Music Magazine Masthead's.

This is the masthead for 'Q' magazine, it differs from the masthead of Kerrang quite a bit. Q's masthead is very simple, and alsmost elegant whereas the masthead for Kerrang is very messy and represents the genre of music, Heavy Metal. Q magazine's genre of music is varied, because it mainly mainstream music which can vary in genre. I believe this is why their masthead is so simple, because it has to be able to cover various different types of music. It may have also been designed this way to appeal to the target audience who are mainly male and open minded towards most music but is mainly interested in mainstream tunes.

Kerrangs masthead is very different from Q's. It uses a more complex font, with extra edits such as; lines through the writing, which in turn makes it look rough and representst the genre of music the magazine is based around. Metal. It uses white on black, compared to Q's white on red, it appeals to a different target audience.

How does the journalist use written language to appeal to the target audience?

In this article the journalist uses descriptive language, such as ‘Crumpled crush barriers’ which makes the article seem violent which relates to the idea of the band being a rock band. This appeals to the target audience because stereotypically people who listen to rock music often enjoy violence and being 'rowdy'. The theme of the article is excitement for the band that is playing, often the language used is upbeat and descriptive, like ‘it was like the Pope came to town’ which compares it to a really exciting, important event. To make the article seem more realistic to the reader, the journalist uses descriptive words such as; 'gently' 'screaming' 'extraordinary' and 'fantastic'. All these words describe what is happening in good detail, which creates an atmosphere around the article.

Within the article there are key design features which help support the body copy. There are pictures of the band, with the crowd reaching out to them like they are somesort of God, this also links in with the quote 'It was like the Pope had come to town'. For each body of text there is a photograph which links into the quotes which makes the overall article easier to read and far more interesting.

KERRANG - Analysis

This is the front page of the magazine, Kerrang. Kerrang often features metal and rock bands and is meant to appeal to a target audience who listen to this type of music. Kerrangs masthead is placed right across the top of the page instead of being just to one side, this helps to make it stand out. The lead image is a full body or long shot of a band who features in the magazine,the expressions on the bands faces look serious, this connotates the magazine as being serious, unlike the fun upbeat feel of 'We ♥ Pop'. Cover lines for the magazine can be found on the top of the magazine above the Masthead, I believe these were put here so the reader can see them almost straight away and is drawn into what is going to be featured in the magazine. The colour scheme of the front page links in with the type of music genre that is featured through out the magazine, often the colour black is used to represent darkness which is in turn asscociated with heavy metal. Other colours, such as red and yellow are used because they may represent fire and violence which creates a very 'Gritty' feel around the magazine.

This is the Kerrang contents which includes everything that is featured inside the magazine. It is layed out to carry on the theme of the whole magazine, using the same colours and rough font. The 'lead image' on the contents is of a man with tattos, and looking like he is at a gig or partying. This reflects the 'VALs' of the sterotypical reader. The main body copy on this page is a message from the editor found at the bottom in the centre. Also, because the editors message is rather long it has been edited into two columns with a gutter in the middle to space it out correctly, this makes the editors note look more formal than the rest of the magazine. Like 'We ♥ Pop' featured articles which are not included regually and made to stand out more than regular articles by using pictures and larger text.

This is the double page spread for the magazine. It features a rock/heavy metal band. The lead image, which is of the featured band, is showing them looking down, which could represent them as being powerful and their facial expressions are serious. 

On this side of the double page spread, it features the article about the band, which is split up into two columns and a gutter through the middle to make it easier on the eye, and easier to read and understand. It also has a 'Pull Qoute' which will draw the readers attention the the main body copy.

NME - Analysis

NME, is also a magazine I bought to analyse. Again, it is a different theme to the rest of my magazines I analysed. This time I belive the target audience is young adults between the ages of 22-28 which are intrested in Indie bands and other famous singers. NME's masthead is placed on the top left, much like the 'We ♥ Pop' so it easy to spot on shelves. The colour theme is mostly red because it is a magazine aimed a wide variety of people and reed is one of the most popular colours, it also links in with NME's logo. The layout of the front page is eye catching. The largest text on the screen are the words 'ARTIC MONKEYS' which would appeal to the target audience if they are a fan of the band. The main image on the front page is a medium closeup of the band, The Artic Monkeys.

This is the contents page of the magazine, NME. It uses similar fonts, and images to the front page. The main font used is a Serif font, it is displayed right at the top of the page and the sentence 'INSIDE THIS WEEK' get's straight to the point of what the page is showing. Like most magazines the featured articles are bigger and with images unlike the normal pages which are smaller and less advertised because readers already expect them to be there. Each image is to do with an article inside the magazine.

The double page spread is an introduction to an article about the famouse band 'Artic Monkeys'. As it's an introduction there is not much text and the lead image is a huge picture of the band with the lead singer at the front. It also features a pull quote 'Ive got my leather trousers on' which could appeal to the audience becuase they often like to think of themselves as 'cool', therefore would like the leather trouser look. The colour red is used because it is a popular colour and stands out in the page to draw in the audiences eye. The way in which the band are shown are very laid back and typical lads just hanging around. A straight camera angle shows they are on the same level as their audience and do not aspire to be any higher or more important than other people.

 

The lead singer is postioned at the front of the group, showing power and importance over them, but yet he is still among them and doing similar things to them. His face is serious, this could connotate a serious article but at the same time he is smoking which is linked with being relaxed and chilled.

