Music Magazine Research

Existing Products

• NME• Rolling Stone• Kerrang!• Top of the pops• Q magazine• Billboard• Uncut• Spin• Vibe• Mixmag

IPC MEDIA (NME)IPC then set up a management development department in 1965, to rationalize its holdings, so that its various subsidiaries would no longer be in competition with each other for the same markets. This led to a reorganization of the Group, in 1968, into six divisions:• IPC Newspapers — including The People and The Sun (soon sold), as well as the

Daily Mirror and Sunday Pictorial• IPC Magazines — consumer magazines and comics• IPC Trade and Technical — specialist magazines (later known as IPC Business Press

Ltd.)• IPC Books — all book publishing (headed by Paul Hamlyn, whose own company had

been acquired by IPC).• IPC Printing — all non-newspaper printing operations (headed by Arnold Quick,

whose own company had also been acquired by IPC).• IPC New Products — launching pad for products which used new technology (headed

by Alistair McIntosh).

Publisher’s

Bauer Media Group (KERRANG!)Kerrang! TV specialises in Rock Music. As of 2005, all of its programme content is music videos, the majority of which is open scheduled, for text requests from their playlist. It is based on format of Kerrang! brand from Bauer which also exists in Kerrang Radio and Kerrang! Magazine.• Q TV• 4Music• Kiss TV• Kerrang! TV• The Box• Magic TV• Smash Hits TV

Publisher’s

Some of Bauer Media Groups Brands

Jann Simon Wenner (Rolling Stone)• Jann Simon Wenner is the co-founder and publisher of the music and politics

biweekly Rolling Stone, as well as the current owner of Men's Journal and Us Weekly magazines.

• Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine published every two weeks which is devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture. In 1967, Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco, California, by Jann Wenner ‒ who is still the magazine's chief editor ‒ and music critic, Ralph J. Gleason. Rolling Stone is known for its political coverage which began in the 1970s by the enigmatic and controversial gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, movie actors, and popular music. In recent years, the magazine has resumed its traditional mix of content, including in-depth political stories. It also has expanded content to include acclaimed coverage of financial and banking issues. As a result, the magazine has seen its circulation increase and its reporters invited as experts to network television programs of note.

Publisher’s

Prometheus Global Media (Billboard Magazine)• Prometheus Global Media, formerly e5 Global Media, is an American

entertainment publishing company based in New York City. The company was formed by the sale of the entertainment and media division of Nielsen Business Media in December 2009. The company's CEO is Richard D. Beckman, previously an executive at Condé Nast and Fairchild Publications, and former publisher of magazines GQ and Vogue. Beckman's career suffered a setback in 1999 following "some inappropriate behaviour" resulting in injuries to Vogue's West Coast advertising director Carol Matthews, while Beckman was Matthews' publisher at Condé Nast.

• Billboard is an international news weekly magazine devoted to music and the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis. The two most notable charts are the Billboard Hot 100, which ranks the top 100 songs regardless of genre and is based on digital sales, radio airplay, and internet streaming data; and the Billboard 200, the corresponding chart for album sales.

Publisher’s

Existing Products

• NME• Rolling Stone• Kerrang!• Top of the pops• Q magazine• Billboard• Uncut• Spin• Vibe• Mixmag

Masthead

The masthead is written in serif font which is when the font isn't in block print so it looks like someone has written it by hand and therefore looks more formal. The font is red as it is a gender neutral colour, which shows the magazine is aimed both at men and women, however mainly men. The red in the font could connote love, lust and danger, this is replicated in the sexy image of Rihanna.

Existing Products

Buzz world‘Special Report’ this buzz word is used to make the audience feel more involved with the magazine and story as the reader feels like they can only read that story in this issue of the magazine which is a unique selling point of the magazine. This also reveals the genre of the magazine as it shows that it is mainly celebrity based gossip.

Main ImageThe main image is a medium long shot of Rihanna, the position she is stood in and the clothes she is dressed in are provocative and suggestive. The shot reveals Rihanna’s derrière , promoting the male gaze as Rihanna is pictured as an object of sexual desire that women want to be like and men lust over. This reflects in the readership of the magazine as men make up 61.3% of readers and women only make up 38.7%. Rihanna’s eyes are connected with the camera, using a direct mode of address, making the audience feel more involved with the image and more inclined to buy the magazine. Also Rihanna’s vibrant red hair is of a similar shade of red to the masthead, however the main image overlays the masthead showing how important Rihanna is and that she is the main focus of this issue of the magazine. The background that the shot is taken in soft focus, which makes Rihanna look more important as the camera is focused on her. Also her surroundings are in a natural environment which reflect the natural ‘shabby chic’ style Rihanna is dressed in.

Date and PriceThis is a common convention for magazines so that dedicated readers can collect every issue. The date and price are always in the top corner of the magazine above the masthead, however it is written in a very small font so it doesn’t overpower the masthead. This magazine issue was released in April 2011 and is $4.99 (approximately £3.12) this shows that the magazine is American based, however is it also sold in the UK.

