The document analyzes the front cover of an indie rock music magazine called "The Fly." It discusses various signs on the cover and what they signify. The masthead, main image of the band The Vaccines, cover lines, footer listing other artists, and pug mascot holding a "Free" sign are all identified as iconic signs that would be recognizable to the target audience. Colors, fonts, and symbols are also analyzed for symbolic meaning. The document examines how the cover uses preferred and oppositional reading techniques to engage and influence the intended readership.

1. MUSIC MAGAZINE ANALYSIS.
-LAUREN HOMER

2. INTRO
The genre of music of have chosen is Indie Rock. The genre can be identified by mainly the front cover of
the magazine. For example, Mark Ronson (magazine on the right) is holding up what seems to be a ‘broken
trumpet’, which instantly suggests that this magazine is the complete opposite to anything classical. Most of
of the bands that appear to be written on the front covers are all indie so this gives away the genre straight
away.

3. THE FLYMasthead
The masthead shows an iconic sign because of this
being a recognizable masthead to all of the same
magazines that have already been released. The
audience to the magazine will know straight away that
it’s the same magazine because of the masthead
being the same, making it iconic.
Pug
The pug is an iconic sign as it
states
‘Free’ . This lets the reader know
that inside the magazine, they can
get something for free.
Main cover line
The main cover line reads
‘The vaccines’ which is an iconic sign
because the font is the same
Recognizable font to what is always
used when linked to The Vaccines. This
Is also in a red colour, which can
symbolically show danger or passion.
To
show a deeper understanding to this,
an
Indexical sign could be that their new
album will either be romantic or
passionate, or could be completely
different and could in fact show that
Footer
The footer clearly states other
bands or artists that are featured in
the magazine that are of the same
genre as ‘The Vaccines’. This is
iconic because the front of which
they are written in is the same as
‘The Vaccines’ making the bands
recognizable to the same genre.
The colours that are used in the
footer are also linked to the rest of
the colour scheme on the front
cover, which can be a symbolic
Main image
The iconic sign for the main image
is that it is picture of ‘The Vaccines’
themselves which is instantly
recognizable to the audience. Part
of the cover line reads ‘double
denim’ and members of the band
are wearing ‘double denim’ to
represent the new album making it
a symbolic sign, as this is a
common understanding to the
audience.
Anchorage
This anchorage could suggest both
iconic and
symbolic signs. ‘Take a shot at the big
time’
could imply that ‘The Vaccines’ are
taking a
shot/chance at becoming something big
(famous). However, this could
symbolically
suggest that you, as the audience,
should
‘take a shot at the big time’ yourselves.
This point can link to this anchorage
being an
indexical sign. This infers that as the
audience
you can ‘take a shot at the big time’ by
either
perusing your dreams (like the band
members
in the vaccines) or doing something out
of your
comfort zone.

4. This magazine front cover illustrates preferred reading as
the authors of the magazine want to try and sell it to their
particular target audience. ‘The fly’ magazine’s target
audience is obviously for people who are a fan of Indie
music (which can be of all ages, but the majority would
be aimed at teens). The vaccines are quite a popular
band, so the promotion for the band on the front cover
can really make the magazine a big seller. This is the
message that the authors want to embed in this
particular media product. Another way that preferred
reading can be suggested for this magazine, is from the
type of font that the magazine producers have used. A
sans serif font has been used for most of the text on the
front cover, which is a more informal type of font that is
suitable for this type of magazine due to its particular
target audience.
Oppositional reading could also be applied to this
magazine due to the colour schemes used. The fact that
a red font has been used for ‘The Vaccines’ could
suggest something seductive, as red is a symbolic colour
for love and passion. The way the 4 men are positioned,
quite closely, looking straight into the camera, could also
portray a seductive atmosphere that the audience may
be drawn to. As the target audience are teens, the
magazine producers may not have wanted to portray this
necessary, as some of there readers could be under
aged as such.

