This document provides research on the music magazine Kerrang! as a guide for a school magazine project. It discusses Kerrang!'s history of publication since 1981, focusing originally on heavy metal and hard rock bands. In the 1980s-90s it featured thrash and glam metal acts but later shifted to grunge bands. It began heavily featuring metalcore but this change alienated some readers who complained about the increased focus on emo and metalcore music. Examples of Kerrang!'s covers and contents pages are also presented.

1. Task 4: Research into specific music magazine that you might like to emulate, show some covers,
contents pages and articles from this magazine. Complete research into this publisher and why it might
not make a suitable publisher for your final magazine.
For my magazine, I will be using Kerrang! Magazine as a guide to make mine to look
professional. It was first published on 6th June 1981 as a one-time supplement in
the Sounds newspaper, which focused on the New Wave of British Heavy
Metal phenomenon and on the rise of other hard rock acts. Launched as a monthly
magazine, Kerrang! began to appear on a fortnightly basis later, and in 1987 it went weekly.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Kerrang! placed many thrash and glam metal acts on the
cover but later stopped when grunge acts such as Nirvana rose to fame. With the
emergence of metalcore, Kerrang! began to heavily feature this musical trend. However, the
revamp was not welcomed by all readers and many complaints were received
about Kerrang!'s sudden emphasis on emo and metalcore music.
Examples of Kerrang!’s front covers:
Examples of Kerrang!’s contents page:

2. Examples of Kerrang!’s contents pages: