MUSIC MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

HASNAIN AYUB

FRONT COVERS

Masthead – “The Source”, which is the title of the magazine, takes up almost all of the top space of the magazine’s front cover. The title almost looks like it is 3D letter because of the black stroke around it, but actually it is a shadow under the lettering to give it more of an effect. Also the colour of the title is red with a white outline which follows a consistent house style on the magazine’s front cover.

On this magazine, the picture of The Game is put in front of the strapline which says “The Source”. This can be done by this magazine company because it is a well known magazine company which therefore means that the target audience will still know which magazine it is despite a few of the letters being hidden.

Bar Code, Date, Issue Numberand Price – This is also placed inthe left third of the magazine butin the bottom section. On thebarcode, the issue number, priceand date have also been added toit because this way it helps to keepall of the information togetherneatly instead of placing it indifferent places of the magazine.

Puff/Pug – The puff/pug that is used herein the bottom third on the right side of themagazine is some sort of a symbol thatcould be related to hip-hop. This is usefulbecause it could mean that there issomething in the magazine that thepublisher might want the audience readmore about.

Main Image – The main image used on thismagazine has been placed directly in themiddle of the magazine which takes up about¾ of the space on the front cover. The shotthat is taken of the character is a mediumclose up (MCU), This means that the audiencecan only see the persons body from their headto their shoulders.

Main Selling Line – The mainselling line here is placed withinthe left third of the magazine inthe middle bit so that it does notblock the image. Also the mainselling line is very big and boldwhich means that there is a housestyle on the front cover of thismagazine.

Header – Here the header is lettingthe audience know about some vitalinformation that could do with themagazine. It also alerts the targetaudience on where to look if theywant to know more about thisstory.

Cover Lines – The cover lines that have beenused on this magazine will have some sort ofrelationship to do with hip-hop and rappers,this is shown because there is a cover line onthe right hand side in the middle which statesthe name of a rap group called Three 6 Mafia.

Masthead – On this magazine front cover, the title “XXL” is in front of the main image, this had to be done because the title of the magazine is very small which therefore means that it wouldn’t beseen if it was put behind the mainimage. This could also mean that the target audience of the magazine might not realise which magazine it is. The colours used are very bright which is good because it will catch the attention of anyone right away.

Main Image – The main image that hasbeen used on this magazine’s front coveris a famous hip-hop artist called 50 Cent,the company of this magazine might havedecided to use him because he is wellknown all over the world and thereforecould help to make high numbers ofsales. The main image on this magazinetakes up almost all of the space availableand just leaves a few blank spaces on theside which are too narrow to put coverlines in. The shot that was used on thismain image looks like a big close up(BCU). I think it is this kind of shotbecause all of the face can be seen clearlyand just a little bit of the shoulders arevisible.

Main Selling Line – The main selling lineof this magazine has been placed on thelife side of the magazine on the bottomsection. The colours of the main sellingline here are just standard black andwhite but they look effective because avery bold font has been used on themain selling line. The colours on themain selling line follow a house stylebecause the same colours were used onthe cover lines of this magazine.

Bar Code, Date, Issue Numberand Price – The barcode on this magazine has been placed in the bottom section of the magazine on the right hand side. Other information such as the price and issue number of the magazine have been placed in the barcode area, this is good because it helps to keep information together rather than having it all over the magazine making it look unprofessionaland untidy.

Cover Lines – There are not many cover lines on this magazine because the main image take just about all of the space on the front cover and therefore this meant that cover lines had to be put in areas where they don’t cover up the main image. Also, the cover lines that are used are linked with hip-hop, which is what the magazine is all about and the colours used are black and white which follow a certain house style on the front cover. The text used on the cover lines is very bold and in capital letters which helps to make them stand out more and makes them more visible.

The background that is used on this magazine is very bright in the middle but then starts to get darker around the outside. This is a very effective background because the bright areas of the background goes all around the main image which helps to give it like a certain glow and make it stand out a lot.

Masthead – The masthead on this magazine takes up all of the top section of the magazine despite it being behind the main image of the front cover. The colours used on this are traditional because they are the same basic colours that Rolling Stone have always used which therefore means that the target audience will automatically know which magazine it is. Also the colours follow a house style of the magazine because a lot of the information is red and white which are the same colours that are used on the title. The font used looks very western like which helps it to stand out from other magazine which use just a basic font style for their mastheads.

