Title block analysis

Target Audience is Males aged 24-44, (woman are aimed aswell), readership is older due to the fact the features are more in-depth and acts such as McFly wouldnt feature in the magazine. The single lettered title is prominent on the news stands, because usually magazines have a longertitle.
The colours used are red and white the background of red shows power and danger. This will make it stand out on the shelves. Also the read and white would appeal to the English readership as these are the colours of the national flag.
The 'Q' leans slightly to the left; this shows that the magazine not only covers mainstream acts but also 'left-field' acts that don't usually get coverage in the main news.

The target audience is males aged 15-24. NME stands for 'New Musical Express'. this is good for the intended target audience because it allows them to discover what kind of music they are really into. the lettering is bold and stands out to the young target audience. this also reflects the magazine as being a bold one. The boldness is also reflected bythe use of colours: red, black and white. The readership probably spends their time watching different artists at various different locations.

Mojo's intended target audience is also males aged between 22 and 44. The word 'mojo' means 'talent' and it appeals to a wide aundience because it reports on different music types. The colours used are very simple: black and white. The font is also very simple, but makes a stand because it is different to most other music magazines. The shadowing effect makes the reader think of night time and having a good night out.

The intended target audience for 'Kerrang!' is males aged between 15 and 24. The chances of anyone over the age of 30 reading Kerrang! is slim. The name of the title is onomatopoeic; it is supposed to sound like the violent strings of an air guiter. This reflects the genre of music that the magazine is based on: Rock. The font is edgy and relates to the readers. rock music is also quite edgy. The capital letters stand out and are very bold. The use of the colour black signifies the stereotypical readers of the magazine which would be 'goths' or 'emo's'-it could also signify them standing out as differenttypes of people against a plain white background.

magazine front covers

Q Magazine

Q is a music magazine aimed at males of the ages between 22- 44. It's for people interested in a variety of different types of music, but usually has its main focus as Rock. The target audience would also be interested in reading articles based on these artists.

we can tell from the puffs on the front cover, that the magazine will feature a range of different artists such as 50 Cent, Muse and Snow Patrol. Also, the puff "The 10 Best new Acts" attracts the audience because of the buzz word "Best". The buzz word makes the reader feel as if they ar getting something extra and exclusive that not everyone has. The central image is of Cheryl Cole; she has a direct mode of address which shows her connecting with the audience. Cheryl is on the front cover of Q so that she can help promote herself and her music, as she has just recently released her debut solo album. The anchorage text reads " 3 words... Cheryl Cole

Rocks", this is a reference to her album '3 words' and Q magazine made a clever approach in making the next words that followed literally three words. The word "Rocks" is in large capitals so it stands out, this also will make the reader believe that Cheryl is no longer a pop singer and is now a rock star! As the magazine is dominately aimed at males, the central image being a pretty woman like Cheryl Cole will make it look more appealing. From this image Cheryl is giving the impression that she has an 'edge' to her and the image is in relation to Sin City, a film which regular readers of Q would be familiar with.

The main colours of the magazine are red, black and white. These colours also match the Sin City and 'rock chick' kind of theme. Red is a very dominant colour, that can also be seen as sexy, stong and powerful. White stands out amongst the mainly black background and all the colours are quite sophisticted. The font used is simple block capitals because they are simple to read and don't take the main focus away from the actual magazine. The slogan is written along the top of the magazine, this is good because it means it will stand out and be seen even when the magazine is stacked on shelves behind others. It says "The UK's biggest music magazine". This shows that a lot of people read it and that it is a confident, well known magazine. Not many music magazines cater for all different genres of music, however Q magazine, is one of the few that does.

NME magazine

NME is aimed at young males aged 15-24. The magazine doesn't really contain in-depth articles about artists, but rather features in montages of pictures. The magazine is more of a newspaper than a magzine, and features reports on artists and recent shows. We can tell from the title block that the magazine is trying to attract a young audience. We know this because of the bold lettering as it is very bold and eye catching. The colours are also very bold (red and black). The title of the magazine is pronounced as 'Enemy' , it suggests that the magazine enemy is the popular culture.

