Clash: Magazine Covers (Monthlies)

As well as weekly magazines, we have also been looking at magazines published monthly; by studying closely at them enable us to gain a better understanding of how music companies publish their magazines. By doing this task it will help me get different ideas of how to create my music magazine set for my final task which is initially my coursework assignment.

In today's lesson I studied "Clash" which is a music magazine published monthly, it is priced at £3.80 in the UK and also $8.99 in the US, which shows it is sold nationally having a much wider audience. The title could connote various things, the word "Clash" could mean a clash of two different music genres in the magazine mainly being indie and rock; the title is onomatopoeic which could then link with it being a music magazine. Also "Clash" could initially be linked with the type of music in the content of the magazine, representing it to be loud and forward to the reader. There is an inducement included in this month's issue which is a free dvd called "Lives of The Artists", it features many known artists within the rock and indie music industry. The artists featured in the dvd include Fergal Smith, Mickey Smith, Tom Lowe, Gallows and Xavier De Le Rue. The inducement is sponsored by "Relentless" which is a popular energy drink and would be a good sponsorship for an indie and rock genre. This could be a good marketting technique as the audience would be persuaded to buy the energy drink when attending gigs and concerts as this type of drink will enable them to become energised and lively for the events showing a contrast between the music and the energy drink. By adding an inducement to the magazine which is a free gift attracts the reader as it makes them automatically think they are get much more for their money.

There is a main image on the cover which is of Courtney Love who is a famous American rock musician and actress. The image could show that the readers are interested in indie/rock stories based upon famous men and women in the music industry. The main image is the only image on the cover representing that her story is extremely significant in the content of the magazine. The most important word on the cover is "Courtney Love" on the bottom of the image printed in a bold white text and is supported by the text "Rehab, Relationships, Redemption" the use of words are powerful as the alliteration shows how sharp and appealing the text is to the reader. The use of the three words could link to the image as "Rehab" could link with the blood and cuts on her hand showing she had suffered such an horrific experience, also the word could be shown through her beady green eyes the women has and that the fact that she looks directly at the reader could show a sense of guilt and could represent a sense of having a psychotic mind. The word "Relationships" could link with the colour red being used which could initially show a sense of love and passion Courtney Love has faced over the years as she has recently lost her husband, Kurt Cobain which could be then discussed in the content of the magazine itself. The word "Redemption" could be presented in the image as she has come across as being quite innocent which could give the reader an idea that she wants to be forgiven and coming back from outside wanting to be brought back into society showing she could be finally speaking out about how she feels deeply.

There isn't much text placed on the cover showing it isn't a busy magazine showing it's straight to the point and the publication have put the most significant text they want the reader to be drawn to. If there was a great deal of text put on the magazine it would be difficult for the reader to be drawn into any particular story. The text printed in the left third is easily recognisable to the reader, the text "win a guitar designed by David Bowie" and also "free dvd!" is the main stories the magazine are trying to put across to the reader, as yet again they are trying to make the reader get the idea that they are gaining much more for what they pay for. The inducements and competitions in the magazine are placed on the cover to make it another teaser for the reader to want to buy it more and being interested in the content. The main text on the cover is about Courtney Love as it is printed in the middle of the cover and as it is published much bolder and also bigger text compared to the others on the placed indicates that it's the main story within the magazine.

There are various colours on the front cover to present different things to the reader, the main colours used are pink, white and blue. The masthead is printed in a bold white text which is extrememly eye-catching to the audience and is an easily recognisable title which is significant when they publish further magazines so readers know exactly what the title looks like. The use of pink colours suggest that the magazines target audience are particularly aimed towards a females. Also it could show a sense of peace and tranquility linking to Courtney Love's story; although the target audience are mainly females the use of blue could suggest it could be targetted towards male readers as this colour connotes that it's usually associated with a boys.

The use of font sizes on the cover are varied to make the magazine come across as more interesting and sophisticated; the use of the smaller text informs the reader of the contents within the magazine but the main cover line is written in bold showing a comparison between the two types of text presented, as the bigger writing is of more significance and is the main story for this month's issue.