5. NME – NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
Pug
This is a iconic sign to the reader as they will be able to see the ‘FREE’
sign and straight away they will know that they are getting something free.
Symbolically, the change in colour scheme shows a separate part to the
front cover to get attention from the readers.
Main image
This main image is an iconic sign to
this magazine as Mark Ronson is a
very proper music producer that lots
of people would be able to
recognize, even if they weren’t a
specific target audience to this
magazine. This image can also
symbolically represent music as he
is holding up a trumpet. We now
know that he has connections with
some type of music. We can further
investigate, that the indexical sign
we can pick out is that the trumpet
he is holding is broken, which can
suggest that Mark Ronson does
have something to do with music,
but nothing that follows conventions.
Footer
The footer shows an iconic sign as it clearly
states peoples names who will be featured in the
magazine. This is a recognizable sign to the
audience as they will be able to indentify these
names as they are all within the same genre of
Cover lines and
anchorage
The cover line is written in a sans serif
font, which contrasts to the anchorage
which is written in a serif font. This is
an iconic sign as the sans serif font
links to the same font as the Masthead
and the serif font links to the ‘new
musical express’ under the masthead,
as this is recognizable to the audience.
Main cover line
The cover line clearly just states ‘Mark
Ronson’ that reflects the main image.
This makes the cover line an iconic sign.
A symbolic sign that could be taken from
the cover line is the word ‘reinvention’.
This reflects the main image, as can
show that ‘Mark Ronson’ has maybe had
a change in his career path, which links
to the broken trumpet he is holding. This
can also show an indexical sign as to
why the colour orange has been used to
Masthead
The masthead for this magazine is an
iconic sign as it is displayed on every
magazine that ‘NME’ produce. The
target audience for this magazine will
be able to recognize the masthead
every time they see the magazine, as
this is the same logo/symbol that will
keep reoccurring on every magazine
they release. The colour orange can
be a symbolic sign as this can
represent ‘success’ and ‘attraction’,
which could be part of the reason
why the producers of this magazine
have used this colour scheme. The
‘success’ and ‘attraction’ can imply
what will be featured in the magazine.
This would attract the audience to
buy the magazine.

6. This magazine front cover illustrates preferred reading
as the producers of the magazine want to try and
engage as much as possible with their target audience.
The cover line has two anchorage’s that state ‘No more
trumpets’ and ‘No more crap cover versions’. The
younger generation would find this an interesting story
as classical music isn’t up to date as much as it used to
be. This makes the storyline interesting as the produces
have embedded a message into the audience that Mark
Ronson may have had a background in classical music
and is now reinventing into maybe a new genre of
music. The producers are also linking with they target
audience due to the type of font that has been used.
They have used a sans serif font for the abbreviation
masthead to show informality and link more to the
particular target audience, but a serif font for the full
name of the magazine, which does in fact show
formality and maybe links to the classical theme of the
trumpets.
Oppositional reading can also be identified from the
magazine, linking again to the classical theme. The
magazine producers may have had no intention of using
a classical theme as much as what I have identified.
They may have only wanted to touch upon it due to their
main story of ‘The reinvention of Mark Ronson.’

7. Masthead
The masthead is written in a serif font
which can link to iconic signs and look
as though the producers have tried to
replicate this in the same way as a
newspaper. The font shows formality
which could make us question as to
whether this particular magazine has
a older target audience to what we
first expected. However this might just
be acting as a symbolic sign and link
back to the serif font that is shown on
the masthead on the front cover to
show the classical aspect.
Secondary images
The secondary images are iconic
on this magazine as they will
relate to the description
underneath. The pictures are all of
either celebrities or have
something that the readers will
recognize. All pictures are related
to storylines that are featured in
the magazine.
Main image
This main image is an iconic and
symbolic sign. There are lots of
dark red used and the block
quotation underneath the picture
reads ‘It’s the heaviest thing I’ve
ever done’. This can suggest the
atmosphere to this story to be
quite dark, hence the dark
colour’s used. The camera shots
show a mid shot of the man,
looking up. He doesn’t look very
happy, which is also an iconic
sign, to the story line.
House style branding
(Layout)
The layout of the magazine looks
like a representation of a
newspaper layout, due to the type
of font and layout used. This is an
iconic sign and it is a recognizable
feature to the audience, as they will
be able to relate the layout, font
and pictures used to a newspaper.
Sections
The sections on this contents
page can show an iconic sign
that the images relate to the
story. This will become a
memorable feature to the
audience as they will be able to
relate the story to the image.
Subscription
This is an iconic sign because it
says ‘save up to 42%’. This is
instantly recognizable as it says
you will be able to save money
(discount). Although its not a
competition, the readers will be
able to associate this as a iconic
NME -
CONTENTS

8. This magazine contents page illustrates preferred
reading as they have individual secondary
images and a separate description underneath
that links with the image itself, and also has
separate block quotes that have been taken from
the description. The block quote will influence the
message that the producers will want to embed in
the media product. This feature will allow the
audience to understand the secondary image and
why it is featured as one of the main stories.
The colour’s used a quite bland and basic. They
are mainly black, white and red which links to the
interpretation of a newspaper idea. This may be
appropriate to oppositional reading. The
producers may have has no intention of making it
the same layout as a newspaper, but could be a
thought from the audience of the magazine.

