2. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
History of the music magazine
In 1994 the first music magazine was founded , the magazine was called Billboard and
was an international newsweekly magazine which was devoted to the music
industry. Music magazines became really popular in the 1950’s-1960’s when
magazines such as NME and Rolling Stones were founded.
Biggest music magazine publishers
There is such a vast variety of different music magazines in the world but there are a distinct few that
are recognisable and popular in numerous countries. The 5 biggest music magazines include;
• Rolling stones- The classic source of music information and popular culture trends, one of the most
popular magazines of all time in any genre.
• NME- The new music express popularly known by the initialism NME is a music publication in the
United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952.
• Smash hits- A pop music magazine, which demonstrates the latest music and trends and is aimed at
teenagers and young adults.
• KERRANG- A UK-based magazine which is devoted to rock music and also one of the longest running
music magazines.
• Billboard-You will find award winning and in depth coverage of every aspect of the music and
entertainment business worldwide.
3. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
The music magazine Kerrang uses the common convention of splitting the
page up into 3 main sections. On this particular front page, in the top third
there is the masthead, in the second there is the bold heading and in the last
third there are 3 main pictures. Although it’s not as obvious as some
magazines, you can still see the generic convention of this. I think that
Kerrang have changed the normal conventions of a magazine to show that
they are different and that it is quite an informal magazine by the way the
pictures have been set out, especially the main image. The main image on
this front cover stands out individually because even though it’s a
background image it is in front of the masthead and in this case the heads of
the people appearing on the magazine cover half of the masthead. This is
commonly used on big name music magazines because they are so
recognisable and well established. The main image tells us a lot that the
genre of the magazine is rock, this is because of the clothes that they are
wearing we would stereotypically say was rock or indie, as well as their hair
styles and tattoos. There are then 3 other images shown in the bottom third
of the magazine, which also imply that the genre of this magazine is rock.
These 3 images are bordered by red and white, which is the main colour
scheme of the magazine, along with black and this makes the images stand
out. Two of the images have a red border and the other has a white one, this
distinguishes the difference between the images and helps us see what goes
together even though they are nearly all the same size. A lot of magazines
always have a ‘plus’ or ‘this week’, which gives you a brief detail into some of
the other articles and interviews that will only be in the magazine for that
week.
4. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
In contrast to the other music magazine Karrang, one of the most established
music magazines in the world is the ‘new music express’ more commonly known
as NME. Different magazines use different colours, layouts and mastheads to help
audience recognise their magazine straight away. On this cover they have chose to
go for quite a simple background so that the reader focuses on the picture.
They have used a single image instead of numerous smaller ones and have kept
the writing on the cover to a minimum. This magazine front cover basically just
has the main picture the masthead and a large brightly coloured sell line that will
stand out and catch the readers attention and also a smaller sell line which
engages the reader and makes them want to read more.
The barcode is set at the bottom right hand corner in a small white box so as it
can be seen, but doesn't take any attention away from the cover, this is the
convention of most magazines.
NME uses similar colours in every issue, numerous magazines use the convention
of keeping the colour the same in every issue. The colour scheme used in this
issue is grey in the background and red or pink in the front so as the red/pink and
grey contrasts and the red/pink stands out.
On the majority of magazines the masthead or name of the magazine stays the
same font, not very often but sometimes designers change the colour/position of
the masthead but never the font. In this issue the ‘NME’ is in the typical style of
the magazine but unlike the last front cover this magazine masthead covers the
top of the main images head. This cover appeals to their audience by putting
someone on the front who is recent and they listen to and using common
conventions of that particular magazine.
5. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
This image is a contents page taken from the music magazine ‘NME’. By
the text and images of this magazine you can tell it’s a music magazine
and the targeted audience would be for 17-26 year olds. There is a lot
going on in this contents page which normally attracts younger people
because its more fun seems lively and is packed with loads of things
inside.
Most of the text is little and in black which don’t really stand out but the
colours behind the text catches people’s eyes and then there are some
big writing in different colours and I think that’s used to draw people in
because that catches the eye and is the first thing you notice. There are a
few pictures other then the main image of Ricky from the Kaiser Chiefs
and even though his image is the main image it still isn’t big and that’s
again because they have a lot to offer and it gives you the impression
that there’s a lot to offer that is equally as good or major. The little
pictures on the right hand side are there to again attract people because
when looking at a contents page not a lot of people would stand there
and read the whole thing but tend to see what stands out more and if
they want to read about that.
