Research On Music Magazines

When looking through music magazines, and specifically looking at the "Wire", I came to the understanding that most of there cover pictures were unusual and did not follow the normal conventions of a music magazine. The main picture is a close up photo of a man looking slightly mysterious, with the lighting coming from above creating a dark shadow on most of his face and also wearing a top hat. He is also wearing eyeshadow on his left eye which in some way shows the audience immediately the picture is of a singer or some sort of music artist and not a model, he also has a very serious expression on his face. The title is very simple and bold, there is only one font and colour used for the subheadings making it difficult for the audience to understand what the main article is relating to the cover photo. The bar code is on the right hand side in the middle which is not a normal convention of a magazine.  Overall there is very little text and variety of fonts and colours used, i get the impression it a purposely simple front cover.

When looking through "Blender" magazine covers i came to the understanding that most, if not all, the cover photos are taken in the same way, with the artist in a medium shot picture. I noticed that the font style and colour of the mast-head was not the same each time and also would mostly be hidden behind the music artists head, showing the magazine is well known enough for the audience to be able to know what the magazine is called without seeing the whole text. This magazine follows the three colour rule of white red and black, there are two skylines, they have clearly shown what the main article and who the main picture is off by placing text next to the music text in a large bold and red font with a slightly smaller subheading underneath. There is also a puff, the other sub-headings other than the main article sub-heading are on the right hand side. Overall this magazine cover follows the normal conventions of a magazine cover by using various fonts, text fonts and following the three colour rule.

The cover picture is of a music artist topless and looking down with only a hat on, the reason for this i feel is to show off his tattoos, as well as the ones on his eyelids, he is also wearing a necklace with the rolling stones logo. The puff covers the masthead, once again showing the magazine feels the audience will be able to recognise the magazine without having to see the whole mast-head. When looking through the "Rolling Stones" magazine covers i noticed each masthead was in the same font yet different colours, and followed the same convention as "Blender" magazine with having a simple white or black background. Each subheading is in the same text with varied font sizes and barriers separating them. There is a three colour rule of black, white and yellow. The main article heading is the largest and next to the music artists head, obviously linking the two. The overall magazine cover is simple.

The cover magazine is of an extremely famous an worldwide known "Michael Jackson", the cover photo is of a close up of his face with no expression of his face. The main article is clearly based on him with his name in large and the sub-heading underneath saying "Unmasked inside his mad, bad world..."  sounding as if this is an exclusive article on his life. All other sub-headings are on the right hand side, on the top right "Jack White" has been written in a large white font standing out from the other subheadings below. There is a three colour scheme used on this magazine cover and every other "Q" magazine covers. There is a puff also included, there is also a sky line saying "The UK's biggest magazine" promoting the magazine even more and persuading readers to buy it. This particular magazine was probably more successful than other Q magazine issues as Michael Jackson is such an iconic music artist, therefore readers who don't normally buy music magazines may have only bought it because there was an article based on him.

When looking through "Vibe" magazines i noticed all the front covers are similar, a medium shot of the music artist the main article is based on with a simple white or black background. I also noticed on each cover the three colour rule is followed yet different colours. They have placed the name of the artist in a  large bold and white font next to the artists head indicating who he is and the sub-heading "The hardest in R&B" underneath his name. With each subtitle they have written the main heading in red with what the article is about in a smaller font under or around it in a smaller and white font, for example the sub-heading "Haiti" in a large bold and red font and then in a smaller white font "A survival story" underneath. There is also fashion advice included rather than only music, on the way left hand side "4 ways ti rock a suit". They have written the Masthead in large red font yet part of it is hidden behind the artists head indicating the magazine feels it is so well known they can afford to hide part of there name.