Analysis of Music Magazines By Ben Shuttleworth

Front Covers…Serif Masthead. The masthead is thin and has a big, pink ‘f’ to make it standout.

The layout is very formal with formal serif fonts used on the cover lines.

Background is very basic white colour.

Limited colour scheme. (Black, Pink, White, Gold)

Medium shot of the group of girls. They are dressed in white which makes them look angelic which is also anchored by the name ‘All Angels’

The target audience by the connotations of the title is for older people, however, the younger people on the front make it look like they are increasing the age boundary to younger people.

Slogan shows that the magazine is classic.

Strap lines used to give the reader a small summary of the article in the magazine.

Most of the space on the front cover is used up. (Images, Masthead, Cover lines, Strap lines, Boxes and deals)

A variety of images used on the front cover.

Medium close up of the ‘Choir Boys’.

The Masthead is much more informal compared to ‘Classic FM’ with a cracking effect which makes it look more indie and mainstream.

The Main image of the man from ‘Foo Fighters’ is a medium shot. He is dressed in red which adds to the colour scheme of the magazine so it looks more vibrant and eye catching.

Not very many Cover lines compared to ‘Classic FM’, this cover is mostly taken up by images.

Quite a few colours. Red, Black, White, Yellow, Grey and background pictures.

Like ‘Classic FM’ there are multiple images. Both shot types are medium shots of the people in both images.

Key words are highlighted in yellow to make them look more eye catching so people read it.

Masthead is partly covered suggesting that it’s a well established magazine.

The layout isn’t very formal with sans serif fonts and bright colours.

Limit on colours, red, black, blue and white.

The main image is a medium close up of ‘Pink Floyd’ and its also posed. His Blue shirt also adds to the colour scheme with his shirt taking up most of the front cover.

Unlike ‘Classic FM and Kerrang!’ MOJO has only one picture featured on the front of the magazine.

There are lots of cover lines on the front cover to fill in any empty space. All of the cover lines are either red or white.

There are lots of strap lines just like ‘Classic FM ‘ to give an overview of the articles inside of the magazine.

Basic background of a grey colour, which goes with the rest of the colour scheme and isn’t a harsh colour.

Contents…The colour scheme of the Contents is the same as the front cover.

There are even more images than the front cover of the magazine showing what's inside the magazine.

The images all have captions telling what the picture is about and the page number.

There is a list of articles that are coloured in bright red to make the list eye catching. There are also page numbers listed as well so people know where all of the articles are.

The Masthead is also used once again to make sure people know exactly what magazine they are looking at.

The date is also listed once again so people know when the magazine is published, which would help the buyer know if its up to date and not an old copy.

There are free CD’s handed out to temp the buyer to get the magazine.

There are 6 different images on this contents, there is also no dead space and the contents is full of useful information.

The layout is very formal with nothing out of place.

The is no dead space at all and each part of the contents has something going on.

The main image is a medium long shot of the singer/guitarist. The picture also has a fairly blank background which is faded out to white behind all of the text and other pictures.

There are 5 pictures on this contents to utilise dead space and make it more visually appealing.

There is also the use of a headline saying ‘This Week’ to inform people of the latest news which will draw their eye down the page.

There is also a letter from the editor also included in the magazine, which is a nice touch to let the audience know who put the magazine together.

The other pictures at the top of the contents page also share a similar shot type which is a medium shot, which gives a bit of perspective as well as filling the picture with about half of the person.

Like the other contents pages, this magazine includes the issue number and the date of the magazine so people know If the news they are reading is up to date.

This magazine is much different with the Masthead taking up a huge amount of space on the contents page.

The picture is black and white and the quality looks purposely grainy to give a dark and dingy effect to the contents page, which goes with the rock and role theme of indie. The image also achieves quite a dirty look with the light focusing on certain parts of the face and the dirt under the persons hand gives the image an urban look.

The layout of the magazine is quite formal because everything is in straight lines and laid out well. Apart from the text partly crossing the man the layout looks more formal.

Although there isn’t much writing, there still isn’t much dead space in the picture.

There is only one image on the contents page, which is much different to the other pictures because its black and white which causes a quite dark and drab look to the image, but effective and makes the contents look full rather than empty.

This is also a typical medium shot of the artist , which is also posed and off to the right which allows some space to the left hand side for writing. Compared to all of the other magazines this contents page doesn’t have any other pictures apart from the main image. Even though there is only one image it goes with the contents and isn’t empty.

Double Page Spreads…One full page is taken up by a photo of the artist.

There is very little information and more visual based with the information only taking up about a quarter of the page.

At the start of the text there is a large ‘T’ in the same font as the establishing quote.

The layout is informal with slanted text and boxes to give a more relaxed look to the double page spread.

The text is small and a lot of the informationis squeezed into a small place.

There is only one image on the double page spread focusing on the main subject of the spread.

The image is also informal with a slanted, bright, colourful image. Its also a medium close up shot – wearing the same top in the contents.

There is a limited colour scheme with only blue, white, black and grey. This makes the double page spread look more simplistic and not so complicated. This makes it easier to look at and read.

The font is bold and white. It also stands out and is eye catching to look at. It has jagged edges and looks un missable to the eye as its automatically drawn to the text.

In the bottom right hand corner there is also metadata of the picture which dates and names the picture and may be interesting to readers to see when it was taken and who of.

The layout is informal with some boxes slanted a little.

There are multiple pictures, making it more visually appealing to the reader and also fills up the space in the double page spread.

Like the other double page spreads one whole page is taken up by an image to fill the pages but also gives the double page spread some colour.

The image shows Noel Gallagher Holding the camera which makesThe image look more involving, Almost as if he is grabbing the Audience which makes it lookMore eye catching.

The image is also a medium close up. The hands frame the picture and make it look more intimate.

The colour scheme is limited to only a few colours. They are red, white and black. It is noticeable limited colours seem to be a common thing in magazines.

Like the other double page spreads there is also a caption at the bottom of the picture so people know who the person in the picture is and what date it was published.

Typically the text also starts with a large letter in a different colour and font the letter ‘A’ is bold and eye catching so it drags the readers eye straight to the start of the text.

Unlike the other double page spreads the main picture is more centred and cuts into the second page, rather than just taking up one page.

There is very little text in this spread with most of the writing stretching down the side of the left page.

There are lots of pictures. There are a total of 13 pictures on only two pages. The use of these pictures really utilises all of the dead space.

The layout of the double page spread is informal because there are various different fonts and also there are textures such as the tyre mark on the top left of the article.

Like the other double page spreads the colour range is also limited so that the magazine is easier to look at and eye catching.

Just like the other spreads the text on the left of the page starts with a large capital letter, so it drags the eye to the start of the text to ensure every detail is read.

The main image of McFly is a long shot because it shows the whole of their body. It is also taken while they are walking to make it look more realistic.

The colour scheme is includes the colour pink which connotes that the magazine is childish and mainly girl orientated.

Unlike the other magazines the double page spread has the masthead in the top right corner so people who have picked up the magazine for the first time have a reminder of what the magazine is called.