Music Magazine cover analysis

Kerrang! is a rock music magazine. The magazines name is onomatopoeic and it refers to the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar

The mast head 'KERRANG!' is situated at the very top of the magazine cover, the black and white monochromatic contrasting colours stand out against each other therefore it would be eye-catching against other magazines on a shop stand, the image has the appearance and effect of cracked glass therefore adding to it's rock theme.

The main image is the famous rock band Green day. The bands hair, make-up and costume harmonise with the mast head with the main colours being black and white. The front man of the band, Billie Joe Armstrong is placed in the middle with the other two band member, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt placed either side of the front man farther into the background, this ensures the audience knows who the front man and main person of the band is. Billie Joe is dressed in all black with black hair, leather jacket, eyeliner and a pale complexion, this emphasises the fact that this is a rock band, the other two band members are similarly dressed which adds to their rock image again. The band members that are farther in the background have complacent yet confident expressions, however Billie Joe has an arrogant maybe cocky expression, the readers may interpret this as him thinking he knows they are a very popular and successful band.

The cover lines include the names of music artists inside the4 magazine and down the left hand side it has pictures of various artists with a bright red border making it stand out against the black and white theme, above it says 'DOWNLOAD POSTER SPECIAL!'

The main cover line is placed just with the main image in bold white which contrasts with the black of Billie Joe's jacket. The main cover line says 'GREEN DAY' in bold white capitals with 'EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PUNK MEGASTARS!' also in white capitals only much smaller. The word 'YOU' is in italics to emphasise the fact that it is the readers involvement in the magazine which could draw people in because the readers may want to know what other readers asked the band and if their questions have been answered by the band.

Conventions of a Magazine

The mast head is the title of the magazine normally situated near the top of the magazine.
The dateline displays the day month and year the magazine was published, although monthly magazines are published a month before the start date. It is usually placed with the price.
A main image consists of a model, often a celebrity making eye contact with thr camera.
Cover lines tell the reader what is inside the magazine without them having to open the magazine. They are placed around the outer edge of the cover.
The main cover line is a much bigger cover line or the main story which takes up about a quarter of the area.
A selling line is a short, sharp description of the title's main marketing point or perhaps setting out its editorial philosophy.

LIIAR

Language- Media language sends a message to the audience through visuals and sound such as images and video's.
Ideology- Ideology is a set of aims and ideas that directs one's goals, expectations, and actions.
Institution- The orginisation of the magazine.
Audience- The readers/consumers of the product.
Representation- How the ideology of the product is shown.

Music Magazine Brief

Our main task is to create the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. All of the images I use will be a mimimum of four original, produced and taken by myself, all text will also original and written by only me.