1. Music Magazine Representation

3. Q, NME and Rolling Stone are all music magazines that are for an audience who enjoy the genre indie/rock
music. They all have a target audience between 16-25, and mostly aimed towards influential men interested
in this genre of music. Women do buy these magazines as I have experienced myself, but for example there is
a ratio of 31:79 to males that buy music magazines.
The producers of these three magazines target their specific audience through their typical interest in music,
shown through popular musicians and artists on the front covers of all the magazines. This interests the
audience to read issues with their favourite artists on the front. They choose popular artists to be placed on
front covers like, Kings Of Leon. More people know them therefore it will appeal to a larger audience and
more issues will be sold.
Information

4. Positive Representation
• Q- Q gives a positive representation of the audience who reads this magazine as being
fun and adventurous. They are interested in going to gigs and festivals, in which is
shown on the front page with the “16 Page Gig Guide.” They are represented as being
an independent crowd and not afraid to be different. With the main interview from
Florence And The Machine and a quote saying “I feel so alone,” they can connect to the
artist for support and recognition.
• NME- In this magazine this audience is represented as having fun all the time. They
have an exciting and fun social life, they come across as being popular and interested in
mostly English bands, which represents their proud culture within. V festival is
advertised inside the magazine, online and on the front cover. This represents the
audience as being independent and adventurous as this is what you audience you get
at festivals. Festivals are a great place to socialize and make friends that have the same
interest of music as you. The representation of the image on the front shows that Kings
of Leon have power in the industry because of the slightly low angle shot. People look
up towards them and find them an inspiration to indie music.
• Rolling Stone- This is magazine is more popular and known in the USA rather than the
UK therefore there may be different representations and connotations due to the
different cultures. The interviews are from big celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Rod
Stewart; both huge iconic singer/songwriters and even Mitt Romney. This shows the
representation of Rolling Stone is that they can incorporate both music and politics
together and it will still sell. This suggests that the mind of the readers are wide and
they have many interests.

5. Positive Representation
Lots of well known artists have featured in music
magazines. These are the inspirations in music such as
the Beatles and Queen. They appear on both American
and English music magazines because they are that
popular and inspirational they are known world wide.
This shows people how good the musical industry is
and what it can produce. It inspires people to do the
same and follow the footsteps. They are that much of
an inspiration that The Beatles issue was published
years and years later when they were not together. This
shows how much of an inspiration they are, even to
people now a days. The Rolling Stone is an American
magazine too therefore you can see how successful
they were world wide and if they are still famously
known now a days to sell enough copies they must be
an inspiration.
The representation is kept positive with well known,
legendary artists, past and present as adults think this
is good for young teens to learn about what made the
musical industry successful.

6. Negative Representation
• Q- The use of harsh words such as “git” and “bastard” on the front cover
gives a rebellious and a violent attitude. This causes the audience to be
represented with this sort of attitude and be see as unpleasant people.
• NME- “Knife Fights!” were the first words I saw on the front cover of this
issue of NME. It shows violets within the indie genre and how music can
change the perspectives of people. Many indie/rock magazines are seen as
heavy and are represented in a way of being violent and strong towards
others through the words being used, just like Q, the audience will be seen
as unpleasant people because of the violent representations on the cover.
• Rolling Stone- All the magazines have some sort of festival reference on the
covers. Although festivals are a good place to socialize, they often represent
violets, alcohol and drugs. The only issue that doesn’t mention festivals or
gigs on the front cover issue is the Rolling Stone, but they do include it inside.
This is because of the culture it is usually published in. Most of the USA are
largely religious therefore drugs, alcohol and violets are not tolerated.
Although the name of the magazine was from the song Rollin’ Stone by
Muddy Waters, which was where The Rolling Stones got their name from,
contrasts with the whole representation of the USA because The Rolling
Stones are a huge rock band around drugs and rebellious acts. To me when I
look at the magazine it reminds me of The Rolling Stones, the band, because
of the colours and rough imagery and therefore it is seen as the same
representation.