By analysing the front cover of the magazine I have come to many assumptions and how they are trying to put across messages to the reader, I assume the magazine isn't as busy as the previous weekly magazine I have analysed because the text on the page is quite simple and straight forward. The coverlines show that there is a mix of music genre which is indie and rock through the use of bands used, the colours on the front pages are neutral compared to previous magazines I have analysed such as Kerrang and NME because they seem to be busy. The image used of Courtney Love would portray the idea that she's currently popular within the music industry and that readers would be interested on what she'd have to say in her interview.

Planning: Uses and Gratifications

In today's lesson we were introduced to two theories proposed by Blumler and Katz-1974 and Denis Mcqual-1987. We learnt that in the 1960's television was more prominent in life and was suggested that the audience passively receive a text. Also that audiences were seen as being made of individuals who were initially active consumers in society and that they consume texts in ways that are personal to them.

This theory was then developed by Blumer and Katz in 1974 and they proposed that the uses and gratifications of media consist of:

• Diversion: escapism from everyday problems and routines an individual may have


• Personal Relationships: using the media for emotional and other interaction


• Personal Identity: finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and value for texts
  
• Surveillance: finding information which could be useful for living e.g, weather, financial news and holiday information

This theory was further defined by Denis McQual in 1987 and he proposed:

• Entertainment: escaping or being diverted from problems, filling time, emotional release, relaxing, getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment


• Integration and social interaction/personal relationships: basically meaning that an individual gains insight into circumstances of others; social empathy. Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging helps find conversation and social interaction with others. Helping carry out social roles, substitute for real life companionship and enable us to connect with family, friends and society.


• Personal Identity: the media helps find reinforcement for personal values, finding models behaviour, gaining insight into one's self and identifying with valued others.


• Information/Surveillance: finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world, seeking advice on practical matter or opinion and decision choices, also satisfying curiosity and general interest. Information in media helps us learn giving us a chance to self educate ourselves, it helps us gain a sense of security through knowledge.

Discussing Theory: Ideas that are put forward to explain aspects of an individual's behaviour, what theories are trying to do and what people do with the media.

Audience as Labour-Secondary Theory: Once a media has a mass audience they sell their product and magazines but dont make profit from the price they sell it for.

I feel this lesson was extremely beneficial for me as the various uses and gratifications will prodominately help me decide on ideas when creating my magazine for my course work, i'll make sure the readership for my publication is clear and so that they can identify themselves within the magazine.

Kerrang! Magazine Covers (Weeklies)

Another weekly magazine we analysed in lessons this week was Kerrang! costing £2.20 appealing to people who are interested in the rock music genre. The title Kerrang! can connote a variety of things, the word itself could relate to the sound of an instrument such as a guitar. The word is onomatopoeic and the exclamation mark used reinforces it to make a loud and aggressive sound which could initially relate to the genre of music being presented. There are many inducements on the front cover which attract the publication's target audience, it mentions many free posters of a variety of musicians which could draw the readers attention. Also "The Kerrang! Tour: Access All Areas" would attract the reader as they'd feel they are getting all the exclusive information on various bands, initially making them feel like a V.I.P and they are getting the latest gossip on the tour which draws them into purchasing the magazine. There is a coverline "Trivium new line up revealed" which would attract the reader as it's a popular rock music band and fans would be interested to read more about them.

The main image used on the cover is of Rou and Itch who are musicians in the bands Enter Shikari and The King Blues, this tells us that the target audience of the magazine would take interest into the two band members as they could be seen as extremely important in the music industry. The picture of Rou is slightly bigger compared to Itch, which could indicate that Enter Shikari are a more popular band to Kerrang! readers compared to The King Blues. As the image of Rou is bigger could indicate that he's more recognisable and he is pointing directly towards the audience which could attract them and draw their attention to know what the main story entails. There are also secondary images used on the publication which include Oli Sykes on the bottom of the left third holding a valentines heart with another image of a woman next to him, this could show that magazine is targetted towards both genders. There is also another image placed in the top left corner of two young men, giving of the impression that it's a rock magazine due to the expressions on both of their faces. The smaller image on the cover could give off the impression of mischief which is mainly caused by younger people portraying that Kerrang! is targetted to a younger audience.

