Kerrang magazine

1. Candidate Name: Thomas McEnaney
Candidate Number: 4096
Center: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
OCR –
Level 3 Cambridge Introductory Diploma in Media
Unit 13:
UK Media Publishing

2. Purpose of the Magazine
 The purpose of Kerrang! is to give their readers the
highest quality new and informative news about the rock
industry. To do this they produce a weekly magazine
where it is targeted to their readership.
 To do this they have produced an effective strapline to
engage with their audience on their TV advert which is
“Live life loud every Wednesday”. The connotations of
using this is that it ‘informs’ (Katz) the audience the day
when the magazine is realised and how frequently it is
released as well. By using the verbal code “Loud” this
suggests that the readers should follow the stereotype of
a rock fan who breaks all boundaries and listening's to
music wherever they want at full volume.

3. Purpose of the Magazine
 Furthermore on the Kerrang! website they have a
Kerrang TV channel which runs from Monday-
Thursday from 5pmand their strapline is “It’s a Rock
Revolution” which connotes that they agree may not
be as popular as it was however they are trying to
bring it back to the face of British music and to try
and do this they are now offering a television
channel available online 4 days a week.

4. Publisher
 Bauer Media is a section of the Bauer Media Group which is Europe's
largest privately owned publishing group. Bauer Media Group is a
worldwide business who sell over 300 magazines in 15 countries as well as
online TV and radio stations. The group has over 6,400 employees working
on all of the magazines radio stations TV and Online products. The main
areas of the business are focused upon the magazine and radio and often
recognised and being one of the industry's leading innovators. There first
magazine was produced in 1953 which was the popular fishing magazine
Angling Times. They entered the radio market in 1990 by making the now
KISS FM100 legal which is still a popular dance music radio station. They
also own the Liverpool Radio City and TWC radio stations.
 In 1994 the company bought there now best selling core magazine called
FHM which is ‘For Him’ magazine.
 Today Bauer Media has over 80 brand names which are influential within
their own respected markets. Some of the brands they own are, Heat,
Match!, Car and Yours. They also produce the TV listing magazines Take a
Break and Bella.
 Source From- http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about

5. Form & Style
 The magazine dimensions for Kerrang! print edition are
247mm x 170mm which is a regular size for an A4 magazine.
 The colour scheme that Kerrang! use is similar on every front
cover and DPS weekly. They have a very bold font style for
their main headline across the middle of the page and the
main image taking up the whole page and covering the top of
the masthead. The colour scheme they use for the magazine is
black and red the connotations of using red is that it is the
colour of love and passion which is what Kerrang! Have for
reporting on the latest news and interviews with bands/artists
within the rock genre. The colour black represents the hidden
and unknown which Kerrang! are passionate for discovering
and sharing with their loyal audience.

6. Content
 The contents page is on page 3 of the
magazine and is clearly labelled in the
top right corner with bold text in a
black circle which is where the readers
path of eyesight will start on this page.
The connotations of using black and
white for their text colour and
background colour is because it suggest
that the purity of white is overcoming
the darkness of black.
 The contents page denotes a visual
imperative for the DPS in the top left
corner and is used as a form of ‘Star
Appeal’ for the readers so they are able
to quickly find the interview with their
favourite band.

7. Genre
 The genre for Kerrang! is rock. This is because the
artists and bands who feature within the magazine
are from this genre of music. This is shown
immediately to the reader on the front cover as
shown to the left where they have a artist playing
the electric guitar on stage. The connotation of
the guitar is stereotypical to this genre of music
and will immediately attract the audience/reader
of Kerrang! . Furthermore The house style they
have used for this front cover is black white and
red which each represent purity (White) love and
passion (Red) and unknown (Black) which will all
be represented in its own way inside the
magazine. The puff promotions for the magazine
are a stand out feature for Kerrang! As they are in
a bright yellow outline to the images. They have
used this because it catches the readers and
potential customers eye and if the promotion
appeals to them this is the reason they have
purchased a copy which was the purpose of the
bright colour compared to the house style colours.

8. Front Cover Analysis KERRANG!
The use of the word free connotes to the reader that its adding the value for
money to the magazine as they are including a poster as an incentive to entice
the reader to purchase the latest issue of the magazine. As well helping the
band/Artists popularity grow as they promoted through Kerrang!
The puff promotion at the top of
the front cover with a bright red
background catches the readers
attention immediately with it
standing out from the page
however also following the house
style of the magazine at the same
time. The connotation of using red
signifies love and passion which is
shown by offering a “Ticket
giveaway” for the readers within
the magazine.
The main image is the leading singer of the band . He
denotation of having the lead singer in the middle of the page
shows his importance and presence is to be noticed as well as
wearing a white hoodie to signify his purity. Furthermore the
backing singers for the band are wearing black to shadow the
lead singers presence on the page.
The masthead of the magazine is at
the top of the page with the brand
identity being built up over the years
makes the magazine so recognisable
that the allow the main image to
overlap . The text colour is black to
connote the unknowing of what is
going to be inside the magazine as well
as fitting the rock genre of music. The
masthead also has cracks within it to
show the rebel stereotype of rock that
they break and make their own rules.
At the bottom of the page has the
cover lines for the magazine which
include the star appeal to the reader
which will grab the readers attention
more as it is not just the main article
within the magazine there are popular
rock bands/artists such as Paramore to
make the potential reader purchase a
copy.

