MUSIC MAGAZINE

COVER RESEARCH

Main Image: The main image has the codes and

conventions of most magazines. The role of the main image is to take up the whole page because it is the most eye-catching

place for every front covers. In this magazine, there is a medium close up of Lily Allen to show her facial expression. In this magazine, she look plain and shocked as her mouth is opened and her eyes are

focusing on the camera. This indicates that she is getting involved with the audiences

by looking straight at the camera. The audiences will recognise Lily Allen as she

is famous for being a singer and a songwriter. By putting a picture of Lily Allen can attract her fans to read the

magazine and find out more about her. The reason why the company (NME) and the editor decided to put a picture of Lily

Allen as the front page is because the magazine itself wants to grab every type

of audiences, for example – audiences who are into Rock and Roll, Hip-Hop/R&B, Jazz and lots more. In few words, the company (NME) wants a wider audience so that they could read their magazine daily. The shirt

she is wearing is red which symbolizes death, evil, love and blood. Three of the

words are mean and negative but love is a positive word which maybe shows that Lily Allen is nice and is someone that people

look up to. Lily Allen’s face is pale and also bright. This effect has been used to make

her stand out on the front page so that when the audiences first look at the magazine, they could spot her very

quickly. Her eyes looks innocent which implies that she does not know what she is

doing in the picture.

Colour Scheme:The purpose of having colours in the

magazine is to attract the audiences. This magazine only sticks with 4 colours. The

colour yellow has been used in this to target the adults as it is a unique colour and like other magazines, they have also used the 3 common colours: white, red

and black. This means that the magazine is targeted at the teenagers and at the

adults. Also, the reason why the company decided to use these colours is because

they want it to be simple and easy to read. The red ‘NME’ logo is bold with the red

font. This technique has been used so that it stands out from the audiences and the competitors. The important thing about

this magazine is that the logo is usually at the front of the main image but in this magazine, the logo is behind Lily Allen

which emphasises that she is more important than the logo. The text that is in

white is called the sell line which summaries everything about Lily Allen in few words. For the outline of the sell line, the colour is black and this has been used to make the sell line itself bold and easier

to read.

Sell line:The sell line is white with the black outline and this has been used to stand out from the rest of the front cover. The sell line is

at the front of everything to show that it is important than the main image. The font is

not straight and it is not line properly which is used for being unique.

Pull quote:There is a text with the speech marks

which says “I can’t keep on living like this, it’s doing my head in”. This suggests that Lily Allen is sick of being a singer and also being famous and that she wants to stop

everything she is doing and be free.

Main Image: The main image has the codes and

conventions of most magazines. The role of the main image is to take up the whole page because it is the most eye-catching place for

every front covers. The artist (Jay-Z) is looking straight into the camera which gives the

audience the feeling that he is looking at them and also this creates a relationship between the audience and the artist. Ian Brown who is looking directly at Jay-Z implies that he has a fixed mind and that he is confused about Jay-Z. The audiences will recognise the artists as they are both famous and are willing to read the magazine because they will be interested in finding out what the magazine has to say about both of the artists. There could be a

reason why the editor used both of the artists but I personally think that the editor used both

of the artists because they are both well-known. They are both popular with over

1000+ fans especially between the age of 14 to 25 as they would have seen one of their highest hit songs on YouTube. Ian Brown’s head is placed behind the masthead which

implies that he is not important whereas Jay-Z is. This technique has been used to symbolize

that Jay-Z is way more talented then Ian Brown. The way Jay-Z is wearing the

sunglasses emphasises that he is casual and cool and also the images of Jay-Z and Ian

Brown is a medium shot. This shot as been used to show what the artists are wearing and to get the fans influences with what they buy or wear. To decide who to put as a front cover

is very important because that is what attracts the audiences to read the magazine. The sell

line is in-between of Ian Brown and Jay-Z because the sell tine itself talks about both of the artists and when the audiences look in the middle, they would know what the magazine is about which in this case it is about politics, the

roses and noel.

Colour Scheme:The colour scheme usually attracts the

audiences more than the main image. This magazine sticks with 3 colours which are

red, white and black. The reason why they have used three colours is because NME

wants the magazine to be simple and easy to read. The red ‘NME’ logo is bright and stands out easily on the magazine and

from the competitors. The text that is in black gives a bit of information about the

bands and underneath that, they have listed three of the famous bands. The sell

tine is in red so that the audiences can see it when they see the main images. This

colour scheme targets the teenagers and the adults.

Sell line:The sell line is red which is used to stand out from the rest of the front cover. The

main sell line ins in the middle of Ian Brown and Jay-Z. This is so that it stands out from the main image and also eye-catches the audiences. By putting Ian’s and Jay-Z’ name in a bigger font shows

that they are both the main artists in this magazine cover. Button:

The button at the bottom left indicates that it could be a badge or a logo that is

attached to Ian Brown. This technique has been used to show that the badge could

relate to Ian Brown or maybe has something to do with the band which Ian

Brown was in back in the days.

Main Image: The main image in this magazine has the

codes and conventions of most magazines. The role of the main image is to take up the

whole page because it is the most eye-catching place for every front covers. The

artist (French Montana) is looking straight into the camera which gives the audience the

feeling that he is looking at them and that the audiences are involved with him. French

Montana, who is famous for creating Coke Boys and being an independent rapper. The audiences will recognise the artists (French

Montana) as he is famous and also, the audiences are willing to read the magazine

because they will be interested in finding out what the magazine has to say the artist. The

reason why the company chose to take a picture of French Montana like that is because in every pictures he takes, he shows his gold chains, diamond ring , his beanie hat and the

‘praying’ pose to attract his fans. This technique has been used because his fans

may know him through his pose. The company used a picture of French Montana is because he is popular with over 1000+ fans especially

between the age of 14 to 25 as they would have seen one of his highest hit songs on

YouTube. The main image is behind the ‘XXL’ logo which implies that French Montana is

important but not as important as the company logo. This technique has been used

to make the company logo stand out when the audiences see the magazine for the first time and also lets the audiences know who made the magazine.. The way French Montana is

posing symbolizes that he is worshipping his music. This shot as been used to show the

main parts of him like his beanie hat, his gold diamond ring and his gold chains. To decide who to put as a front cover is very important

because that is what attracts the audiences to read the magazine.

Colour Scheme:Usually, in most of the magazines, the

company only uses the main three colours which are red, black and white. In this XXL

magazine, they have used the same colours to attract the teenagers and also

some of the adults. The logo ‘XXL’ is white but the outline is red and this has been

used to grab the audiences’ eye onto the magazine. Next to the main image, they have wrote ‘French Montana’ in bold font to symbolize that it is him in the picture. The small texts are there to give a small

information about his featuring artists who are also famous through music. Sell line:

The sell line is below the artist’s name in black. The sell line has a meaning behind

it because ‘au revoir’ is French which means ‘good bye’ and this relates to FRENCH Montana’s stage name. The

reason the company used a technique like this is because then it symbolizes that

French Montana know French or maybe the word French is in his name tag. They have placed the sell line underneath the artist’s

name so that when the audiences see French Montana’s name which is in Red

font, they could also see the sell line which is in black.Artists Names:

In this magazine, there are name tags of well known artists. The reason why the ‘XXL’ company decided to mention their names is because they could have featured in French Montana’s latest

tracks or maybe they work with him in a record label. I personally think that the name tags of the artists are mentioned because they all have one thing in common which is they are all American

rappers.