Analysis of 2 music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread

I chose the Billboard and the Q magazines and I analysed them.

Front Cover (Billboard)

The Masthead
The masthead ,Billboard' is printed in large and bold so it's target audience can easily recognise it. The colour of the text is silver and looks hard and solid giving the text an edge and rock vibe.

Use of a Flash 
There is a flash telling the audience not to miss out on a country music summit. It then has the website you can access to be apart of the summit.

Use of a Sub-Heading
There is a question asking the audience ,The queen of tween grown ups. But will her fans follow?' it feels as if the reader will there selves about following Miley Cyrus it also create tension  to read more of the article.

Background
The purple background giving of a girly atmosphere. But it's also disappears into Miley's dark clothing suggesting mystery to her.

Rule of Thirds
 The magazine uses the rule of thirds placing the artist directly centre of the cover, this draws all attention onto her making her the main focal point.

Cover Lines
The cover lines includes other bands included in the magazine so it's shows the main articles inside the magazine. The audience can read about different bands, for example '3OH!3'.

The Main Image 
The main image is of the artist Miley Cyrus, she is looking directly into the camera showing she isn't afraid. Her look strong, dominant and powerful. She is also holding a letter M showing her importance and power.

The Main Cover Line 
The main cover line is just the name of the artist Miley Cyrus. It's short, simple and gets straight to the point of the main article inside the magazine. The image behind the text the artist making obvious to the readers.

Barcode and Price
The barcode and the price is placed at the bottom right corner. It's presented in small, simple and not bold.


Contents Page 

The contents page also include the masthead  as it has the branding of 'Billboard' on the top corner.This links the front cover to the contents page as they both have the same logo on. The masthead also include the 'Contents' so it tell the readers what to expect from the page.

Headings are located in the centre of the page and they tell us what to expect on future pages of the magazine. They are in a black, capital font but hey aren't bold. They still stand out to the readers but aren't too eye catching.

 The main image is placed down the right hand side of the page. It is a photo of a woman, she is surrounded by text  which is describing the contents of the magazine. She is looking vey happy and she is wearing leather and heels. She is trying to be portrayed as glamorous and this probably reflects on the genre of music she is related to.

Numbers are placed underneath the heading for the pages.

Double Page Spread

The headline of the article 'Girl, you'll be a woman soon' is in the middle of the page so that is the mane focus of the page as well as the the image. The colour of the word 'Girl' is in pink and the rest of the sentence is in black, this can be seen as the pink representing a girly younger colour and the black representing a much older more professional colour. The font is quite simple, and it's represented in same-serif fonts.

The pose of the artist shows the theme of the article, the artist is sitting on the floor in a pose of a child, however the style of the tight clothes the long heels, and the make up shown her to be grown up into a woman. The image cover the whole of the double page spread this work, as apart from the artist the image is quite plain and in a grey room with plain walls and plain floor.Therefore the text can stand out from the image.

The main body of text on the double page spread in the only text in white.
The caption for the story is enclosed in a box outlined by a thin white line that is barely visible this is done to highlight the sort massage of the caption. The message is also followed by the byline which is in the same colour pink as the 'Girl', in the title this done to not only add more colour to the page but to highlight the writers name.

Front Cover (Q magazine)

Masthead is in red and white for visual branding of Q magazine and is easily to recognised by reader, because it is consistent by positioning, colour, size and font type. 'Britain's Biggest Music Magazine' in black and white, just under the masthead as it sounds like an impressive fact, and reflect high quality, in order to appeal to readers.
The cover lines are all about the famous Chris Martin, shocking and personal quotes from him, the cover line to intrigue the audience making them want to buy this issue, as everyone wants to know about celebrity gossip/news.
The selling line uses red for the word 'Glastonbury' as that is the word that is expected to appeal to the audience. This makes the readers more interested and likely to buy the magazine.
The main image is edgy and conveys indie/rock music by Coldplay's lead singer's facial expression, shows passion for what he does. The main image links into the main story, which is typical of magazines to give the reader insight into this issue. The font of the main cover  line of the page, it is on top of the main image which jumps out to the audience.

