Metal Hammer magazine analysis

1. Individual Analaysis of Magazine
Rock Sound, October 2013 Paramore
edition

2. Audience
• Their target audience is predominantly male
around the age of about 22 years old. Just under
half of their audience are people who play guitar/
a musical instrument and most of them are in the
working class sector. To attract this audience
Metal Hammer include articles on artists within
the heavy rock genre and they also report on
artists that perform within it as well as events
that link to the genre. They have a mobile app
which people can download to receive articles on
their phones, they also create podcasts on itunes
and offer rock metal nights out as well as polls.

3. Elements that connect the 3 parts of
the magazine
• All of the pages use red, white and black- all of
which are relatively simple but the majority
usage of black fits in with darkness of the
heavy rock genre.
• All of the fonts used are rather gothic either
being speckled or looking as if they are
melting.
• Large pictures are used, often with the artists
showing their enjoyment in music.

4. History of Metal Hammer
• Metal Hammer is a magazine which focuses
on heavy metal music and is published in the
UK by TeamRock. The first issue of Metal
Hammer was published in 1986 and has over
35 thousands users in the UK. A new edition is
published every month for Metal Hammer

5. Front Cover
The masthead, just like every other, starts in the
top left corner and moves over to the right so
that it can be seen on shelves in shops. The red
suggests that it is informative but it has ‘metal’
cut out of the image on the H of hammer. The
masthead is flecked slightly with black and the
sharp points of the words show danger and fit in
with the heavy metal genre of the magazine.
Masthead
Main Image
The main image is a long shot of a man playing
guitar. He is looking very energetic, almost
aggressive, which highlights the heavy rock genre
which can be associated with strong emotions
including anger. You can see that he is covered in
tattoos which perhaps suggests that he is a little
dangerous and he wears all black- his outfit is
incredibly dark and rocker-ish. Along his belt
there are bullets which also suggests that he is a
dangerous man whilst at the same time they are
stylish and fit in with his general rock look.The
background is partly of a crowd, with a white
cross and smoke. This tells us that this man is
both religious and involved in one of the ‘darker’
genre’s of music. He is standing with his legs
spread which suggests he is ‘rocking out’ hard
and it tells us that he is really passionate about
music and throws himself into it.
The header for this magazine is in large, capitol
letters which immediately shows us that it is
important. The bands name is in red which
shows that they will have information on the
band, and the rest of the header is written in
white so that it stands out from the rest of the
text, and it is a quote from the artists. There is
suggestion of violence and breaking down
doors which links to the general themes
associated with the heavy rock genre.
The main cover line is the name ‘Paramore’ in
big, bold, capitol writing. Behind it there is a
tinted red box to make sure that all of the
writing can easily be read . The effect of putting
the main cover line in capitol letters makes it
stand out on the page and shows that it is of
vast importance. It will capture the attention of
Paramore’s fans and because this magazine
features them it will convince their fans to buy
this magazine just to read about the one artist.
Header
Main Cover Line
Pull Quote
Date/ Barcode
The barcode for this magazine is in the right corner
of the image but it is still small. Because it is in the
left third of the page suggests that the price is
somewhat important to customers, but despite the
cost they will still buy it.
The Pull Quote on this magazine is also
apart of the header. “We’re still breaking
the doors down.” Tells us that Metallica
is a band that has been around for a
long time because of the world ‘still’ and
it also suggests that this band always
packs a punch and they go around
leaving destruction in their path. They
also seem to demand attention because
they go around breaking peoples
doors, and people are forced to notice
them.

6. Contents Page
Contents Headings/ Subheadings
The content headings for these pages are
all in black speckled writing, in capitol
letters. All of the text is incredibly large
and it makes the headings stand out so
that it is clear what each of the separate
articles are about. Underneath the page
numbers are in red so that they are also
obvious and there is a sentence of
description beneath it to give a brief
insight of the article. Each section is
separated by a jagged grey line so that it
is obvious that each of the articles are
separate from each other. On each of the
pictures there is a red box with a white
page number and the name of an artist in
black writing. This will be particularly
easy to navigate for people who are fans
of specific artists and only want to read
the articles on them.
The main image is of the band members of
Metallica. They are all posing together on a
stage and they are all making an
aggressive/rockerish expression or they are
in quite a rocker pose. They are all dressed
in black which is very common in the genre.
The fact that the main image is shot on a
stage tells audiences that Hammer
magazine has great connections within the
rock genre, to the pint where they can even
get on stage with the artists to get pictures
with them. The statue behind them seems
to be a toilet with graffiti on which is
completely strange and fits in with the
slight obscurity of the heavy rock genre.
The Editorial for Hammer is quite informal,
it starts to describe the situation of the
Metallica members but refers to the
audience as being apart of their situation.
They give basic information on the band
and what it has been doing. They describe a
few other articles that will be included in
the edition and the way they talk to their
audience seems almost jokey, as if it is
banter between friends.
Main Image
Copy/Editorial
Layout
The contents page for Hammer starts on
an individual page and also carries on to a
double page spread. The main part of the
contents page starts with several pictures
at the top and bottom and these are all
labelled with a page number for where
the articles are which connect to each
picture.
At the bottom of the contents page they
contain a brief introduction to the magazine
version available on ipad- this will be a way for
them to increase sales and subscriptions but
also shows that they are trying to be
accommodating to their audience’s needs and
are trying to make access of their magazine
Extras
At the top of the page, in the middle, there is
a red rectangle with Hammer written in it in
small black writing, with contents in rock style
font. Whilst it might not seem all too obvious
because the mast head is written on a red box
your attention is drawn to it somewhat.
Mast head

7. Double Page Spread
Main Image
The main image is on the left 2
thirds of the page and is of the
band members of metallica. All
are wearing black clothing
and, just from their
appearance, they all appear to be
quite menacing. With
piercings, jewellery and they are
all wearing sun glasses these are
people who seem to be
incredibly dark and this links to
them being heavy rock artists.
They are standing on a railing in
front of a lake and behind them
there are futuristic looking
buildings which might suggest
that heavy rock will soon be
popular and common in the
future .
Header
The Header for this double page
spread is the same as the pull
quote on the front cover, only this
is in black and white writing and is
the only quote on the page from
the artist. It shows that this is the
beginning of the article on
Paramore and it also shows the
audience that in this part of the
article you will learn the context of
the quote.
Structure
The article on Metallica stretches out over 5 pages with the first page having a strip of black with red gothic
writing. The beginning of the article is written in 2 paragraphs- the first being a small introduction to
Metallica and underneath being an introduction/ explanation of the image being China where the men are
performing. The rest of the article goes on to explain about the men’s performances in China as well as
including details about the mens lives along with quotes from the men. They have a lot of pictures of the
men during rehearsals and in each of them they seem to be having fun and really enjoying their music. Their
is a large section of a quote in white writing over a red background to make it stand out against the rest of
the text. The article is written in a 3 column structure which is common in magazine articles.