Deconstructing Features of Music Magazines

Front Cover 

The magazine cover to the right is Q. As you can see, the key features of a cover are all present. 

Denotation

The masthead is in the top left hand corner and the coverlines are placed around the image of the artist. The image itself is a big close up and the colour scheme is mainly white and blue. There is also a barcode in the bottom left-hand corner.

Masthead

The masthead is situated in the top left-hand corner, this makes up part of the magazines housestyle because the masthead is consistent with every issue. It is bold and is in a serif font - this connotes tradition and familiarity, consequently why it is part of the housestyle. It is also part of the pug of the magazine because of its placement. Furthermore, the colour of it is red - red typically connotes passion - so it could reflect the magazine and its passion for music. This also links to the fact that the strapline underneath the letter say 'discover great music' - this also shows the love of music.

Coverlines

The coverlines are placed all around the main image - this means that it doesn't detract any attention from the artist. The majority of the text is in a sans - serif font, apart from the masthead and the pull quote at the top of the cover. This shows that the magazine is quite modern and clean, following the style of most magazines rather than keeping the font traditional. The white also highlights how pale the skin is of the artist, which connotes a sense of purity and clarity. Furthermore, the different sizes put emphasis on more words than other - an example would be that the word 'FLORENCE' is large because she is the artist, however 'St Vincent in Tokyo' is smaller because it is only an article in the magazine. Also, the colour blue of the text is significant because it links to the blue make up on the artist - this then highlights the eyes more.

Image

The shot of the image is a BCU (Big Close Up) - this connotes that it is more personal and quite intense. It also links to the pull quote "I feel so alone" this then shows that she has no where to hide. Furthermore, the lightning is quite harsh - this then reinforces that everything about her is all in the open. She has also been postioned to look at the audience and the blue around her eyes could connote tears - this reflects the idea that she is a 'women on the edge'.

Contents Page

The contents page here is from the magazine We Love Pop.

Headline

This particular magazine chose not to use the word contents for the headline, but rather 'We Love This' - this then creates a better effect because it is more interesting. It also connotes that because they love it, then it almost compels the audience to love it to. There is also the name of the magazine in the top right-hand corner, this is a good effect because it is bold and bright - this conforms to the ideology of pop magazines. 

Text

The text is arrange in columns in a mixture of serifs and sans-serif, this creates quite a quirky  effect, which makes it more eye catching and more appealing to the younger generation because it looks more fun rather than formal. Also, the use of the bright colours is typical of what you would expect from a magazine, and it connotes how childish pop magazines often are, but this could be from the fact that they are mainly aimed at younger teenagers rather than adults. The 'Inside this Month' section is interesting because it is in a box - the whole page has been split into sections - but it highlights what will be in the magazine more than if it was just listed formally.

Image 

The use of image on the contents page is really effective because it links to the context of the magazine - the images are all of pop artists because the magazine is on pop. Also, they make the page nicer to look at and connotes that because it is aimed at the younger generation, that they would rather look at pictures of their favourite artists rather than read large chunks of text. The line of images along the bottom also connotes how most people who buy pop magazines are materialistic - they are the mainstreamers of society. These images show what posters are available inside, so it is typical of westernised teens to want to get something out of the magazine like a poster to show off. 

Double - Page Spread 

This double - page spread has been taken from a Billboard magazine, the article is all about Nicki Minaj.

Headline

The headline of the article is 'The Gospel According To Nicki Minaj' - this clearly shows that it will be all about this particular artist. 'The Gospel According To' part of the headline is written in a bold, black serif font that connotes tradition. This could be done because the Gospels were made a long time ago, therefore serif font is fitting with the theme because it looks old rather than in comparison to the sans - serif font used for her name. The large font of Nicki Minaj's name offers diversity against the previous font, so therefore making it more interesting to look at and suggests that she is the focal point of the article. The use of the colour pink indicates femininity and beauty, this potentially have been used to show her bold sense of style that is on show in the image. Lastly, the use of 'according to' indicates that she is an individual, this also links to the image because not everyone has her style.

Strapline 

The strapline below states; 'Bow down mortals, the newly crowned Day - Glo queen of Hip - Hop stands before you. Jamie Hodgson joins the throng and inscribes the 10 commandments of our saviour'. The strapline is again written in the black serif font like the headline, this connotes tradition again and links to the idea of it being old. This means that it reflects a certain degree of seriousness and the idea of the '10 commandments' links to the fact that here words are 'Gospel' - they are something new and something we must listen to. Furthermore, by stating she is 'the newly crowned Day - Glo queen' indicates that the article will be somewhat of a document about her rise to fame. It also links to the idea that we should again listen to what she had to say because she is the 'queen'. Lastly, by stating she is 'our saviour' - it links back to the idea of the Gospels and the 10 commandments. It also links to the image of her and connotes that Hip - Hop was in need of something new and exciting - and with the way she is portrayed with all the bright colours, she is just that.  

Image 

The image of Nicki Minaj is a mid-shot, as she is only visibly from the waist up. This means that her costume can be more visible - and for this particular spread, it is her costume that holds the main focus. All the text is positioned around her as to not interfere with the picture, which in a way almost highlights the image even further. Her clothes are bright ad bold - this could appeal to a more younger reader and the fact that she is wearing an 'icon' ring could suggest that she is a new icon for the Hip - Hop genre. This links back the the idea that she is a saviour for the music genre. Lastly, there are no shadows - this connotes that she is a bright and confident person if all the light is on her. It also suggests that by using the pink, she is a playful character that will reflect positively on the audience.