Contents Page

Magazine Logo shows continuity of design from the front cover and familiarises the reader with the image of the magazine.
Contents Title written in white on a black background so it's clear and bold.
Institutional Details inform the reader of when the issue was published. It's also tells to the reader he web address of the magazine.
Main Image: The bands' image gives a sense of rock, indie style. We can  recognise it because of the mise en scene and the long hair on two of the male singers because the country side is an unusual setting. The band  members are wearing black and white this also tells us the style of music they play could be alternative. We can clearly see that the lead singer of the band is the one wearing the sunglasses, this connotes coolness.
Article Title anchors the main inset image and confirms this for the readers. The quote attracts the readers' attention and makes them feel curious, in this case about the gossip of this band , making them want to read on about it.



The smaller image uses a full body shot and the way the person is standing gives it a cantered. Next to the small image the vertical column also helps to frame the main image.
Headings uses continuity of design as the writing is in the white on a black background, this is also seen on the magazines logo.
Page Numbers are presented in red, which shows continuity of the brand identity.
Sub-Headings in capital to separate them from the explanatory text. And it's also frames the main image.
The features and the page numbers are written in gold and the feature in a different font to show the reader that it really is as ,special' as it claims.

Double Page Spread

I like how they placed the image(the celebrity) on the left and the text on the right. I really like how they have placed a big letter which links to the celebrity, and they have kept their colour of their logo. This use of the layout makes the pages elegant.
Image- The image has taken up a whole A4 page, this has been done to advertise the artists. The image presented in black and white which is also makes these pages 'classy' and elegant. So whit this design there is one dominant colour which was the red, and as we know this links with the logo.
Mise-en-scene- The use of props in the image, the model does not have any clothes on, only some chains around her neck, this could imply that she has a hard life where she is 'locked down'.  Her hair is short and she has a lot of eye make up, this has been used to create that womanly look and drew attention to her.
Serif Font- This type of font has been used so there is still a decorative touch to the text but the readers also can read it easily. This style of font creates a upper class feeling.
Masthead- On every page we see their masthead, this is like a signature. By doing this the magazine makes sure the audience remember who has created the magazine.
 

 

Choice in Genre for my Music Magazine

I love listening music, and what I'm listening is always depends on my mood. There is a wide range to choice music genre, e.g.  Classical Music
                                     Country Music
                                     Electronic Music
                                     Hip Hop / Rap
                                     Jazz
                                     Pop
                                     R&B
                                     Alternative Rock 

I really enjoy everything from Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead(alternative rock bands), to Eminem(hip hop) and Jessie J(pop and R&B). 
I like and enjoy the Q magazine, which is an alternative music magazine. My other favourite music magazine is the Billboard, the target audience for Billboard magazine varies for young teens, from the age of 16, to young adults, at the age of 26. This is because the magazine provides its readers with the latest updates from the charts, but of different and various types of genres. 
My music magazine will be in the genre of alternative rock, but I'll try to mix with the pop music.

Codes and Conventions of a Music Magazine

Rolling Stone Magazine 

The Rolling Stones Magazine follow a many codes and conventions of music magazines.
Firstly, we are not exactly can see the whole masthead, but it goes across the full width of the page with white and serif fonts, and with grey contour. This masthead is outstanding because it's white but the background is light grey, so this grab the readers attention.
Secondly, the cover lines are presented in black and placed on the left and the right side. They are separated with thick, black lines to be more eye catching, and these are also presented in serif fonts .
The headline is presented in white, just like the masthead, and this is relates the main story.
On the right side of the masthead, there is an advertisement in a black square which can attract more reader, because it's not about the music, it is about the global warming, so it can grab other people attention.
Lastly, the main image is at the middle of the page, like usually. She is a very popular singer so it also help to the magazine to be more popular. She is wearing black clothes witch is matching with the cover lines. And it is also outstanding because of the grey background. This front cover not exactly colourful but even interesting as it looks and catches the readers eyes.

