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.