Analysis of Mojo magazine front cover!

Language- This magazine follows the general conventions of a music magazine with a large masthead, main image and some sub-text. The masthead is large and stretches across the cover to catch the attention of the audience. The main image of the band 'Oasis' is the main feature of the magazine and we as the audience know this through the image and caption. The shot they have used for the image is a close up shot. The headline 'Oasis' stands out very well on the cover as they have used a glow effect on it, as well as on the '2008'. The house style of this magazine is predominantly black, white and red which I think works really well together. To generate more sales, Mojo add promotions in the magazine such as a free CD when you purchase it. They have also included a picture of the CD so the audience know what they are given if they purchase the magazine. Above the masthead 'MOJO' there is some sub-text showing the features in the magazine accompanied by images, because everyone likes to see pictures.

Institution- The publishers of 'MOJO' magazine are Bauer Media who publish many other magazines such as Q, Kerrang and FHM. Bauer Media are Europe's largest privately owned publishing group and they publish over 300 magazines in 15 different countries. They also publish online, T.V and radio stations.

Ideology- The publishers of the magazine are trying to promote a sense of quality for the magazine by using Oasis on the front cover as they are a huge band all over the world and they are featuring in their magazine. This symbolises that the magazine use the biggest and best bands for their articles.

Audience  The genre MOJO music magazine is a mix of traditional music such as The Beatles and bands such as Oasis and Radiohead. People interested in old music such as The Beatles will be interested in the magazine, as well as people interested in new bands that are evolving in the music industry.

Representation- The magazine are representing the artists (Oasis) on the front cover in a positive way. The name 'Oasis' is lit up in neon light to attract the attention of the reader and the sub-text says ' The boys are back in town' which makes the reader want to know what they have been doing. Also, there is a quote from the band on the cover ' We've been to the dark side' which makes the reader want to read on and find out what they mean by this quote.

Q magazine analysis!

Q Magazine analysis

Language- The iconic 'Q' logo on the magazine is located in the top left of the front cover, below the subtext. The red logo stands out on the fairly dark background. This is a major convention of music magazines as there is a distinctive logo on them all so the audience know what magazine it is. This magazine in particular is targeting the band 'Kings of Leon' and this is shown through the main image of the band, and a large strap line across the middle of the cover. Another convention of this music magazine is the promotion of a product on the cover to attract customers to purchase the magazine. In this particular magazine, they are giving away a free CD.

Institution- The producer of the magazine is Bauer media who also produce other music magazines such as Kerrang and Mojo. They have to make sure they produce magazines that are going to sell regularly, so they have to be a good standard.

Audience- Q magazine do not have a specific music genre which they target for an audience. There are different genre's of music throughout there magazines. This gives the magazine diversity and a good opportunity to introduce different music genres into it.

Representation- From the image of the band on the cover, we instantly know the they are a band as they are all stood together and the majority of music lovers know that Kings of Leon are an iconic band with their rock star image. For people who don't know what the band look like are assured with the large strap line across the image saying 'Kings of Leon'.

Ideology- The idea behind the front cover of the magazine is to give the readers an insight into what the magazine is going to include when they read it. They do this by using an exclusive band who will be interviewed in depth and they use an exclusive band throughout the magazines they publish. Also on the cover they have other stories which will feature in the magazine to back up the main feature.

Music genre choice

Genres:
-Indie
-Rock
-Indie rock
-Pop
-Blues
-Rap
-Hip-hop
-RnB
-Classical
-Reggae
-Heavy metal
-Disco/Club music

I will base the choice of the music genre on my personal interests as I will be able to relate my interests to the music magazine. There are already rock music magazines on the market eg. Kerrang, but I think I want my genre to be rock/indie with bands in my mind such as Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, The courteeners,  Oasis etc. These bands are not so heavy as the ones related in Kerrang.