The most important headline for this issue of Kerrang! is placed in the middle of the cover, this is an ideal place to put significant text as it's the first place the reader will look and the fact that it's printed bigger compared to the other texts on the cover would draw the reader's attention. The headline on the cover is located below the main image showing that the the main story is about the bands the two men are apart of. The other main text is placed in the left third of the cover, the competitions to "Win" would attract the reader as this inducement will enable them to feel they are gaining more for their money. As important text like this is placed in the left third it makes it easier for the reader to recognise it easily, the way it's placed in a shop will automatically draw their attention and would primarily entice the target audience.

The main colours used on the cover of the magazine are white, black, bright pink and bright blue. The use of the black and white would show neutrality between both male and female. There is a contrast between the colours as white represents purity, whereas the colour black could represent a sense of anger and could show the hardcore side of rock music. Black could have predominantly been used to associate with the type of clothing rock fans wear, which is mainly black. The use of the two bright colours being pink and blue could would show that the publication is targetted towards both genders, as the content would have a variety of stories to attract both male and female readers.

The use of font is mainly the same which shows that it's very consistent, the text used on the cover looks as if it is broken or scratched giving off the impression that it is linked with the type of music genre in the magazine. The font could relate with the music genre because a majority of the readers who listen to rock could be seen as being rough around the edges or maybe even being different for listening to the genre of music. Also the font could show that people listening to this type music would live a wild side making the publication have a younger audience.

By looking at the Kerrang! magazine I assume that the content is going to be about all the popular bands who play rock music and that the content is going to be very informative as it is very busy on the front of the cover. The bold masthead portrays it is a modern and loud publication and that it's targetted towards both genders by the use of both bright pink and blue colours. I assume that the news published is up to date as it's a weekly magazine, showing that they are always aware with the current news. It also has the price of the magazine in dollars showing that it is sold nationally having a much wider circulation as well as readership.

The use of language, images and fonts link to the genre of the magazine as the use of the exclamation mark portrays that the content is quite informal, it's almost as if the language used is addressing the reader as a friend. It also uses rude language showing the genre of music to be some what careless and against the norm, the fact that a majority of the stars in the magazine wouldn't speak formally it portrays the magazine itself to be colloquial. The fonts used have a crocked, rough edging which would link with the person who likes rock music as it shows them to be care free and wild. The images also link with the genre because it shows members of bands and even soloists showing that it's clear who the magazine is targetted to and the type of music the musicians play.

Kerrang! successfully attract their target audience in a variety of ways, the use of different rock bands such as Enter Shikari and people like Oli Sykes will automatically attract readers as they'd want to know any new information on these people as they lead a rock lifestyle. As the cover gives off the first initial expression of the entire content the publishers have taken into account what could gain the readers attention to buying the magazine; the fact that they've shown that the magazine is targetted towards both readers by the use of bright blue and pink colours is a good selling point as it isn't a gender specific publication as they provide information to attract both a male and female audience. The fact that it isn't gender specific creates an idea that the magazine is suitable for anyone who has an interest into rock and even indie music.

NME: Weekly Magazine Covers (Weeklies)

Throughout lessons this week the class were given various weekly music magazines to analyse; by looking at different magazine covers has enabled me to get a better idea of how i'm going to be creating my music magazine for my course work.

NME is a music magazine which stands for "New Musical Express" it is priced at £2.30 and is sold weekly. The title connotes that using the letters in the masthead as opposed to the full word itself indicates that the publication gets straight to the point, also with having letters instead of words makes it easier for the reader to remember and is easily recognisable in further issues that the company publishes.

