2. Audience Profile
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The circulation of Kerrang! In the UKIS 38,556.
Which adds to the overall readership of 345,000.
Socio-economic status is 48% ABC1. This shows me
that their socio economic status is made up of 52%
C2DE. Although it is a small difference (2%), it could
cause difficulty when the magazine is trying to get
advertising. They claim, however, that their
audience are heavy music consumers (this meaning
that they purchase it often). There is a clear
correlation between the purchase of music & the
purchase of this magazine. This would make a sense
as Kerrang! Is a music magazine. The kind of music
Kerrang! reports on is the kind of music the readers
purchase and listen to.
The mean age for Kerrang! Magazine is 25. They
claim that they reach more younger readers than
any other music magazine e.g. Q & NME.
Kerrang! have a 74% solus readership (meaning the
consumer reads the magazine
individually/purchases the magazine for
themselves). This could mean that the consumers
that access this magazines are individuals & do not
fit into a mainstream genre. This links in with the
kind of music they listen to & what the magazine is
about because the genre (rock & heavy metal) are
not main stream genres.
3. Images
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The images in Kerrang! magazine usually feature a band or
artist posing. The focus is usually on the lead singer (main
person) in the band e.g. Hayley Williams on the cover in the left
top. The front covers are usually less stylized images, with the
artist’s usually imposed onto a simple background e.g. both
covers on the right-hand side. Reasons for this include: allowing
the artist to stand out, represents that they only care about the
music, no risqué photographs as the covers can be accessed by
more audiences than just the target & leaves the artistic
opportunities for inside the magazine. As you can see from the
two images below, the images become stylized image which
push boundaries that could not be used on the front cover.
Below you can see All Time Low are posing with bloody hearts
& Leathermouth show someone dead in a refrigerator. This
could then be linked in with the genre of music that the
magazine is about because the music is quite angry & dark. The
photographs connote this feeling. Because of the reasons
stated above, the audience likes the magazine. The
photographs work with the text and usually cover around 50%
of the page.
4. Words
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The language that the writers use in Kerrang! is informal, it is almost like you were chatting to
a friend. This could be due to the 51% C2DE socio-economic status. That is linked to a lower
level of education. Some of the words they have used are uncommon words. It seems that the
writers include these words just to fool the reader into thinking their writing is of a high lever
by including these words.
The words in Kerrang! magazine can also push the boundaries. An example of this would be
when Guns N’ Roses did an interview and said “KNOW WHAT I want to do? Really want to do?
Go over to Japan and pollute it. I'm not talking about drugs, I'm talking about teenage
sex, bring over some crazy porn magazines and drop them from the tops of tall buildings.
There's no beaver shots in Japan...”. You would not find a quote like this in a magazine like
vogue. This shows what the audience expect from this kind of genre of music & this resonates
in a magazine about the genre.
A lot of text is featured in the magazine. This varies depending on what the subject matter is.
Overall, I would say that the magazine was 50% text & 50% images.
During the interviews, the interviewer will treat the interviewee like a friend e.g. joking
around. This gives the impression, again, that the writing staff at Kerrang! Are relaxed &
informal. It also puts a positive spin on the artist, as the fans will want to see there favorite
artists as intelligent or witty (another reason why the audience likes the magazine & how the
magazine style works with the music style.
5. Colours
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The colours used in Kerrang! magazine are a
usually black & white, mixed with a main colour.
The black & white allows subtle differences. The
black connotes darkness & darkness is linked to
music & magazine genre. The main colour allows
certain part of the cover to be at the forefront
e.g. the colour red is used in on the magazine
colour to the right.
Another colour is also used to make certain parts
contrast against the background. The cover on
the left uses yellow to make certain parts
contrast.
The colours used allow a certain feeling to to be
put across e.g. uses red to connote evil – which
links to the front man who has devil horns in his
head.
The colour of the clothing links with the colour
black used in the some of the text. It gives the
whole front cover a clear housestyle.
6. Layout
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The layout of Kerrang! Magazine is simple & follows typical codes and conventions of magazine layouts. Inside the
magazine, you will find photographs are used with each article (and are linked to who the article is about). The
photographs will usually be part of the layout as one photograph will be the background to the whole page e.g.
the article in the left top corner. Other photographs are also used on the page. This could be because the audience
do not want to read a lot of text. As the text to image ratio is around 1:1, this alters what the overall layout will be
for the magazine.
The cover of the magazine has a different layout than the inside of the cover. On the cover in the top right looks
like ordered ciaos in a way as everything e.g. the text is slightly tilted. This makes the cover look rough and
edgy, which fits into the genre of the magazine & music it is about. This would also be another reason why the
audience would access the magazine. The cover follows typical codes and conventions as it previews what is inside
the magazine.
7. Captions
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Captions are used on some of the
smaller images in Kerrang! They are
used to help describe what is going on
in the photographs. Just like in the
articles, there is slight humour to
what they write e.g. the image in the
bottom left has the caption ‘ Roddy
Bottum about to punch his keyboard
right into its big dumb face’.
Anchoring has been used in these
photographs to give more of a
meaning to photographs.
Linking to the genre of music, the
caption uses violence as a
reference, which is usually linked to
the idea of rock music being hard
hitting & angry. This also links to the
audience as the clearly like this kind of
genre.
8. Audience Feedback
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Kerrang! Can get audience feedback a number of ways, with pros & cons.
Focus groups – this is a group of people that will be shown a product e.g. a
magazine and then will be asked their opinion. Honesty is key in this as you will
wish to improve from their comments. They won’t be able to improve if the people
in the focus group are not honest.
Audience panels – this is a regular, usually large group of people that will be
contacted about a service or a product. Because these groups are regular you can
trust their opinion and gain how they like/dislike the changes you have made. They
should still also give you constructive criticism.
Trialing – trialing & testing a product before it is released is an effective way to
make changes to a product before it is fully available to the public. This can be
done by using things like groups and panels.
All of the above work together to produce a, hopefully, successful, product. Once
the product is released there is still one way to still get feedback for your product:
Complaints – complaints are useful for when your product has done something
that an audience member did not like. This is useful so you can act upon it, but you
will not find out the positives about the product.
