MUSIC MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

‘Q’ Magazine Front Cover Analysis

masthead

Main Image

Lead Article

Skyline

Pull Quote

Here is a classic Q Front Cover. The design is fairly ‘poster like,’ it doesn’t include many of the average necessities, such as plenty of Pull Quotes, ‘Flash’ or cover lines. The reason for this I believe is that Q is a very established Music Magazine, therefore doesn’t necessarily need an attention grabbing front cover, as it has a pretty stable, loyal audience who will purchase, or be subscribed to the magazine anyway . The skyline is obviously the first thing that is seen when the magazine is on the shelf in a shop, therefore is possibly one of the most important selling points for a magazine . This one is very simple, but also very clever, as anyone who is interested in music and would want to purchase a music magazine would instantly be drawn to the prospect of free music . The Main Image is of Liam Gallagher , Frontman of the band Oasis. It is a very strong image, dead centre of the page and the camera angle is tilted upwards, which gives the sense of power to Liam Gallagher which would link well with the ‘rock star’ image that he has. There is also the use of anchorage with this image and the text behind it, as the text behind him reads ‘ The 100 Greatest Front men’ and Liam Gallagher is positioned in front of the text, this links the image with the Lead Article.

‘Q’ Contents Page Analysis

Masthead

Main Image

Features and Page Numbers

Regulars

Main Articles

‘Q’ Contents Page Analysis

These contents pages are filled with images and articles that capture the attention of the reader. The ‘Contents’ logo is easily found at the top of the page as well as the issue number due to the bold red colouring that surrounds it. Both pages are mostly dominated by the images of various artists that are featured in the magazine. I have noticed that the ‘special feature stories’ are indicated on the first contents page, where as the regular features are on the second page, this I believe is an added selling feature as a new buyer could be drawn to one of these special feature articles and become a new purchaser of the magazine. Q have been sure to include an image that links to all of their main articles on both contents pages, this enables the reader to know a little about what they are going to read, just by taking a quick glance at the image. They have also added a large bold font for the page number ‘61’ this page holds the main article that is also featured on the front cover of the magazine, adding yet more emphasis on their main feature/selling point of this issue of the magazine.

‘Q’ DPS Analysis

This DPS is very image orientated. About 60% of the pages are taken up by the image and the actual article is quite small. Anchorage has again been used with this image as you can see it says ‘the poster girls’ and with this image Ellie Goulding had been displayed in a poster like way. The way this image has been displayed could also suggest that this is a ‘big’ artist in the music industry as the image of her is really large in comparison to the people that are seen ‘putting the poster up.’

‘NME’ Front Cover Analysis

Skyline

Masthead

Main Image

Lead article

Cover line

This NME front cover is very attention grabbing. They have a very strong, bright colour theme funning throughout the cover, from the masthead to the main image and even the cover lines. However, interestingly Jimi Hendrix himself seems to be in black and white, this I believe, draws back the attention to him, simply because the black and white is so different to the bright colours on the rest on the front cover. I also think, because this article will obviously be celebrating the life of Jimi Hendrix, the colours have been used to resemble his life, and the fact that the man himself is in black and white and the contrast this brings, could be a reminder that he has sadly passed away, and this article is to remember him, his life and what he brought to music.The cover lines are in the same colour theme as the main article and also have a similar font, but the pink contrast against the white background helps them stand out. Moreover this front cover is largely dominated by the main image and lead article, which NME clearly believe is the main selling point of this magazine.

NME Contents page Analysis

Main Image

Main Articles

Page Numbers

Pull Quote

Date of issue

NME Contents Page Analysis

The contents page is just as crowded and busy as the front cover, and much like the contents pages of ‘Q’ this contents page is again filled with images and articles that are set to capture the attention of the reader.Unlike the front cover, the contents page’s colours are quite subdued, although the fonts are quite eye catching against the white background. The page is rather dominated my images, as they have included an image for almost all of their lead articles, they have also included a pull quote with most of these images which I think is quite interesting as it is a simple and effective way to introduce the reader to the article without taking up too much room on the page.The look of this contents page overall has a very laid back feel, there doesn’t seem to be too much order, this I believe links it well with it’s young target audience’s way of life, and also could indicate an established audience, therefore not having to try to hard to reach out to new readers.

‘NME’ DPS Analysis

This DPS is again taken up mostly by the main image. There is a strong colour theme that has been heavily edited as even his skin tone is a purple hue. Added with the pastel colours , the drift of smoke and pale and swirled font of the headline creates quite a dreamy feel, this I believe is what NME wanted to create due to the lead article celebrating parts of his life and what he brought to the music industry, moreover this article is more about remembering someone rather than a promotional interview with a band hence the different feel that this image creates.

‘MOJO’ Front Cover Analysis

Skyline

masthead

Pull Quote

Lead Article

Left Third

Cover Lines

The masthead on this magazine has been covered by the main image, this, as always indicates that the magazine is well known and doesn’t need the full masthead to be shown to encourage the audience to purchase it. The font on the cover of this magazine is very bold due to the white on black effect, and really enables the articles to stand out. The main image itself seems to blend in with the darkness of the cover rather than stand out like many other magazine front covers, this may be because the artist shown is so well known and doesn’t need an overpowering image to make the magazine sell. It is also interesting that they have chosen to use an old image of Paul McCartney, this I believe links well to the subject of the interview as he is talking about The Beatles, and of course that was when he was younger, at the height of his fame with The Beatles and probably when this picture was taken.

‘MOJO’ Contents Page Analysis

Main Image

Page Numbers

Date of issue

Main Articles

Pull Quote

MOJO DPS Analysis

This DPS, I believe is very interesting, the images that have been used manage to tell a story all on their own, the mood seems rather sombre, with the black ad white of the images and dark shadows surrounding him, and without even reading the article I can tell that this must have been a lonely, sad part of his life. The layout of the page is fairly even with half being taken up by the image, and half by the text, this could suggest that the images are just as important or relevant to the article as the interview/text.