Magazine analysis (cover, content page and feature article

By Callum McCormick

COVER

COVER

• The front Cover for the hit BBC magazine ‘’music’’ is used to engage the target audience. This target audience would be aged 25 and up, to be interested in classical music requires a certain sophisticated taste and a love of music. The magazine caters to this niche audience, expecting the reader to at least knowledgeable in the genre of music. The central image on the cover of the magazine is legendary composer Brahms, he is the headline act and is facing directly into the camera staring at the reader. The image has had colour added, bringing this classical composer into the modern world. The central character is in direct mode of address he is staring right at the reader with bright blue eyes. This image has been chose to show Brahms as an ingenious composer, the audience is expected to have some idea of this man and his achievement.

• Brahms is one of the great composer of classical music, to be compared to Beethoven and Borodin. He is on the front cover to generate interest with classical music aficionados, to be eye catching and to sell copies.The anchor text is positioned just right of Brahms it reads ‘’ the mystery of Brahms’’ and ‘’what are the hidden secrets of music’s most complex genius?’’ this anchor text implies that this is a classical genius, with someone of real importance to the classical world. This all accumulates into the overall message that the artist is giving. One of intelligence and genius, he is a historical figure to attract those devoted to the medium. Brahms is representing the German classical composers, he is among the great’s as well as Ludwig Van Beethoven and Richard Wagner.

• The magazine is not a main steam publication, it appeals to a niche genre of classical fanatic’s. This means it does need people to purchase for instant gratification and thus does not have many buzz words. There is only ‘’Plus!’’ which used to convey the puff to the audience. The Title block embodies the image of the magazine. Like the rest of the cover its minimalist, the font is thin and sophisticated, with the u in Music in italic. This along with the calm white font ad’s to this idea of sophistication and classics. The word Music is chosen as the title of the magazine. This is used to put the idea that classical music is at the core of the music genre as a whole. The magazine is implying that this is real music. The puffs on the front cover gives an idea what to suspect of the content inside the magazine. Puff used is ‘’My Favourite Brahms’’ it is under the buzz word ‘’Plus’’ this puff is used to support the head line article, there is no other type of article advertised on the front. The audience by taking in this puff and headline can expect the magazine to be dedicated to the life and music of Brahms. The slogan is the piece of text which tells the audience what type of magazine this is, using phrases like ‘’world’s bestselling’’ classical music magazine, to communicate to the reader exactly what and why they should buy the magazine.

• The central colour is black and white, where it get darker the further down the page. This is to attract the attention of the consumer to a central focus point. Which are the composers piercing blue eyes. These colour’s support the idea of class and sophistication, with a minimalist approach.

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•These elements combine to reveal the strategies used to attract the target audience. The target audience as mentioned above would be a more sophisticated mid-twenties and up. It caters to a niche genre and makes no attempt to dumb down to appeal to a wider audience. It demonstrates all these points on the front cover, it does not bombard the scenes with buzz words or promotions but instead it clearly underline what genre and what type of reader it is attracting.

Contents page

Content Page

•The Context page continues this theme of simplicity, it is laid out with four pictures at the top relating to the four most appealing articles. Then at the bottom half of the page are other items which are the rest of the content of the magazine. The images that are used are reflective of the style illustrated on the front cover. The largest image on the right contains a stylish full body shot of Brahms, tastefully in black and white. This image is similar to the full face shot of Brahms on the cover. The image in the top left corner is again in black and white with a tasteful shot of the musician. The final picture does use colour, a mixture of yellow and brown with a black and white upper body shot of the musician, but it is not used in access and is dulled down to fit the tone of the rest of the magazine. These elements are chosen to appeal to the target audience, who would be a more intellectual mid-thirties and upwards. The magazine embraces its target audience and dues not use flashy text or ploys.

• These images support the overall tone of the magazine that of simplistic sophisticated design, that does not bombard the senses with bright colour but choosing a more subtle approach. The dominant colour on the content page is a deep red, this is used to enforce the sophisticated image of the magazine. This goes hand in hand with the font which again uses the simplistic sophisticated approach. The font is streamlined with a different font used for the heading and sub headings.The content page makes little attempt at promotional features, since most of the featured musicians are long dead. The music magazine is more of a retrospective on great composers, it is to worth note that the magazine does provide reviews of current performances but does not use it in a promotional feature. There is not logo for the magazine, instead the words ‘’BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE’’ is placed at the bottom right of the page, it is present on every page in the magazine. Again the magazine is not attempting to remind you of the brand, or appeal to the widest audience, but instead knows the niche audience doesn’t what to be bombarded by the brand image. As well as the absence of the Brand there is a lack of attempting to tie the magazine with social media sites. The magazine understand that the target audience would not be avid users of social media, and does not waste space on the context page.

Feature article

Feature article

• The Features article start with a two page spread of Brahms in a study, with the title of the article positioned on the right. At the far right is the introduction to the article is small basic font. The magazine is implying that this composer is of great significance in the classical world. His likeness on the front cover is the only marketing push towards the reader’s. This choice of featured article gives insight into the target audience that the magazine is attempting to reach, this niche audience is catered to in this featured article.The choice of language is representative of the target audience, they use classical terms such as ‘’Intermezzos’’ this type of classical language would resonate with the target audience. The overall use of language is highbrow with many intellectually sounding words like ‘’euphemism’’ and ‘’epitomises’’ this high level use of language would appeal to the target audience. Who would oppose to their articles dumbing down to appeal to a wider audience. The langue then support the overall tone and style that is attempted thought the magazine.The colour is black and white, this was chosen because there are no colour images of the composer, but also to support this simplistic stylish design. This choice of colour palette keep’s thing simple and erudite. This colour makes contrast with the title of the magazine, which is in a medieval style calligraphy. This choice of font is enforcing this timeless feel of both the composer and the article, and intern implies that this musician is historically significance. The tone of the piece is that of a biography and musical commentary of Brahms, instead of a more conventional article, it addresses the reader as if they are a connoisseur. They trust in the readers intelligence