History of Music Magazine Industry

I think it is obvious that the music magazine industry is based upon the music industry itself.
The most important thing is current culture and that what is the public want to hear and read. So the success of the music magazine industry is depend on the public and this is changing in every year. Most music magazines are based upon a specific genre, which is also changing in every year, every age and between female and male. Every magazine have a famous musician or band on the front and usually we can determine the genre of the magazine about the title or the images or the cover lines. The main image on the front is depend on the current culture and who is the most popular at that period of the year or the month.
For example, the jazz was very popular in the 1920's but nowadays it's not exactly known and popular. So if Charlie Parker, who was an American Jazz saxophonist and composer and he was a highly influential jazz soloist, would be on a music magazine front cover, probably the magazine going to be less popular. But is Michael Jackson would be on a music magazine it's going to be more popular because Michael Jackson is more popular than Charlie Parker and the pop genre is also more popular than the jazz genre.
However, nowadays we have a wide range of genres and it's create a bigger opportunity for music magazine industries to make different magazines and music to public.    

History of Music Magazines

Billboard
Billboard's first music magazine was issued in 1894 which is the first ever. This gradually evolved into radio airplay and record sales charts (The Billboard Charts). TBC provided different music genre and was the foundation for slots on the radio for programmes like 'American Top 40'. The magazine is aimed at music professionals however, it is available to the general public. 

Melody Maker 
Melody Maker was the one of the first ever music magazines released in June 1926 and inside had the honors list which was the first ever recorded charts.By the 50's it had competition from New Musical Express which was appealing to more of a younger generation as it had coverage on the up-and-coming rock n roll scene. They both offered weekly information on upcoming record releases. The magazines had newspapers formats but 'music inkies' provided detailed coverage of independent label artists not mainstream chart music. A glossy magazine format for Melody Maker was introduced in 1999 and merged with NME in 2000 which are both owned by IPC media.   

Vibe  
Vibe was launched in1993 and is still a very popular magazine that provides lots of entertainment and recent news about a range of artists.

NME Magazine 
New Musical Express magazine was first issued in 1952. In the 1970's it became the best selling british music magazine. 

Rolling Stone Magazine
In 1967 Rolling Stone magazine was created and documented music as an important part in the culture of youth with reflective articles about music and social change, and the political concerns about music. Rolling Stone was less about factual information and more about the culture of music. 

Smash Hits 
This magazine was created in 1978 and was aimed at teens. This magazine is important to the development of music because it covered music in a different way as it was designed as a genre-specific magazine(pop). 

The Face 
The Face was launched in 1980 by Nick Logan. The Face was monthly magazine that offered the colourful layout of Smash Hits but aimed at a slightly older audience, embracing music and also fashion and lifestyle. The layout consisted of lots of images and detailed articles, pages full of celebrities, musicians, fashion shoots and advertising. This magazine stopped being published in 2004 however it influenced other magazines such as Q magazine. 

Kerrang
Kerrang was introduced in 1981 and compered to Smash Hits, it is more of a music orientated magazine. Kerrang's monthly competitor is Metal Hammer. 

Since then, magazines have became less popular as nowadays ways to get new information about the music scene is very easy to do. Most people use the internet and magazine's websites to find everything out. 

Research Music Industry

The music industry consists of the companies and individuals that makes money by creating and selling music.
 Among the many individuals and organisations that operate within the industry are: the musicians who compose and perform the music; the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music ( e.g., producers, recording studios, music publishers, engineers, record labels,  retail and online music stores). 
In the 19th century and early 20th century was the main business of the music industry publication and sale of music scores. 
Today, four large multinational grouping disc publishing dominates the market for recorded music:
such as, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI. Each one  includes a number of smaller publisher, which operate in different regions and countries of the word and these are are deal with various musical genres. The largest portion of the live music market is controlled by Live Nation, the largest promoter and music venue owner. 
However, in the 21st century the development of the digital music market, the largest online music store is Apple Inc's iTunes Store.