There are a variety of genre a music magazine can be linked to, each have different conventions.

Conventions of Music Magazines

‘Rock’ Magazine• An example of a rock magazine is

Kerrang, a weekly music magazine published in the UK aimed at a teenage audience.

• We can see it is a rock magazine because of the somehow, distorted rough masthead and through the poses of the musicians.

• This genre of magazine uses bright colours in contrast to the large amount of black included in the masthead, banners and outfits of the musicians.

‘Indie’ Magazine• An example of an ‘indie’ music

magazine is NME or New Musical Express.

• It is aimed at teenagers, aged fifteen to eighteen.

• NME has recently changed its cover so it is much more simplistic however, previously it was rarely and would be covered in advertisements and what was in the magazine.

‘Pop’ Magazine• Smash Hits and Top of the Pops

magazine are both examples of a ‘pop’ music magazine.

• They are targeted at a young, female audience (age ten to fourteen).

• They will general have a popular girl or boyband on the cover.

• They use bright, girly colours such as pink or purple and generally offer free posters.

‘Classical’ Magazine• An example of a classical magazine is

‘Classical Music’.• This genre of music is generally aimed

at an older audience in their thirties and forties upwards.

• In comparison to other magazines, due to its audience, this genre of magazine is much more formal.

‘Mainstream’ Magazine• Q is an example of a mainstream music

magazine.• It is aimed at and older audience,

eighteen upwards.• As it is a mainstream magazine, its

house style is quite simplistic so it does not convey one particular genre of music.

• Inside the magazine there will be interviews with a variety of musicians as well as a large review section covering various genres of music.