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1. Critical Approaches
Analysis of a media product
Ellie Marsh

2. Comparing three different magazine.
• The media product that I have chosen to analyze is magazines and the genre
is music. The three music magazines that I have chosen to analyze are,
Kerrang, Classic Rock and NME, these are all music magazines. They are all
based on the same wide genre of music but each magazine focuses more on
specific sections within this broader genre.

3. Classic
Rock
One of the fist things that stands out on
the front cover of this magazine in the
central image, this image is of the singer
from the band ‘Motorhead’ and is a person
that readers from this magazine will
recognize. Over this image we can see the
text ‘We are motorhead and we play rock
and roll’ this is something that the
audience from this magazine will also
recognize as it something that is frequently
said by the band, this creates a culture for
this magazine that some other people who
do not like the same music would not
understand.
Something else that we see straight away when we look at the front of this magazine is the
mast head ‘Classic Rock’. Every magazine has a mast head and this shows the audience what
the magazine is about, this being called classic rock its easy to see that the magazine is about,
classic rock. This is one of the simplest things that puts this magazine into the music genre and
in a more narrow category of classic rock.
A technical aspect of this front cover is the
band name that is in the center of the page.
This is consistent through most music
magazines, this will usually be the name of the
band that that specific to that issue, the name
of the band will also usually match the image
in the center of the page. This shows the
audience what will be talked about in this
issue and who will be interview or what album
will be discussed, however the whole
magazine will not all be about this person.
This artist of the front of the magazine also reflects the
audience, most people who read this magazine are
male and are over 30. This is the music that people
who are from this audience listen to and therefore are
interested in the magazines as they discus this genre
further. The female audience are not represented on
this front cover and neither are the younger audience,
this is because they are not the main readership or
target audience. This is something that happens in all
three of my magazines, the main audience is reflected
in the image on the front cover. The men are always
part of a ’rock’ band and this is because this is the
music that this magazine is about and therefore what
its readership like, this is one genera characteristic.
All rock music magazines will have the name of a band
on the front, this is because this is what the magazine
is about. The audience will look at the front cover to
see who is the topic of that issue, this takes place on
every music magazine.
The colours used in the background are all darks, there is a contrast between the black and white, these colours would usually be associated with this type of
music and audience. They also match the colours that the artist on the front cover is weaing. Using the red ( or a colour that contrasts to the background) to
make specific parts stand out is also something that is done in every music magazine, it is done in almost all magazines to draw the readers eye to the
information that they think is important. For example in this magazine it says ‘ Free 15 track CD’ this shows the audience that they are not only getting a
magazine they are getting a CD, which will appeal to them as they like the music that is features in this magazine.

4. Rock
sound
Like the previous magazine, this has an image of a person who will be recognized by the readership. The man is from a band that this
magazine will be talking about in this issue, this shows the reader what the magazine will be about. However in this front cover, the man
dose not represent the readership. The main audience for this magazines core audience are aged 14-25, this shows us that they are not
represented by the image on the front cover. However, as the person on the front of the magazine is a famous rock star and the people
who read this magazine like rock music, this is seen as an aspiration for some of the readership.
The mast head of this magazine, like the
previous, also shows us what the magazine is
about. We can see it is a music magazine
because of all the different band names and the
image of a recognizable musician on the front
over. Having the mast head ‘Rock Sound’ shows
people who might not recognize the person on
the front or the genre characteristics on the
cover of the magazine, what it is about.
This magazine cover has taken its colour scheme from the
lots that the artist in the image is wearing, blue and white,
this is something that is becoming more frequently popular
in all types of magazines. This make the cover look more
stylized and more organized, this has also been done in the
first magazine, it is not used as a technique in the final
magazine as this one has a different style.
Something else that is done to show what genre
this magazine is, is list all the other bands who
will be shown in this issue. This shows the
audience all the band that will be discussed as
well as the band in the central image, this is also
used in the last magazine but not in the first as
that magazine is more concentrated on the band
in the center, is dose show some other band
names but not as many as the other two.

