contents page, some of the article titles are directly related to country song lyrics. This allows the audience to recognise their favourite songs of the genre which is more likely to gain their attention making them want to read the article.

The page numbers of interesting features included in the magazine are all down the side of the page on the right-hand side. The article about Gary Allan is on page thirty and is big bold writing in order to stand out to the audience. As it stands out from the rest of the contents page, it shows that this feature is the main feature of the magazine.

The fact that Gary Allan is positioned with his hand in his pocket, slouching against the wall suggests that he is calm which relates to the country music genre, as the music is generically calm and relaxing.

Gary Allan is slouching on the wooden wall in the background. The wooden wall can be related to the wall of a barn, which is directly related to the countryside, which links the image to the music genre.

The majority of the magazine contents page is taken up by the image of Gary Allan. This portrays that he is an important feature in the magazine.

The font of this magazine cover page is simplistic and formal rather than being creative. This is because this is a contents page and not one that needs to draw the audience in in order to buy. The front cover uses the bold, fancy, “in-your-face” fonts in order to get readers to buy. The contents page is primarily for people to know where everything is and what else is in the magazine.

Gary Allan is wearing jeans and boots in the picture of him featured on the contents page. Boots and jeans are a symbolism of country music as they are generically worn by country and western music artists and so are stereotypically linked with this particular genre of music.

Throughout this contents page there is a consistent colour theme of red, black and white. These colours work together in order to get the audience wanting to read the magazine. This is because the colour red creates a sense of enigma and the colour black creates a sense of secretiveness, but the white is a symbolism of purity which makes the audience want to read the articles that have red titles, in order to solve the mystery as the colour white shows that the feature it truthful.

The titles of each article are the names of popular music artists. This shows to the audience that this magazine is full of professional music industry people. This means that there will be an article for everyone in the audience because if they don’t like Gary Allan, then they can instead read about someone they do like, for example Laura Bell Bundy.

“Contents” is written in bold, and also in white writing on a black background which makes it stand out more. This ensures that the audience know that this page is the contents page.

On the contents page is the word “Special” which is used because it makes the reader feel as if the article is particularly for them because it is exclusive, and therefore makes them more likely to buy the magazine.

The sub-image is of a music artist leaning against a pillar. Sub-images make the text more interesting, and are a good way for the audience to and out what other features are going to be included in the magazine, rather than just the main feature.

A majority of space on this contents page is taken up by the use of an image. This image is of a band called The Courteeners, the use of this images portrays that this particular band are the main feature of the magazine. On the image there is also a white box stating the name of the band and what the article is about. This white box makes the text stand out which also shows that the band are the main feature of this particular magazine.

On this magazine’s contents page it says “Oasis Special” in gold lettering. This makes it stand out from the rest of the text on the contents page. This portrays that this is a main feature of the magazine because has been made to stand out and be different from the rest of the contents page. This suggests that the Oasis special article is a key feature of the magazine, and also that it is an exclusive article to this magazine, which is because of the use of wording. This shows that the Oasis feature is the main selling point of this magazine issue. The colour gold is also used because it connotes the idea of luxury and importance so this shows that the magazine has respect for legendary artists such as Oasis.

The font of this magazine contents page is simplistic and formal rather than being creative. This is because this is a contents page and not one that needs to draw the audience in in order to buy. The front cover uses the bold, fancy, “in-your-face” fonts in order to get readers to buy. The contents page is primarily for people to know where everything is and what else is in the magazine.

The photo used is very dynamic and features the band “The Courteeners” at a top of a hill. It is taken at a slight low angle and is a full length body shot, giving the idea that they are strong and powerful. The photo makes the audience instantly respect them as artists, because of their positioning and how it is clear that we are supposed to be looking up at them as some type of idol. It also entices readers to learn more about them because they are seemingly strong and should be respected.

The main image of this article is a medium shot of Trace Adkins who is the artist that the article is about. The main image takes up a whole page. Trace Adkins isn't looking directly at the camera, but as the magazine is an interview, it could symbolise that he is talking directly to fans or the interviewer in the room. This makes him a personable character rather than glancing at the camera which would cause a different and potentially threatening look.