WE ♥ POP - Analysis

This is 'We ♥ Pop' music magazine. I belive its aimed at young teenage girls between the ages of 12 - 15 because of the bright bold colours and 'Funky' layout. The masthead is is positioned at the top left of the front cover and stands out because its bold font and reconisable logo. Bright colours feature alot on the front cover and throughout the rest of the magazine. Greens are dominant on the front cover, possibly because it represents fun and brightness. Denoted on the front cover is a medium close-up of a famous popstar 'Cher loyd' this may encourage young pop lovers to but the magazine if they are a fan of this celebrity and will be interested into why she is featured in the magazine.Cher Loyds open, fun facial expression connotates a fun magazine. Most of the text on the front cover is bold, in a simple font and ussually in a bright colour or black on a bright block of colour. 'Woah, It's Cher' is placed right across the centre of the magazine which stands out and tells the reader that the article is about Cher Loyd. Another colour featured alot is the colour pink, which presents the magazine as having a mainly girl audience. The layout of the front cover is appealing for the target audience because it is fun to look at, it includes most of the features young girls would be interested in, such as boybands; 'The Wanted Special Posters' this might encourage the target audience to buy the magazine if they are a fan of The Wanted because most young girls enjoy having posters on their walls. It also shows a preview of all the posters avalible. It also shows quotes from some of the articles on the top right such as; 'In the backseat with Olly Murs' and 'In Jessie J's Bedroom' which I think is placed on top right because after the consumer has seen the logo and picked up the magazine they may scan across and these may catch the eye of the reader and encourage them to read these articles. The text also appeals to a younger audience because 'Backseat' is often associated with younger audiences because this is where they sit when traveling in the car with parents etc. Also, bedrooms are often places where younger girls spend most of their time so having an insight in 'Jessie J's Bedroom' may interest them in some way.

This is the contents page of the magazine 'We ♥ Pop' again, the same theme is repeated, with bright colours and famous faces as the photos. The heading at the top of the page is 'WE LOVE THIS' this almost feels like the reader is meant to love what is inside the magazine aswell, it could also be percieved as celebrities are saying 'We love this'. It also shows a picture and a message from the editor on the left which makes the reader have some connection with the people who create and edit the magazine. It also features a similar picture of Cher Loyd that was on the front cover, but this time links in more with the article because it also has a quote from her, 'Ive always been a bit of an Odd-Bod'. The layout shows the 'Featured' articles on the right of the page with pictures and a big page number, these show these percific articles or pages are not ussual within the magazine. Whereas, the normaly featured pages are shown on the bottom left without pictures but still have large page numbers so its easy to read at a glance. Again, right along the bottom of the page it shows the posters avalible including ones other than The Wanted. Again, bright girly colours are used such as; Pink border, and bright orange for some text and page numbers. There isn't much white space which helps the magazine seem fun and busy, this is good for a magazine like this but for a more grown up magazine white space would be needed.

This is one side of a double page spread, the other is shown below. The heading of the page is bold which stands out and introduces the interview. Underneath the the heading there is a standfirst which gives a short introduction to the person being interviewed. Again the colour scheme is similar to the contents and the front cover so it still appeals to the target audience.

                                                                
  On this side of the double page spread there is a 'Pull Quote' which is an interesting quote made larger to draw the reader into the interview. It also features a lead image of Joe Jonas because he is the person being interviewed. This may make the reader want to read it if they are a fan of this particular celebrity. I think they have more white space to make the double spread look less busy and easier on the eye to read.

My Magazine Target Audience

Young Women and Teenagers
Aged between 16 - 20 years of age
Social class: E, D, C2
Lives in: Cities and suburbs, Not in a rural enviroment
Values: Music, Celebrity gossip, Fashion, Having a social life, Having fun, Getting money
Aspirations: To be popular, have a night life, Aspire to be rich, To be famous and loved, Be the centre of attention,
Lifestyle: Unemployed or low paid jobs, try to work hard, Go to college/School/Uni, Live with parents or flats, Socializing, Drink alcahol, Possibly smoking or drugs,

Motley Crew "Girls, Girls, Girls" Video Ananlyse

In the video "Girls Girls Girls" by the Motley Crew, the band have used different scenes and ideas to represent themselves how they wish to be seen by their fans and other viewers of the video. They film themselves surrounded by Girls at a typical american strip club. I think this shows them as being attractive to women and fun people. Also, when they are riding around on their bikes it represents them as being 'Hard' and 'Bad boys'.

50 Cent Video "Candy Shop"

In the video “Candy shop” by 50 Cent, there are many different techniques which are used to present women in a certain way. It is done by using different costumes, props and the settings, which all link in with the theme and lyrics of the video.

In many of the scenes women are seen in either underwear or tiny outfits, these present the women as being sexually provocative. Also, all the women used have perfect skin, hair and bodily assets like their breasts, this portrays women as being always being perfect and ‘sexy’. It may also present them to have lots of money to afford beauty treatments. Although, it can also be seen that they are somewhat ‘cheap’ thus making the women look like they are very much into sexual activities and sexual intercourse on a regular basis.  

The name and lyrics of the video “Candy Shop” portray the women as being tasty, cheap and easy to get hold of just like candy. Another way it presents the women is that they are being used as ‘toys’ by 50 Cent and that he can do what he wants with the women as they are seen to be under his control.

In one of the scenes, we see 50 Cent looking at a painting of the women singer as a portrait on the wall; this could mean that women are only good for being looked at in photos, and in person such as; in strip clubs and movies. Also, at the end of the video it shows him at the actual Candy Shop buying a burger, this could mean that his fantasy is that every woman that works should really be dancing around in sexually provocative garments giving him what he asks for.

I believe the video isn’t sexually empowering for some women as they are shown as cheap candy or as trophys. Although, other women may find it sexually empowering as they may feel more confident about themselves if they are similar to the women on the video and it may even encourage some women to become like the women on the video.