5. Kerrang
This magazine has a different lay out to the
previous two magazine, they are more organized
and clear, this magazine takes a more rugged
approach to the front cover. Using bright
contrasting colours to make the front cover stand
out, using images of other bands as well as the
main central image is also a different technique
that is used by this magazine.
Something that is used through all the magazines I
have looked at has been in central image and name
of the band. This shows the audience who the main
focus of this magazine is, putting the name of the
band in yellow contrasts with the background, this is
a technique that is used on the first magazine I
analyzed.
Something that this magazine dose even more than the previous two is show lots of different band that
are featured in the magazine. This shows the audience exactly who is in the magazine, it is also used to
promote the magazine as it shows the audience that there are lots of different bands talked about in this
magazine.
Like the last magazine, the image on the front of the this
magazine is not a representation of the readership. This
is an image of a famous rock star and therefore would be
seen as something that the readership may aspire to
become. This is a technique used in many music
magazines as well as other lifestyle magazines.
Something that we can see that shows this is a rock
magazine is the mast head, although unlike the
other it dose not explicitly say ‘rock’ the font style
connotes this type of music. The ragged edges and
large letters almost show the loudness of the word
which is something that us connected to rock
music, being loud. This style is kept through out the
magazine front cover and is enhanced by the image
of smashed glass behind the artist. This also
connoted loudness and almost violence, which is
also something that can be associated with rock
music.

6. Band Name Image of musician Other band names

7. Pull quotes
Image of the band spread over two pages
Album cover
Kerrang
Classic Rock
Rock Sound

8. Similarities
The first thing that we can see that is consistent throughout these three magazines is that the image of the band is
spread across both pages. This shows the reader who the acritical is about before they read it, this is something that
all music magazines do. Another reason that they do this is because it gives the text a background, it removes white
space, this gives the article an interesting image as a background.
Another thing that has been used is all of these magazine articles is the use of pull quotes. This is use so that people
can see what sort of things are being discussed in the article or interview, they are all in a colour that contrasts with
the colour of the image in the background. This is used in all types of media products from posters to magazines, it is a
good way to get the readers attention.
Something else that it used across all three magazines is an album cover is somewhere on the page, this is to to show
people more about the band, it could be their most famous album or their newest one. Either way this technique
show more about the band when the audience looks at the page, it also promotes the bands album as if people like
the look of the band they may go on to listen or buy the album from the band. It makes the album cover more
recognizable. This is something that is only used in music magazine, mainly rock music magazines, because it shows
off the band. As well as this all rock music magazine's will review and rate new albums that come out, this another
way to promote a band or new album that comes out, as well as this it gives the fans a chance to read about the
album and see what other people think about it.
A stylistic aspect of these to magazines that is similar is that they are both very dark, the background images of the
bands creates a very dark felling about the pages. This is something that is stereotypically linked with rock music,
wearing dark cloths is something associated with the culture of rock music. This further associates the cultural that is
connected with these magazines