There is also a promotional feature on the content page which says about
the offer of buying NME magazine’s is going to be just 20p an issue for 2
months. This would attract normal buyers of NME who buy the magazine
regularly just because they like NME and because they like all the issues
they do but also it would attract people who may not have every read
NME and bought this issue and really liked it and its such a good offer
which will entice more people and will gain more buyers who will
continue buyer the magazine even for the offers.
6. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
This contents page is from the music magazine ‘Q’. Q's old contents page follows all the codes
and conventions when making a magazine. This magazine is not as busy as the last one as it
seems more calm to look at. The focus image is of a band, The Courteeners in the country on
top of a hill as they pose in a shirt, t-shirts and jeans whilst the lead singer wear sunglasses to
follow the rock and roll look. As the previous contents page I looked at from the magazine
‘NME’ this image is also not that big which implies that there is a lot more to offer. Both of the
images on the page have more than just the band or artist they also have a background. The
second image located at the bottom in the middle is of the artist: Nick Cave in an expensive
looking suit stood leaning on a pillar. By including a background it makes the picture more
visually interesting than the stereotypical band in a studio wearing modern clothes,
sunglasses looking cool.
All the font on the page are similar and the text is all in drop capitals. Although the colours are
different following the front cover's colour scheme. The basic trend of the text is: page
numbers in bold red at the start of the sentence and the article title in black. Also there is a
brief description about the story in lower case black letters. In the middle of the features list is
a box that follows written in bold gold for the title: OASIS SPECIAL then like the other stories
the text is in black; however the page numbers are coloured in gold. This part of the page is
also in larger text. The bigger parts of the section are: CONTENTS, which is in a black banner
at the top of the page and the text is bold white. Other sections that are larger are the title:
FEATURES, Q REVIEWS, EVERY MONTH and finally the main story, THE COURTEENERS. By
doing this it makes the text capture the readers eye and makes the page more organised.
The main image corresponds with the title of the story on top of the picture. This making the
article appear the most important and interesting as it the first part the eye is drawn to.
7. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
This is a double page spread from the music magazine NME, which
includes a lot of generic conventions of a double page spread.
Following the conventions of a music magazine, the copy on these
pages are in columns, however they look more energetic. This is
because there are cuts in the copy, where captions and quotes cut in,
this shows that the magazine has quite a quirky style, and although
they use columns they use them differently. Also, instead of using
columns for all of the copy, there is an insert box used, which makes
the double page spread more appealing to the reader, as it breaks up
the information. There is also another smaller insert box, which tells
the reader a small amount of information about the band the article is
based on. This looks like a piece of paper which has been ripped out of
notebook, this suggests that it is instant information and this magazine
is constantly updating their readers on the latest information. Also, it is
aimed at the reader profile of the magazine, as it is a laid back style
and something which makes the layout different. This page follows the
house style of NME magazine, as it is the most common font and size
which is used throughout the magazine so that they are linked
together. However, the puff which says ‘NME LOVES’ looks like it has
been handwritten, which again adds to the laid back style this
magazine has which appeals to the readers. Changing the font adds to
the interest of the page, because everything appeals to the eye
differently and therefore there is not one set font and size, which
wouldn’t attract the target audience for this magazine.
8. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
This is another double page spread from the music magazine ‘NME’ .The use
of the colors black and white is the main color scheme which runs through
the magazine and on this particular page the words are all black and white,
these two colors contrast and therefore stand out, making the reader want
to read this page.
The title of this double page spread is a quote from the interview with Lilly
Allen, which stands out because of the thick black boxes around each
individual letter, which makes it look like the letters have been cut out of a
magazine, which would give the impression that the magazine has quite an
informal tone and layout. Using a quote is what most magazines do and this
captures the reader’s attention, for NME to use the quote as the title must
mean that this is what they think will make their readers want to read the
interview. There is also a strapline underneath the article headline, which is
used to introduce the article and interview, to give you a bit of information
about what the interview will be about.
The layout follows some of the generic conventions of a magazine, in the
way that they overlap onto both pages. The quote which is used as a title is
overlapped onto the opposite page and the same applies for the photo of
Lilly Allen, this is so that both pages are linked together and it looks like one.
Also, they have used the same white/grey background which links the pages
together. The use of one main image makes the double page spread stand
out, so when the reader is flicking through they will notice it. This page
doesn’t look cluttered with images and copy, like a lot of the articles do, this
would suggest that they are showing they explore different themes and they
set the page out in relation to the artist or band.
