Genres of music magazines

Pop MagazinesPop magazines are generally aimed at teenage girls, with the main colour scheme being pink, purple and other bright colours. The majority of them contain a singer who is well known among this age group posing on the front page which, along with the colour scheme, helps draw in readers and make the magazine look fun and interesting to them. The language on pop magazines is quite simple and easy to understand, written in bold and colourful fonts. An example of a pop music magazine is Top Of The Pops. The masthead is always large at the top of the magazine which makes it easily identifiable to common readers and again, makes the magazine look attention-grabbing to young people. It is not always in the middle like most mastheads but it stands out of the shelf and connotes that they are individual and unique. Typically, pop magazines are mainly about the latest gossip in the celebrity world which is why the image is always of a popular artist which teenage girls idolise or aspire to be like.

Indie Magazines• Indie music magazines are

some of the most successful, the reason behind this being because they don’t appeal to those interested in only one genre of music and they attract a wider audience. The masthead of indie music magazines are generally in the top left hand corner and presented in a logo format which is repeated on each cover of the magazine.

• The image on the cover is one close up of a single pop star or band to depict the style of the music magazine and make it stand out on the shelves.

• The colour scheme is usually simple, involving around three of four colours, mainly being red or white which contrast well together and make the typography stand out.

• The target audience for indie music magazines is broader than most genres of music magazine, due to the fact that it doesn’t focus on one style of music, it incorporates several, meaning it applies to a wider age range and audience. The Arctic Monkeys and Oasis are popular artists featured on indie music magazines.

Rock MagazinesThe front cover on rock magazines commonly contain a bold masthead with edgy typography which is always placed at the top of the cover. This ensures that the magazine is eye-catching to readers. However, the main focus of the magazine cover is the image and the masthead being behind the image shows this. The photograph is usually a medium shot taken from a low angle of an artist or band, either posing or performing. Another type of image used is a close up of one artist with audacious and dark makeup, the cover on the right being an example of this. Colours like blacks, reds and whites are often used in rock magazines which help to further create the edgy and suspenseful look that readers look for in rock based item and it helps identify them among the other types of magazines available. The target audience for rock magazines are generally males however the age range depends on which type of rock the magazine is based on. Soft rock with a more simple look will attract a different age group to hard rock magazines like the examples I have shown.

R&B MagazinesThe majority of R&B music magazines contain a large, prominent masthead with clear typography, usually layered underneath the photo to make the photo the focal point of the cover. The image is a large or medium shot of a famous and well known R&B artist which helps to emphasise what kind of magazine it is and allow the audience to easily spot it. There are cover lines down the left and right sides, usually mixing small and large typography. The large typography is to draw the audiences attention to the most interesting parts of the magazine, encouraging them to buy it so they can read those features. Furthermore, there is a definite and strong colour scheme and varies as to whether the colours used are vibrant or dark.

The target audience for this genre of music magazine is predominately teenagers and young adults because this is the age group most interested in R&B music so they will want to know more and be interested in buying the magazine. Slang and the choices of celebrities used also indicate that the magazine is aimed at teenagers and young adults.

Hip Hop MagazinesHip Hop magazines generally have a large bold masthead in capital letters, usually in black or white to fit in with their simple colour scheme and it also makes the typography easier to read and find on the shelf. There is typically one large image on the centre of the page which tends to be a close up shot of a hip hop star, however close up shots of celebrities are the main type of images used in all genre’s of music magazines. The stars in these hip hop music magazines are mainly black males because the black culture is where hip hop music stemmed from and it also stereotypically preferred by males. The colour scheme is generally simplistic yet effective, using black, white and red as the main colours. These are bold and hard much like the genre of the music, and the colour red has the connotation of danger which is a theme hip hop. The large typography along with the bold colour scheme makes the magazine easily identifiable to the target audience.

• The target audience for Hip Hop magazines is mainly young black males, this is also shown my the choice of image used on the front cover. This is because they are the demographic most interested in hip hop music. It is seen to be a rough genre of music which deals with contemporary issues, thus being stereotypically more relatable to young males.

Classical MagazinesClassical music magazines have a masthead that spans the width of the page, usually layered over the image rather than underneath so it is more noticeable for the target audience. They contain close up image of a classical artist, although the shots can sometimes be medium, especially if the artist Is pictured with a musical instrument or singing. This is done to clearly show the genre of the music magazine and make it identifiable to people who are interested by this type of music magazine. The artists name is always visible on the front cover and the colour scheme is simple and calming like the genre, using black and white writing.

The target audience for classical music magazines are aimed at both those who enjoy classical music and those who play classical music, therefore, the magazine genre has a wide intended audience- a variety of ages and male or female. Older people are stereotypically more into classical music and so the magazine also targets this age range.