Main Cover lineThe main cover line is written in a large bold font where the bottom of the ‘R’ and ‘K’ has been shaped into a spike, which is part of the semantic field of danger as ’Rihanna STRIKES back’. The main cover line is written in black which juxtaposes and contrasts the Red masthead and Rihanna's hair.

SubheadingThe subheading is boxed off from the rest of the front cover to show that it is important and completely separate from the celebrity gossip in the rest of the magazine as these stories are more political and news related. The subheading box ‘s masthead is ‘THE KILL TEAM’ this is short, snappy and intrigues the reader as there is once again a semantic field of danger.

Cover LineThe cover lines are all written in the same font with each of the celebrities names written in Bold as a title to show that there is a story inside about each of those celebrities. The first two celebrities (Britney Spears and Ricky Gervais are two contemporary well known celebrities, whereas the bottom two are iconic celebrities. The box containing Elizabeth Taylor’s story is in a red box and white writing (juxtaposing the black writing all the other cover lines are written in) this could show that the story about Elizabeth Taylor is very important.

Existing ProductsMastheadThe mast head is written in a white font which stands out from the black background of the magazine. The font of the masthead is written in sans serif as it is bold, clear and very easy to read. The middle of the letters ‘A’ and ‘D’ are coloured in which brightens up the masthead and catches the readers eye. I think this is really effective and may consider using it in my final piece.BackgroundThe background is in a plain black block colour however there are lots of intricate white swirls which add detail, making the magazine look more upper class and desirable. The swirls are dotted with bright colours making the magazine more colourful and possibly more feminine.

Main ImageThe main image is a medium close up of Adele’s face as the shot contains her head and her shoulders. Adele’s eyes are connected to the camera, therefor are the main focus of the front cover as they look as if they are staring at you and are directly addressing the reader. Due to the main image being of Adele you can assume that the readership of this magazine is mainly female due to Adele’s fan base mainly being female and the image of her is not sexual. Adele’s vibrant ginger hair stands out from the black background making Adele instantly stand out, allowing the reader to see what the main focus of that issue to be. Also Adele’s face overlays the Masthead covering up part of it, this could show that Adele is very important to this issue even more so than the masthead itself. Adele’s hair and makeup is very autumnal and wintery as it is based of oranges, green and black which reflects that time of year this issue was printed.

Cover lineThis issue has a number of cover lines intertwined with the swirls in the background. After reading the cover lines you can tell that the magazine is aimed at music top 10 chart lovers as Adele, Skrillex and dance music is mentioned. All of the cover lines are written in white to juxtapose and stand out from the background and are all written in a sand serif font to replicate the masthead.

Main Cover LineThe main cover line says ‘The year of Adele’, it is written in a slightly bigger font to all of the other cover lines and is placed next to the image of Adele. In 2011 (the year this issue was published) Adele became the first living artist to achieve the feat of having two top-five hits in both the UK Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964. This shows the intense popularity of Adele making it a very good idea for the magazine to due an Issue with Adele as the main focus as it would attract a lot of readers.

Selling LineThe selling line is used as a unique selling point of the magazine to emphasise that this is a one off issue as it I the last issue of 2011. This would encourage new and old readers as if you don’t buy it you would feel like you were missing out on important information. Also due to this issue being a double issue the reader feels like they are getting more for their money, therefor the magazine is a good investment.

SubheadingThe subheading is written at the bottom of the page as it doesn’t detract from the masthead or image however it does still stand out from the page. Half of it is written in the conventional sans serif used throughout the front cover, however the other half is written in serif as all the letters have swirls on the end of them which fits in with the swirls in the background. Each letter of the word ‘music’ is written in a different colour that conforms to the rest of the bright colour scheme used within the background of the front cover. The letters are written in bright colours so they stand out and each letter has texture integrated into it, consequentially making the magazine look more formal or edgy.

DateThe date of the issue is written at the bottom in white to contrast the black background, this is so that people that buy the magazine regularly can see if they have got every issue and collect them.

BarcodeA barcode is a normal feature of a magazine front cover, but however in this front cover it looks too busy for the barcode to be noticed, therefor it has been pushed to the bottom and isn't very noticeable.

Existing ProductsKickerThe kicker is used to list a few of the big artists that feature within the magazine, this is so the reader instantly knows what the magazine will feature without having to stop and look inside the contents page. Also it is written in a bright yellow box which will catch the readers eye when its on a shop shelf. The Kicker uses colloquial language, shortening Glastonbury to ‘Glasto’, showing the readership of the magazine is probably aimed at young adults and teenagers.

Main Cover LineThe main over line is written in sans serif, making it very easy for the viewer to read. It is written in white and yellow, which are both bright colours that stand out from the dark clothing The Wombats are wearing in the background. Also the main cover line says ‘indie dancefloor’ which states the genre of music the magazine is aimed at.

