The document analyzes the front covers of three music magazines: Q Magazine, Blender Magazine, and Billboard Magazine. Some key points of similarity across the magazines include: 1) The magazine logo is positioned at the top left of the cover with the artist's image placed in front of the logo to direct attention. 2) Contact information like websites are advertised to encourage interaction. 3) Fonts, sizing, and placement of text are consistent across covers to make information easily readable. 4) Color schemes and artist images are used to target younger female audiences by appealing to stereotypes around gender.

1. The magazine logo ‘Q’ is positioned at the
top left hand side of the page. The slogan
is printed underneath it, and as the title is
The artist has very long, perfectly styled hair. This could relate to
positioned in the same place on both
Mulvey’s theory, as long, flowing hair is considered to be attractive
‘Billboard’ and ‘Blender’, it suggests this is
to men, and so she may just be a focus for the ‘male gaze’.
a convention of music magazines.
‘Q’ Magazine Analysis, Front Cover
Several current popular artists are
mentioned on the front cover
(highlighted in green), for example,
Jay-Z and Kanye West. This would
attract the Target Audience as they
may be fans of these artists, or are
interested in the same genre of music.
The splash image shows a medium shot
of Lana Del Rey, and her name is
written in a girly pink font beside the
image. The colour pink is stereotypically
associated with women, and so it would
appeal to a female target audience. It
may also appeal to women as the font
looks very similar to lipstick.
The colour scheme consists of
shades of red, pink and black. Red
and pink often have connotations of
love or passion, and are
stereotypically feminine. This would
suggest that again, the target
audience is women.
At the bottom of the page, we can see
the rhetorical question ‘so what’s so
bloody good?’ This pun relates to the
splash image and is similar to a headline
on a newspaper. It will both amuse and
capture the attention of the consumer.
The bar code is positioned at the bottom right of the
page, and as this is a typical convention of all
magazines, I will replicate this on my own magazine.
There are suggestions of 140 songs to
download and a list of 26 recommended
festivals. These are highlighted in a
vibrant yellow and as a result, would
immediately catch the attention of the
target audience and promote any artists
or festivals of the pop/rock genre.
The splash image shows the singer Lana
Del Rey wearing a white dress and a tiara
with blood stains on her face. This is not
an image consumers will see very often
and so immediately captures their
interest. As the artist is wearing a white
dress, there are connotations of innocence
and naivety. The dress also looks as if it
could be nightwear and so perhaps the
image is suggesting Del Rey is confused.
This is further emphasised by her vacant
facial expression and the position of her
hand, which could be interpreted as
either scratching her head (a very
common characteristic of confusion) or
adjusting her tiara. The sparkly tiara
instantly produces connotations of a
Princess – kind, generous, beautiful. As
these are all positive, the tiara may be
used as a promotional strategy for her
public image. Another interpretation is
that she is wearing a Princess tiara to
present herself as a role model for young
girls. The entire image gives the
impression of innocence and kindness.
However, the blood is a huge contrast to
this. The fact that she is bleeding could
suggest there is an edge to her music, or
she has overcome something in her life. It
will attract the attention of the consumer
as it is intriguing and unique.

2. At the top of the page, there is an
advertisement for free downloads. This
will immediately attract the attention of
the Target Audience because everybody
loves to receive free gifts. This may
influence their decision to buy the
magazine if they are interested in the ’10
hot new tracks’. The fact that is also
references the page number next to the
advertisement only encourages the
consumer to read on.
‘Blender’ Magazine Analysis, Front Cover
The magazine logo ‘Blender’ is written
in black, bold font at the top of the
page. Again, we can see this position is
a typical convention of music
magazines. We can also see that the
artist, Katy Perry, has been placed in
front of the word ‘Blender’. This is
replicated on both ‘Q’ magazine and
‘Billboard’. Due to this placement, the
focus of attention from the Target
Audience is transferred to the splash
image. I will use this technique on my
own magazine.
All of the text used is written in the same
font, with variations of two colours (pink
and black). As the background is white,
both of these colours contrast greatly,
capturing the attention of the consumer.
Interestingly, the names of artists or
bands are often pink. This will enable
them to be recognised by the T/A very
easily.
The splash image is a long shot of
Katy Perry wearing a very
revealing outfit. This could relate
to Mulvey’s theory ‘The Male
Gaze’ as the artist has a lot of skin
on show and she may be
considered an object of desire for
men. Perry also has very glossy
hair which could suggest she is a
femme fatale. However, the pink
bow in her hair and the plasticlooking watch she is wearing
suggest a childlike appearance.
This produces two conflicting
images – sexy or sweet/innocent.
This would appeal to a younger
generation as they may see her as
a role model.
Artificial lighting has been used to
emphasise all of Perry’s natural
features. This is not a realistic image
of women and so again, may relate to
Mulvey’s theory ‘The Male Gaze’ as
she is the embodiment of the ‘perfect
woman’ for men to desire.
The colour scheme – white, pink and
black – would appeal to a female Target
Audience as they are stereotypically
associated with women.
Personally, I dislike the presentation of this front cover as it is very simplistic. When I
create my own magazine, I will use a more complex layout with a darker colour scheme.

3. The magazine logo ‘Billboard’ is
We can also see the website
‘Billboard’ Magazine Analysis, Front Cover
positioned at top of the front
‘billboardevents.com’
At the top of the page we can see a membership being offered. This gives the
cover, and again we can see that
advertised. Again, this
consumer a chance to interact with the media and may interest a young T/A provides the consumer with
the artist is positioned in front
as stereotypically, they are more familiar with social media. Also, the fact that a way to interact with the
of it so that the attention is
it is in yellow makes it stand out and catches the attention of the consumer.
directed towards Rihanna.
Billboard company.
The same font is used on each
section of text. This is mirrored in
both ‘Q’ and ‘Blender’ magazine.
The fact that the font has a
monochrome colour scheme
enables it to stand out from the
background and as a result, is
easily readable and will catch the
consumer’s eye.
Unlike ‘Q’ and ‘Blender’ magazine,
this cover has a dark background.
Personally, I think the colour
scheme works very well and I will
incorporate the presentation of
this cover into my own magazine.
The colour scheme consists of red,
white and dark blue. These are
contrasting colours and it gives the
illusion of a night time atmosphere.
The bar code is positioned at the
bottom of the page, just like
‘Blender’ and ‘Billboard’ magazine.
The artist’s name ‘RIHANNA’ is written in bold letters in the centre of
the page. This will immediately capture the attention of the target
audience if they are familiar with the artist or are fans of her music.
The splash image is a medium
close-up of the singer, Rihanna. She
has vibrant red hair and red lipstick
to match. The colour red is often
associated with passion, seduction
and/or danger. This could suggest
that the artist is being presented as
desirable or a temptation. This is
further exaggerated by her facial
expression, which appears to be
mysterious or sexy. Similarly,
Rihanna is not wearing
conservative clothing. However, as
it is white, it could suggest that she
can be sweet and innocent. This
relates to ‘The Male Gaze’ as
Rihanna is presented as a desirable
object. She looks very feminine,
and could be interpreted as a
femme fatale. Like most women in
the media, she appears to be
beautiful (emphasised by the
artificial lighting) and sexy, and at
the same time, innocent and kind.
In the background, we can see that Rihanna is lying on red
roses. Roses have strong connotations of love and
romance, and so this emphasises the passion of the image.