Key concepts applied to music magazines

1. Music
Magazine

2. Magazine History
The word ‘magazine’ comes from the French word ‘magasin’, which means ‘storehouse’. The word
storehouse is a fitting word to use as magazines tend to be storehouses of information to do with certain
interests or subjects. The first magazine was ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine of London’ which was started in
1731. However the first ever music magazine was launched in 1926 which contained the honors list,
which was the first ever music charts.

3. Differences between magazines and newspaper
Magazines
• Smaller
• More expensive
• Thicker, printed in colour on glossy paper
• Gossipy
• Less formal
• Published less frequently
• Cover a large range of topics and is still broadening
• Higher degree of audience fragmentation
Newspaper
• Fresher content
• More variety of content
• Costs are low
• Newspapers don’t have a specific audience
• Newspapers have a resolution of 200dpi, while
Magazines are at 300dpi.
• Less flexible design layout
• Compacted information
• Gives an impression of something firm and strong, also
keeps you up to date with current affairs
Magazines are an important form of print media, as well as newspapers which are both read by millions of people
globally. It allows them to access information on different types of genres for example sport, wedding or music. Many of
the millions of people are so interested about the content that you do not pay any attention to the differences between
magazines and newspapers.

4. Magazines cover a wide range of titles, and the number of genres is increasing frequently as society is always changing and
growing. For example twenty years ago there was no such thing as lifestyle magazines specifically directed at men and now
there is such a large market with different titles such as “Loaded”, “GO”, “Men's Fitness” and “GQ”.
The magazine market has seen a high degree of
audience fragmentation. The publishing costs are low so
very small readerships can be catered for at a profit. For
example, fishing was originally covered in one whole
magazine but now a days there are different types of
magazines for different types of fish, for instance
“Trout”. This is that there are magazines to cater for
different peoples needs and wants in order to generate
as much profit as possible as magazines sales have been
decreasing due to people have online access from
tablets and computers.

5. Front Covers
A front cover is a key aspect to a magazine in
order to create an identity and differentiate it
from other magazine competitors. The front
cover needs to resemble the genre in order to
make it clear for the target market.
When a potential buyer walks into a news agent or past a
magazine stand, the front cover is the first thing they see. This
means that the front cover has to be eye catching and stand
out from the others in order for it to be the one that everyone
buys. When the consumer looks at the cover in more detail it
is important to have the contents of what is to come on
display and therefore the customer then knows what is to
come inside. The cover allows the magazine company to get
one chance to impress its consumers and gives them a list of
reasons on why they should buy this specific magazine other
than the others.

6. Four Key Concepts
Representation- How is the magazine
presented? What image is it portraying( about
life) How do you know?
Institution- who made the magazine? Was it big,
powerful company or a small independent company?
Genre- what is the magazine
mainly about? How do you know?
Audience- who would read the magazine? Age,
sex, gender, location, specify In more detail if possible

7. Institution
Billboard is a worldwide magazine
company owned by Prometheus
Global Media. It is the most
influential music media brand and
was founded by William Donaldson
and James Hennegan.
Genre
Billboard is a magazine that doesn't’t
have a main focus on a genre.
Therefore, Beyoncé is a good idol to
put on the front cover us she
doesn't’t necessarily focus on one
genre of music.
Representation
The magazine is presented as
modern and up to date with
current artists. This is portrayed
as the front cover is in black and
white. Also, Beyoncé is staring
into the readers eyes making it
engaging. As well as this using
Beyoncé makes the magazine
more popular as she has a large
fan base
Audience
Billboard has a varying target
audience and genre, relying
on what is in the charts at the
current time. Its target
audience is both male and
females, depending on who is
featured on the front cover.
However, it has an age range of
around 25-54.