The main image which is placed on the cover is of band member from The Courteeners, it takes up a majority of the page showing the significance the image has with the content. The fact that the image is of a male musician could indicate that a majority of the audience for this publication would generally be male. The image of the person is looking directly to the reader which initially draws their attention and making that person the main focus point which could then link with the main story in the content of the magazine. There are no secondary images used on the cover which could show that the main image is the main focus and the publisher could want that image to be recognised as being the main story.

The important words on the cover are placed in the left third making it more attractive to the reader as it will be one of the first things they see when purchasing the magazine. As well as the text being placed in the left third it is also placed on the top and bottom of the cover which is a break down of what bands will be discussed in the magazine itself. The text in the left third is an indication of the important stories the reader will come across in the publication, if a shop is selling a magazine the way it is placed will mean that the left third is the first thing that the reader will notice. This means that if this column includes the coverlines it will attract the reader to purchase the publication as they will be intrigued about what the stories are about. There is only one image on the cover which is of a musician which is placed on the right hand side but taking up a majority of the cover showing that there isn't an overlap with the text and images showing that it's a well presented magazine cover and that it's layed out sufficiently.

The main colours used are red, black and white and there are many connotations for the colour red which could portray a sense of anger linking in with the heavy rock music genre in the magazine. This could then link in with the audience mainly being male as they could be stereotyped to have an interest into this type of music genre. Another connotation for the colour red could show a sense of passion and love, by using this colour it could portray the audience's passion for rock music. Also red could suggest alertness as it's a bright colour to recognise the magazine easily and the writing would draw the reader's attention. The image of the young man links with the text as he is wearing a red t shirt with a black jacket showing the contrast between both the text and image which suggests a sense of consistency throughout the publication.

There are many messages that NME are trying put across to the audience through the use of fonts, they are mainly varied on the cover but the coverlines are printed in a much bolder text showing the significance they have with the weekly issue. The most important words are printed bigger, use different colours and are also in capitals. The different use of fonts enable the reader to gain a better understanding of what stories are more important in the magazine compared to others. The main coverline being "The Courteeners" is printed bigger in comparison with the rest of the text and is bolded with a red colour font, showing that it's the main story.

The assumptions I make of the magazine is that it would mainly have a male audience due to the various bands mentioned on the cover, I would also assume that a younger audience would be interested in the stories published and the main image used would portray a more masculine image. As the audience would be young it would indicate that the content is very modern and it is published weekly showing that the magazine is extremely up to date with the news that they inform the readers.

I feel that the language, images and fonts used on the cover of the NME magazine link to the type of genre produced in a variety of ways. The main image of the man links in with the genre of the music being rock/indie because he is wearing a leather jacket which makes the reader stereotype the type of music group he is apart of. The text links in with the genre as they are printed big and bold which suggests loudness linking with the type of music.

NME music magazine attract their audience through the use of the front cover by including a variety of techiniques which they feel will be of interest to their targetted readers. The use of various bands advertised on cover helps the reader gain an insight of what the content will include, they use rock/indie bands which shows they've taken into consideration the audience they are trying to attract and draw attention to. The publishers will make sure that their audience is informed of the latest information of the bands they take an interest into and by printing the names of the famous bands on the covers will make them want to purchase it more. The coverline "New Festival Ticket Scam" would be another way the reader would become attracted to this magazine because a majority of them having an interest into music will most likely attend festivals, gigs, concerts, etc. This means that the coverline will attract the audience as they'd feel buying the publication will enable them to feel at ease with not being scammed by tickets companies.

Preliminary Task-Evaluation

The preliminary task we were assigned to consisted of us individually creating a magazine front cover and also a contents page for St Marks School, whether it be targeted towards the students of the sixth form or the 11-18 year olds in the whole school. I decided on targeting my magazine towards a much older audience, the sixth form students, and took it into great consideration how to layout and attract the reader.

For my front cover of the magazine I used two specific colours to apply to my background which were red and black, the reason is because although the students don't wear uniform in the sixth form the magazine would contrast with the colours that the younger students wear within the secondary school. This shows the consistency and the relationship the sixth form has with the school itself, the main image I used which had to be the medium close up was of a young girl playing the piano.

