Analysis Of A Music Magazine's Contents Page.

This is the contents page from the music magazine called 'NME' which stands for 'New Music Express' and it sounds like the word 'Enemy'. 'NME' is a popular music magazine published in the United Kingdom since 1952. It was the first British magazine to publish singles charts.

The layout of this contents page is clear and concise and although it looks a little full, everything still has it's place and it is easy to find the page that you are looking for, which fulfills the purpose of a contents page. To make the contents page clear the designers have put a column on the far left hand side of the page which is the band index. On the right hand side there is another column with all of the page numbers on it which acts as the main contents of the magazine. It has been broken down in to smaller sections such as; news, radar and reviews. This makes it easier and quicker for the reader to find which page they are looking for. The contents page is consistent with the front cover of this magazine and it keeps within the same house-style by using the same colours of red, white and black ( the colours that they use for every issue). They also use all of the same fonts and use that same masthead which is effective because it makes the magazine flow better when reading it. Features of the magazine that help to sell it are features such as catchy titles that lure readers in and make them want to read on. For example a title on this contents page says;'The moment that... everyone got on board Africa Exprez.' This makes readers want to read on further because if they don't know what Africa Exprez is then they might want to be a part of it, if they are not already on board and if they are already on board then that means that they are already interested in it so they will want to read about it too.

The main image on this contents page is two images cut down the middle of two different styles of bands which play different genres of music. On the left is a rock band and on the right is a jazz band. This makes the magazine appeal to both rock and jazz lovers, making their target audience wider, meaning more sales of the magazine. The mise-en-scene of these pictures is as follows; they are wearing formal clothing while playing in their bands, making their bands look more professional and sophisticated. There is red lighting coming down for up above them, setting the scene for their show and creating a moody atmosphere to get their audience in to it. The red lighting also matches the red colour that is on the font colour, the masthead and the arrow on the bottom right hand corner of the page. The props that are being used are the musical instruments, linking nicely to the genre of the magazine which is music.

A linguistic feature that has been used to persuade the reader to buy the magazine is the smaller title that says; 'The moment that... Everyone got on board Africa Express' This feature makes the reader want to buy the magazine because if they are not on board yet then they will want to be and to do so they will have to read the article and buy the magazine. Humour hasn't really been used throughout this contents page, everything has just been written about factually and i think that this has been effective because it makes the page clearer and easier to follow. Finally, in my opinion all the features of the magazine are easy to locate just by using the contents page. This is because of it's clear and nicely set out layout that is easy to follow. Also, the contents list has been split up in to different sections making it easier again to locate the page that you are looking for.  In fact the whole of the front cover has been set up very much in the way that a website might be set up with lots of information set out as if they are links to the inside of the magazine thereby enticing the reader to want to look further in.

Analysing A Music Magazine Double Page Spread.

This is the double page spread from the Amy Winehouse issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. Rolling Stone magazine is a magazine devoted to all things to do with music and popular culture. It is published and printed every two weeks. Amy Winehouse is a very successful artist who has sold millions of albums across the world and in the process has gained a lot of fans too. This will have worked well for the magazine because a lot of her massive fan base will have bought the magazine just to see the Amy Winehouse article.

The purpose of this double page spread is to tell the readers and Amy's fans about what was happening in Amy Winehouse's life at the time of the issue. This double page spread conforms to the house style of the magazine by keeping all of the font the same and keeping it very similar, if not the same as the font on the front cover. The picture is in black and white, as well as the writing, this keeps everything looking similar and professional.

The title of the article is; 'The Diva And Her Demons'. This entices the audience to read on because the reference to 'Diva' tells the reader that the article will be worth reading to find out what sort of 'Diva-ish' behaviour Amy has been up to and the reader will also want to find out what Amy's demons are as it will give them an indication or provide answers to why she behaves the way that she does i.e. drugs, drink and choosing unsuitable and reckless men as boyfriends.  It continues; 'Amy Winehouse is in love and on top of the charts.  Now all she has to do is survive both.' This draws the reader in more as they not only want to know about her music but also her love life and it hints at whether or not she will be able to cope with both and whether she will succeed or fail. A convention has been used in this article which is a quote of something that Amy has said. This is a good convention to use when trying to lure her fans in to reading the article because they are interested in what Amy has to say often because of it's outrageous nature.