On this magazine, the picture of Wiz Khalifa is put in front of the strapline which says “Rolling Stones”. This can be done by this magazine company because it is a well known magazine company which therefore means that the target audience will still know which magazine it is despite a few of the letters being hidden.

Main Image – The shot that was used on the main image of this magazine is a medium close up shot (MCU). This shot allows the audience to see only the face and shoulders of the main image. The main image takes up a lot of the space on the front cover but still leaves enough room for some cover lines to be put around the sides.

Main Selling Line – The font that is used on the main selling line on this magazine looks like the font ‘Times New Roman’. This is because at the end of each letter, there are pointy corners that flick out, this is able to give the lettering a western like sensation. The size of the font is very big and quite bold which makes it easier to read even though the colour is bright red. The text is placed somewhere in the middle section of the magazine in the right third.

Cover Lines – The cover lines that were used on this magazine have the same font used on them that was used on the main selling line, also the colours that are used on the cover lines are able to follow the house style of the magazine which is mainly red, black and white. The size of the font is smaller than the main selling line but it is still big enough to be read from a short distance.

CONTENTS PAGES

Main Image – On the contents page of this magazine, the main image is used to take up half the space on the page as well as becoming the background image of the contents page. The shot taken here is an almost full body shot, this is because in the shot you can see all of the character from knees upwards.

Date - The date has been added onto the contents page but it only lets the reader know the month and the year. This might have been added their by the music magazine because it might be a way of letting readers know which weekly or monthly issue they purchased.

Contents Title – The title on this magazine doesn’t actually say the words ‘Contents Page’, instead it says ‘In The Mix’. The font used for this title is more of an informal lettering style because it doesn’t look like the font that was used on headings. Even though a different font style has been used, there is still a consistent colour scheme being used here which is red, white and black.

Contents Headings - The font used for these heading follows the magazine’s house style of having a basic and formal font, which looks more smart and modern, but also it is very big and bold which makes all the words easy to read. Also the colours used on these headings follow the house style of the magazine which is red, white and black. Underneath the headings, there is some more words which are written in a much smaller font, this could be because they could be linked with different articles inside the magazine and might not want to give too much away.

Page Numbers - The page numbers have been added next to each heading on the contents page because this makes it easier for the reader to find specific articles rather than flicking through the entire magazine. The numbers also follow a house style which is that they follow the same font and colour scheme of the magazine.

Publishing Date and Information – The publishing date and other information to do with the magazine is at the bottom right area of the magazine. This bit of information also tells the reader who made and published the audience.

Main Image – The shot that was used on the main image of this contents page is a half body shot. This means that only the top half of the body is being shown on the magazine. The colours of the person on the magazine are just black and white which matches the background colours and text colours of the contents page.

Contents Heading – There are not many headings on this magazine but there are two different types of articles that can be found in the magazine, one heading is ‘Features’, which could be all about music and the latest headlines to do with the world of music and hip-hop. The second heading is ‘Fashion’ which could be to do with the latest clothing style of celebrities which might be interested by most people.

Contents Title - On this magazine contents page, the title ‘Contents’ in not laid out in the traditional banner form, but instead is it laid out in a way where the words collapses on itself. This makes it unique from most other magazines because they normally use the traditional layout for the title. Also the word is very bold and matches the background and theme of the magazine which is quite black and white.

In the background there is the letter ‘V’. This is there because it is the first letter of the name of the magazine, which is Vibe. The font of the letter ‘V’ is bold which matches the font that was used on the contents title and also the colour is some sort of grey which matches the house style of the entire contents page.

This magazine has two different headings, which is ‘Features’ and ‘Fashion’. This means that the magazine has articles about music artists and fashion and therefore, the makers of the magazine decided to dress up the main image character who is a music artist to show the modern way of dressing.

Main Images – On this contents page, there are two separate images which make one whole image when they are put together. Also they take up most of the middle space of the contents page. The image is a group shot of a band and the is looks like a wide shot which shows all of the band members in the two different pictures.

Band Index – This is a special feature that the company ‘NME’ put on all of their magazines. The band index talks about all of the different artists that were mentioned in the magazine, the band index follows a consistent house style that is used on the magazine which is able to make it blend in with the rest of the contents page and make it look more professional.

Article – On the contents page of this magazine, there is an article which is linked with the images on the contents page. This is something most magazine companies do because it is like showing readers some of the content that they will be able to find in the magazine. The article could also have been put on the contents page under the image because some people might be wondering what's happening in the image and by adding a little article at the bottom, readers might have a more clearer understanding of it.

