Task 1

By Zak Bishto

What is a music magazine?

A Music Magazine is a magazine that is focused
mainly around music and features different genres
of music in the industry. The contents of the
magazine is topics about different artists or groups
in the genre. The aim of the music magazine is to
entertain and be commercially successful so that
the company making the magazine is making
money. The target audience can vary depending
on the genre as different genres audiences are
different e.g. Rock music is an older audience
while Rap is younger. These magazines advertise
different products, gigs and merchandise for the
different artists and bands. Examples of music
magazines are both Q which is a formal Rock/Pop
magazine while Vibe is a Hip Hop magazine.

What content
(text/copy/writing/articles/stories) would you
expect to find in a music magazine?
In a music magazine you would typically find a front
cover that has a popular artist or band in the genre, this
would then be followed by a contents page which would
have information about each article in the magazine, the
articles would be related to the genre of the magazine.
After the contents page there would most likely a double
page spread followed by other pages with
advertisements and dedicated pages about different
artists or groups. The text would vary depending on the
magazine as more sophisticated magazines would have
more formal text while more urban magazines may
feature slang etc.
There may even be pages dedicated to the latest news,
upcoming tours or events, reviews and interviews etc.

What images would you expect to find in a

music magazine?
Conventionally most magazine will feature a main image, this
image is usually anchored to the main cover line and is
dependent on the genre of the magazine. Magazine will do photo
shoots of the band or the artist, the shot can feature from being a
close up to an extreme long shot, it all depends on the
photographer and how they want to perceive the artist.
Other images that may be present in a music magazine could be
different backgrounds that vary depending on the genre, for
example a grime or UK rap magazine may feature a urban
background of flats or a specific area that the artists are from.
Other images could be icons for different social media so
instagram icons etc. may be on there.

Identify general characteristics/Features that

you would expect to find in all music
magazines?
All most all magazine follow general codes and conventions some of these
include; A Masthead that has the magazines name on them, a main image that is
anchored to the main cover line, a main cover line that shows what the main article
is about, there may also be a banner that is there to advertise other information in
the magazine, a puff may also be on the magazine, this is used to advertise a
competition or other type of give away. There may also be a issue number, bar
code and date etc. as these are used to find out when the magazine was published
and which issue it is.
Not every magazine is going to feature all the same conventions, some magazines
may feature other codes for example, a pop or hip hop magazine may have slang
present in the cover line. An older magazine may feature more formal text and
feature correct use of grammar and language.
A consistent colour scheme is almost always present in magazines, to keep the
theme of the genre present throughout the magazine, the structure of the
magazine is also expected as dead space needs to be utilised and rule of thirds is
expected to be used if you want the magazine to be appealing .

Why are these features present on all of the

magazines? Why are these important?
All of these magazine have similarities between them, the first three magazines
feature the masthead at the top of the page while the fourth has the masthead
going down the left hand side of the magazine, the last goes against typical codes
and conventions, This is to keep the focus on the main image. All of the
magazines feature a main image although, the Top of the Pops magazine has
five artists in the cover. This makes the magazine look unorganised but this works
as the magazine is from the pop genre and has to feature a lot of the latest news.
All but the last feature direct contact, this would go against the rules and
conventions but the long shots allows us to see her expression etc.
All of the magazines feature many cover lines except for the last magazine which
is simplistic as this is the whole aesthetic of this particular magazine.

Why are these features present on all of the

magazines? Why are they important?
These features are extremely important, a eye catching and bold masthead is
essential as the magazine needs to be easily recognisable, the masthead tells
the companies name and needs to be easily identified. The main image is also
essential as it is needed to identify the genre, popular artists of the genre are
used to attract customers as they will recognise the artist and be more likely to
buy it. Direct mode of address is also important as it engages the viewer and
gives off confidence for the magazine.
The mise en scene is extremely important as the setting and clothing is used to
show the genre, for example if dark backgrounds and clothing is present then
this is usually associated with rock etc. while brighter colours are linked to pop
music. Buzz words are used on the cover, so words like Free etc. are used in
the main cover to attract customers to the magazine.

music magazine it is (sub-genre nb music

magazines are the magazine genre, the type of
music covered is the sub-genre) provide at least 4
specific examples from the magazine that supports
your claim that it belongs to this particular subgenre
The magazine is a pop magazine and the sub genre is
teen pop, the magazine is very informal as it is aimed at
young teenage girls. The colour scheme for the
magazine is is pink, purple, yellow and light blue. These
are very youthful female colours which appeal to the
target audience. The front cover has the main image of
the boy band One Direction on it, this attracts the
young female audience as they are the most popular
boy band at that time, the cover line is anchored to the
main image as it relates back to the boy band using
there name.
The cover uses slang like REEM as the target
audience is young people and they will be able to
recognise and relate to the cover. Heart symbols are
also used as young females love the artists so they are
more likely to purchase the magazine.