My L.I.I.A.R. Analysis of Three Magazines

Number Three

AP (Alternative Press)

Language – Front Cover – AP is written at the top in large letters in the centre of the page. The issue number and publishing is in blue and is within the ‘P’ in the masthead. Underneath the actual masthead the full title of the magazine is written in a smaller font. Hayley’s head covers some of the title but as it is a well established, American magazine it’s okay because the readers will still recognise the brand. As the cover of each issue changes so does the colour of the masthead to fit in with the picture. The word ‘paramore’ starts orange (like the colour of Hayley’s hair) and fades into yellow (like the masthead). The colour of the masthead usually carries on to the headline, and inside on the contents page, this helps show consistency, On the actually photo all the band members are looking directly in to the camera so it appears that they are looking towards the readers. In the picture Hayley is wearing a red tie, and Zac is wearing a red top and Josh is also wearing a blue and red tie, this colour links through the magazine as some parts of the contents and double page spread are also in red. The barcode would usually appear in the lower left hand corner, but as this is an ‘Exclusive subscriber-only cover’ it doesn’t need one as it would be sent through the post, and this makes people want to subscribe as they get an exclusive cover that is not for sale on shops or published online.

Contents Page – In AP they usually have two different contents pages.

The first one is on top of a black and white photograph of paramore and shows there full bodies but only one is looking into the camera, this contents page features the cover stories, and the special features.

The second contents page follows the pattern as the previous, with the same style, font and colour scheme (red, orange and yellow) just like the cover. There is a colour picture of the band Coheed and Cambria, they are sat at the bottom of the page with the text above them, containing the rest of the magazine contents. 

Double Page Spread – The double page spread is a full photo of the band they all have dark clothing on against the light blue sky and sunny surroundings. In both of the lower corners there is text following the same font and colours as the cover and contents, On the left hand it says the award that paramour won in the ‘AP readers poll 2007’ and in the other it has a quote of paramore lyrics and has a short article on them, the next couple of pages carry on with the full article and two full page photo’s, One shows them live on stage and the other shows a black and white image of them on a truck that is feature on the first double page spread.

Ideology – The magazine started in 1985, They provide people with the latest trends and they believe that they are always feature the ‘latest’ thing. They believe they show the hottest bands first. They think that they extend beyond the music and it is now becoming a lifestyle. AP state they have embraced new technologies and have extended their network to the web and radio.

Institution – The magazine is published by Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. This is there only magazine they publish, how ever it is one of the most read music magazines in America. The company put on a festival every year, of bands that have been featured within the actual magazine throughout the year.

Audience – AP’s audience is mostly male orientated like NME, it targets 16 – 30 year olds, people who are still very involved with music, and more likely to splash out on gig tickets. Every month the conduct a poll were the readers can answer random questions from other readers or answer questions that are set by the magazine they get featured in the next issue, they also help influence the next issues actual content, so in the magazine the readers see who they want to see.

Representation – Within AP everybody who is featured or mentioned on the cover is usually voted for by the audience, they help influence the content, so as they have requested for them to be on the cover they have to be represented positively just simply to keep the readers happy. On the first contents page the band are seen to be linking arms and laughing with each other, this shows the readers that the band are still strong and linked together, as at the time of publishing the band were reported to be splitting up.

AP Cover

Contents Page One

Contents Page Two

Double Page Spread One

Double Page Spread Two



Sources:

Information - http://www.altpress.com/

My L.I.I.A.R. Analysis Of Three Magazines.

Number Two

Q

Language – Front Cover - The Q masthead follows the conventional route of red and white. It’s also in the top left hand corner which is also seen as traditional. However the cover goes against conventions by putting the barcode in the top of the left hand corner instead of at the bottom. The picture on the cover is simple but very effective, the picture is black and white on a plain white background. Even though the bottom of his face is covered you can still see his eyes and hair, and he is still easily recognisable. and makes him look like what he used to look like when he was in the Beatles, this helps link to the main headline, which is ‘it’s impossible to live up to the Beatles’  This is also in the same shade of red as the masthead. The bit of writing that stands out is were it says Paul McCartney, as it’s in black highlighted with gold.

Double Page Spread – It is consistent to the cover showing another black and white picture, however this time he is not looking direct into the audience like in the cover, he’s eyes are closed and his head is towards the floor. The colours are similar to the cover as they stick with the read whit and black, and once again Paul McCartney’s name it highlighted to make it stand out.

