My media Studies coursework

1. Music Magazine Research
Maddie Eastland
12/03/2024

2. Most Popular Music Magazines
Rolling Stone BBC Music Magazine
Mojo Spin
Billboard Stereophile
The Fader HartBeat!
Under the Radar Gaffa
OffBeat PitchFork
Variety NME
The Wire L.A. Record

3. Rolling Stone

4. Rolling Stone February 2021
What do I like about this music magazine?
I like the colour scheme of the pastel colours
overall, and how the background colours link
with the colours of the writing and matches
with Dua Lipa's outfit. I like the bold sharp font
that states 'Dua Lipa'. I do like how they have
not given that much information on what it is
inside the magazine, so you can really focus on
the aesthetic of the cover rather than being
bombarded with information that you are going
to read later anyways. I also like where they
have placed the information as well.
What do I not like about this magazine?
I don’t like the masthead font as where all the
other fonts within the cover are sharp, the
curved writing creates a softer touch to the
cover, however I would like my magazine to
have all the writing in the same fonts. I don’t
like Dua Lipa's tattoo, I feel like where the cover
is quite subtle and pretty, the black tattoo
creates the image to be harsher. If I was to
recreate this image, I would blur out her tattoo.

5. BBC Music Magazine

6. BBC Music Magazine April 2024
What do I like about this music
magazine?
I do like how some of the major
news questions are stated at the top,
so it still entices the reader to
understand what else is involved in
the music magazine. I like how it has
stuck to a specific color scheme and
how the red follows the BBC logo.
What do I not like about this music
magazine?
I do not like the images used; I would
rather use a real-life photography of
an actual person, so this has inspired
me to use real life photography
within my front cover. Also, I have
been inspired to use fonts like Calibri
rather than cursive writing.

7. Mojo

8. Mojo – Published April 2021
What do I like about this music
magazine?
I like the bright colours used, I like
the bold 'mojo'. I like that they’ve
used a real-life picture of Lana del
ray.
What do I not like about this
magazine?
I do not like the font used for all the
other texts. I do not like that an
album cover is on the front as I feel
it makes the cover really
overcrowded.

9. Spin

10. SPIN – Published August 2022
What do I like about this
magazine?
I love the simplistic nature of this
cover. I love the font that is used. I
really been inspired by this
magazine cover and has given me
many ideas of what I want to do
for mine.
What do I not like about this
magazine?
The only things id change in this
cover would be the mass head
being across the whole of the top
of the cover and I would like
about two news stories to give
some insight into the magazine.

11. Billboard

12. Billboard – Published 2023
What do I like about this magazine?
Personally, I love everything about
this magazine, I love the font that
is used. How the colour schemes
go together. This is definitely my
favourite magazine cover so far
and the one I've been most
inspired by. Where before I
wanted there to be little writing,
from this magazine, I've now had
a change in heart and prefer that
there is more writing, however it
is still simplistic.

13. Stereophile

14. Stereophile – Published March 2024
What do I like about this magazine?
I like the size of the mas head and
the font used throughout. This
magazine continued to inspire me
into carrying on with this idea.
What do I not like about this
magazine?
I don’t like a lot about this magazine.
I feel as if it is too overcrowded with
the images and multiple different
covers. I want only my mass head to
be of that large font, not anywhere
else so this has inspired me to keep
my magazine simplistic.

15. The Fader

16. The Fader – Published Spring 2018
What do I like about this
magazine?
I like the photography used and
the bright colours. I like how sza
outfit compliments the colour
scheme around it. I like the size of
the mass head and I like the font
used.
What do I not like about this
magazine?
I feel like this magazine cover looks
like it only focuses on one artist
due to the lack on info on the
page.

17. HartBeat!

18. Hartbeat! - Published in
1989
What do I like about this
magazine?
I like the font used and
that the masshead is
large.
What do I not like about
this magazine?
I do not like that it is just
in black and white and
the structure of the front
cover isnt very organised.

19. Variety

20. Variety – Published in 2021
What do I like about this magazine?
I like the image used and that it is
the only image used on the page. I
like the simplistic nature of the
cover and that it is not bombarded
with information.
What do I not like about this
magazine?
I don’t like the font of the
masshead, it reminds me of the
brand vans. I also don’t like the size
of the masshead. I feel as if I would
want it to be bigger.

21. NME

22. NME – Published in May 2017
What do I like in this magazine?
I love all the font that is used and I feel
like there is more writing but in a
perfect way where it is not
overcrowded. I like the image used of
Dua Lipa aswell.
What do I not like about this magazine?
I don’t like how her head covers up the
masshead. I also think the writing
makes the magazine out to be that she
is the only artist talked about within the
magazine and the cover gives no taster
in to whats in the magazine.

23. From my research on music magazine covers, I have been very inspired
by the covers above. From this, I have decided I want my cover to
involve a staged photo with one artist. I want the mass head to be bold
and large. I want all the writing to be in a sharp font, and I want there
to be little writing on the page to keep the cover simplistic and easy to
view and so you can focus on the image used whilst still getting the
right amount of information about what is in the cover.

24. Codes and Conventions from my
research:
- cover to involve one artist
- mass head to be bold and large
- all the writing to be in a sharp
font
- little writing on the page to keep
the cover simplistic and easy
to view