The Music Press Genre

7/29/2019 The Music Press Genre

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The Music Press

Exploring the GenreBritish music magazines

British music websites



Genre

GENRE: a type or group of something.

In Media Studies, genre means texts (films,

magazines, websites etc) which can be groupedtogether because they have a lot in common.Typical genres include: horror films; celebritygossip magazines; cooking programmes. Canyou think of other genres?

The genre of the Music Press includesmagazines and websites which are completely or mainly about music .



Use your knowledge. Which of these websites and magazines

fits into the genre of the Music Press? Can you explain why

some fit the genre and some don’t?

MAGAZINES

Mixmag

Metal Hammer

Radio Times

Cosmo Girl

Q

OK

Mojo

Top of the Pops

We Love Pop

Echoes

WEBSITES

Kerrang!

Smash Hits

Facebook

The Daily Mail:entertainment section

The Wire

NME (New MusicalExpress)

Spin.com

Drowned in Sound



Genres of Music

As well as being a genre in itself, the MusicPress also covers different kinds of music.

Each kind of music is also a genre.

So the genre of ‘the Music Press’ coversdifferent genres of music such as ‘pop’ ‘hip-

hop’ ‘metal’ ‘classical’ and so on.

Some magazines and websites only deal withone genre of music, some cover all kinds of

music.



Match texts to the genre

Texts Genre

Metal Hammer Hip-hop / rap

Smash Hits

Mojo ‘Alternative’ Q

The Wire Dance music

Mixmag

Drowned in Sound Classic Pop / Rock

EchoesRago magazine Metal

DJ mag

We Love Pop Pop

Kerrang!



Genre trees

Can you extend or add to this with other genres of music, or subgenres of music and find any magazines

or websites that go with them? Are there any genres

of music which DON’T have a magazine or website?

MusicGenre

Pop Metal ? ?

? ? ? ?? ?Top of

the Pops

We Love

Pop



Watch…

How the Music Press reflect the image of the

genre in Clip 3: Designing Page Layouts

(5.40 – 6.42)



Magazine front covers

All music magazines look like magazines!

They use the basic conventions (typical

things) of magazine design and layout, sowe all recognise that they are magazines.

Look at these front covers. What do they allhave in common?

http://www.mixmag.net/media-kit/about/the-worlds-

biggest-dance-music-and-clubbing-magazine

http://www.mixmag.net/media-kit/about/the-worlds-biggest-dance-music-and-clubbing-magazine





















Watch…

The Kerrang! Editor talking about the front

cover in Clip 1 Who Does What (5.30 – 6.09)

Clip 2 The Front Cover (all, 0.00 - 6.15)

Brand identity in Clip 10 The Word (3.15 –

4.18)



The Conventions

Focus on one front cover:http://cover.mojo4music.com/Item.aspx?pageNo=1838&year=2012

Find the

Mast head (title graphic) Strap line (tells you about the magazine)

Main image (usually a close up of a person / group)

Secondary images (smaller images, around the edges)

Cover lines (tell you what is in the magazine)

Menu strip (list of extras, often along the bottom)

Sweet spot (where the eye is drawn to first, generallythe left side, half-way down)

Institutional information (price, issue number,

publisher, bar code etc)

http://cover.mojo4music.com/Item.aspx?pageNo=1838&year=2012






Using codes to analyse front covers

Look again at the cover and think about:

Colour codes –what colours has the magazine cover used - mainlypinks and pastels? Fresh greens and yellows, or mainly blacks andreds? What do each of these colour groups suggest or connote? Howdoes this relate to the image of the magazine, to the image of the band

or musician, and to the image the audience has of itself?

Non-verbal codes – what are the typical facial expressions andgestures of the people on the cover? Why? What do these expressionsand gestures symbolise? Are they warm, friendly, aggressive,frightening? Again, how does this relate to the image of the magazine,

to the image of the band or musician, and to the image the audiencehas of itself?

Technical codes – how are the images lit? Put together? Cropped?Orientated? What kind of image do these codes create? How does thisrelate to the image of the magazine, to the image of the band or

musician, and to the image the audience has of itself?



Sketch a plan of a front cover,

blocking in and labelling the key areas

1

3

2

4

5 7

6 8

Use these labels, use some

more than once. Add other

labels where you need

them. Add more areas toyour sketch plan if you need

them.

•Strap line

•Cover line

•Main image•Secondary image

•Mast head

•Institutional information

•Sweet spot



Comparing genres: front covers

All magazine front covers use the basic conventions (typical things), buteach genre uses them in different ways.

Look at these two covers:

http://www.kerrang.com/blog/newissue/

http://www.totpmag.com/

Compare the: Layout: is it busy, cluttered, clean empty classy? What is the effect

of this?

Design: the use of colour codes, the fonts, the images. Whatimpression does each one create? Aggressive? Dark? Friendly?

Content: how does the content differ to suit the genre? Choice of bands / artists? The angle on the bands / artists? Other content?

Mode of address: how does each one ‘talk’ to the reader? Does issee you as a friend?

Ideology: what sort of values and attitudes does the magazineseem to promote? Is bad behaviour cool? Is being prettyimportant?