Although I used another medium close up of a group of students working, the reader would easily recognise what the main image is on the cover. The main image had to be a photo of a student in medium close up, I used the image of the young girl playing the piano as she was smartly dressed to portray a sense of sophisication and it also shows that young people are talented, it is also used as a main image as the main theme of the magazine is based upon Performing Arts and it's success the students have shown. Another image used on the cover is an image of a group of students, I decided on using people who were of different cultures to show the various ethnicities within the sixth form. The use of the images makes the cover more inviting and interesting to read as younger people are more likely to be drawn in to the eye-catching images as opposed to the text used. All the images I have used on the cover are an indication of what to expect in the main content of the magazine, the main medium close up of the young girl is a suitable image as it relates to one of my articles highlighted in the school magazine. I have also placed an image of the school's cross which is a link with the logo on the school blazer this is also then creating a consistency between the school and sixth form; I have placed it on the top of the page in the left third as I want it to be another thing the reader would automatically recognise.

The title of my school magazine is "St News" which is a play on words with the name of the actual school itself, I chose this title as I thought it was suitable for the type of audience I was trying to attract. I used a purple colour text on a red background as I felt it was a good contrast of colours to use and would stand out to the reader, I placed it on the top of the page as this was the first thing I wanted the audience to see. My main text colours used on the cover are white, yellow and also purple; the coverlines were in white text as it was printed on a black background to make it stand out and was placed in the left third as well as the title because the writing along the left third were the first thing the reader would notice as they are easier to read, the text at the bottom of the page "SIXTH FORM" was in a yellow colour as it also stands out on a black background and makes it easily recognisable that it's a sixth form instead of a younger school magazine.

My school magazine was targetted at both genders who were 16-18 years old, therefore I had to take into consideration what stories would interest them all as readers. The coverlines used on the cover automatically gives the idea of what the content of the magazine entails, therefore I had to think of short and catchy coverlines to draw the reader's attention and become curious to what the stories are about. The process of selecting my cover lines were extremely difficult as I had to think of a range of stories to attract everyone within the sixth form, I chose three main strories that would appear in the magzine these were:

"Performing Arts Success"- this related to my main image and giving off a good impression of the various talents within the school.

"Achieving Academic Excellence"- I used alliteration in my text as it is catchy to the reader, also I felt this coverline is attractive to all readers as they attend sixth form to gain the best possible grades without the worry and stress of how to do so, and the information in the magazine would be ideal and reasurring of how to achieve the grades they want.

"An Easy Way To Combat Student Debt"-this is another significant coverline for my target audience as being in the second year of sixth form people are interested in furthering their education to university and having a story on how to combat student debt would help them feel at ease without the pressure of money difficulties when deciding what to do with their future.

As I am creating the magazine and i'm a fellow student makes it have a completely different approach as I was using stories that I thought would interest both me and my friends attending the sixth form.

In all my images I used photoshop to help adjust the saturation and make the images much brighter to add more effect and make the magazine seem less dull and more attractive, the use of various images helped make the magazine more professional and sophisticated along side the text used.

On my contents page I have used the same colours as what I did on the main cover showing the consistency of the magazine, by using the same colours it also made the magazine seem more professional and less tacky. I chose suitable stories that would be in the content of the magazine which were a wide range showing that their wasn't a specific group of people who would read it, I have used multiple images of different things around the school and were mainly linked with the stories. I used an image of the head of sixth form, Mr Taylor to help make the reader aware of who he was as a story within the magazine was "Interview With Head Of Sixth Form", I used an image of young people in the sixth form reading showing that the students are friendly portraying a sense of togetherness. I also applied an image of the front of the school to help people who are new to recognise the building, I used more images on my contents page because I wanted it to look more busy compared to the cover as it isn't as simple and is more appealing.

Overall, I felt the preliminary task was very useful as it helped me gain an even better understanding of how to use the photoshop software by applying various techniques when editing images, text, background, etc; it has also helped me realise that if i don't plan my work before hand then it won't be as good as I'd want it to be. This task has made me feel that I could have organised my time more sufficiently which I will take into consideration when working on my final task being the music magazine and make sure my planning is done properly before I start creating my magazine.

