Analysis of music magazines

Kerrang is a rock magazine, published weekly by Bauer Consumer Media. Its emphasis on certain types of music seems to change quite frequently with popular music trends and it has included music styles such as rock, heavy metal and grunge but more recently has focused on emo and metalcore music. The readership of 'Kerrang' is 60% male and 40% female and the choice of colour, style and male artists on the cover seems to reflect male interests rather than female. Metal and goth music have created subcultural identitys and the style and colour of 'Kerrang' is representative of stereotypical emo and goth fashion which has become more commonly associated with the word 'emo' rather than the music. In recent years, the media has associated emo with being emotional, shy, introverted or depressed and the dark colour scheme of black and red reflects this as well as the serious expressions of the band on the cover. The clothing of the band on the cover is also stereotypical of emo fashion as they have dark styled hair and are dressed in plain black clothes. Even without knowing the name or music of the band, it is obvious what audience they are aimed at, because of their stereotypical emo fashion. The same colours are The band Funeral for a Friend are a well known emo rock band and the use of their name in large lettering on the cover draws attention to them as the main feature which makes it obvious that the magazine is aimed at emo and rock music fans.

'Kerrang' uses words and phrases on the front of the magazine to support the loud and heavy sound associated with metal music, for example, 'Life is Loud' and the name 'Kerrang' refers to the sound of a block chord played on an electric guitar; a loud and abrupt sound to reflect its music genre. The language used on the cover is informal and the use of slang terminology shows that the readership consists mainly of teenagers and young adults. 'Kerrang' specifically targets the emo/goth subculture, presented by its dark colour scheme, style and fashion as worn by the band on the cover.

This is the cover for the weekly pop magazine, 'Billboard'. Although 'Billboard' is an American magazine, it covers popular chart and new music releases in various countries in print and on the web. This magazine cover contains a wider range of colour than 'Kerrang', immediately targeting a different audience from the emo or goth subculture and its use of dark colours on the cover. The readership of 'Billboard' is male and female young adults, however this particular issue seems to target female readers as the main use of text colour used is purple, a stereotypical female colour. The main photograph of the page is of Miley Cyrus, a pop singer/actress, popular mostly in America, showing that the main focus of the magazine is on American artists and chart hits. Miley Cyrus is pulling a silly but her expression is friendly, reflecting the fun appearance and style of pop music, in contrast to the serious expressions of the band on the cover of 'Kerrang'. 'Billboard' also features R'N'B or pop rock artists who's music is likey to also appeal to pop music fans of the magazine. The cover also includes captions of what features inside the magazine which are all featured around artists and their musical careers or latest chart updates. This is very different to the 'Top of the Pops' magazine, a pop music magazine for young teenagers which tends to focus on the personal lives of artists rather than their music. 'Billboard' uses informal language on its cover to appeal to young adults and its overall style and colour has connotations of fun and happiness, associated with popular music. I like the style of this magazine and will incorporate some of its conventions into my own.


This is the cover for the hip-hop and R&B music magazine, 'Vibe'.

Its focus is on urban hip-hop culture; fashion, politics and entertainment as well as its music, and has a circulation of around 8 million in various countries. 'Vibe' features many well known R&B artists as well as actors or other celebrities representative of the urban hip-hop culture. Artists featured in 'Vibe' magazine are predominantly black such as Ciara, Jay-Z and Kanye West and R. Kelly covers this issue of 'Vibe'; a stereotypical black hip-hop artist. Stereotypes of the hip-hop culture include aggression and the terminology such as 'thugs' and 'sickest' used on the cover reflect the common themes of violence and aggression in the lyrics of hip-hop songs. The colour and style of this magazine appears to be targeted at a male audience, with black and red as the main use of colours, mirroring the style of 'Kerrang' magazine, with its readership consisting mainly of males.