Non-verbal codes: the gaze

Non-verbal codes include facial expressions, posture and gestures.Non-verbal codes are particularly important to magazine front coversbecause they usually have a person or group as the main image. Theperson or people in the main image nearly always gaze at the reader.This catches the reader’s eye, and is more likely to make them noticethe cover.

Compare the way the person or people gaze at you on the two differentfront covers. Think about:

Do different kinds of performers use different kinds of gazes?Who uses the provocative or sexual gaze?Who uses the cheeky or mischievous gaze?

Who uses the challenging or aggressive gaze?Who smiles?Is the smile sexual or friendly, cheeky or self-confident?Who doesn’t smile? What is the effect of this?

What do these expressions and gestures tell us about the performer?How does this relate to the image of the magazine, to the image of the band or musician, and to the image the audience has of itself?



The conventions of websites

All music websites look like WEBSITES! They use the basic conventions(typical things) of website design and layout, so we all recognise that they arewebsites.

Look at this home page: http://www.mixmag.net/ Focus first on what is ‘above the fold’ – what you can see without scrolling

own.

Identify the Grid (the layout of the frames - the frames are areas for specific content)

Banners (horizontal sections of the page, often across the top and bottom,sometimes with adverts in)

Sidebars (vertical sections, usually at the side of the page, often containingseparate or additional content)

Links (to navigate between different pages of the website, and to link toother sites)

Flash content (moving image content such as film footage and animations)

Interactive content (where the audience can interact and contribute)

Graphics (logos, design elements, images)

Main image, secondary images Headings and sub-headings

http://www.mixmag.net/

http://www.mixmag.net/



Sketch a plan of a home page,

blocking in and labelling the key areas

Use these labels, use some

more than once. Add other

labels where you need them. Grid

Banners Sidebars

Links

Flash content Interactive content Graphics

Main image, secondaryimages

Headings and sub-headings

1.

7.

5.4.3.2.

6.

8. 9. 10.



Comparing genres: home pages

All website home pages use the basic conventions (typical things). Buteach genre uses them in different ways.

Look at these two home pages:

http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/

http://www.welovepopmag.co.uk/ Compare the:

Layout: is it busy, cluttered, clean empty classy? What is the effectof this?

Design: the use of colour codes, the fonts, the images. Whatimpression does each one create? Aggressive? Dark? Friendly?

Content: how does the content differ to suit the genre? Choice of bands / artists? The angle on the bands / artists? Other content?

Mode of address: how does each one ‘talk’ to the reader? Does issee you as a friend?

Ideology: what sort of values and attitudes does the magazineseem to promote? Is bad behaviour cool? Is being pretty important?


http://www.welovepopmag.co.uk/

http://www.welovepopmag.co.uk/




Watch…

Website design and image in: Clip 3:

Designing Page Layouts (3.31 – end)



Compare a front cover and a home page

for the same title.

Try: http://www.kerrang.com/ and

http://www.kerrang.com/blog/newissue/ Layout: how are they similar or different? How do they organise

the content for easy reading?Design: do they both have the same house style / brand image?

Content: What content do they have in common? (Masthead?

Main image? Headings? Copy?) And what content is different? (a

web page can hold a lot more content than a front cover)

Mode of address: They both want you, the reader, to go further into the website or magazine. How does each one encourage you

to read more?

Ideology: is this the same in the magazine and website? The

website might be less regulated than the magazine, so have less

controls over its content.

http://www.kerrang.com/



http://www.kerrang.com/



Page layout

It is not just front covers and home pages that follow conventions.Most magazines include a two-page spread for their main articles.

Look at a two-page spread: http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=8&title=florence_rules_t_in_t

he_park_inside_this&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 Which of these conventions are used?

Primacy of image (the image, not the copy is the main thing onthe page)

One, two or three column layout (keeps the copy organised andeasy to read)

Multiple points of entry (lots of different places to start reading) Sidebars (vertical content to add extra info, break up the copy

(writing), another point of entry)

Lots of headings and sub-headings (helps organise and breakup the copy, draws the reader in, provides more points of entry)

Pull quotes (parts of the text taken out and used as headings) Copy bleeding into image (writing covers part of the main image)

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=8&title=florence_rules_t_in_the_park_inside_this&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1






Watch…

The Kerrang! Team talking about feature and

news articles in Clip 1 Who Does What (6.10

– 14.17)

Clip 3 Designing Page Layouts (0.00 – 3.30).



Comparing genres: page layouts

Compare two double-page spreads articles from different genresof magazine.

Layout : is it busy, cluttered, clean empty classy? What is theeffect of this? How are the conventions used?

Design: the use of colour, the fonts, the images. Whatimpression does each one create? Aggressive? Dark?Friendly?

Content: how does the content differ to suit the genre? Choiceof bands / artists? The angle on the bands / artists? Other

content? Mode of address: how does each one ‘talk’ to the reader?

Does is see you as a friend? Is it amusing? Or mocking?

Ideology: what sort of values and attitudes does the magazineseem to promote? Is bad behaviour cool? Is being pretty

important?



Summary 1

Explain the following terms:

Genre

The genre of the music press

Genres of music

Conventions Design

Layout

Mode of address

Ideology

Name 5 things you would typically find on a magazine front cover

Name 5 things you would typically find on a website home page

Name 5 things you would typically find in a feature article

Documents

The Music Press Genre