Preliminary Task-Planning

In this post are the plans I created for my preliminary task, before making my magazine cover and contents page I had to plan out how I wanted it to be constructed. I took into consideration the target audience I wanted to attract who were young people aged 16-18 years attending St Marks sixth form. Before taking my pictures I had to draw a mock up plan of how I wanted the publication to look like, this enabled me to find it easier when doing the task on photoshop as I already knew how I wanted it to be like.

In the task I had to make sure the following were included:

• a photo of a student in medium close up
• masthead
• front cover of the magazine
• contents page
• appropriately layed out text

I made sure my colours used on both pages were consistent showing that my magazine cover and also contents page had a professional approach which would catch the reader's attention; I made sure I planned carefully as it would make me more organised when working on the task.

Front Covers

Throughout lessons we have been analysing various magazine covers and which type of publication targets a particular audience. In today's lesson I studied a magazine called "Cosmopolitan" which initially means an individual who is sophisticated and travels across the world, this could indicate that the magazine is sold nationally and not just in one country. The use of different colours and the text portrays the sophistication and  the use of the formal presentation on the cover gives off the impression that it's targetted to a much older, but also a female audience. This is shown through the use of "girly" colours on the page which are mainly a light blue colour and also pink which gives off the impression that it wouldn't interest a male audience. In my opinion this magazine is suitable for a much older audience the reason is because the term "sex" is used frequently indicating that older women would be more interested in these type of cover lines as opposed to someone under 16. 

There are cover lines about real life stories which could also be an attraction to the female audience as they tend to read stories about other people across the world for escapism from their own lives. This links in with a theory on uses and gratifications of publications as the reader is more interested in other people's lifestyles for diversion from their own. The publisher also uses a well known celebrity on the cover being "Dannii Minogue" as some women could be inspired by her, it also gives off the idea of sophistication to the audience as a famous person is modeling for the front cover. The cover-line to go with the eye-catching image being "Dannii talks-only to Cosmo" would show that the magazine isn't printing the same news as other publishing companies as the celebrity is only talking to "Cosmo", and could also make the audience assume the celebrity reads the magazine too which could attract women to read it as well as they feel they are interested in the same news as celebrities across the world. The main image is takes up the majority of the page and is clear to the reader what the main story in the magazine is based upon. There is also a cover line placed below the main image showing the significance of what it is the centre thread of the magazine entails, the words used "SEXIEST-EVER NAKED CENTREFOLDS" shows that the images are for a female audience.

The masthead is printed clearly on the top of the page to attract readers as it is easily recognisable, the date line is printed directly below the masthead on the left third of the magazine. This type of layout is affective as if the magazine is placed on a shelf in the shop it usually shows the left third of the cover which initially enables the reader to see the price and also the date it is published and short cover lines are printed in this section too making it easier to read, it isn't printed in a large font as it's not necessarily the main feature of the cover. 

Leventhorpe Prospectus

By looking at the current prospectus of Leventhorpe sixth form I can tell that there are specific messages they are trying to put across to the reader, it is a simple cover but portrays s formal approach. The placement of images and text show the sophistication of the sixth form, the masthead is placed in the middle which is different compared to other magazine and prospectus covers.The "Lev 6" is a shortened version of the sixth form name showing that it's modern and up to date.

As it's a propectus it's most likely to be published yearly and is more information on the school which initially informs the reader of the sixth form. It also gives off the impression that it's a well structured organisation through the use of texts and images, the use of the colour red in the background draws attention as it's noticable and alerts the target audience.

The use of polysemic images of pupils in the sixth form indicates that they welcome people of different ethnicities worldwide, in every photo the students are smiling promoting a feeling of happiness making the reader feel more at ease and comfortable to apply.

The web address shows the sixth form to have a more professional approach as students can access the school over the internet showing that they are a technological and modern school, the use of simplistic text shows that the school's message is straight to the point and the layout is formal.