Mast HeadThe mast head is written in a red sans serif font, red is a gender neutral colour showing the magazine is for both men and women however NME’s readership is mainly male as it is 66% male and 34% female aged from 15-34. The mast head is an acronym, this is done so that the masthead is shorter and roles of the tongue much easier making it more memorable, the full acronym is written underneath so that the reader has a greater understanding of the magazines name. There is a black and white boarder surrounding the red letters making them stand out from the page and shelf.

PlugThis stands out from the front cover and draws in readers as it stands out from the page. It is written in a bright blue bubble that contrasts the yellow masthead and catches the readers eye.

Sub imageThis is used so that the reader has a quick visual insight of what is in the magazine, so even if they don’t like the band featuring on the front cover they may like the band in the sub image.

Main ImageThe main image is a medium long shot of the band The Wombats. The boys are dressed very casually showing that they could be a typical ‘boy next door’ type of band, allowing the reader to relate to them. They look as if they are having fun, showing the magazine to be quite informal and easy to read. The boys are spaced out and are on different levels on the page, this makes the page look fuller and more engaging.

BarcodeA barcode is a normal feature of a magazine front cover, it has a white background so it stands out and is next to the date, price and issue number.

Date and priceThe date of the issue is written at the bottom in white to contrast the black background, this is so that people that buy the magazine regularly can see if they have got every issue and collect them.

Cover linesBoth of the cover lines are written in a white font, each story is headed with a bold text with a blue background of the bands name. Muse is mainly a rock band however panic at the disco is a more emo rock band, showing the variety of genres that NME covers. Under each band name there is a sentence taken from their interview to draw the readers in, the sentence under muse is a direct quote from the interview with the band making the interview feel more exclusive.

Plug 2 (t in the park)There is a second plug of an image of T in the park saying first bands announced, making the magazine feel exclusive. Also the genre of music this magazine is aimed at is the same genre of artists performing at T in the park.

Existing ProductsMain ImageThe main image is a medium close up black and white picture of Lady Gaga. The choice of Mise-en-scène for this image is for Lady Gaga to be wearing nothing but a large chained necklace and her hands to keep her dignity in tact. However having Lady Gaga’s hands placed over her chest could have a second meaning after reading the article as it could be a representation on the cliché ‘keep your hands close to your chest’ as a way of protecting yourself and the chained necklace could represent the secrets Lady Gaga has had ‘lacked’ away before this exclusive interview. Also due to Lady Gaga looking very provocative due to the lack of clothing and ‘ruffled’ hair, this image is a classic example of the male gaze as many women would love to look like Lady Gaga as she has a desirable figure and many men would love to be with her based on appearance only. Also the image is taken in black and white which looks very effective next to the vibrant red ‘L’ on the consecutive page.

Q Magazine

http://stuartallenmedia.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/magazine-double-page-spread-annotations-q-magazine-lady-gaga-printscreen.jpg

Existing ProductsMain ImageThe main image is a long shot of Florence so that the reader can see the whole of her body. She is dressed all in black which connotes sophistication and luxury. Florence Welch is dressed very provocatively due to the very short leather shirt and pointed bra. This is an example of the male gaze as Florence is looking very provocative which is making men look at her and want to be with here, and due to how great she looks and her figure women want to look like her. Also Florence is sat on a red and white cover which are the colours of the English flag to show that she is proud of her nationality and that she is well known for being from England.

NME Magazine

MastheadThe masthead is written in a bold sans serif font that takes up the majority of the double page saying ‘USA’. It is written in a light grey font to compliment the background colour and possibly to blend in with the background therefor making Florence the main focus of the article. Also Florence Welch is an English artist who is trying to break through to America so the masthead instantly informs the reader of this.

SubheadingThe sub heading for the article is ‘got the love’ this quote is taken from a a well known Florence And The Machine song. The subheading is written in a serif font which looks more sophisticated and fits in with the sophisticated luxurious image of Flornce.

TextThe main writing on the double page spread is carefully placed in the bottom right hand corner, this is because we read from left to right so therefore Florence is our first main focus point as she is brightly coloured and is on the right hand side of the page, and the reader can quickly identify who the article is about so they will quickly know of they want to read that article or skip it. The text is written in 3 columns as it looks more appealing for the reader to want to read rather than one huge block of text. The first letter of the text is enlarged and written in a serif font that matches the subheading. I really like how the letter stands out from the page and starts the article off so I may consider using this in my magazine double page spread.

Magazine LogoThe magazine logo is printed in the bottom right hand corner of the magazine and is most likely on every page of the magazine. This could have been used to re-enforce to the reader which magazine they are reading and so the reader remember the logo and name for the next time they go to buy the magazine.

• Rolling stone

Existing Products

MRI Spring 2012Base: Adults 18+

Audience (000)

% Comp

Adults 11,708 Men 7,173  61.3%Women 4,536  38.7%  Age 18 to 24 2,984  25.5%Age 25 to 34 3,055  26.1%Age 35 to 44 2,448  20.9%Age 45 to 54 1,890  16.1%Age 55+ 1,331  11.4%

• NME

Existing Products

• Rolling Stone

Existing Products

• KERRANG!

Existing Products