Detailed Research into Forms and Conventions

After deciding that I was going to do a feminine rock magazine, I did some further research into rock magazines, as this is the same type of genre, although I am challenging it slightly, it will give me a good inside as to what I should try and do when presenting etc

As I have decided my magazine will be a rock magazine, I am now going to write a 500 word analyses  about 2 rock music magazines to get a good idea of what would be appropriate and good for my own magazine.

The title of the magazine is ‘KERRANG’ and this itself imitates a big crash noise, the word kerrang is a onomatopoeic word as when smashing an electric guitar it sounds like ‘’ke-ranggg’ this links to the fact that the magazine is a rock magazine by imitating the genre’s own music instruments. When looking at it, the masthead is in a bold black font with an exclamation mark which again emphasizes the smash shock noise, and makes the title itself stand out from the rest of the text on the magazine cover. Once more to emphasizes the shock and rock look on the masthead, there are small white lines going through the writing which makes it look as though the writing has been smashed, almost like a window, it is also very recognizable and yet unique to the magazine; all of these connotations together link to the rock theme of the magazine as it makes it seem very loud, which ties into the rock music theme.

As said previously, the artists they interview/photograph are usually from the genre of music that the audience like to listen to: rock. This addresses the reader automatically as it could be a favorite band or a popular band member who attracts the audience (this person may usually be stood slightly ahead of the rest of the band, and possibly be wearing a different colour to make him/her separate from the other band members, enhancing his importance in the group) The photographs themselves are usually with the artists looking very serious and almost evil, which could connote a serious dedication to the rock theme as though they are very much into their music, relating to the music magazine itself. The artists aren’t very made up and look rather natural and in normal clothing, so nothing glamorous however the main guy standing in the middle has his hood up which could suggest he is trying to stand out in a simple yet affective way. The colour’s worn also tie in with the colour theme of the magazine, contrasting with their skin tones and hair colour’s making the artists very centralized and the main focus.

The magazine uses pictures of bands that are popular in the genre of music they specialize in, for kerrang this is rock and metal and so it is aimed at people who like listening to that sort of music. The artists are boldly presented in front of the masthead to make them stand out which will attract more people when selling in shops. Most magazines have a colour theme which carries on throughout the content pages , for this magazine it is red, white and black which are quite simple colour’s however when used together with the bright red is very effective and make the writing stand out making it easy to read and easy to catch somebodies attention. The colour’s could also imitate some sort of danger and anger which could represent the rock theme, and which could also make the reader feel drawn towards buying it for a guilty pleasure. The writing style used is big and bold for the main story to draw the attention to their main story that week, which will hopefully help to sell the magazine, whereas the other stories are in a smaller font however they are still very bold which relates to the rock theme of the magazine as many rock artists are big and bold in their image and when it comes to their music. Most of the information about what’s inside the magazine is at the bottom of the cover, leaving plenty of room for the main cover story and like most of the other magazines the masthead is along the top of the magazine.

The language used on the cover of kerrang is very simple and basic, they don’t want to use very intelligent wording as their audience doesn’t tend to be people who know the dictionary from back to front, and are more just care-free and like rocking out, another reason the language isn’t too complicated is that if people don’t understand what’s written they will be less inclined to buy the magazine. So instead they use word’s like ‘massive’ which is still very affective in the contest that it is used in. The cover has as little writing as possible to tell the reader what is going on inside the magazine without giving away every detail. They use capitals a lot, for example ‘FREE!’ which helps emphasize that they are giving something away for free which is a big seller when it comes to magazines. It also makes that small piece of text stand out well with the exclamation mark as it is by itself and so usually wouldn't have been noticed as much. 

The content of the magazine has lots of other types of rock bands, that aren’t there main story, like their cover story however they are still featured in the magazine in things like articles, interviews, photshoot’s, reviews etc.. This is good publication for the band and it also attracts the magazines audience as the bands genre of music is the type of music kerrang is aiming their magazines audience at. They also give away things, for example in this issue they give away a free poster and they are having a download ticket give away.  This attracts more people to buy the magazine because if they like what they get back in return for buying it they will be more inclined to do so.

Because Kerrang specialize in a small sector of the music industry they have a niche market of people who are interested in or like listening to rock and metal music. Because of the fonts, presentation, set out and colour’s it could be apparent that it is aimed at the younger generation however this is only an opinion.

Kerrang is published by Bauer Consumer Media which is a worldwide publishing company, they do not only own Kerrang, but also some other huge magazines such as FHM, ZOO, Heat, Q and so many more, along with TV and radio stations worldwide which makes them part of a multi-national conglomerate. They started as just a rock magazine and when the rock industry came to a low they added some metal into the magazine as well,  this shows that the ownership structure of the magazine accounts for it’s success as they are good at adapting to change yet still selling the product to ensure they get a good profit, there ownership may also be a big reason as to why the magazine has become so successful as many popular rock acts have been featured in the magazine which could have come about through their ownership. The magazine is now the worlds biggest selling weekly rock magazine and the cost of the magazine is £1.99 which could suggest the ownership values their customers as they want to sell their magazine for a decent price. 

‘Kerrang! identifies its audience as ‘individually minded, independent of thought and musically experienced, an audience defined by attitude, passion and loyalty’. Kerrang distinguish their identity as a world ‘where Jackass meets Play station and Skate culture meets IPod’

At the top left of the contents page is a small picture of the front cover of the magazine and a short paragraph written by the editor, describing what inspired them to put the things they put into the magazine, what they like about the music, and what they are trying to achieve by the magazine that particular week. Many magazines, not just music, have an editors column  and this just helps the reader to connect more with what is going on in the magazine.

This contents page has a lot of pictures which illustrate what the features inside the magazine will be about, and it also helps to catch the readers attention, because of this, they take up the majority of the page, the bigger images suggest that they will be the bigger stories, so perhaps are more important.  

Content is clearly visible in bold and bright writing to make it stand out from the rest of the writing on the page, and this is simply to tell the reader what the page is doing, (telling them what is in the magazine, and where to find it.)

The photographs are also labeled which shows the reader a small clip of what may appear in the magazine, it also gives them the opportunity to find them in the magazine if they are unfamiliar with the artist and want to find out more.

Down the right hand side of the page it tells you specifically where everything is by page numbers, and it also splits each section up so it is even easier to find what you are looking for, they do this by putting small titles above each different section which are contrasted on a different colour background, and they are also in capitals and a bright yellow colour, for example, ‘NEWS’

This double page spread is about the All-American rejects.

Some of the pictures are black and white and have a red line around each of them which makes them all look very effective as it makes them stand out a lot compared to the writing. In those pictures, it is almost 3D as they are coming out of the ‘frames’ which looks really good for the audience and it makes it feel more interactive. 

The spread is split pretty much in two by photographs and writing, the writing being an interview. There is more than one picture, and this is done so that the bigger picture shows you all of the members together, and the others showing smaller separate pictures of each member, this helps you to get to know each member individually, helping the reader to relate to them. 

There are a few quotes in reversed out cover lines, and this helps emphasize what he says, usually this is a funny or interesting point which makes people want to read on.

The colour scheme is the same throughout the spread, a red purple and black theme, and like the cover, the photograph links in with this theme.

The dirty little secrets is the bigger and more interesting font, as the fonts are different, contrasting the feminine ‘dirty little’ with flirty fonts, and the ‘secrets’ with a bold scruffy font which suggests something really secretive is about to come out in the interview. The test is all interview, and talks to the band  about their private lives, what’s gong on with the individual members, and the band a as group., basically anything that will get the audience gripped and wanting to read about.