Codes and conventions of music magazine

covers

Magazine CoverMasthead

Issue information and barcode

Coverlines

Puff

Main Coverline

Positioning Statement

MastheadsMastheads are the biggest font on a magazine cover, they have a unique font that is not used for any other text. If the magazine is an established brand, the masthead can be overlapped by the main image. They are also placed at the top of the page so that they can easily be seen by customers in a shop and recognised. The masthead often have connotations of music that can relate to the genre of music the magazine is writing about.

CoverlinesCoverlines are the pieces of text that go at the side of a magazine cover, they give readers an information on what kind of articles are going to be available inside the magazine and what they are about. They must be appealing to customers to make them buy and read the article. They are placed at the side of the main image so that they don’t cover it. Usually, the coverlines colour scheme matches the colours on the page, either on the masthead or in the main image.

Main ImageIt is very important that the main image of a magazine front cover takes up the majority of the page, this is so that it draws the reader’s attention to the magazine.The artist on the front cover must have direct address with the audience as this captures the audience’s attention. Often, but not always the artist(s) on the front cover can be posed in an interesting way to intrigue customers.

Barcode and issue information

The barcode information is vital to the front cover of a magazine as it allows customers to actually buy the issue and provides people with a price and the date of the magazine. The date of the magazine can vary from every week, fortnight or month. The barcode and issue information is usually located at the bottom right corner of a magazine.

Positioning StatementThe positioning statement positions the magazine in the market and it always found near the masthead. It gives customers an idea of what the magazine will be like and the quality of the brand itself.

Puff

A puff is a small piece of text that goes on the front cover to attract people to buy and read the magazine. It is usually placed inside a shape away from the main image to make it stand out on the page and the text is incentive to appeal to the audience. The text uses exciting or emotive buzzwords such as ‘competition’, ‘win’, ‘free’, ‘exclusive’, etc. to provoke a reaction out of a reader to persuade them to buy the magazine.

Knowing the target audience and music genre from the cover pageBy looking at the layout of a magazine, the colour scheme, the type of artist on the front, the mise-en-scene, the fonts used and the overall style of the cover, you can usually grasp an idea of who the target audience of the magazine is and also the genre of music. Similarly, by analysing how the artist acts and their body language on the cover, it can give the audience a sense of the genre being demonstrated. Some other things to look out for on a magazine to know that it is a music magazine are:

Facial expressions, eg ‘angry rock’

Musical instruments

Real life artists used on the cover