As Trace Adkins is wearing a cowboy hat, it symbolises the country genre of music as a cowboy hat is a direct representation of the country and western music genre.

At the top of the image it says ‘fan exclusive’ which is appealing to the audience as it makes them feel special as if the article is specially for them and not other people. Therefore more people are going to be attracted to reading the article.

There is a consistent colour scheme throughout this double page spread which is green and white. This adds consistency to the article and the colour green is calming and natural which reflects upon the music genre of the article.

The word ‘barred’ in the masthead of this article is bolder and thicker than the rest of the masthead emphasising the use of the word suggesting that no questions or answers are barred. It also states in the sub-heading that the readers asked the questions. This makes the audience more impressed because it means that the answers and questions are truthful and not phony.

The style of the font used for the masthead is blurred, and the words ‘fan exclusive’ are faded which is a connotation used to suggest that his career has been successful and he has been around for along time as the text is deteriorating and faded such as objects tend to do over time. However, the text is white suggesting the purity of his music and that he isn’t stopping yet as the colours are bright – just like his future.

Carrie Underwood’s eye line is up and looking out at the camera making it look as if she is looking directly at the magazine’s audience. This is called direct address which entices the audience and make them want to read the article.

The colour black shows status and power but when worn, the colour black generically symbolises elegance and the secretiveness of the person wearing the colour, which in this case is Carrie Underwood. The fact that she’s wearing black and is looking directly at the audience could suggest that she’s opening up her secrets in this article about her. This entices the audience and makes them want to read the article.

The title of this double page spread is “idol on Top” which gives the audience an insight into the magazine article. From this title and the main image used it is clear that the article is about Carrie Underwood, who is clearly a respected country and western artist. This title suggests that the article is going to be about her success as an artist, because the words “Idol on top” make the audience think of charts and being at the top. This title therefore gives an insight into what the article is going to be about.

The background design for this magazine is dull and boring. This therefore means that the main image of Carrie Underwood stands out giving the audience a good idea of what the article is about.The magazine isn’t very word based, this

means that the audience of this magazine would be a younger audience because the article isn’t word heavy, so people are less likely to lose interest in reading the article.

The article’s background has a brown pattern that looks like the branches of a tree. Tree’s are a symbolism of the countryside which is a direct reference to country music, which shows the audience what the article is about, giving them an insight to the music genre.

This text and font of this double page spread is simplistic and formal rather than being overly creative. This is because this is an article in the magazine and not the front cover. The double page spread article is used to inform the reader about the artist that it is advertising, and is not used to get people to buy the magazine and therefore does not need to have fancy writing.

These images are included on the double page spread in order to show which artists are involved in the article. Each of the images has a symbolism of country music, whether that item of symbolism being the artist wearing a cowboy hat, check shirt or having the countryside as the background of the images.

The text is broken up by images in order to be more interesting to the readers. Most people prefer to see pictures in a magazine that are relatable to the text, and help to explain the meaning, rather than having a great bulk of text to read.

This double page spread is very brightly coloured making it eye-catching to the audience. It is clear that the target audience for this particular magazine is a younger more youthful audience, than general country magazines which are aimed at an older audience range. The fact that it’s colourful makes it appealing to the eye and therefore this spread is more likely to get read than another spread that is bland in its colour choice.

The words “CMA Music Festival” are separated by text and images on the double page spread, because it makes it seem like there is less text because it is all broken up. The less writing and the more images there are the more interesting an article seems to be. Therefore a mix of images and text are used to keep the audience engaged.

The fact that the background of this magazine is white makes the article stand out rather than just fitting in with the magazine such as other double page spreads normally do. This makes the article more interesting whilst also portraying it’s importance in the magazine.

This magazine double page spread is about the CMA Music Festival awards which are a big country music event featuring popular music artists. To portray that this is a big country event that is very popular and important to the artists, the wording is bold and has various coloured lettering so that it stands out making the article more appealing to the audience.

In order to reflect upon the importance of the awards, the CMA awards logo is repeatedly positioned randomly throughout the article in order to emphasize the article’s importance being a key feature in the magazine, as well as advertising the importance of the music awards festival.