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 20^th 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.

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.