Research of music magazines

Front Covers

This is the first music features Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Divison. The target audience for this magazine is teenagers and young adults, both female and male, we know this because the artist on the front cover is icon to young people who like the 'indie' genre which is the genre of the music magazine. This magazine cover stood out to me because the colours used are simple but effective. The image itself is simply black and white but it is distinctive as it is just one artist and very focused on him. The title of the magazine defiantly stands out as it is in bold font and is vivid red, this is very effective as it is eye-catching and will recognize the magazine to usual buyers. The sub title 'Joy division' stands out as 'joy' is bigger than all the other sub headings so this title catches your eye. The colours used are very typical of a music magazine as the conventions match the 'indie/alternative' genre of the magazine. Each subheading is spread out on a white background which makes each of them clear to read without being over-loaded with different colours. The bottom subheading stands out as it is a white grafiti type font projected onto the black t-shirt of the artist featured and also it is split by a red cross which draws you towards this sub-heading because apart from the title, is the only other colour on the page. Overall the magazine cover is plain and simple but at the same time this works in favour of it as it attracts people because it is not covered in pictures/sub-headings. I think this magazine really reflects the genre 'indie' which it is and i think will appeal to the right target audience as it is a well known artist for this genre so people will be interested in reading about. Also other artists/bands featured in the sub-headings will attract people to this magazine.
This magazine cover features a band called Arctic Monkeys. This magazine audience is looking to aim to the audience of young people of both genders as this band are very influencial to young people and when they see this band on the cover, it will attract the right audience. It is for the same magazine 'NME' but it is a christmas edition. There are conventions in the front cover that relate it to christmas, such as snow comming down from the main title of the magazine 'NME' but the typical conventions of the magazine still exist. The majority of the cover is dominated by a christmas style photo of the band dressed up for the festive season. The main heading 'christmas' stands out as it is projected in a bold font across the cover. The different sub-headings stand out as they are in a bold white font, over the background so are eye catching to potential buyers. I think buyers would be interested in this magazine at christmas because it is special designed for this time of year. I think the shot of the band works well as the lead singer is dominate at the front which will attract buyers as they will recognize him. Although there is alot going on in the shot, it still leaves room for the heading and subheads. The typical layout of the cover still exusts, which is the cover dominated by the photo of the artist/band and the name of the magazine at the top, followed by sub-headings scattered round the cover. You can tell this magazine aims to target people who are interested in listening/reading 'indie' music as the Arctic Monkeys and all the other bands/artists mentioned fit this genre and are well known to people who like this genre of music.


Contents Pages

This is the first contents page that caught my eye when researching them. It is a contents page from the music magazine 'Q' and you can tell this by the destinctive title on th left hand side of the page. The 'Q' is in white on a red background which helps it to stand out to te reader. The word 'Contents' next to it is also stands out as it in capital bold letters which attracts the reader. The main focus of this contents page is the large image of James blunt that dominates most of the page. The picture definatley draws the reader in as the shot of the photo is quite upclose and looks as if the artist is looking directly at you. The Page is set up into various sections which makes it alot easier for the reader as they can find specific pages quickly and easy. I think this contents page works very well as it is quite plain but very effective. The colours used are nice and simple, as they just use red, black and white but i think this works as it does not over-load the reader with vivid colours. This contents page definatley has elements in that i will want to use in my contents page.

This is the second contents page that caught my eye and is from the music magazine 'NME'. The traditional title of the magazine is in bold at the top of the page which helps to captivate the audience. The thing that stands out to me is the title 'This Week' at the top of the page as it is in big bold letters right at the top of the page. The colours are kept simple which adds effect to the page as it is not over-powered with colour. The two pictures in the middle of the page really engaged to the right target audience because these artists are very iconic on the 'indie' genre music scence which well encourage people interested in this genre to read the magazine. The page is clear to read as the magazine pages are split up into sections. The second thing that i feel attracts the target audience is the little section under the subheading 'oasis kicked off..' as Oasis are a very big band in this kind of gerne and this repot will be new so fans will be very interested in reading it. I think this contents page definatley does its job as it is not over-loaded with colour and pictures, it has just the right amout of text/images on it but at the same time has used simple effective colours to draw people in.

Double-page Spread

I was attracted to this double-page article from a music magazine as soon as i saw it. The target audience for this page is teenagers and young people, of both genders and we know this because it features the attractive artist Lily Allen who young boys will be attracted too and young girls will look up to her as an icon. The Title i think definatley stands out to me as it is very bold and in your face, it is simple white letters on a black background but i think this is effective as the text isnt over-loaded with different colours. The very large image dominates most of the right page and i think it is a good shot of the artist because it is as if she is looking directly at you and inviting you in to read the text. I would like to use features of this double page spread in my magazine, especially the title as i think it is very effective.


This double page spread attracted me to it whilst doing my research because of bold bright colours used and also the layout. The large picture that dominates the left page of the spread, has been shot to reflect a lazy student so is obiously trying to reasearch the student target audience. I think it works very well as the shot is quite inviting and chilled out. The colour scheme is suitable for the target audience and it is quite neutral so suitable for both genders. The main title 'The Teenagers' stands out on this page because the font is in capital letters and is very big compared to the rest of the text. I also like how down the right hand of the right page, there are little reports from other bands that want to reach the same target audience. I would like to use features of this double page spread in my magazine as my target audience is quite similar to this.