Ideology – The magazine at one point was known for doing what they wanted, putting who they want on their cover and not really caring about their readers opinions, However now it has been criticised for been original and playing safe and now focuses on more popular bands and that the magazine has lost it’s individuality. The magazine is known mostly for it’s reviews of albums and artists, and are said to be very generous to British artists, making them sound better then they actually are.

Every issue of the magazine has a different message on it’s spine, the audience are then asked to figure out how this has any relevance to the magazines content. They call this activity Spine Line.

Institution – Q is published by Bauer Media, It has 19 million consumers around the UK every week throughout all of it’s publications. It also has a range of magazines, TV Radio stations and Websites about many of it’s different publications. Q is the best selling monthly magazine in the UK. They also hold the Q awards every year. In June 2007 it was reproted that Q magazine had a circulation of 130,179.

Audience – Q is published for a male audience but appeals to an older audience compared to other magazines such as Kerrang! And NME. The readers of Q usually do not like on type of genre of music and like a mix. And also unlike NME were their readers are crazed about music, Q readers enjoy other things such as comedy, sport and films and they are all an equal share within their life.

Representation – These days Q often promote bands that are popular and have great audience interest so they are able to keep their large readership up, and keep their status as best monthly music magazine. So as most people that feature in the magazine are popular they are represented in a positive way as this will keep the readers happy. The cover shows Paul McCartney covering up his face, as if he has secrets to hide and that in this Q interview these secrets will be reveled and in the article is shows this as he has let his coat go and it shows that he is screaming out all of his secrets.

Sources:

Information: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Q/
Images: http://covers.q4music.com/Item.aspx?pageNo=6152&year=2010

My L.I.I.A.R. Analysis of Three Magazines.

Number One

NME

Language – Front Cover -  The masthead is in the top left hand corner which is very conventional for a magazine of this genre. The letters ‘NME’ are in red and this also very conventional for many magazines and newspapers. Just above the title in small black letters it states the date of release and the price. The barcode is in the lower right corner, this is usually placed as it is not taking eyes away from the main picture on the cover. Below it also says the issue number. In the main photo are the characters from the channel 4 show ‘inbetweeners’, and they are looking straight into the audience. In the picture two of the characters heads are covering the masthead but this is acceptable as the name and style of the magazine are well known. At this time of the magazines release the new series of the show was been released that’s why they are featured on this particular issues cover. The name of the T.V show is the biggest thing on the page covering their bodies, and is the same shade red as the masthead. The sub headline says ‘meet NME’s new work experience kids’  this could refer to the fact that in one of the episodes the characters went on work experience for a while. On the actual picture they seem to be stood in what one could picture the NME office to look like, one of them has wrapped a telephone round the others work symbolizing office work and confusion, The other two characters one of them is holding a guitar symbolizing music and the other lots of past copies of NME showing that he is busy at work. Underneath the headline in what look likes it could have been spray painted on to the cover it says ‘we really enjoyed our unpaid time here’  this enforces the sub headline and brings humour to the cover as the ‘inbetweeners’ is a comedy.

Double Page Spread – On the double page spread, once again the characters are looking directly to the camera appearing that they are looking at the audience. However this time you can see their full bodies. Once again the main headline has words added that look like they have been spray painted in. The whole article is on a white background and some of the actual writing goes over the picture. The headline takes up half of the page were the writing is, the other page is just a full picture.

Ideology – The magazine promotes a traditional view of music, saying that we should pay for music as it regularly talk about programs such as iTunes. It also expects everybody who reads it to be totally crazed about music as it always features an in-depth weekly gig guide, with not all gigs that are mainstream, it features every gig however big or small. They are also very honest and NME believe that their readers trust them, and always give them all the facts and don’t hold back. They also are always on the look out for the next big thing, the promote people who they believe are going to make it big. They don't follow trends, they set them.

Institution – The institution that produces NME is IPC Media which also publishes magazines such as Uncut, which is another music magazine. To advertise on a full cover page in NME it costs £8,085. It is published weekly and has a circulation of 33,875 published by ABC and it’s readership is predicted to be 325,000 by the NRS. The magazine says it aims to target males between the age between 17 – 30.

