Contents pages

This contents page is quite a busy contents page and has a lot going on, this could show that the magazine will contain a lot of busy stories and have a lot going on in it.
At the top of the contents page it has the 'NME' name and along side it, it says this week. The NME part is in red font because that is the colour of the logo and it makes it clear to the reader what the magazine is.
Down the right hand side in purple font there is a 'Band Index with page numbers showing where abouts they are in the magazine, this is in quite small font, which could mean it is not the most important part of the magazine in there opinion.
There is also a section named 'Plus' which has other articles in the magazine, this is in a larger font than the band index which could indicate that they are slightly bigger articles.
The biggest section of the contents page and the first thing that will stand out to you when you look at the contents page is the section that is centered and named '10acts for the new year', it also has pictures and a background to it and it has the 'new noise 2009' logo above it. It also includes an arrow pointing to turn over the page saying 'get turning to find out who we're backing'.
The contents page also includes advertisements along the bottom and down the right hand side.

Double page spreads

In the first double page spread the picture is on the right and the writing is on the left hand side.
The main focus of this is the title and the picture. However to show that the picture is part of the article it is spread over to the left hand side of the page by her arm which is then overlapped by the title.
The picture is of Lily Allen who is a popular artist at the minute so this could help to attract more viewers. The colour of the text in the title is white with a black background this is a representation of the magazine itself because the colours you think of when you think of the genre rock is black, red and white.
All of the colours on the whole page including everything only use the colour red, black and white. The background of the entire double page spread is white; this is effective because it helps the picture and title stand out more.
The way that this double page spread is set out is differently than the other one. The way which the picture is coming from the left and spreads further across the page than the other one. The colours that have been used in the picture are more darker colours which aren't as eye catching. This is because this is the type of clothes that this genre of music use as the clothes represent who they are. The picture takes up about three quarters of the page and is set out like he is boxed into the page. They have put the main text that you see first as his name, they have put it in white font and placed it over his jacket which has a black arm, this is effective because it helps it to stand out more by the contrast of the colours.
The article is in two columns at the right hand side of the page in black font on a white background, this helps the article to stand out just as much as the picture because the picture is on a slightly darker background so when they are next to each other they both stand out just as much. Whereas is the article was on the same coloured background as the picture is then it wouldn't stand out as much and the picture would draw much more attention.

The second front cover that i am going to analyse is from the music magazine 'Scratch'. The genre of this magazine is hip hop. You know this because the slogan of the magazine is 'The blue print of hip hop' this magazine is published by Harris publications.
The language of this magazine is quite simple; there aren’t loads of sub headings and additional articles shown on the front cover, which is the opposite of NME.
However the picture represents what genre the magazine is. The picture is the main focus of the front cover and it is the part which stands out the most, it is made to stand out the most by the way they have put their heads in front of the title of the magazine and there eye line is both directly looking at the camera.
The main colours that have been used on this magazine front cover for the text is red and white; this is because it is the colour of 'XXL's' logo.
The clothes that 50 Cent and Timbaland are wearing in the picture also represent the hip hop genre. 50 cent is wearing a big watch on this wrist and his cap is turned to the side and Timbaland is wearing 3 big chains around his neck. This represents the genre because that is the type of clothes that they wear.

Comparing 2 music magazines.

To help me decide how to design my music magazine I am going to compare 2 magazines front covers, 2 contents pages and 2 double page spreads from different music genres.

The first magazine i am going to analyse is NME, which is a rock magazine. NME is a British weekly music magazine. It comes out every Wednesday and is prices at £2.20. The language of this magazine is very compact. It always has a lot going on, on the front cover. The colour of the text is red and white and the picture is very dark, this is representing the genre which is rock as rock is usually represented in red and black. These 3 colours help give the magazine a more dramatic look and help it stand out.

The audience of this magazine is:
male = 69%
female = 31%
average age = 24
working full time = 52%
working part time = 7%
still studying = 29%
abc1 = 65%
http://www.ipcmedia.com/mediainfo/nme.pdf
The magazine is aimed both at men and at women, however males tend to buy the magazine more as it is more a male type of music genre.
Also on the front cover the main picture is both men as well which could suggest that the magazine is more aimed at men than women. The average age the magazine is aimed at is 24 and mostly full time working men buy it.

The title of this magazine has been abbreviated from new musical express to NME. This title gives more of an effect than a long one would because it’s short, snappy and easy to remember. In the picture Lily Allen has been made to look like she is more rock music than the genre of her music, by the outfit she is wearing and because her hair is dark they have made her face look whiter which has given it more of a rock effect. However the magazine also inside features other genres of music but the general image of the magazine is rock.

Making a music magzine - Main Task - LIIAR

This task involves producing a front page, a double page spread and a contents page mock up of a new music magazine. To help me develop my magazine I am going to use the acronym LIIAR; language, institution, ideology, audience and representation.

Language- The language is what gets the reader to read on, such as how the magazine is laid out. This includes the font and text; these have to be chosen carefully enabling the reader to want to read on. The language I use will depends on what type of music genre i aim my magazine at. The language is important because if the language of the front cover doesn't catch the eye of the reader then they won't end up buying the magazine. The language gives a particular impression of what type of magazine it is and who it is aimed at.

Institution- The institution for a music magazine is the publisher, as it is what controls the production process and how it effects the final product. For music magazine there a many different types of publishing companies.
The different publishers that I have researched include;
IPC Media; Ipc media covers a wide range of magazines that aim at different target audiences. The music magazine for this was NME. http://microsites.nme.com/php/mediapack/
Bauer; This also covers a wide rang of magazines. The music magazine I looked at for this publishers is Kerrang. http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Kerrang/
Clash Music; Clash music magazine is an independent media group and it doesn’t belong to any of the other publishers. It has an established platform in print and digital media. http://www.clashmusic.com/about-us

Ideology- The main purpose of my music magazine is to inform the audience about the music genre that they are in to. Another purpose will be to entertain the audience because if they found my magazine boring then they wouldn't buy it. The way I will do this is to make sure the front cover is eye-catching so that it will stand out to them. I will also do this by including articles about new music that they will be interested in.

Audience- Every type of magazine has a different audience. Focusing on a music magazine the audience depends on the genre of the magazine. I found some examples of what amount of people read different types of music magazines to help me decide which would be the best genre to base my magazine on.
The NME audience is made up of groups:
65% Male
50% 16-24
23% 25-34
79% ABC1
63% of these people visit the website weekly or more frequently.

Representation- The representation depends on what genre your music magazine is. I will represent my genre through the pictures, font, colours etc. The type of bands in my magazine help represent my magazine genre. For example Kerrang is a rock magazine and it represents this by the colours it uses for examples red and blacks, and by the type of bands that it uses for its picture.