The central image is of Gerrad Way from the band 'My Chemical Romance'. It uses a direct mode of address which shows that the magazine wants it to have a connection with the audience. However, his body is twisted away from the audience and only half of his face is showing. This shows that the magazine wants us to know him, but not fully; it makes it seen mysterious. He is on the front so he can promote My Chemical Romance's new album. He will also help to bring in a wider audience.

The anchorage text says: "My chemical romance on their punk comeback album"- this tells the audience that it is something new and they have come back with a bang! The colours used are red, white and black. These colours are very bold and also looks quite dangerous. They chose three main coloursto focus on because using too many would not make the image look as appealing to the audince. NME does its best to attract readers by featuring various artists and bands on the front cover, they also mention up and coming artists that do not usually get coverage in other music magazines.

Bauer

Bauer is responsible for the publication of around 150 magazines in the UK, including Kerrang, Mojo and Take a Break. They make both niche and mainstream magazines. For example. 'eat in' is a magzine based on one topic which is food and cooking, and 'Take a Break' is a mainstream magazine about celebrities and current affairs. Some of the other magazines they publish are:

• Bella


• Spirit & Destiny


• TV choice


• Take a Break Puzzle Magazine


• that's life
  

The target audience of their magazines are usually women and teens. It is unlikely that a man aged 40 would buy Spirit & Destiny on a regular basis, whereas a woman aged 40 is more likely to. Bauer also have ownership of 40 radio stations. These include

• Kiss FM


• Magic


• North West Radio


• Kerrang Radio

And a few Music Television channels including:

• 4 music


• The box


• Hits


• Kerrang

Their brand image is...

IPC

IPC media plays a major part within the British publishing world. They also produce both niche and mainstream magazines, but mostly mainstream. For example they have magazines on weddings and gardening and tV, as well as ones on general life & current affairs. They publish around 80 magazines, some of them being:

• Marie Claire


• Loaded


• What's on Tv
  
• In style


• Ideal home
  
• Now


• Nuts


• Rugby world


• Look

The target audience for their magazines are mixed both men and women, and probably ranging from the age of about 16 for certain magazines such as Now and Look. Over 44% of men and nearly 2 in every 3 read an IPC magazine. One of IPC's digital properties is NME which is the third largest commercial website in the UK.

BBC magazines

BBC produce many magazines as well as TV stations and Radio stations. They produce niche magazines which fall under specific catergories such as:

• Childrens


• Food


• Home & Garden


• History


• Music


• Puzzles


• Motoring


• Science & Nature


• TV


• Sports

They have a mixture of target audiences because they have so many different catergories of magazine. For example, they have magazines about Gardening and food which will generally be meant for women and magazines about motoring and sports which will be mostly aimed at men. however, BBC do not produce many childrens magazines. They own 12 BBc Radio stations:

• BBC Radio 1-7


• BBC 1XTRA


• BBC Radio


• BBC Radio Nations & Local


• BBc World Service

BBC also own many TV channels, and are one of the leading publishing companies in the UK. They are key players in magazine publishing, as well as on TV and on the Radio.

Magazine Covers

When publishing a magazine, the editors main consern is what's on the cover. Editors spend 50% of their time worrying about what is on the cover of the magazine. The front cover is so important to them because it is the first thing that the readers see. It determines how good it is and what is inside it; it is what sells the magazine. The cover has to draw in the target audience and make them want to buy it.

The editor makes sure that Kerrang ! cover appeals to the whole of it's readership by covering four or five different types of music such as rock, pop, indie and punk. The magazine is aimed at teenagers from the sges of about 13-18. Four times a year Kerrang! have a cover-mounted CD, which is a free CD on the front cover. This is part of a promotional offer followed by posters, stickers and calindars in the next issues. These rapidly increase sales and more people are likely to buy it. A cover-mounted CD can not be on every issue because from then it will always be expected and sales will not rise, they will just stay at a constant level. They are also very expensive and time consuming. Mixmag features a CD on their issues and this does not help sales.

