MUSIC MAGAZINE COVER CODES AND CONVENTIONSBen Sinclair.

MASTHEADThe masthead is presented at the top of the page so the audience see it first when it is on the shelf and they see it if they are looking for that particular magazine. It is the biggest font on the page making it easier to stand out to the audience and you can see it clearly even if you are a fair distance away. It relates to the colour scheme and sets the tone for the rest of the cover page and if it has different colours to the rest of the magazine it wouldn’t look right and odd preventing people from buying it.

MAIN IMAGEThe main image of music magazines are usually a artist or band and is them giving direct address, this makes the audience think that they are looking directly at them and giving a closer look. If the brand is a large brand, the main image will overlap the masthead because people know of the magazine and they want them to focus more on the main image star compared to the name of the magazine. They usually have relevant mise-en-scene for the genre the magazine is based around for example a rock magazine may have a guitar and a rap magazine may have the person wearing sunglasses and a golden chain/ neckless to appeal to the genres audience.

COVER LINESCover lines are text on the magazine that relates to articles that are in the magazine. They are positioned around the main image never touching their face so they are easily seen but don’t take anything away from the main image and make sure that is still the focal point in the magazine. It is usually in smaller and a different font to the masthead because they are more detailed than the rest of the magazine.

MAIN COVER LINEThe main cover line is the biggest cover line on the page and it relates to the main image. This is because the main cover star is usually the biggest star in the magazine and they want this to come across on the front cover as the biggest and most important article in the whole magazine. The name of the artist is sometimes bigger than the rest of the main cover line because it is a recognisable name and it wants to draw the audience in so a big artist like Oasis, Adele, Jay-Z etc. have such a large draw power they can gain even more of an audience. It is usually positioned at the bottom or at the top of the cover lines because it means they have more space and isn’t squashed together.

POSITIONING STATEMENTThe positioning statement is a slogan for the magazine and conventionally relates to the genre of the magazine. It is used to say that this magazine is the best magazine in the world and is meant to sort of promote the magazine a bit. It is positioned next to the masthead (usually underneath) because the masthead is the first thing the audience see this draws them in if they look interested. It is usually a similar font to the masthead but one of the smallest fonts on the cover.

ISSUE INFORMATION AND BARCODEThe barcode is conventionally positioned at the bottom of the page where it is out of the way but sometimes near the top if there is space and it doesn’t look odd. It has the price of the magazine on there and sometimes the issue information if the issue information isn’t at the top.

If the issue information isn’t positioned next to the barcode, it is next to the masthead. This is usually done if the information that is being provided is that the magazine has been running for a long time.

SKYLINEThe skyline is like a banner at the top of the magazine and involves something that cannot be found anywhere else. Sometimes it incudes a deal but usually consist of an exclusive interview with an artist which has shocking information that nobody else will believe and you won’t find anywhere else. This is why it is positioned at the top of the magazine because when people see the words exclusive they want to know what this is, so they get a their attention.

PUFFA puff is a shape with a deal or offer inside it. They use buzz words like free to grab peoples attention because they won’t want to miss this offer. It is usually in a colour that is different to the background it is on but follows the colour scheme.

INCENTIVES/ BUZZWORDSBuzz words or incentives are words that are going to draw the audience in and give them the incentive to buy the magazine. They are words like free and only. It makes the audience feel excitement if they are going to get a deal or if there is an interview that can only be seen in this magazine.

HOUSE STYLE.The colour scheme of the magazine must indicate the genre of music that it is about for example if there was a punk rock magazine it would use colours like black because black is represented with goths which is the target audience for punk rock music.

The hair of the main image also represents the genre of music that magazine is aimed at. Rock music will have cover stars with long hair and not much make up on because it gives the connotation of toughness which appeals to the audience of rock music.

All the house style must be appropriate for the genre of music.

The props included represents the genre of music it is aimed at. This Q magazine has an audience of fans of rock music. They show this by using fire (edited afterword's), instruments like guitars and drums which are conventional instruments for the genre.