There is a good balance with the picture and the amount of text that there is on the page. The main image is on the right hand side and the text is on the left, it is split  exactly equally. However the back ground is also the image and it does cover the whole of the spread, which I think has a nice effect and makes it all about Amy Winehouse. The main image is a picture of Amy Winehouse. She is wearing only a bra and some shorts and is lying in a very suggestive pose making her look daring, sexy and interesting and worth reading about. This makes the article appeal to men as well as women because men might want to be with her and women might aspire to be like her and be as daring as she is. Overall the light in the image looks natural and quite light, the grey scale effect that has been added in editing has made the atmoshere of the image look moody, cool and sophisticated all at the same time which relates specifically to Amy Winehouse as she always comes across as cool and often moody too.  She is sporting her signature bee-hive hair and bold, harsh winged eyeliner familiar to fans and that makes her unique and different. The only prop that has been used in the image is the duvet that she is sitting on, giving the impression that she is in bed, this combined with the suggestiveness of the pose makes her appealing to a male audience. Her facial expression looks quite soft and inviting and she is looking down, luring people in in a non agressive way - not scaring them off as she has been known to do in the past. The image conforms with the genre of music because Amy Winehouse is a very popular recording artist who tops the charts.

Alliteration has been used in the title of the article; 'The Diva And Her Demons'. This makes the title sound catchy and memorable and will make readers want to read more about it. The tone of this double page spread looks quite friendly, making Amy look good as an artist by using phrases such as 'Amy Winehouse is in love and on top of the charts.' and printing a flattering picture of her. This magazine uses standard English, which makes it seem sophisticated and professional, giving it a more high end status and attracting a wider audience.

Analysing A Music Magazine Cover.

The music magazine 'Billboard' has a genre of chart music, meaning that it will vary from week to week depending on what people are listening to. It is a weekly American magazine, linking to chart music changing every week. The magazine is devoted to music and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world, it maintains several internationally recognised music charts. Billboard charts the most popular singles and albums of the week in their charts. The target audience is a very wide range of music lovers across America, this is because chart music appeals to so many different music lovers because all music is different and the charts always contain music from different genres. I can tell that this magazine cover is aimed at both men and women because of the colour scheme of purple, yellow and white, all of these colours appeal to both men and women. Although not everybody likes Miley Cyrus, she does have a huge fan base and putting her on front cover of this magazine will make a lot of her fans want to buy it, and will create a lot of sales for the magazine. For people who don't like her there are other artists that could appeal to them in the strapelines such as 3OH!3 and Justin Bieber who will appeal to other people and make their fans want to buy the magazine.

The main image is a picture taken of a very successful, teen pop artist Miley Cyrus. The image relates to the music genre of chart music in the way that Miley is constantly being charted highly in Billboards charts, she appeals to a wide audience and has many fans, meaning many sales of the magazine. Miley has been placed directly in the centre of the cover, looking directly in to the camera, possibly luring people in to buy it. Her head covers the name of the magazine; 'Billboard', indicating that it is very well know across the whole of America because people can recognise it instantly just by seeing it and not even needing to read the name. The image could appeal to both women and men because women could aspire to be like her and men could aspire to be with her. The mise-en-scene of the magazine cover is as follows; heavy lighting coming down on to her face and skin contrasting with her dark clothing, maybe to reveal two different side of her- good and bad.  Her makeup is neutral but is also looks quite fierce at the same time and compliments her pose. The prop that is on the cover is the 'M' that she is holding which stands for 'Miley'. She is holding it with strength and power. Indicating that she is a strong girl, and that she can lead her fans and gain more followers. As the colour of her clothes are quite dark, it sets quite a mysterious mood for the reader,rather than inviting them in it could scare them off, however, she is still looking directly in the the camera lens so it still most importantly lures the reader in and makes them want to buy it.

The language of the magazine is also a big selling point. The masthead of the magazine is called 'Billboard' and it means the chart that is in the magazine that contains a large range of different music appealing to a very wide audience. The typeface that has been used is very simple, legible and mostly the same throughout the cover. This simple font makes it easy to read from a distance, fans of Miley could read it from far away and even though they can't see the picture, they could read the font which will draw them to pick up and buy this magazine.

Analysing Music Magazine Covers.