7. Negative Representation
This front cover from the Rolling Stone with Bruno
Mars on the front has a lot of negative
representation on it, especially for an American
audience. Lets start off with Bruno Mars’ image.
Usually he is carful of his image and is usually
portrayed well in the media as a sweet love bird
from his songs such as Grenade. But here he is
wearing a risky leopard suit. The leopard skin
connotes to a pimp/prostitute, as this is how they
are portrayed in movies, and as being easy, not
very classy. The second thing about his image is
that he has a cigarette in his mouth. This is
unhealthy and seen as not very socially acceptable
or nice, especially on a magazine front cover. In
the UK this would not be aloud because it would
be classed as adverting cigarettes, which is against
the law. It contrasts with the sweet personally
Bruno Mars is usually portrayed with.
Another shocking thing about this front cover is
the headline “Boss Weed,” with the subheading
“the gangster who changed the pot game.” This
could be a play on words but placing this on the
front cover of a well known magazine causes a bad
image for the audience because it shows this is
what they would like to read about.

8. Social Groups
All three products are mainly aimed at a male audience all between 16-25.
• Q- Has a medium audience reader age of 30 years old. Q uses more technical and polite language within
their issues this gains their 73% ABC1 readership. The male gender is shown through the colours used. In
general, all the magazines use the colour red which connotes as being dangerous and shows the rebellious
attitude in the male gender. Other main colours used in these magazines are blue and white, both neutral
and contrast with the colour red but both represent the male gender.
• NME- Has a target audience of 17-30 year old men and an average reading age of 25. This magazine has the
youngest age of them all, this is represented by the joking headlines, the improper language and the
coverage of gigs and festivals. NME cover Reading and Leeds festival heavily and create special edition
issues to cover the festival. They have their own NME stage at Reading and Leeds in the special issue the
week after they write about the artists who have performed on the NME stage throughout the weekend so
people who went and people who didn’t still get the same experience and knowledge. The images are all
action shots of the festival, this creates a live atmosphere to the images making some of the festival life
come back to those who want to relive their weekend again and those who missed it.
• Rolling Stone- This is the most mature magazine from the three. You can tell this from the common interest
of politics on the cover. It states there will be an interview about the American politician, Mitt Romney, in
this issue. This is an unusual feature to include in a music magazine for teenagers, therefore it will be aimed
specifically for an independent audience. Again this magazine is aimed toward men, this can be seen in the
common way the issues portray women on the front of their covers. For example Taylor Swift is sat in a
productive way, with messy hair and her hand in between her legs, seducing the men. This is the same
whenever a women is photographed on the front cover to appeal to men and to get them talking.

9. Social Issues
• Q and NME- They both advertise alcoholic drinks and drug help lines such
as Frank. Both these issues are bad for the representation of the audience,
even though help is still advertised it still suggests that the people who
take drugs are more likely to read this magazine.
• Rolling Stone- One huge controversial issue was printed in August 2013
after the Boston Marathon bombings with a photograph of the bomber as
the front cover of Rolling Stone. Many many people had something to say
about this. The members of the publics said things like it “glamorizes
terrorism” and people who were hurt in the bombing should be covered
more rather than the criminal.
I agree with the public, terrorist should not be published and placed on
the cover of a popular magazine. I understand it in newspapers, but
people buy music magazine for entertainment, to escape the real world.
This is what the editor of this Rolling Stone issue had to say:
“The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as
many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine
the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of
how a tragedy like this happens.”
(www.rollingstone.com)