9. Old magazine
covers

10. Changing over time
• The cover of kerrang has changed the most out of all three magazine, this may be because it is the oldest of the three
magazine, the cover of this issue if from June 1st 1981. The main difference is the amount of colour on the page, in the
modern day version, there are lots and lots of bright colour out to catch their audiences attention. However in the 1981
version there are only about three colours used, this may be because they only had simple technology, it may also be
because they did not need to catch the readers attention as much because their wasn’t as much competition. Another
difference in these two covers is the amount of information that is shown on the cover. As well as not having a lot of colour
they also don’t have very much information about what is featured in the magazine. It simply lists that ‘in colour…’ and
some of the band that will be talked about in the magazine wiht not a lot of other information. In the modern day version
there is lots of content on the front cover, including images of the other bands that are featured in the magazine. A simulaity
between these two magazines that were producted 15 years apart is the mast head, it still has the gaged harsh edges and
the same font.
• In the classic rock cover which is from an issue published in 1998, the lay out and style is very different, older cover looks
much more cramp and has lots more colours on it. As well as this, the central image is behind all of the text and the mast
head of the magazine, where as in the modern day version, the central image almost pops out of the page because almost
all the text is behing him and so is the mast head. The only text that is over the image is the name of the band and a well
known line from them, this could shows that the band is more important than the name of the magazine. Something that
has changed in this magazine over time is the style of the magazine, in old version it is quite colorful an looks quite ragged,
where as in the newer version it is lots more stylized. This shows the progression of the magazine over time, it has left the
cramp look with all the different pictures behind and gone fore a new style with a simpler more slick colour scheme. This
may be because the magazine is more established now and has a strong following and therefore it dose not need to have so
many colours to try and catch the readers eye.
• The third magazine covers look very similar and have not changed as much as the last two, they have kept the lay out of the
magazine almost the same. The image is central, the same as the other two magazines, they have also kept the name of the
band and where the text is positioned on the page the same. The biggest difference between these magazine covers is the
mast head, the design of this has changed slightly, in the old version it has a read background with white text in lower case
letters and in the modern version it has no background and capital letters. This could have been changed to show the genre
of the magazine more, making the mast head bigger and bolder connotes more of a rock feel to the magazine. As well as
this they have created a logo with the first letter of the mast head, placing a red circle around this with some more small
white text creates a memorable logo that links back to the magazine.

11. Representation –
• All three of there magazines have a predominantly male audience, this is reflected strongly in the front cover and inside of these magazine. Using
images of predominantly male images of artist reflects the audience that are reading the magazine. As well as this, this cloths that are worn by the
people who read this magazine are different to the cloths that people who read fashion magazines, this is also reflected in the way that the men in
the images dress. This could be seen as a cultural aspect to this magazine, the people in the magazines set the style for the audience to follow, this
creates a culture that people recognize themselves in and others recognize when they look at people who are dressed in this way. However not only
do these cloths reflect the audience, the actual men in the images do as well. For example, Classic Rock has a older readership than Kerrang and
there for they have an older artist on the front of the magazine. Likewise in Kerreang, a younger man is present on the front cover because the
readership are younger. This is shows throughout the magazines, not just the front cover. If we go back to the inside pages of the magazines, the
bands that are shown reflect the audience. Again, Classic Rock has an image of an older band with older men in it, and Rock Sound and Kerrang have
images of younger bands with younger men in them because these are the people that read these magazine.
• On the front cover of all three of these magazines, the men on the front represent the rock genre with their facial expressions and body language. All
of these images are close enough to be able to see their faces, this shows their expressions and all of the men are pulling a slightly aggressive face,
these images have been specifically chosen because of how they look and what their facial expressions are. Aggression is something that is
sometimes related to the rock music genre and this is what the audience of this magazine will look for, they expect the ‘rock and roll’ attitude from
the people on the front of these magazines. They are also sometimes portrayed as being or looking ‘mad’ this is something else that is associated
with the rock music genre, that the bands are crazy or edgy and exiting.
• The language that is used in and on the covers of these magazines also reflect the audience, for example, on the Classic Rock magazine their a swear
words printed, this is something that would not be found on almost any other type of magazine. However this audience may like the fact that this
magazine push’s the bounders of what is acceptable, they may like the fact that the language shock people. This is something that is reflected
throughout this whole genre, the music and the clothing all have an element of trying to shock people. This is something that has been part of the
Rock culture for years. Inside the magazine the words and sentences that are used are often short and punchy, this gives the effect of aggression
again and almost makes the sentence look like they are shouting. This reflects the music and the audience because as a part of this genre the music is
known for being lound and this is therefore what the audience like.
• A different way that they audience are represented in these magazines is through the adverts that are present throughout the magazine, for example
in the back of kerrang there is a specific section for small independent company to have small adverts, these are usually for clothing ranges, tattoo
artists and bands and tours. This reflect the audience very strongly because through these different things we can see what they are interested in and
what they are likely to by. For example, in the back of one issue there is an advert for an online clothing shop, http://www.rockabilia.com , they sell
band tops, hoody's and merchandise, this reflect the audience because they sell the cloths of the bands that are shown in the magazine that the
audience like and listen to.