The two most important areas on a magazine front cover are the Logo (title) and the sweet spot at the side of the page. Well established magazines such as Cosmopolitan or HFM do not need to show their titles as much because it is easy to spot the magazine without seeing the full title. Most magazines to their best to ensure that their front covers are reassuring, but different.

Denotation, Conotation 2

HFM magazine

• Her head is placed over the last letter in the magazine title: This shows her importance and makes her stand out on the cover of the magazine.
• Jennifer is wearing a blue bikini: The bikini suggests that Jennifer Lopez is on a beach, or enjoying hot weather somewhere. The bikini allows lots of skin to be shown, which is appealing to the target audience. This image shows her as more of a sex icon than the sexy diva look that was portrayed in the previous magazine covers.
• She is facing the camera and slightly pouting: This shows that she has confidence within herself as a person. The pouting could suggest that she knows that she is sexy and she is flaunting- again this suggests confidence.
• She is kneeling, leaning her body to one side, using one hand to support her weight and the other is on her hip: Leaning to the side shows off Jennifer's curvacious body. The hand on the hip again suggests confidence and stability. This could also represent a fierce attitude.
• She is on sand: This shows us that she is on the beach, which relates to her costume of a bikini.
• Mid-shot: Shows the majority of her body. It helps the magazines to draw readers in.

People Magazine

• Her head is positioned below the title, only covering the last few letters: This shows that she has importance over the magazine, but maybe not too much as you can still make put the name of the magazine pretty well.
• She is holdong two babies in her arms: This shows us that she has had kids and is happy for them to be shown in the media.
• She is looking forward and directly focusing on the camera and smiling: The smile suggests warmth and happiness- not only towards the babies, but towards the audience aswell. The direct focus on the camera shows she can be confident as a mother, and also as a sexy diva.
• Her hair is tied up: This goes with the mother' look. Its stereotypical that mothers tie their hair up and this is the way she is portrayed in 'People Magazine'. In th other images, her hair has been down and flowy which suggests freeness. However, this is not the way we look at her in this image. She still looks glamorous, but just more neat and tidy.
• A close up: It enables us to see her face and also her two babies clearly.
• She is wearing a beige sparkly dress: Beige is a very spohisticated colour- this shows maturity. The dress is not as revealing as the others butis still very fashionable. This makes her seem like a very glamorous mum.

InStyle Magazine

• Jeniffer's head is infront of the title: This makes her stand out and emphasises her importance over the title of the magazine.


• She stands to the side with her hand on her hip: She is standing to the side because if she were to face the front, it would give off a much fiercer impression of her. We can also see her curvacious figure which is good for a fashion magazine- it is appealing to the audience.


• It is a mid-shot: Shows her body.


• The colour choice is red, white and black: There is a set colour scheme. Lopez is wearing a black and white dress and has red lipstick on. These are very bold, forceful and sophisticated colours. The text is white against a red background.


• Her hair is tightly pulled back. She looks a little smug: This makes her look like a very sophisticated woman with lots of power and control.

Cosmopolitan Magazine:

• Jennifers head is infront of the title: This shows her importance over the magazine title. It's as if the magazine is showing off or giving off the impression you do not even need to see the name of the magazine.


• She is wearing a red and yellow dress: The colours of the dress (red and yellow), could be representing her firey attitude. Red is also seen as a loving, warm; sexy colour. The dress is strappy and low cut, this is to show skin so that the front cover will draw the audience in and make them want to buy Cosmopolitan. She looks Diva-ish.


• She is facing directly to the front. Her mouth is slightly open: This makes her look confident; she connects better with the audience by directly facing the front. Her face has a 'sexy look' on it. It also helps to see the style of the dress better.


• Her hair is flowy and wild: This adds to the sexy impression that she is implying. Her hair looks wild and free. Her hair brings out the style of the dress more.


• She is standing directly infront of the camera with her hands on her thigh: The way she is positioned shows confidence and stability. Her hand is placed on her thigh whilst holding up her dress at the same time to show her lower thigh.


• Mid-shot: Shows her body and body language.


• The colours used are red, yellow and orange: All these colours could be seen to represent fire. This could be in relation to her atttitude, hair style and body language. The chosen colours are also a good match for he tanned skin tone.