Audience – NME’s audience is mainly male dominated with 74% of it’s readers male. The median age of readers is 23 years old. The readers enjoy watching films at home and at the cinema, and are likely to buy a DVD every month (this is a higher than the national average) NME readers enjoy reading and finding out about new music and are more likely to influence their friends and family about what mobiles to buy.

Representation – In NME everyone is represented honestly and the audience are allowed to make up their own mind, However if the audience show an interest in a particular person, they will feature them on the cover in a positive way, as this will mean more people will buy if someone they like are on the cover instead of someone they don’t like. On the cover the inbetweeners are dressed in their school uniforms like they are when they are in character, one of the characters has wrapped a phone wire around the neck of the person next to him, showing that they are mischievous and up to know good, like his character in the TV programme also one of the characters is holding lots of old copies of NME, they look like they are about to fall out of his hands and his face shows panic also like his character in the TV programme, it also relates to the story saying that they were working there unpaid. Also the character placed in the far background has a yellow guitar this stands out against his blue jumper and shows that he has a playful side.

Sources:

Information: NME Media Pack

Images: NME.com.

Magazine Analysis.

The three magazines I have chosen to analyse are ...

• NME
• Q and also
• AP as this is going to be similar to the magazine I'm creating.

 

Music Genre

Music Genre

What is the chosen music genre, which your magazine will focus on?

The genre I have chosen for my magazine will be alternative rock/indie but may sometime branch out just like the existing publication NME does.

What are the key features of this genre? (i.e. what are the main cultural and musical elements of this genre that give it it’s own individual appeal – how does the genre represent itself?)

• Male and Female audiences – Usually between 16 – 30.
• Vintage Clothing
• Males Clothing – Checked Shirts and Skinny Jeans
• Female Clothing – Skinny Jeans and Heels
• Piercings
• Tattoos
• Scruffy
• Mainly male bands
• Bracelets
• Unusual album artwork
• Deep, meaningful lyrics.

What magazines, currently in publication, cover this genre?

The magazines that currently feature this kind of music is

Q

Mojo

Kerrang

And also NME which will be my magazines main rival.

And magazines that are available in other countries are AP and Hot Topic.

L.I.I.A.R Interpretation of the brief

A L.I.I.A.R interpretation of the brief

Language – On my music magazine front cover I should have a masthead which should be placed in the top corner at the left side this is due to if it was to be published and put on sale when in the rack this will be the only area the audience can see. It should also have a main picture that takes up most of the front cover, showing the audience what the magazine features straight away, because if the audience recognises the person on the cover they are more likely to buy it, They should also have one main cover story that should relate to the picture so the audience can relate the two, the cover stories should capture the audience make them want to read on so they buy the magazine. On the cover the photograph that should be used will show the characters in the picture from waist up or there whole body they should be looking straight into the camera so the audience feel like they are looking straight at them and talking to them directly. Most magazines for example Q and NME all use red within some part of their masthead, this is because it is a bold bright colour and very eye catching and is conventionally used as a masthead colour.

Institution – I believe if I were to publish my magazine it would rival magazines such as NME, Q and also the American publication AP. Magazines that would be the total opposite to my magazine would be magazines such as DJ and XX.

Ideology – If my magazine was to be published, It would treat music as if were religion and that music should be paid respect and rules should be followed such as you should pay for the music not download it illegally for free. I want my magazine to teach people to have fun and live life and give chances to those who are less fortunate and that we should all be equal and have fun together.

Audience – My audience for my magazine would be students, people who maybe have student debt and unable to afford expensive gigs. So advertising would be things that appeal to them such as cheap household items and up to date clothes.

Representation – To target my audience I would put together surveys to find out what the readers are loving and what they dislike so when articles get published the more liked artist get a positive representation and as people like that particular artist and they are featured in a good way, people are more likely to buy it. And it would also work the other way round because if a magazine is talking bad about someone then the people who do not like them are more likely to buy the magazine so they can have more bad information about them.   

The Music Magazine Brief.

We have been asked to create a music magazine, It can be a magazine to fill gap in the market or magazines to rival an already existing magazine.

We have been asked to create a front cover, contents page and also double page spread. They all must show consistency through out all of the pages so it can be seen as realistic and part of real magazine.

Our cover, contents and double page must contain at least four original images.

Improved Front Cover.

This is my improved front cover.