Music Magazine Analysis

Sell linesThe sell lines are there to advertise the inside of the magazine. The colours are very versatile therefore presenting the magazine to both a male and female audience. However, the use of young teen boys in the images suggest the target audience is more a younger female target.

Focal pointThe main image is a medium shot of a popular female signer. This attracts the target audience of girls, as she could be seen as an idol to them. The signer herself appears to look also quite young, so the audience could potentially relate to her. Her costume is very sparkly and girly, and she has long hair, which most girls want. The medium shot of Arianna focuses on her beauty and looks, which could portray what's inside the actual magazine.

MastheadThe typography for the masthead is written in very curly letters, appearing girly. This is reinforced by the bright, attractive pink colour, and tiny stars surrounding the masthead. Not only is the pink a stereotypical girly colour, it is also very bold and eye grabbing, ideal for catching the audiences attention.

Strap lineThe strap line includes the institutional name- BBC- and a small insight of what is inside the magazine, advertising it to the audience. It is placed above the masthead so it is easily spotted but not the main focal point of the magazine. Inserts

Smaller images are made obvious by being put in coloured boxes. The images are of famous chart singers, suggesting that’s what the magazine purely focuses on. The use of abbreviations are appropriate to the target audience of younger teens, as they will be familiar with the language from text speak. This creates an extent of personal identity for the audience.

Barcode/priceThis is presented as the smallest part on the front cover. Its placed at the bottom so it doesn’t distract the audience from the main images, although the price is important.

AdvertisementThe use of another famous, female singer attracts the target audience. The medium close up of the singer focuses on her makeup, suggesting that’s what the magazine is trying to advertise. The smaller images of clothes and makeup attract the audience as girls are stereotypically into shopping, clothes and makeup.

InsertsThe popular boy band advertise what’s inside the actual magazine, and make the target audience interested, as one direction have an audience of young girls, similar to this magazine. They are also advertising their dolls to the audience. They are shown to be looking straight into the camera, making the audience feel like they are looking at them directly. Because its in a bubble, the image is very prominent and eye catching to the audience.

Front coverThe smaller insert of the front cover is in the top right corner, fitting in with a ‘Z’ reading pattern. Having page numbers pointing at parts of the front cover is good for the audience as the main aspects that originally attracted the audience are made easy to find on the contents page. The fact that the story lines are singled out on the front cover, and their page numbers are written in larger font and bolder colour than the rest suggest that they are the most important articles in the magazine and makes the audience want to read them first.

ContentsThe contents has the same typography to the front cover. The curly tails on individual letters portray a young girly girl audience. The pink and yellow colours are also very gender specific colours, relating to the audience. The boxed off sections make it easier to read and find pages, suggesting that the target audience is young and maybe slightly uneducated. The columns create a sense of balance and evenness for the contents page.

TypographyThe text speak abbreviations used in the subheadings relate to the target audience. Young teens spend most of their time on social networks and texting on their phones, therefore the heart icon rather than the word love, seems more familiar to the audience. The rounded letters are also girly, and look like most girls hand writing. The ‘scrapbook’ layout creates an almost messy look, and looks more attractive to the target audience.

Strapline/mastheadThe bold pink, boxed of strip across the top makes it one of the most eye catching parts of the page. A different typography is used however it is still curly, rounded writing relating to the young female audience. It adds to the scrap book appearance and makes the whole page look attractive and interesting, rather than the page you typically skip.

Main ImageThe medium long shot of Cheryl shows off her dress, hair and makeup. This relates to the audience as young girls want to look like her and are interested in clothes and make-up. Cheryl is a well know figure in the pop industry so people are more likely to want to read an article on her.

QuoteThe quote is placed at the top of the double page spread on the left. Its in a bright pink colour and put in a white bubble to make it stand out from the blue background. This means it is the first thing the audience will see and read. The controversial comment made by Cheryl gives us an idea of what she talks about in her interview and makes the audience interested in reading the rest.

CompetitionsThe strip along the right hand side of the second page includes a small additional story line that relates to the main one on the double page spread. It also includes a relevant competition for the audience to enter. This includes the audience and gives the article a bit more excitement and entertainment. Having it on the right page means it’s the last thing they read, as it is not considered as important as the main article, however the audience then have the time to consider taking part in the competition as they’ve already read the article itself.

LinksThe multi media platform added to the article relates to the audience. This is because as well as reading girly magazines, they also enjoy using social media platforms and the internet. Including an insert of a screenshot of the video online, encourages the audience to visit the site and watch the video in full.