10. Stereotyping
There are lots of stereotypes due to musical interests. You can
learn a lot about someone from looking at their iPod. Someone
who listens to the Sex Pistols and the Ramones is likely to be from
a very different demographic than someone whose favorite artist
is Julie Andrews. But of course there are always exceptions to the
rule but usually one genre has a specific stereotype attached to it.
For example rock music has a emo/goth stereotype to it
depending how heavy the rock is. This comes from bands such as
Green Day and Fall Out Boy that dress in dark clothing, use black
eyeliner and have long black hair. The audience will follow their
favourite band members and try and look like them. This look
comes with the stereotype that has come from the musical genre.
The indie genre comes with a alternative stereotype of hipsters.
The use of vintage or baggy clothes in a variety colours to make
them stand out from the crowd is what is popular in this
stereotype. They are quite quirky and have a individual look and
personality, like hippies too.
All these stereotypes come from the music they listen to and how
their favourite ban portrays them to look like this. They act in
different ways and this is all from how music is listened to.
Personally I do not think stereotyping in a musical genre is bad, it
just identifies who you are.

11. Cultural
• As I mentioned before the Rolling Stone magazine is usually published and distributed around the
USA, while both NME and Q are mainly distributed around the UK. Both countries have a huge
music industry. You can see the cultural difference between the Rolling Stone and the two other
English produced magazines from the content within. The USA is very religious and will not tolerate
obscene language or actions therefore there is no reference to sex, drugs and alcohol on the front
covers of magazines as they see this as advertising to the rest of the population. Yet they do know
how to attract their target audience by making women sexualized on the front cover, as long as they
don’t use offensive words.
But in the UK magazines they do this the other way round. We leave indecent images for magazines
such as Zoo and Nuts, but the use of improper words and jokes are used a lot in English magazine to
bring humor and make it light hearted. Therefore the use of words such as “bastard” can be used on
the front cover of Q and NME. Music magazines are very unlikely to be placed in the eye view of a
toddler in a shop, therefore they are safe from this language in shops.
• Different musical artists are portrayed depending if it is published in the UK or the USA. Most of the
music is the same but in the indie genre there are lots of small English bands that are talked about
in NME and Q.. This makes it personal to the country it is published in and if it was sold somewhere
else their culture may be different and not find an interest in the music.
Although a lot of English influences are printed inside American magazines and vice versa, for
example Adele is on the front cover of Rolling Stone and Lady Gaga on the cover of Q, they still
appeal more to the cultured audience that they are traditionally from.

12. Codes and Conventions
• Q- In general, all the music magazines I have looked at use the colour red which
connotes as being dangerous and shows the rebellious attitude in the music genre.
This is seen on each magazine and in each logo for the magazines the colour red is
used. Not only does this make certain words stand out it also shows that these
colours used represent the music genre as they are used throughout.
• NME- The image for the front cover includes a good quality image of the band in a
long shot position. This is commonly used in NME as well as other magazines. The
way they are stood says a lot about their power in the industry. For example the
camera is at a low angle therefore they are seen to have more power because the
audience has to look up to them. Also the use of guitars with males represents
phallic symbolism which suggests the larger the guitar the more power you have, this
is used a lot in rock magazines.
• Rolling Stone- Well based interviews and articles are a common convention in any
print media. Successful interviews will interest and involve your audience. Topics on
bands and interests, such as festivals, gigs, merchandise, new bands and new
albums/singles will interest the audience. They all have a good designed layout so it
is recognizable in the music genre and they have all been made easy to read.

13. Masthead- Is largest
font size on the page at
the top of the page is a
great place to highlight
the magazine title so the
people buying the
product know what they
are buying into.
Main Image- An extreme
close up shot emphases
Florence’s glare into the
camera, to make it look
like she is looking at you.
This is enhanced with the
deep blue make up around
her eyes.
She is an inspirational
women towards the
women buying the
magazine and to the men
her facial expression is
quite sexual relating to the
male gaze theory. Her
looks could attract a man
walking past this
magazine. Although it is
not the way in which
women are portrayed in
Nuts, as a product, she
uses her sexual looks to
lead people into the
magazine to respect her
talent.
Plug- This is in a
sticker form to make it
stand out, also blue
contrasts with her red
hair drawing your
attention to it. Zane
Lowe introduces and
finds new artists, this
links to the indie genre
Subheadings- Are printed in a
large font to highlight popular bands
featured in the magazine that will
make people want to buy the magazine.
Big names such as Skrillex and Simon
Cowell on this page are stood out more
than the rest of the text as the names
are important to sell the magazine.
Tag Line- This is like
a “promise” of what
you will find in the
magazine; “Discover
Great Music”. This is
what they aim for
the audience to
guarantee have in
each issue. It is
therefore printed on
each issue

