My Music Magazine Investigations

I have been looking at the types of double-page spreads that are featured in magazines. I have come up with a list of 10 types that cover all articles I have seen in music magazines;

1. Album reviews (one main feature/new releases)
2. Artist interviews
3. News features (music related)
4. Artist features
5. Double-paged adverts
6. Non-Music news features
7. Q & A's
8. Live music reviews
9. Mail (fan mail)
10. Editorials

My First Thoughts:
 I have decided that my genre will be a rock magazine like KERRANG! or Rock Sound, because that is the type of music I am interested in and therefore I know what i would expect to see in a rock magazine.

The main image on my front cover will be a studio picture, because I think that gig pictures look better inside the magazine.

I haven't decided on an article yet for my double-page spread, but I have narrowed it down to two. It will either be an Artist Feature or an Artist Interview. I think that either will be the best type of article for me to write, because they are the articles i enjoy reading in magazines, and therefore I should be more successful when it comes to writing it. Also, I will be able to encorporate more studio styled pictures into it.

Remake/Remodel - KERRANG! mag

For this magazine, I have taken KERRANG!'s themes and encorporated them into a magazine that I have made using my own headlines and photography for the main image.

I have used the KERRANG! masthead conventionally at the top of the magazine, because this is part of the house style to K!

For the main image, I wanted the model to have a Courtney Love meets Kate Moss look of, 'I'm too cool to care'. Jessie has achieved this buy looking at the camera as if to say 'Yeah, and what?', and leaning forward. In looking at the camera, direct address is created which entices a reader to buy the magazine. Her scruffy hair, black eyeliner and black clothing at to this Rock sheek look, that really works on the cover of K!. She is also the main feature of the magazine and therefore matches the ethos of this issue. I have used high-key lighting to emphasize how glamorous she is.

For the main coverline, I have decided to have it cutting through the main image, because the model is a new rock singer, and it means I could put a name to the face straight away. I used her name as a main part to the title, and then did a puff underneath to say what the article is about.

I haven't conventionally done other coverlines, because when i looked at the last K! mag i bought, they had the cover lines at the very bottom of the page. I have used this idea, and on the red strip at the bottom I have put in some other articles about more bands that would feature in this magazine.

On the right hand side, I have chosen to use a pug. The pug offers bands that played at the 'Warped Tour'. I literally took the 1st 4 bands that popped into my head that match the genre of K! mag. I inserted the pictures into publisher, resized them, added a border, then grouped them together. I also added in titles for each photo. I put 'FREE' in the largest font because that is what the audience will see, and will be attracted by to buy the magazine.

I have placed the barcode above the bottom coverlines, as K! aren't too fussy about where they put the barcode. The date and price are just above it.

I used publisher to create this, because I wanted to see if it was better than word. I think the final product definatley looks more proffesional on publisher, and I will use it more in future for tasks like this.

Q - front cover

The masthead is conventional as it is in the top left third of the magazine. The main image dominates part of the masthead which suggests that this is a mass marketed magazine.

The main image co-incides with the 'title' next to the masthead, as this magazine is about the band 'Muse'. It uses high-key lighting, with a blueish colour as a shadow effect, which is a theme created with the 'blue corner' above 'Muse' and the blue text.

The main coverline is unconventional, and is at the top of the page.

'50 acts you must see' is a pug, which entices the audience into buying this magazine so they can read it.

The barcode is in the bottom left hand corner, which is conventional.

Rock Sound - double paged spread

I chose this double paged spread because isif very different to the other articles I have looked at. Firstly, although featured on the cover page, it is not related to the main images like the KERRANG! and NME double-page spreads. In addition, it is a different style, as it's not questions asked by a journalist, they are questions from fans. This leads us to the subject of the article, which is the Cancer Bats, and their answers to questions sent in by fans.

The text is written in columns, and the uses of bold and italics differentiate questions from answers. The image supports the text too, and the band are holding up pieces of paper with the selected questions written on them.

The vocabulary is quite simple, sometimes vulgar, but humorous and easy to read.

Rock Sound - Contents

 Rock Sound magazine have two contents pages; one for main feature, and one for everything else.

Main Features page

A large image is used in the background, which almost makes this look like a second cover page.

Other pictures on the left hand side indicate articles about certain bands. They also have page numbers on the pictures, which are written in the house style of Rock Sound.

On the right we have the other main stories under a heading of 'Main Features'. The titles and page numbers are all within the house style too.

Features page

A note from the editor is on this page, at the top right. These tend to feature in a lot of magazine, so i think i may consider this for my music magazine.

There are more images which support other articles.

The font is all kept within the house style.

Recycled sign at the bottom show's that Rock Sound is doing their bit. It will appeal to the masses and possibly encourage others to recycle too. It gives the message of 'It's cool to care'.

Rock Sound - Front Cover

The masthead is conventional, and it creates a house style with the white font and font style.

The top coverline is a pug, because it advertses an exclusive CD and a competition.

The main image dominates the masthead, which shows that this is a mass-marketed, recognisable magazine. It uses low-key lighting, to achieve a moody look, which obviously is part of this bands image. Blocking was probably used to achieve this composition. The eye contact creates direct address to the reader.

The main coverline is on the left hand side which is conventional to magazines. It uses a triple to entice the reader, 'The past, the present, the future'.

The coverlines are situated in the bottom right hand corner, which isn't conventional to magazines.

There is a puff at the top of the page, 'MCR...'. Another puff is in the bottom left corner, where bands are mentioned.

The barcode is also inconventional as it is in the bottom right, rather than the left.  The price and date are above the barcode, along with a web address.

KERRANG! - Double page spread

 

The subject of this article is the same as the image and main coverline on the front cover - Paramore. The article tells the reader about the success Paramore have had this year, and talks about the highs and lows of the band. It is accompanied with images of the band too.

The article itself is written in columns and continues onto a third page (there are 5 pages in total), all about the bands sucess and how things are looking for the future. The images support the text too, as they show photos of Paramore through the year whether it's backstage, recording or just chilling.

All over the 5 pages, there are the 'note-pad' styled puffs of informtation, which have answers to questions from the whole band. Hayley is, however, the main focus of the article because she performed the actual interview, with a little help from bassist Jeremy Davies. There are also quotes from the text written over some pictures. I like this idea because it emphasizes some important pieces of the article.

The vocabulary is quite simple, which emphasises the conversational tone to the article. This, as with NME, ensures an easy read, and again emphasises a varied audience who enjoy music.