Sunday, 28 October 2012

Analyse a front cover of a music magazine.


In this blog post i will be analysing the Kerrang magazine which features the rock band Nickelback.
This magazine is constructed to it’s target audience of any age and any genre who are interested in the music genre – Rock. It’s constructed in a way to get the targeted audience’s attention as it has a huge font sized mast head saying “Kerrang!”, but  half the name of the magazine is covered by Chad Kroeger’s head although since the magazine is the biggest Rock genre magazine most people who buy it will know what it say’s. On the magazine cover it also has written in cappital letter’s “NICKELBACK” Who are one of UK’s biggest rock band’s which is eye catching, along side the fact that there are lyrics on the front of the magazine which is interesting and is from one of Nickelback’s songs “Rockstar” which was one of there biggest hits in the early 20th century. The magazine will  catch eyes of the targeted audience since there are huge band’s names on the cover such as “Foo Fighters”, “Iron Maiden” and “The Blackout”. People who are a fan of rock may also be a fan of these bands and want to read about them, there for will want to buy the magazine.
There are also smaller images on the cover of the magazine in the lower left hand side, people may also want to read about these bands such as “Kiss”, “Lostprophets” and “The Offspring” these are known as “Puffs” which is basically a small box on the cover promoting some features inside the magazine its self.
The main image in this magazine only really suits the targeted audience because of its surroundings such as the quotes, puffs and smaller images, without all these for someone who didnt know who the man was (Chad Kroeger) or the magazine mast head “Kerrang!” they may not realise that this is a rock magazine and may just by pass it and move on to another magazine.
The choice of font on this magazine cover will attract the buyer sicne Rock music has always been loud and shouting in a way (Only sub genre’s dont do this, such as “Soft Rock”), and the capital letters and like huge font size suit this because it seems as if it were to be said it would be shouted, also the use of exclamation marks on the mast head also seems as if it’s shouted if said.
The articals that are featured on the cover of this magazine are suitable for the targeted audience as it’s all about rock e.g the writing under “NICKELBACK” says “HOW THE HELL DID THEY BECOME THE UK’S FAVOURITE ROCK BAND?” , this may catch the targeted audiences attention as it shows that there is an artical all about the rock band making there name big and becoming more and more famous as time goes on through their career.
‘Kerrang’ magazine in the UK is around the price of 20 – 50 pence, i feel like this is a perfect price as it is the worlds biggest rock magazine and they will always make profit because of the ammount they sell. Also it is a perfect price considering there are many, many more popular magazines such as NME.

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Magazine Terminology.



Sell Line sell line is text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience.
Headline – a headline on a magazine is the title of the main story in the magazine.
Anchorage Text – this is the way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and vice versa.
House Style- the house style of a magazine is a magazine's distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors.
Copy a ‘Copy’ of a magazine is the main text.
Strap Line - memorable phrase that is recognisable to a brand.
Drop Capitals a ‘Drop Capital’ of a magazine is really big letter, which starts off an article.
Lead the lead of is an introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold or capitals.
Puffs – ‘Puff’ is colourful boxes promoting features inside the magazine.
Caption a ‘Caption’ to a magazine is description of an image.
Banner – a ‘Banner’ of a magazine is the text that stands out because it's on a coloured background.
Pugs – ‘Pugs’ are  placed at the top left and the top right hand corners of the paper and are known as the 'ears' of the page. The price of the paper, the logo or a promotion is often positioned there.
Slogan – a ‘slogan’ is a motto.
Buzz Words – ‘Buzz Words’ are "Wow", "Exclusive" and "Free" are all examples of this.
Masthead – a ‘Masthead’ of a magazine is the name of the magazine.

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Homework 1

In this blog entry I’m going to discuss the roots of music genre’s including:
-How genre’s (The genre I’ll be looking at, which is Rock).
-Sub genres of that genre.
-Band’s representing that genre.
-Magazines that are based on that genre.
The music genre I’m focusing on Is Rock. This genre of music was originated as “Rock & Roll” in the 1950’s which then developed into lots of different style’s / sub genre’s such as “Acid Rock”, “Alternative Rock”, “Hard Rock” and “Instrumental Rock”. Rock was influenced by “Rhythm”, “Blue’s” and “Country Music”.
Rock music evolved from “Rock & Roll”, “Blues” and “Rhythm” , “Rock & Roll” Was invented by a man called Chuck Berry In 1955, which was mixed with “Blues” and “Rhythm”.
Some sub genres of this that I’m focusing on are “Hard Rock” and “Instrumental Rock” , “Hard Rock” had its roots in the mid 1960’s, it’s typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitars, bass guitars and drums, and is often accompanied by the likes of piano’s or keyboards.
“Instrumental Rock” had its roots in the early 1950’s and was most popular during “Rock & Roll’s” first decade which was mid 1950’s to mid the 1960’s.
A list of some band’s that represent Rock Music are:
-Guns N Rose’s     -Nickleback
-The Beatle’s    -Metalica                                                  
-Red Hot Chili Peppers    -Coldplay, These are all in the top 50 most popular rock bands in the world.
A magazine that represents Rock Music is Kerrang which is the world’s biggest selling weekly rock music magazine which was first released on the 6th of june 1981 and was edited by Geoff Barton which was released as a one-time supplement to the music magazine industry that went on to be the worlds biggest selling weekly Rock Music magazine.

Wednesday, 12 September 2012

Michael Taylor's Blog Intro.

This is my Media Studies AS Level Blog, this is where i will be posting all the different things we do within our lessons. Such as, my Coursework and Homework, a lot of this will be based on music and the music industry, maybe some analyzations on videos or pictures.