Music Magazine - Research and Chosen Genre

Music magazines specialise in the music scene with lots of information on upcoming albums, artists and usually gossip. The covers tend to contain and use Red, White and Black as proven by two of the leading music magazines. The main coverlines usually are brief and very appealing to match the main image which should also attract as much attention and should feature a well known artist to make a first impression on a potential reader.

Sometimes other images of other popular artists are on the cover, demonstrated by Kerrang! above, and normally list the other coverlines on the side like Q which contain other big names in the music industry. Kerrang! is an example of an occasional issue as it states "2010 The Ultimate Review" which is why it puts more attention in the centre of the magazine. Q meanwhile is a normal monthly issue but to stand out from other magazines, it uses its title as "The UK's biggest music magazine". They also use flashes and pugs often to make the front cover that little bit more appealing such as special reviews, interviews or offers.

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The contents are usually similar as well. Again the common colour scheme is used effectively as are the images. They do not always use the same images relevant to the main article displayed on the cover but this is only to help promote other articles that are just as appealing inside containing more appealing artists. 

The number of images used can vary as well but it does not usually exceed three, unless it is a double paged contents page.

The layout is typical of any music magazine and perhaps any magazine. The title 'Contents' is displayed boldly at the top and the Masthead can be displayed next to it as well, proven by these two examples, while the list of page numbers and articles are placed on the side of the page and the main image.

Q has a review section underneath the main image which is quite common but can be used for messages from the editors in some cases, while NME uses the space below to promote offers on their magazine. It also uses bolder writing than Q which perhaps makes it more effective because it is easier to read and identify quicker and gives it a less formal appearance.

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The double page spread is where variation occurs. Kerrang! for example above uses almost like an album of images underneath the band in the recording studio, showing how the interviewers got a taste of working with artists rather than just interviewing them. The number of images used by these two magazines vary but both are effective in terms of appeal, Kerrang! shows a lot of action and people where as NME focuses on one big image used in a sort of seductive, modelling manner.



Kerrang! uses the colour scheme identified earlier. Both magazines have a title, but not written like a usual title is and can sometimes be a quotation from the interview. The text is reduced in size to fit into the pages but also not to obstruct the images used on them and are positioned like columns. Finally they seem to capitalise the first letter of the article

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My Chosen Genre

After evaluating these music magazines, I have decided to base my music magazine on the genre of rock/garage band material. I have already thought of some ideas to use and since I have looked at leading magazines in a bit more depth, I can start to plan out my own in a similar way to make it as effective.