Analysis of a music magazine cover

NME magazine analysis

Target audience

In terms of target audience, the primary audience of this magazine is working class (social grades C1-E); white men aged 15-30 years who are in to rap music. All of the conventions on this cover are geared towards representing this group and their needs.

Imagery

I will start my analysis with the imagery. This cover doesn’t break the conventions because it’s a medium shot of the star vehicle, in this case the rap star Eminem, they do this to represent the primary target audience and their needs. The image of this music magazine sticks to common conventions as it only has one image on the front cover. The lighting of the image is of a good quality as it’s shinning against his face. The main story of the music magazine is written across him with Eminem in a bigger font, which straight away tells us who he is and what the magazine is about.

Masthead

The masthead of this magazine is the biggest bold piece of writing on the page. The magazine approximately sticks to common conventions, as the masthead should take up 1/8 of the page. The colour of the masthead is just white on a black background, which are both shades of colour that makes them unisex. The only problem I have with the masthead is that it looks too similar to the writing below as I think they are the same fonts. It doesn’t break the convention of it being in the top left corner, which makes it easy to see when in the shelves of shops. The masthead relates to the target audience as it is for both genders and stands out from the page.

Layout

The layout of this music magazine sticks to common conventions as it only has one image on the front cover. The image is a medium shot of the rap star Eminem.

The main story of the music magazine is written across him with Eminem in a bigger font, which straight away tells us who he is and what the magazine is about. The other teasers have been placed around the side of Eminem, so that no there other writing is on him. This relates to the target audience, as it is very well placed and easy to read.

Colour

The colours of the magazine are very unisex as they only have to colours black, white and red, this interests more readers, as it is gender neutral. Most of the teasers are in white writing but the other information beneath the teasers is in red. The writing in red tells the readers about the information in the magazine. The red colour connotes that these things cannot be missed and makes the reader want to read it. Also only having three colours make the page easier to read and look at from the readers view. The colour of the magazine refers to the target audience as it has gender-neutral colours.

Typography

The text on the front cover is very well presented. The key information in the magazine is written in bold, which makes the text stand out, and attracts the target audience’s eyes to the page. There is also teasers that aren’t written in bold writing but are still telling the reader what content is inside. The writing is also white on a black background this makes it standout from the page. The name Eminem is written in bold writing on a red background, which makes the target audience instantly look at the name of the rap star, thus getting more people interested in Eminem.

Conclusion

This music magazine sticks to the common conventions very well. The colours and the text also help the target readers understand what the magazine is about and draws them to the magazine. The magazine is also very well presented.

Vibe magazine analysis

Target audience

The target audience of this magazine would have a primary audience of working class (socail grades C1-E); white males aged around 14-30 years old who like rap music. The conventions on the front cover represent more youth as it has Eminem on the front and has text talking about Jay-Z who is also a raper. This could fall into Dick hedbridge's theory "youth as fun, youth as trouble maker" as stereotypicaly rapers are seen with a graffiti can etc.

Imagery

This magazine doesn't break common conventions as it has a medium shot of a star vechile on the front cover. The image is of the star Eminem which represents their target audience. The image has been taken with a white screen behind it making Eminem stand out from the background. The writing is around the image making it easier for the audience to make out the star. The lightening of the image is mostly around his face thus making it easier for the reader to see the the music artist is looking directly towards the audience which sticks to common conventions.

Masthead

 The masthead sticks to common conventions as its atleast 1/8 of the page on the front cover. It is the biggest part of text as well which makes it easier for the audience to make out the magazine. The colour of the masthead is red and black which are two unisex colours. The image is also over the masthead which shows the audience that the star must be worth reading about as they have put him infront of themselves. The masthead is also at the top of the page which sticks to common conventions so it makes it easier for the audience to find the magazine.

Layout

 The magazine sticks to common conventions as it only has one main image on the front which is a medium shot. There are teasers around the side of the page which makes it easier to see the star vechile of Eminem in the centre. This relates to the target audience as it is laid out nice and easy to read.

Colour

The colour of the texts are very unisex as they only use reds, blacks and whites which relate to both genders. The main piece of texts inside the magazine are shown as they are in bold. The less important stories are in smaller fonts. The red colour of the text over Eminem connotes to the reader that this magazine interview with him can't be missed. Having three colours on the front cover makes it easier for the reader as there isn't much going on and the target audiences eyes won't be all over the place looking at the colours and makes it easier to read.

Typography

The text on the front cover is very well presented. The key information in the magazine is written in bold, which makes the text stand out, and attracts the target audience’s eyes to the page. The text is written around the star which makes it easier for the reader. There are also teasers on the front cover showing the audience what is inside. Having the black writing on the white background makes it stand out from the page. The name Eminem is bigger than the rest showing the audience that he is the most important but doesn't break common conventions as the mat head is the biggest text. 

Conclusion

The magazine sticks to common conventions well with the masthead and the text is very well laid out around the image in the centre. The image is also very well taken.