Speech bubblesThe speech bubbles added over the top of the image add to the scrapbook feel of the whole magazine, similar to the contents page. This makes the magazine attractive to the target audience.

BubblesThe magazine is set out in boxed off columns. The round bubbles with additional information in stand out because of the contrast in shapes.

Feature article photoThe main image on the centre of the front cover is essentially the main focal point, and the first thing the audience will notice. The fact that Beyoncé is willing to be interviewed by Q and be on the front cover suggests the magazine has a lot of influence. The majority of Q magazine readers are male, suggested by the stereotypical male colours of the front cover. Using a seductive looking photo of an attractive woman, Beyoncé, appeals to the male audience and makes them want to read the article involved. Her outfit although being white, suggesting purity, is also very revealing which interests a male audience rather than a female one.

StraplineThe strapline is at the top of the page so the audience notices it first. It is boxed off in dark dull colours which contrasts to the blue green and white in the main background, making it stand out. It advertises the fact that the magazine is a 20th anniversary special edition. This links to the theme of ‘20’ portrayed across the whole front cover, making the audience feel like that could be the theme within the magazine as well.

ColumnsThe column structure of the front cover suggest formality and importance of the magazine. It is a more sophisticated layout, suggesting the magazine is targeted at more sophisticated or educated audience. The writing is white which complements her dress which is also white. This gives the front cover a colour theme which is attractive for the target audience to look at.

Sub headingThis subheading is written in black bold letters suggesting to the audience that this specific article is important. It also includes the number 20, fitting in with the familiar theme the rest of the conventions of the front cover seem to include.

StickersThis sticker also fits in with the 20th anniversary theme. It is also placed in a red circle making it stand out from the rest of the front cover as the only other red thing is the logo.

MastheadUsing the logo for the masthead is effective because it advertises the magazine and makes it easily recognisable for the audience. The red suggests danger and action, suggesting that’s what the contents of the magazine will be like.

Strapline/ MastheadUsing the common colour red for the front cover, contents page and double page spreads creates a sense of conformity. It keeps the magazine clean and minimal, attracting a more sophisticated audience as apposed to a scrapbook lay out. A bar of bright red colour across the top of the page makes it look more attractive and makes the audience slightly more convinced into reading it, rather than jumping straight into the magazine. Having the issue number in large letters at the top also suggests popularity and consistency as it is already the 292nd issue.

ReviewsHaving a review on the contents page is effective as it shows how popular the magazine is. It also tells the audience peoples opinions on the articles inside the magazine before they have read them so they get an idea on what it will be like.

ImagesUsing images of the articles on certain pages attracts the audience. This is because it suggests the article will look more attractive to read, rather than large chunks of text. It also suggests they are the more important or interesting articles because they are listed with a preview (image). They are quite neutral colours so they don’t distract the audience completely from reading the rest of the page.

StickersThe magazines main article in on John Lennon to commemorate his 70th birthday. They have made four different covers for john Lennon, suggesting the magazine is influential and respectful of well known figures in the music industry.

Column contents The contents has the page number and article heading in bold, with extra information underneath in smaller text. This suggests this is additional information the audience can read making the page more interesting. This portrays the magazine to be targeting a more educated audience as they are expected to read more about the article before turning to the actual page.

FeatureThe large section of text for the whole feature article, suggests that the magazine is targeting an educated audience, who have a lot of time on their hands to sit down and read a large article, for example students or people of an ABC1 audience as they have a more sophisticated level of language so will understand and be able to read the text easily. The long 3 column layout makes the article look formal as apposed to a children's pop magazine which will have a scrapbook layout.

LetterImageThe image used is very seductive. Lady Gaga is shown to be wearing very minimal clothing and a lot of makeup. This appeals to the male side of the target audience – which is the majority- so persuades them to buy the magazine. The black and white tones suggest vintage and old fashioned. This contrasts the actual image as you would expect a black and white image to be classy whereas it is the opposite. Her hair is also mirroring Marylyn Monroe's image, who is a typical well known sex image, appealing to the male audience.

The red letter fits in with the colour theme. It also takes over the whole article and dominates the page. This could appeal to male audience as they are also stereotypically dominating figures. The typography used for this letter is very block like and squared off. This appears more masculine rather than girly, as apposed to the rounded writing you would find in a female targeted magazine.