'Q' magazine states that it is the uk's biggest music magazine. It's name 'Q' relates to the phrase 'cue the music' but the word 'cue' has been shortened to 'Q' to make it more memorable and so that the readers know it is to do with music and not anything to do with a cue used in snooker.  Shortening the word to just a letter makes the letter act like a logo, making it instantly recognisable and creating the brand 'Q'.  The magazine covers a wide range of music genres so that it appeals to a wide audience.

Just by looking at the cover of this magazine you can see why it is so successful as it fits with all the generic conventions of a typical magazine cover. The colour scheme of red, black and white straight away tells me that this magazine is probably aimed at a unisex audience. The main image fits with the colour scheme and the staplines also support it. The main image is of a picture of Cheryl Cole, a very relevant, successful and popular pop artist, appealing to both men and women as women aspire to be like her and men might want to be with her. In this image she looks head strong, in control and also quite sexy because of her red lips and the pose that she is in, again supporting the previous point. Furthermore, she is also looking directly in to the camera, a good technique to use when trying to address the audience and lure people in and make them buy it.

Staplines such as; 'The 10 Best New Acts' appeals to the target audience because the acts that follow are all quite different, appealing to both men and women and lots of different types of people. Also, this is telling the readers about new acts, this will make the readers think that if they buy this magazine then they will be 'in the know' about up to date and good new acts to follow. The kicker reads 'CHERYL COLE ROCKS' in large red, capital letters, keeping its link with the colour scheme and main image. The word 'rock' also links with the genre of music that is rock linking with the music magazine its self. As the kicker is very eye-catching, it will catch the attention of Cheryl Cole fans and make them want to buy it and as she has a huge fan base, that will be a lot of people and mean a lot of sales for the magazine. The layout of the magazine is clear, although it is full and there are a lot of things on it, it does not look overcrowded. The staplines are all placed nicely around the main image, so that they grab enough attention but at the same time don't take any attention away from the main image as it is very eye-catching, as is the title and the kicker. There is also a pug on the middle of the right hand side of the magazine that says; 'John Lennon'. John Lennon is very popular with older generations attracting them to the magazine. Whereas, Cheryl Cole attracts a younger audience. Having both of these artists involved in the front cover creates a balance between young and old and ultimately draws in a wider audience to the magazine.

Preliminary Task :)

 This is my school magazine that i created this lesson. Above is the front cover of my school magazine. I created it by using photo shop on an apple mac. I am especially pleased with the result of the front cover because i think that it looks quite professional. Features about the magazine that i like are; the colour scheme. This is because i feel that the two colours that i have used, purple and black compliment each other in a nice way, tie the magazine together and help to make the final effect look professional. I also like the fonts that i have used for the first part of my title; for the word 'Lordswood', i have used a very traditional and smart looking font to represent the school well and make the appearance of my magazine seem more polished and for the second part of the title that reads, 'Sixth Form' i have used more of a youth inspired, up to date font to link with the teenagers in the sixth form and show that they have there own identity. I feel that both fonts i have used contrast but also compliment each other and would represent the school well. Finally, i like the photography of the main image of two students getting their results and being happy with them because i like the shadowing around it and the fact that it has become the main focus of the front of my magazine.

Features of the front cover that i am not so happy with are, firstly, that i had trouble fitting my staplines on the front page because of various things such as the kicker and main image getting in the way. Secondly,
after producing this magazine front cover i realised that there is always some kind of margin that it left at the edges and i have continued out with my text right to the edge which takes away from the professional feel.

To improve my magazine further, i would have liked to have had more time to experiment with photo shop as i am still fairly new to it so that i could play around with different things such as colours, fonts and shapes. My mock up for this school magazine is somewhat similar to the end result, although i did have to make a few changes when things didn't look right or they were not properly aligned.

Above is my contents page to go with the front cover of my school magazine. Features that i like about it are that the colour scheme and font as it ties in with the front cover of the magazine, giving it a link and bringing it together nicely. I also like the photograph of the boy from the basketball academy as i feel that it is an interesting part because it gives the page live and makes it look more interesting to look at. Aspects of the contents page that i don't like are the faded edges around the main image, they are there because i didn't have much time to make them neat and my work was lost and that is why they look sightly rushed. I also think that the page looks to simple, given more time i would have added more detail to improve it.