Music Magazine Analyses

NME is published by TimeInc. UK and would be distributed in shops like HMV as it is free and weekly. They publish a lot of magazines covering a

wide range of topics, mostly specific lifestyle magazines.

Front Cover- Colour - Dominant reds and blues including masthead shadow, these colours are

generally associated with pop and youth culture. Yellow puff stands out to the audience. The overall colour scheme creates a fun/happy tone and the impression that it is a pop magazine. The white has connotations of the future/modern and is very clean.

- Design – All of the fonts are sans serif which is a very modern style to show that the magazine is up to date and aimed at a young audience against traditions. Taylor Swift is styled to look rebellious with messy hair which has synergy with the fonts.

- Images – The cover image is directly related to the main story but it also represents what the female target audience might aspire to as Taylor Swift is presented as being beautiful by modern standards. The direct gaze establishes a connection between the singer and the audience, as if she is asking them to read it.

- Pose, Hair, Style, Make-up – Swift’s hair is styled to look quite wild which creates the impression that she is quite rebellious, something that the teenage target audience stereotypically want to be. This has synergy with her make-up, loudly coloured and fishnet outfit as they all create the sense that she is rebellious.

- Words – The puff stands out at a glance due to the bright colour and it does a good job at saying all things covered in the magazine and suggests that the readers don’t just read the magazine for music. The masthead will stand out on a shelf due to the size and colouration, and the main cover line is the perfect size to be visible from a distance and the name is instantly recognisable so it doesn’t have to be any bigger. The banner at the bottom is just about big enough to be read from a distance.

- Overall Impressions – Overall, I think the cover is not entirely successful in giving an indication of what’s inside as it only really focusses on one story so needs more cover lines. It is designed to appeal to teenage girls mostly and might not appeal to male audiences as much and in particular anyone who is not a fan of Taylor Swift as the whole cover is focussed on her.

Contents Page- Colour – The contents mostly follows the house style established in the

masthead/cover. The background is all white and all of the page numbers are red and most of the text is black. The simple colour scheme seem very modern and fresh as if they are going back to basics and focussing on the text.

- Design – The three “sections” have individual fonts designed to reflect the content included in them. The Radar is very colourful and the ‘D’ is designed to look like a radar. The Live font is flowing like hand writing which makes it seem like a life line and neon signs, which reflects the liveliness of festivals.

- Images – The image on the contents page is of a band featured on a story mentioned in the contents. The image looks quite natural and they look like they are enjoying themselves. Fans of the band will want to go straight to the story when seeing it as they are instantly recognisable.

- Pose, Hair, Style, Make-up – The man on the right on the contents image is wearing quite a unique style of clothing which gives the impression that his band is quite unique so the readers may be attracted to find out more about it.

- Words – The three main stories can be clearly identified at a glance as the bold lettering and red numbers make them stand out, however, the rest of the stories are less visible at a glance. The numbers of the “sections” are too small to be identifiable at a glance. The layout is clear, however, because there is a lot of space between the text and sections.

- Language – The editor’s note is written in quite an informal tone which feels more personal for the audience. The contents does not use direct address but is still written in a conversational style

- Overall impressions – The contents page is successful in showing where the stories are and the editor’s note seems very personal so connects the audience to the magazine.

- Colour – The same colours as the contents and cover are used to strongly create a strong house style so the magazine is always recognisable. The reds connote heat in this instance, representing the fact that it has the hottest music.

- Design – The page is mostly made up of rectangular shapes which gives it a very modern, clean cut design. This is juxtaposed against the poses that Swift is in which look more wild and rebellious. The “What they say section” is designed to look like a social networking site, as the banner looks like Facebook and the pictures of the celebrities are CU in circles to look like profile pictures.

- Images – The behind the scenes pictures are in a black and white filter to make them seem more exclusive so the audience will feel special. Most of the celebrity pictures have direct gaze with them.

- Pose, Hair, Style, Make-up – The poses she is pulling are a continuation of the cover image, reinforcing the rebellious messages.

- Words – The drop capital at the start of the article is designed to look like the jacket that Taylor Swift is wearing on the cover image which helps with the establishing of the house style of the issue but also stands out as obviously being the start of an article about Swift.

- Language – The article itself is written in an informal style so it sounds as if the journalist is telling the readers about their experiences rather than reporting them.

- Overall Impressions – The double page spread is effective in appealing to its target audience of teenage girls as it has elements of social networks and has a personal look into the life of an artist popular with this group.

Double Page Spread

Bonafide is self-published so would be distributed in shops with large collections of niche genres, for example, WHSmith.

Front Cover- Colour – The dark blue filter on the cover image makes the magazine seem cool and

modern as the colour has connotations of cold. The text and blank space is coloured black and white to show that they keep things simple.

- Design – The fonts on the cover are all sans serif so the magazine seems modern and appeals to the teenage target audience. The masthead has a specific recognisable font as the “N” and “F” overlap so people will recognise it if they see it again. The font works well with the image because of the white outlines of the models faces.

- Images – The image directly links to the main story, but are also wearing a style that is very popular look for men at this time so the readers might aspire to dress like them. The white stylistic outlines of their faces are very recognisable so they can be identified as Disclosure from a glance.

- Pose, Hair, Style, Make-up – Disclosure are in casual poses which give the impression that they are just normal people like the target audience so the audience think they can achieve their level of fame as well. Their overall composition also echoes this idea.

- Words – The cover lines are very simple as they only show the names of the artists interviewed inside. This suggests that the readers are not interested in gimmicks but instead simply read to hear about their favourite artists. The masthead is large enough to stand out on a shelf and be read from a distance.

- Language - The language is very simple and formal. It seems quite disconnected from the audience as there is no direct address and it only has facts on the cover.

- Overall Impressions – Overall, the cover gives a good indication of what’s inside and the design works to appeal to the target audience of fans of the Hip-Hop and EDM genres. The names on the cover lines represent the interests of the readers as they are popular artists of the genre.

Contents

- Colour – The contents page keeps to the house style created on the cover as it is all black and white.

- Design – The sans serif font from the cover is used again, so sticks with the modern theme.

- Words – The contents is clearly identifiable at a glance as they are clearly laid out as it is very well laid out and not cluttered with pictures so it focusses on the locations of the stories only.

- Language – Most of the contents are just the names of the artists interviewed. The ones that aren’t, however, have quite informal names, establishing a connection with the audience.

- Overall Impressions – The contents works as a simple map of the magazine, but is definitely too plain so could benefit from the addition of images.

Double Page Spread- Colour – Tyler is lit from the top which makes him seem darker

due to the contrast. This is done as it makes him seem more mysterious. The text is mostly black and white, however, the speech marks are blue to match the cover colours.

- Design – The picture is lit with low intensity blue lighting which has synergy with the quotation marks on the pull quote and the cover image, reinforcing the house style. The pull quote is in a bold font to suggest that the quote makes a big impact as it sends a powerful message.

- Images – The media has caused Tyler, The Creator to represent controversy and evil so the image is set up in such a way that he seems like a villain due to the low angle shot and high angle lighting.

- Pose, Hair, Style, Make-up – The rapper is styled in a stereotypical way, wearing a snap back and Nike T-Shirt which means that he is clearly identifiable as a musician of the genre. The colouration of his T-Shirt is quite loud which gives the impression that he is fun loving and multi-layered

- Language – The article is in quite an informal and conversational style, which creates a connection between the reader and the journalist.

- Overall Impressions – The double page spread is designed to appeal to fans of the rap genre, which it does effectively with the image and choice of pull quote. It represents their interests as Tyler, the Creator is a very popular rap artist so most fans of the genre enjoy his music.