14. Pull-Quote- A
quote in the middle
of the page in a
sticker box brings it
out and is a
common
convention in the
main interview in
music magazines.
Headline-The headline is bold although it is not large in comparison to the “Review New
Albums”, this suggests they would rather sell new albums than Florence and the Machine as
an artist herself. The producers are more interested in selling the product therefore they are
proud of the music hey have produced.
Main Image-The image takes up a whole page, this is effective as it shows who the article is about. Also
the colours of the image are warm reds and oranges to link with her signature hair colour. Red= passion,
love, fiery and warmth, this shows how Florence is in her personality. This links to intersexuality as her
website as the images rolling on her own website are alike, linking together both this article and her
website. Q readers treasure the Q photography with 97% saying it has the best interviews and award
winning photography, explaining why the image is so large.
Column-The
column on the left
side of the
interview is
advertising other
artists like Florence
and the Machine.
This is a great way
for the same
audience who like
Florence's unique
voice and for
people to expand
their music in this
specific genre.

15. Masthead- Is behind the image
because it is such a well known
Magazine so just the shaping of the
Masthead will advertise the magazine It also
suggests that the same dedicated audience
buy the same magazine each issue. The
colour red is to highlight new bands
or existing bands, and having the
masthead(NME) in the same red shows
that you will expect new and existing
bands in the NME magazine.
Main Image- The band is set in a
traditional “band layout”- two in front,
two behind. This is to show the will stick
together but also to show you who the
band members are. The hand reaching out is
almost reaching out to you inviting you
to joining them; pulling you in. This is
making you want to be with them and
Will make you buy the magazine so you
can read about them.
Plug- This relates to the
audience in that would be interested
in V Festival as these people would
be interested in the bands in NME.
And it also has an article on the
Festival telling you about the bands that will be playing.
Headline- This is straight
across the middle of the
cover to grab attention
straight away. It is in a
bold red to stand out
from the cream and white
colour scheme. Also the
“of” is in a different font
to the rest of the fonts
showing they are not
afraid to be different as
their music is not like
many other bands but can
still make it big being
different; inspirational.
Subheadings- The sub-
heading is close to the
Masthead showing how
they relate and it is easier
for the audience to see
what to expect inside.
The names of the bands
are highlighted in the same
red as the Masthead and
Headline, this is to show
the link .

16. Blobs-The odd rectangle and square shapes placed around, underneath and
over the image shows the band is quirky in their style of music and not afraid
to be different. Also NME is targeted for a student audience so they need to
keep the audience interested by using a unique page design.
Pull-Quotes-
Pull quotes
are a good
way to attract
the audience
by using an
interesting
part of the
article and
highlighting it
making the
reader want
to read about
the subject
more. These
are used a lot
in interviews
so you can
quickly see
what the
band are
saying.
Main Image-Is large taking up a whole page and quarter of the next page. This gets straight to the point of who the band is. The way they are holding their
guitars near their crotch is a symbol of male power. This can relate to the male audience as they want to be powerful and will look up to them, but it can also
attract the female audience using phallic symbolism as women want a power, strong man. Again they are looking straight into the camera, wanting something
from you, the audience. But relating to the article it tells us that The Vaccines are the “biggest guitar band of 2011” so the object of guitars is shown in the
image to strengthen this point. The tone of this image is dirty and dull showing the genre may be garage and rock and reflecting to their gritty sound.