Contents Headings – The contents heading have a same sort of layout of the contents title. The contents heading also follows the house style which is a formal and basic font type and the colours are the same which are red, white and black.

Contents Title – The contents title on this magazine is in the traditional layout where the whole of the top of the contents page space is taken up by the title. The title is very big and bold and has basic colours used on it which follow a house style which is a formal font and three colours which are red, white and black.

Date – The date has been added on the contents page of this magazine. This could have been put there because it might be able to let the readers of the magazine know when the magazine was published. Also the date might have been added onto the magazine to help the readers to know which weekly or monthly issue of the magazine they have bought.

There are advertisements on the contents page of this magazine which are advertising music albums. The music album that is being advertised might be for a different band that could be featured in the magazine or it could be an album from the band that is in the two images on the contents page.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREADS

Main Image – On this double page spread, the main image that is used takes up all of the space on one page and about a quarter of the other page. The shot used in this image looks like a wide shot because all of the person can be seen and quite a lot of the background is visible.

Quote – A quote has been added in the entire bottom section on the left page on the double page spread. The quote is from something that the music artist in the main image said and also it might be there because it could have a link with what the article is about. The quoting is in bold capitals letters which means it will be one of the first things that the reader is going to see because it is eye catchy.

Article – The layout of the article is in rows of two but it is split into small chunky paragraphs. The layout of the paragraphs is very neat and organised which makes the double page spread look more professional. The text used is a basic, easy to read font and is black which helps it to stand out from the white background that it is placed on.

Article Name – The name of the article is big, bold, and easy to read because of the size of the lettering. The name is also in capitals which is good because the heading will be the first thing that customers are going to see and read. The colour of the article title is like a gold/brown colour which makes it stand out from the normal black colour which is used on all the other parts of the article.

Artists Name – The name of the artist is written on top of the article name because it is the person that the article is on about. The lettering is bold and the colour is black which makes it readable even though it isn't as big as the title or quote.

Magazine Name & Page Number – The name of the magazine and the page number have been added at the bottom of the magazine but are in small lettering.

The capital C used on the article is able to show the readers where the article starts from. The size of the letter C is quite big as it takes up the space of 9 lines of the first paragraph.

Article – The article on this magazine only has a single column layout and the paragraphs are quite long. The article uses up all of the space so that there is no dead space left anywhere and the font is very small but helps the magazine to look professional.

Quote – A quotation of something that the music artist said has been added on article on this double page spread. The quotation has some sort of an italic font style on it which helps it to be separated from the main article underneath it.

Artist Name – The name of the artist is added on the top of this magazine double page spread, this might have been done because some people who might be reading the article might not know the name of the artist in the picture. The font that is used is a sort of western like font which makes the text look are smooth, curvy and western.

Main Images – The main image used on this double page spread takes up one and a half pages of space on the double page spread. The shot used on the artist is a mid-shot. The lighting is very low-key. The publishers might have chosen to have the shot like this because it could be linked with the article.

The ending of the article finishes in big bold western lettering at the bottom which could be the important part of the article. The colour of this bit of the article is also different because it is a sort of dark purple/ black colour.

Article Name/Name of artist – The name that is used for the article is the name of the artist who is in the main image of this double page spread. The font used on the article is basic but big and bold which makes it easy to read and the colour used on it helps to stand out from the background colour.

Information on Artists current work – On this double page spread, a small paragraph has been added to the article letting people know about who the artist is and what his currently doing with is music career. The start of the paragraph says “BOSS OF BOSSES” which is the same colour and font style as the article name which makes it stand out and easy to read from the rest of the article.

Quote – A quote of something that the artist said has been added onto the magazine over the main image. The quote might have a link with what the article could be about so that’s why the publishers might have decided to add it over there.

Article – The layout of the article is in a column form that goes downwards and is in three rows. The article takes up all of the space on the second page of the double page spread. The size of the font is small but because it is in white it stands out from the background colour which makes it more readable and professional.

The big “I” that is used at the start of the magazine article is able to show the readers where the article starts from. The size of this letter is much bigger than the rest of the article and also it’s bold which makes it easier to read. The letter takes up a bit of space from the first 3 lines of the article.

Main Image – The main image used on this magazine double page spread has an effect on it. The effect is that half of the artist’s body is hidden in the black area of the picture and the other half is visible. The shot used is a long shot because all of the person can be seen in the picture