NME biography- NME is a British weekly music magazine. Featuring agenda-setting news, the UK's most comprehensive gig guide, definitive reviews of the week's hottest gigs, tracks and albums, and fiery comment from the nation's most opinionated writers, it's the essential guide to the week in music.
Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths, Klaxons and Oasis were all introduced to the world via the pages of NME, while in recent months we've given Pete Doherty a lift home from prison in our car, inadvertently made Noel Fielding cry in the middle of an interview, and exclusively broken the news of Blur's reunion before anyone else.

Liiar interpretatation of the brief.

L - What does each of your products need to contain e.g. The front page will need to have a masthead etc (list the conventions that are relevant to each product). Which camera angles do you think would be most effective for each of the products? Any ideas of colour schemes that will help you to create a house-style?
I - Perhaps you could pretend that you are producing a magazine for an existing publisher, whose other publications have something in common with yours / are totally different to yours (gap in the market)
I - What message / moral / values do you intend your magazine to convey about your chosen music genre and your target audience?
A - Briefly outline the target audience (you can develop it later when you've made more decisions)
R - How do you intend your target audience / artists / music genre to be represented? i.e. positively / negatively / accurately / stereotypically / unconventionally? etc.


Language: My music magazine cover will require an eye-catching masthead which will be a main selling point for the magazine. I will use a mid shot for my main image, as this is one of the main conventions of an image on the front of a music magazine cover. I will use a consistent house style throughout the front cover, contents page and double page to give my magazine a professional look and I  want my colour scheme to be sleek and sophisticated.

Institution- The institution of a magazine is the producer who publishes the magazine. The institution of Q magazine is Bauer Media for example. These different institutions are always competing to make their magazines better than other competitors on the market. I will look to fill a gap in the music magazine market in order to appeal to my target audience.

Ideology- Every magazine on the market has a set of morals, values and messages which they try to portray within their magazines. I want my magazine to give off a positive image about music, and in particular, the music genre i will be focusing on.

Audience- All magazines have particular audiences in which they target. Audiences are categorized into groups which are defined by age, gender, type and social class (A, B, C1, C2 and D and E). Music magazines also target specific genres within music to appeal to different interests customers have. NME have categorized there audience in to two groups: 'young socialites' and 'first time earners' and they have taken out a very detailed survey. This is what i plan to do so i can meet all my audience needs.

Representation- I want to give off a positive image on music in my magazine. I also want it to be intresting, and become a regular purchase for customers. I want my magazine to target my specific genre, rather than music in general. 

Current music magazines on the market!



'Q' magazine



'Blender' Since its launch in 2001, Blender has been the fastest growing music magazine in America. Each month, Blender provides its 2.3 million readers with insightful, comprehensive and entertaining coverage of the ever-changing world of popular music. From the striking graphics and edit of its FOB "Burner" section to its engaging compendiums and countdowns to its authoritative CD reviews section, Blender speaks to contemporary music fans with a unique voice that combines critical authority with the irreverence of the music it covers.

'Q' magazine

'VIBE' a hip-hop/RnB magazine.

IPC Media are an institution who publish the music magazine 'NME'.

NME has become a truly unique multi-platform media proposition. Across the magazine, nme.com, NMETV, NME Radio and the brand's live events and awards, NME reaches over one million music fans every week. NME is the longest published and most respected music weekly in the world. Every week it gives its readers the most exciting, most authoritative coverage of the very best in contemporary music, including award winning features, the latest releases, live reviews, the definitive guide to the best new bands in its Radar section, as well as a regular look back through the magazine's incredible 58 year heritage.

Bauer Media are another institution who publish music magazines. They publish the rock magazine 'Kerrang'. Kerrang's audience profile is:

Individually minded, independent of thought and musically experienced, an audience defined by attitude, passion and loyalty.

'MOJO'-Audience profile: Discerning and passionate music aficionados, the MOJO audience is predominately male (72%) and affluent (36% AB). These heavy consumers of music see their passion as discovery without boundaries, genre and decade being secondary to quality.

Q Magazine. Published by Bauer Media. Audience profile- Open minded experience seekers, the Q audience don’t define themselves by the music they listen to. Music is an important passion, but their love of music will never be to the detriment of their other passions, such as film, sport and comedy.



Main task for music magazine.

The front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.