Music Magazine Research

I have researched three different magazines, these magazines are: NME, We Love Pop and Q. NME and Q are of a similar genre as they usually showcase articles which are related to mainly rock (and also some pop) rather than We Love Pop which is dedicated solely to Pop music. I thought that if I bought two magazines that are alike in genre, it would be able to contrast and compare against a magazine of an entirely different genre. 

The cover image of NME has several images of famous musicians who relate to their main cover story of 'The Ultimate Band'. The text and images are randomly placed across the front page which gives connotations of a scrapbook or corkboard. Usually NME front covers do not have this sort of style, this may be as it is a special edition of 'The Ultimate Band', so if I were to create a music magazine which has a special edition - I could follow a similar format.

We Love Pop's cover image is of popular pop artist known as Tulisa, this would appeal to their target audience of young teenage girls as Tulisa's music may suit to their taste or as she is current and is featured as a judge on the popular show 'X Factor'. It is a medium close-up shot, as her face and shoulders are shown. Her body language suggests she is quite laid back and relaxed and I think this contrasts with what the cover story states (as the cover story says 'X Factor fights' signifying she may be possibly arguementitive and not relaxed).

On Q's front cover Brandon Flowers, a singer from the band The Killers, is used. This is appealing for the readers of Q magazine as Brandon Flowers/The Killers falls under the music category of Indie/Rock/Pop which is what kind of music Q showcases. They are also a well-known band so this may encourage someone to buy the magazine. Brandon Flower's body language suggests he may possibly be 'more rock and roll than anyone you'll meet' as his head is tilted to the side and is holding his jacket in a 'rock and roll' fashion. Also his facial expression is quite serious which also matches with the cover story line as if he were smiling instead this would suggest otherwise. The image is a mid-shot, unlike We Love Pop which mostly uses medium close-ups. This is something I will have to consider when creating my own music magazine.

The adverts used in NME and Q differentiate a lot from the adverts featured in We Love Pop, this is due to the target audience of each magazine. In We Love Pop, games for young children, dolls, craft kits and adverts for pop concerts are shown as young teenage girls are more likely to buy these types of products. Whereas in NME and Q, perfumes and colognes, alcohol, software, technology and gigs are advertised which will appeal to the 16+ age range in both genders.

The colour scheme used in We Love Pop is florecent, bright and gives connotations of a lively, bubbly atmosphere of the magazine. Its colour palette mainly consists of pinks, blues and yellows. As pink is associated as a colour popular with girls (We Love Pop's target audience), this is why it has been used. Rock/Pop/Indie type magazines like NME and Q use reds/blacks/whites and yellows and usually do not use bright florecent colours like a pop magazine would. When I choose what music genre my music magazine will have, this will help me when considering colour schemes.

In all three of the magazines, the main body of text in every article is usually a simple san-serif black font (which makes it easier to read). Although for the titles of the aritcles in the magazines, they are used differently. In We Love Pop a font similar to 'Boarder' is used in a variety of colours throughout the magazine, whereas in NME and Q basic bold capitilized fonts are used for the article titles.