Analysis of three music magazine contents pagesNME, Q and Kerrang

Analysis of magazine Contents pages

Sept 2009 Dizzee Rascal Edition

Analysis of magazine Contents pagesNME Sept 2009

Dizzee Rascal Edition

Masthead

The masthead follows the same theme as the front cover, with the red, black and white- giving it a definitive style and identity. The white and red contrast consistently and ensures it stands out against the black strip. And as always there is the famous NME logo, that is bold and clear, so the reader knows what they are reading.

Main image

The main image is a mid shot of a woman, who is a member of the band “The big pink”. The member of the band is smiling, and her arm position suggests she is inviting you on their tour, once again connecting with the reader, and further enticing them to read on. The image has been edited like a photograph because this gives it a quirky style that gives an old fashion look, that is different to most music magazine.

List of Bands

This column on the left shows the bands that are featured in the magazine. This is a nice little extra for the consumer as it shows them all of the bands that they have bought the magazine to see, and it just makes it easier for the reader- so they might come back again.

Editors introduction to magazine

This is the editors introduction to the magazine. It uses casual friendly language to connect with the reader and make them feel wanted. It uses questions to make the audience feel wanted and to get them ready for the magazine they are going to read.

Future/Previous issues with helpful phone numbers

This once again is a chance of giving some more hospitality, being more helpful so the reader can say “they’re a helpful magazine company”, and this in turn will result in more customers.

Red page numbers, summary of contents

This is used so people know what pages the stories/interviews etc are on. This is pretty standard in any music magazine, however NME have presented in a clear and concise way- with the HEADLINES in black and white for clarity, and then the page numbers in red. This sticks to their colour scheme and makes it clear and easy to understand too.

Date

Once again the date is presented, so readers know what date the magazine was issued on.

Contents page NME (SEPT 2009) ANALYSISBANNER AT TOP

DATE

SUB HEADING BLOCKED OUT INTO BLACK SUB SECTIONS

BRIEF HEADING +SUMMARY OF CONTENT WITH PAGE NUMBER IN RED

NME MASTHEAD SAME COLOUR CODE AS FRONT

Main image is

Bands are listed in red with page number in black

Image is edited so it looks like a photograph. This is appropriate because…

Editiors introduction to contents of magazine

PREVIOUS/FUTURE EDITIONS OF NME ARE SHOWN WITH DETAILS OF WEBSITE/PHONE NUMBER ETC

Analysis of contents page 2 Q, October 2008

Courteeners Edition

Analysis of contents page 2 Q, October 2008

Courteeners EditionMasthead

The masthead in this Q magazine follows the convention of its front covers- red and white and black. This makes it easily to read, and the colour scheme makes it easy for us to know that this is a Q magazine. We also have the Q logo too which makes it clear to us what magazine we are reading, if we were to just open the contents page right away. I have noticed that NME did this as well, both magazine want to make sure that their identities are slapped on their individual magazines.

Main Image

The main image in this edition of Q is a photograph of the “Courteeners”, showing a group shot of the presumed four members of the band. They are photographed in what seems like a rural environment, and this suggests that this band are going to be fresh, and a breath of fresh air almost, and by presenting them in this way makes them seem cool- so the reader can inspire to them

List of contents

This contents is different to the NME one, in the sense that it is split into 2 parts. It has the main features in this edition, limited to this edition, and the stuff that us in there every month like puzzles etc. In my opinion, this is a good way of presenting the contents as viewers can instantly see the new features and the features that are there every month, so this is a good way of making the information as clear as possible.

Review Section

In this magazine, instead of their being an editors section, there is a section on reviews on things other than music. Although this now lacks the connection that the editors section makes, it makes the statement that we do other things except music too- creating an element that they do more than the conventional magazine.

Date

As aforementioned, the date is purely there for clarity for the reader; they know what date the magazine was published and this helps them keep up to date, which in turn leads to more sales for the magazine.

Pull quote

This pull quote is used to say what kind of things that will be part of the main images story. This is a great way to hook the reader in, without revealing all of the story that it will contain.

Layout

A short comment on the layout- I think that this magazine is widely uncluttered and formal. In my opinion this makes it more formal and attracts a more fomal audience, perhaps groups A, B and C1 in the socio economic grouping lists.

Analysis of Contents page 3Kerrang

August 2011 edition

Analysis of contents page 3Kerrang

August 2007 editionMasthead

The masthead doesn’t seem to follow the same theme as the Kerrang front cover. The Kerrang front covers tend to be black and white. Although there is an element of black here, the scheme is widely white and yellow. Although it does not follow its conventional colour scheme, the colours that it does use stand out and are very clear. Back to the colour scheme being different. I think this says a lot about rock as a genre. They like to mix it up and be different, and I think that this works really well for them, and I think this unpredictability attracts viewers and they think, What will be in this issue today.” etc.

Main Image

Once again we have this stance that rock music genres don’t want to follow the rules. There doesn’t seem to be one main image that stands out above the rest, except there is an array of images instead. In a way this gives the customer more to look at, and instead there being a load of text, there are images and photos instead. In this way it gives you a more visual view of what will being in the magazine.

List of contents

This contents, once again follows the style of the colour scheme already shown on this page, with the black and yellow common. Also, instead of there being a page number for everything in the magazine, they have put the most significant events in, for ease of the reader. This way the reader can pick and choose what they would like to see, and see what this weeks features and main stories.

Future, previous issues/ with helpful phone numbers

This is once again adhering to customer need. Kerrang want to make sure that every customer can contact the office and call if they have any queries. At the end of the day, this only helps Kerrang out more and will result in higher sales.

Layout/rule of thirds

Rule of thirds seems to be observed only in the right third, where they have their contents list, however the rest of the page seems to be a mash up of images describing the magazine. In a way this is more effective as the page is split into two third, the first third on the left being all of the images, telling you visually about all of the evernt but the contents list on the right is more of a descriptive way of telling the reader what will be in the issue.

Date/Issue number

As in all of the analysed magazines, this one has the date and issue number at the top, so the customer knows what issue the magazine is and when it was released, so that they can backtrack to the one they have missed etc.

Pull quotes

This pull quote is used to almost say “We have more than conventional magazines” The use of “special” makes it seem that this section will be extra special and have more than your everyday article.