9. Double Page Spread Analysis
They have used a pull quote at the
bottom of the image which is used
by Kerrang! To give the reader an
indication of what the interview will
be about before they read the stand
first. The denotation behind using
white and black signifies the purity
of white and the artists however
black shows that they are unsure
and “Mistakes” are the unknown
until they are made .
The main title for the DPS is “Wild
Child” which pulls the readers
attention as they will be wondering
what is so wild about them and what
they have done in the past. They have
used a mixture of pink and white to
connote the feminine side of the
artist as well as white for purity of a
child
Kerrang! Have used a drop capital at the
start of this interview so that the text is
standing out at signifies the start of the
main interview. For each question they
have used pink and for the answer white
which makes it clear for the reader the
difference as well as keeps their attention
as the readership for Kerrang! is young.
The main image for this DPS is
large and goes over half of the
page. The artist is wearing dark
black clothing and eye shadow
which follows the stereotype of
the rock industry as well as her
personality to keep the reader
guessing about her unknown. The
use of the medium close up and
looking directly at the camera
makes the reader feel part of the
interview as she is answering the
questions.
The house style of this page is a
mixture of white black and pink
which have all been carefully chosen.
This is because pink connotes the
feminine side of the artist and can
also grab the readers attention.
White for purity of the answer they
are given as this is what the white
text is used for and black is finally
used for the background as it
signifies before the interview the
artist was more unknown about the
personality and music .

10. Target Audience
The target audience for Kerrang! Is predominantly male with 54.7% of their readers being male.
The readers of Kerrang! According to Hartley's 7 Subjectivities the target gender from the magazine
demographic are male however female readers do make up a large majority of weekly readers (45.3%). The most
popular age range for reading the magazine is 15-24 where 56.1% this shows that this genre of music is popular for
this age group which is supported by their weekly circulation figures of 33,024.
Kerrang! Magazine has the ability to ‘Inform and Educate’ about the latest news and music in the rock music
genre with their interviews reviews and articles they produce. By informing and educating their audience this is
the reason that there loyal readership keep purchasing the magazine as they are very informative and precise about
all of the topics they cover within the magazine. Furthermore the readers of Kerrang! Fit into the ‘Explorers’
(Maslow) as they read the magazine to find new bands/artist from the rock industry that are progressing and find
out more about them as a person and artist. Additionally Kerrang! Also advertise many gigs and festivals inside
their magazine which the reader may see and go and ‘Explore’ by purchasing a ticket for the event to see a new
artist/band.
Psychographics
Aspirers- The Kerrang! Readers are Aspirers because they seek a typical personality and fashion that rock fans
share a similarity with. This is because they listen to similar music and are using their favourite artists and bands
fashion on themselves as they aspire to follow what they do.
Socio Economic Needs
From my research I have found out that 51% of the readers are of the ABC1 background which is very even
compared to other magazines such as NME. This is because of the price of a weekly issue is £2.20 which is cheap for
a weekly published magazine with the high quality articles and interviews they have. Also it shows that the
advertisements inside the magazine relate to both females and males as well as those from all of the social class
table as 51% of the readers are from ABC1 and 49% from c2d AND E.
Sourced From- http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/kerrang

11. Frequency
 Kerrang! Is a weekly print and online based rock music magazine which
is sold all over the world including countries such as, Spain, Germany
and Australia.
 The price of the magazine is currently £2.20 (1st June 2015) compared
to the £2.50 it was in July of 2014.
Sourced from-
http://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/bws/k
errang-magazine-package
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/asda-
compare-
prices/Newsagent/Kerrang_Magazine.ht
ml

12. Production process of the magazine
Date of publication
This is the date of which the magazine will be released on to the public and customers. Kerrang! will now have an established order of
work including the editorial finishing and planning stages.
Managing the schedule
This is one of the most important stages of the process. For the magazine to be produced successfully the schedule must be managed
precisely. The schedule must be made so that there is a back up plan in case any mishaps go wrong and you can always meet the deadline
with a story if you do not make a schedule like this you will not make a successful magazine.
Editorial and budgetary decision
This stage is the process of the editorial team deciding what topics will be discussed in that weeks issue of the magazine. After deciding
what will be discussed illustrations and photographs will be used for the magazine.
After the images have been selected the finance team look at the invest available for them and how it will be spent on the magazine.
Content Acquisition
This is the most important stage above all others. This is because if there is no content there is no magazine. There are two ways that
content can be collated firstly is using in house staff and the other way is to use external writers that are specialists in a specific topic.
Sub-editing
This is quality control. If the company has an sub editor it is there job to:
Checking accuracy of the facts provided
Words are properly spelt
Working on page layout
Follows the house style
Page layout
Their job is to make sure that all of the pages are in a specific house style and follow the running order of the contents page.
Proofreading
Once the content stage has been completed each topic will be analysed searching for any grammatical changes before the hardened edition of
the magazine will be released each problem is changed immediately and will only be printed once the team are happy every change has been
made.
Distribution
This is the last stage of the entire process. The printing company have finished printing and the magazines are now getting ready for
deliveries so they can be sold to the public. You can purchase Kerrang! From any news agents or major supermarkets such as
Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrison's and Asda .

13. Relationship between Distributor and Reader
 The original hardback copy of Kerrang! is sold in
many newsagents, stores as well as post offices and
major supermarkets such as Sainsbury's, Tesco and
Asda. Below are the latest prices the magazine is
being sold for at the super markets.
Sourced From:
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/asda-compare-
prices/Newsagent/Kerrang_Magazine.html

14. Relationship between Distributor and Reader
Magazine Download
Kerrang! Digitally distribute the magazine via the App
store and Google Play. This is the same price as the
hardback copy however within this downloadable copy
there are extra features such as videos.

15. Relationship between Distributor and Reader
Subscription
 To subscribe to Kerrang! You can follow a link on their website which will take
you to distributor at http://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/kerrang-print-
magazine this website also offers first time readers a chance to receive 30% off
their orders meaning that their first 13 issues will cost £20. (Please see Image
Below)