9. Main image
This main image is an iconic sign in
different ways. One of them being
that one of the men in this image is
wearing a Nivana shirt. This becomes
recognizable to the audience as they
are able to identify a very popular
band. The use of colours used in this
image can be symbolic as they are
all quite dark with a vintage or retro
effect, this could symbolise the type
of music the people of the front cover
may play. The may have some
representation of vintage music or
have retro elements to them. The
clothing that the people of the image
seem to be wearing are quite
vintage, so this also ties into the
theme.
Sections
The sections that the
stories are written in
clearly show what page
different stories are on.
The don’t have a big
description, just a brief
sentence to what is
featured on that page.
These sections are
probably in the same
layout in every magazine,
so the readers would be
used to the layout.
Mast head
The masthead states ‘January
2013’ in big letters and ‘contents’
in a smaller text. This is in the
same font (sans serif) as the front
cover. This is known as a iconic
sign. The colour of this lettering
contrasts to the main colour focus
on the contents page overall.
These colours are a symbolic
sign to the magazine. The bright
colour blue compliments against
the background. The colour blue
shows confidence which could
link into specific stories featured
in the magazine.
House branding/layout
The layout of this contents page is
taken up by mainly the main
image, which is then separated by
the sections at the bottom of the
page. The producers of the
magazine have probably done this
to show as little writing as possible
to fit more in with the style/genre of
the magazine.
THE FLY -
CONTENTS

10. This contents page shows preferred reading to the
target audience mainly because of the main image.
The men in the image look as though they are having
fun which could suggest that the stories in the
magazine are going to be fun and interesting to read
about. This could be the message that the produces
want to embed into the magazine. They are all
dressed very stereotypically to the genre of the
magazine (indie rock), which could be another reason
towards preferred reading. The producers want to
influence their specific target audience, by creating the
image to look suited to that magazine.
Oppositional reading can also be taken from this main
image. The way that all men look as though they are
having fun and the woman is stood in a ‘vulnerable’
position, could be taken as though the producers in
this magazine are trying to portray sexism. This is
what some audience members may decode from the
media product and go against what the producers
actually wanted to embed.

11. Headline
The headline has a sans serif font and it is
bolder than the rest of the text on the page. As
‘The Vaccines’ are the main cover line in this
magazine, the masthead to this double page
spread is probably bigger than the rest of the
other stories throughout the magazine to draw
more attention to this page. This becomes an
iconic sign.
Strap line
This strap is a small logo
that shows the type of
story that this is. For
monthly readers of this
magazine, they would be
able to recognize this logo
and would be able to
identify this every time.
This would be an iconic
sign. If it was printed in
the same colour scheme
for every story (like this
one), then it would be
classed as a symbolic
sign
Main image
The main image takes up ¾’s of this
double page spread so it instantly
becomes the main focus on the page,
rather than the text. It is a clear, close
up shot of all band members, so the
audience feel engaged in the article.
This iconic sign shows that the readers
will be able to recognize the band as
well as the headline, giving away the
name of the band.
Block quote
This block quote is written in a sans serif font to
link to the masthead. It is also within the colour
scheme. This stands out as it was taken from
the story to engage the reader to read the story.
Columns
The columns give a sense of
order to the article, and make
things more understandable.
House style branding
The layout of this article is different to many as
the main image takes up the majority of the
spread. This is to get the readers attention. The
colour scheme and theme of the article is very
specific and links in well with the theme of the
article making this an iconic sign as it is

12. The preferred reading on this double page spread can be taken from the main image or
the text. The main image shows ‘The Vaccines’ looking directly into the camera which
will enable the audience to engage with the story straight away due to the main image
being the main focus on this spread. This is purposely done to grab the attention from
the audience to proceed with reading the article, hence the block quote on the right hand
side. This block quote shows an interesting part of the story and is enlarged so that
people will get curious as to what its about. This is the message that the producers want
to embed into the media product.

13. Headline
The headline is iconic as the colours match the rest of
the colour scheme on the text page. The layering and
transparent effect gives the article a professional feel,
which can influence people to read the article. The
professionalism can inflict peoples views on Lana Del
Rey, as she is what the article is based upon.
Main image
The main image is a close up shot of ‘Lana Del
Rey’ looking straight at the camera to appear
as though she is looking at the readers, the mid
shot also makes her face the main focus. This
image also takes up half of the double page
spread. The black and white contrasts to the
colours on the opposite side which makes the
main image a symbolic sign – to show the
representations of ‘Lana del Rey’.
Columns
The columns give a sense of order to the
article, and make things more understandable.
House style branding
The layout to this double page spread is set in a very orderly fashion,
which can influence views on what the article is about (Lana Del Rey).
There is a set colour scheme which can show iconic and symbolic
signs based upon the colour meanings and peoples interpretation on

14. The preferred reading on this double page spread is the way the main image links to the
masthead. ‘Mission Accomplished’ links in with the way ‘Lana’ is posing in the image.
This is the message that the producers want the audience to understand before even
having to read the story. Lana Del Rey looks clearly recognizable to the audience in the
magazine, which will draw attention straight away, and the headline will make them
question as to what she has accomplished.
However, oppositional reading can be taken from this article. Instead of the pose Lana is
doing linking in with the masthead, certain audience members may take this as showing
her in a sexual way. The pose could be seen as flirty, which could be taken the wrong
way if fans of Lana were to portray this image in that way. Also, the fact you can see part
of her bra may also influence their views on this, and add to part of their reasoning.