Mood Board.

Summary of Magazine Analysis

After studying various indie rock magazines, i have discovered that they all incorporate similar features. For example:

• The colour scheme for the cover text is often red, white and black, with the use of yellow where the text is required to really stand out.
• The main sell will feature quirky and original artists, who readers will aspire to be like.
• Cover lines and reversed out cover lines are used to give the cover variety; if it was kept plain and simple, the magazine would loose it's sense of edginess.
• Articles inside of the magazine are often supported with images of famous band members, giving the reader a better idea of what is being described in the article.

Analysis for Indie Music Magazines

NME

The title of the magazine is NME, which stands for ‘New Musical Express’. This is an ideal title for the magazine, as it immediately tells the reader that the magazine features up-to-date music. The masthead is fairly bold; however it is partially covered by a photo of two celebrities. The magazine can do this because it is reasonably well known, meaning that readers will most likely know what the magazine is called without having to see the entire title. The genre is indie-rock music, which is instantly apparent due to the image featured on the front and the names of the bands printed on the cover. If the magazine featured mainstream artists, it would mostly print articles about artists on major labels, as apposed to independent ones. The main sell of the magazine is a feature about ‘The Last Shadow Puppets’, who definitely do not convey a mainstream image. This is because they are dressed entirely in black and have quirky haircuts, which major artists would not do as they are not allowed that amount of versatility from their label. The cover features cover lines and reversed out cover lines, to give it variety. There is a sans serif font used, which keeps it fairly modern. The size and colour of the font also varies so it continues to stand out on the page; however the majority of the text follows a colour scheme of red, white and black. The ideal audience for this magazine would be radicals, aspirers and underachievers; mainly people who want to enjoy themselves and have unusual ideas. Their social values would be hedonistic or post-modernistic.

Q magazine
The title of the magazine is Q, which has probably been chosen because it’s short, snappy and easy to remember. The masthead is bold and easily recognisable to readers, which is effective because it will stand out from other magazines. The main sell is a feature of a mainstream band called ‘Coldplay’, likely to appeal to a large audience. It is important for the magazine to feature popular artists as it will increase magazine sales, helping fund the magazine. Although it features major artists like this, they are a lot more quirky than artists such as ‘Girls Aloud’, who are unlikely to be featured on the cover of this magazine. The font featured follows a similar colour scheme to NME; red, white and black with the use of yellow where the text is needed to really stand out. A sans serif font is also used here, because if a serif font was featured the magazine would come across as slightly old fashioned. There is a puff included at the top of the magazine, claiming that the magazine is ‘the essential music guide”. This is there because it will make audiences think that this is the best music magazine available for them to purchase. The target audience would be slightly more sophisticated than NME readers because it is a more expensive, upmarket magazine. As a result of this, the audience would include aspirers, achievers and radicals. Their social values would be mainly hedonistic, materialistic or post-modernistic.

Kerrang

Similar to the previous magazines, ‘Kerrang’ follows a colour scheme of red, white and black. These colours give the magazine an indie feel, appealing to the readers demographic. The masthead is white in a large sans serif font, standing out on the dark background. The font looks as if it has been ripped at the edges, making it look imperfect and rebellious. The main sell of the magazine is an article on a band called Paramore, with a photograph of the lead singer featured on the cover. She is punching towards the camera, making her look tough and independent; an attitude which typical readers would aspire to have. The ideal audience is similar to the magazines previously mentioned; radicals, aspirers and underachievers. People who read this magazine would typically prefer to enjoy themselves as apposed to working hard. The cover also features pictures of rock-band members who typical readers would be fans of. This encourages readers to pick up the magazine and buy it, as it will feature artists that they want to read about. Each of the artists featured portray an image of rebellion, which is what the whole magazine is designed to do. There are a fair amount of screamers featured on the cover, making the magazine seem more extreme.
The colour scheme changes slightly on the contents page, featuring black, white and yellow – also a common colour scheme within other indie-rock magazines. It continues to incorporate typical celebrities who readers would aspire to be, keeping their interest engaged. It also includes marketing strategies; in the bottom right hand corner there is a screamer informing readers that if they subscribe to

‘Kerrang’ they can get the magazine for a smaller price. This is effective because if the reader subscribes, they inevitably read every issue, making the magazine more popular. The font size varies on the contents page, featuring bolder, larger text where the reader’s attention is required more. As the magazine continues, it features advertisements which the ideal audience would be interested in looking at, which is beneficial to the companies advertising their product. This is also beneficial to Kerrang because they will earn money from featuring the product in their magazine. Also, if readers were also a fan of the product being advertised, they will assosiate it with the magazine making them more likely to buy it again.

The double page spreads are often fairly dark, fitting in with the general scheme of the magazine. The pictures of the celebrities continue to look rebellious, showing off tattoos and expensive guitars. The text in bold tells the reader what the article is about; the article following is in small text. The pictures represent what is said in the text, giving the reader a better idea of what is being described in the article.

Initial Magazine Analysis.

NME
NME “New Music Express” – immediately tells the reader what type of music is featured in the magazine.


The magazine contains fairly quirky artists, so it’s mainly an indie magazine.

The ideal audience would include radicals, aspirers and underachievers; mainly people who want to enjoy themselves and have unusual ideas. Their social values would be hedonistic or post-modernistic.

The cover appeals to the target audience by featuring quirky celebrities who readers would aspire to be like. They have short, snappy headlines featuring indie bands who would appeal to their ideal audience, encouraging them to open the magazine and read it. It follows a red, white and black colour scheme so the text stands out on the page.

Mixmag
Mixmag – the title indicates that the magazine contains dance music by including the shortened word for 'remix'.

The genre is dance music.

The ideal audience would be people who share the view “to play, or enjoy life now”. Readers would most likely be underachievers, hedonists or post-modernists.

The cover features a typically attractive woman, wearing (little) brightly coloured clothing. This would immediately attract a male audience, and also others who are interested in clubbing and going to parties. It features words and phrases such as “disco” and “the worlds biggest dance music magazine” which tells the reader what sort of music is featured in the magazine.

BBC Music
BBC Music – the title doesn’t inform the reader exactly what type of music the magazine contains, but it’s fairly formal and doesn’t contain any quirky play-on-words which tells the reader that it’s quite a sophisticated magazine.

The image on the front is of a famous musician holding a violin, telling the reader that the genre is classical music.

The audience would differ to the magazines mentioned above. Stereotypical readers would be succeeders, aspirers, achievers, traditionalists and possibly carers.

The cover appeals to the target audience by coming across as fairly sophisticated; the reader is not bombarded with multiple images, the simple image in the center is sufficient. There is not as much text featured on the cover as aposed to the other magazines, it's reasonably simple and plain. The woman featured on the front cover looks classy and sophistiated. This is achieved by the formal clothing and make-up she is wearing, conveying an image of expertise and 'upper class'.