StraplineHaving the strapline at the bottom of the page rather than the top if very effective. Being at the bottom means it is the last thing the audience read, therefore it is going to be stuck in their head whilst reading the contents and will want to go straight to that page. It also says ‘JLS special’, appealing to a female audience as they are generally going to want to see JLS topless. The pink arrow on top of a yellow box makes it stand out and appear as an important article to the audience.

Sub storiesHaving smaller sub stories of the front cover entice the audience into buying and reading the magazine if its something they are interested in. The use of the word ‘yours’ involves the audience making them feel like they are being spoken to directly.

Logo/mastheadThe black and yellow next to each other make the logo stand out from the rest of the magazine cover. The pink heart icon typically has girly connotations relating to the magazines target audience. Rather than having a strap line across the top, they have included text into the logo itself. This creates a scrapbook feel to the cover and makes it more interesting for a younger audience to read.

Main imageThe main focal point on the front cover is a medium close up of Rihanna who is a well know pop icon and idol to most young girls, who is this magazine’s target audience. It shows off her make up and nails, which appeals to a female audience as they may aspire to get her ‘look’.

Stickers/advertisementAlthough it is a music magazine, having other things girls are interested in, such as clothes, is effective in grabbing their attention and interest. The ‘pop star look’ could relate to the advertisement of clothes the magazine includes and this interests the female audience as they want to look like their favourite celebrity.

ColumnsColumns would usually suggest format and sophistication. However for this magazines the columns have been made to look less formal by boxing them off using different colours; this makes it more appealing to read.

IntroductionHaving an introduction from one of the writers in the magazine involves the audience and makes them feel like they're being spoken to directly. The ‘Emily x’ at the end appears in a casual font making it look like she's actually written it. This makes the magazine feel more personal and once again more like a scrap book or diary.

ImagesHaving images on a contents page makes it easier and more appealing to read, which is useful for a younger or less educated audience. The pop stars in the pictures aren't being serious and appear ‘ normal’. This creates personal identity for the audience as they can relate to the celebrity's. It also suggests that these certain articles are most important making the audience want to turn to them first.

MastheadThe black bold writing would stereotypically fit for a male orientated magazine. However, it fits well with this magazine with the colour theme and scrap book effect. ‘We’ includes the audience in the magazine and suggests that if the magazine creators love ‘it’ the audience will as well.

StraplineThis strapline is at the bottom of the page as it is not as important as the rest of this page. However, the blue colour contrasts to the pinks and yellows on the rest of the page and makes it stand out. The continuous line of images (posters) adds to the scrap book theme and suggests that their target audience is younger people as they would prefer to look at large colourful images rather than read chunks of text.

ContentsThe pink and black is attractive to a female audience. Pink is stereotypically a girly colour therefore attracts them to read it. Having large numbers next to smaller sections of text splits it up and makes it easier for younger people to read. The fact that the O’s have been coloured in gives it an original appearance as though someone has drawn it rather than typed it. Rather than going into detail on the article, it just has a small hint, making the audience still want to read it.

Pull QuotesHaving a pull quote as header for this double page is very effective. This is because it makes the audience want to read the rest of the article instead of looking at the pictures and skipping pages. It also uses blocks of pink to highlight to part of the quote they think a female audience will be most interested in: first kisses. It doesn’t reveal too much information than the audience doesn’t feel the need to read the rest.

ImagesHaving smaller images within the text breaks it up and makes it easier to read. It adds a bit of colour and interests the audience. The audience also want to see a face to who the article is about.

PosterThe large poster on the left hand side is effective as girls want to have good-looking boys on their walls if they are a fan of Justin Bieber. He appears very stylish and any males in the audience may be interested in looking like this.

CompetitionHaving a competition creates entertainment for the audience. It also interests a female audience as Justin Bieber is one of the biggest pop icons that appeal to girls.

Column layoutThe column layout makes the article look slightly more formal and structured than the front cover and contents page. However it is done in colour which makes it more visually appealing for the audience. The typical girly colours pink and yellow also play a part in this. It makes it clear when the magazine member is speaking and when the pop star is speaking.

Summary

Most music magazines have similar conventions such as the layout for double page spreads. Most music magazines have a

focal point on the front cover, generally being a medium close up of a well known musician/singer. I found that the magazines

aimed more at younger girls had conventions such as ‘emojis’ and girly colours, where as magazines for an older audience such

as NME, are more dull colours and sophisticated layouts.