17. Masthead- The masthead is behind
Taylor Swifts image, this shows the
audience of Rolling Stone are regular
buyers and know the recognisable logo,
even behind the image. The bright red
stands out as it contrasts from the white
background making it easier to find in a
magazine rack in your local shop.
Main Image- Taylor Swift is known as a
good, county girl but the provocative pose
shows a different side to her. This links to
the plug on the other side, “Hot Stuff”. It
relates to the theory, the Male Gaze as she
is posing in a way she would not normally.
The pose is sexy and the way she has her
hand between her legs is a provocative pose.
Her make up and hair looks messy and
although she is a good girl, this can portray
her in the opposite. The county girl looks
almost opposite to her county outback
songs and lifestyle are. This gets peoples
attention because they want to know why
she is looking like this. But it relates to the
Male Gaze theory that men would want to
look at her because she is looking sexy and
women aspire to be her.
Headline- It is large and placed
centre, but to the right so it is
not taking up the whole of the
image. This is because Taylor
Swift is a famous and talented
artist so lots of people know
who she is. Although it is in a
different colour to the other
fonts on the page, this is only to
make the main article headline
stand out so the audience know
it is about “the heart break kid”
drawing people in with a direct
Quote as the strapline.

18. Masthead-The masthead is large and in a the usual
Rolling Stone red to link with the magazine set
colours; red, black and white. It is large and at the
top of the page to let the reader know what the
interview is about; questionnaire interview.
Main Image-The main image takes up a page and quarter of the
previous page, is because imagery of the band is important, also the main feature of this photograph
is the colours and how it links to their new album. The front cover of their album is the same tone as
this photograph of the whole band linking to the intersexuality of the band advertising their album
through a photo-shoot with Rolling Stone. They look laid-back looking straight into the camera and
Text and Fonts-The introduction is written in a bold red to make it stand out
from the main interview, this is so the readers know what the interview is
about and know when it is starting. A bold font is used to highlight the
questions asked and answers from the band in a smaller font. A drop cap is
used at the start of the paragraph to show where the text and interview starts.
maybe even
looking
desperate for
you to buy their
new album
linking to the
interview on the
other side of the
page.
Linking back to
the colours of
the album and
this image and
also link to their
tour, “Come
Around
Sundown”,
which is what
their album is
called, with the
colours looking
like a sunset
linking to the
“sundown”.

19. Changes
Changes within time can be visible on front covers on
magazines. I choose theses two magazines and the
earliest issues I could fine to compare it with.
• Q’s layout has changed incredibly. Now it is easier to read
and has taken on the more typical magazine front cover
style that is used on big glossy magazines rather than the
chat style format. The lack of boxes in the 2012 issue
makes it look more professional and personally I would
pay more money for.
• The logos for both magazines have not changed in huge
amounts but the Rolling Stone magazine has got so big in
America it can afford to hide it behind Taylor Swifts head.
The colours have been changed to fit with other music
magazines and their use of red.
October 1986 Issue
January 1997 Issue
March 2012 Issue
October 2012 Issue

20. Overall
Overall these magazines are all similar to each other due to them all
being in the same genre. This is helped by the codes and conventions
such as the colour scheme, content and images. There are more
negatives, due to the content, in music magazines. It is portrayed
quite rough, especially the indie/rock genre. Connections from drugs,
alcohol and harsh language is used even on front covers showing a
negative representation. The lower the social group the more
extensive language you can find. But the higher the social grade, for
example Rolling Stone, the more social issues are involved from the
Boston Marathon bombings. Although the other two magazines do
attack issues such as drug use with the adverts inside the issues from
Frank etc. Stereotypes are important within music genres. From
looking up to a particular artist you will start following the dress code
etc. that they have. Although labeling is sometimes bad I feel
stereotypes in music identifies a lot about yourself. Music magazines
do influence people but in a good way, they let people escape from
the real world from the less social issues.