Analysis of other magazines for my research.

Blurt music magazine.



The tittle of the magazine is "Blurt" which is verb that is used when you shout something out automatically, it suggest that the music is "blurted out" hence music being loud  and usually just "blurted out the of the speakers".The target audience for the magazine are young people aged 17-27 you can tell this by the  colors used, the colors used are very contemporary and bright and in your face, this is also shown by the image on the front cover, which is of a young girl this automatically shows that because the model is young it draws in a young audience, her clothing is very up to date and fashionable and  she is holding balloons,which are usually only given to young children so this also suggest that the audience  the magazine are targeting are young. They have kept a color scheme of black, blue and pink which is shown though out, on the puffs, on the models clothes  and in the title, this is so when  consumers  are browsing through tones of other magazines "blurt" is easily found because of its unique color scheme.

 the magazine is  unusually  spaced out and has no strap-lines, it has only one big kicker down the page, they have done this to make the image superior as because of the rule of thirds our eyes are drawn straight to it, also it makes the cover less busy which cane sometimes put off buyers from buying the magazine.  

The magazine looks as though it is addressed more to women as the colors used are very girly and the image of the  balloons, also the image is of a girl and women tend to be more drawn to magazines with other women on rather than a image of a man. over all the magazine is very appealing and eye catching however the genre of music it cover is not obviously shown and that could be a down fall for the magazine as new buyers may find this confusing.

NME music magazine.






The title of the magazine is NME which stands for new musical express, the title of the magazine immediately shows that is a magazine catering for new music and the top stories on all genres of music. The target audience is young people aged 17-30 you can tell this by the image and the articles displayed on the front cover. "sex, skins and standing the in the way of control" is the main article on the front cover, the topic of "sex" is mainly addressed at young people so therefore as its on the front directly in the middle it hits the young audience straight away. T. There is  a puff  in the top right hand corner advertising V-festival, V-festival mainly attracts young people so therefore they would be drawn to the magazine, also the fact it says "line up revealed" makes the reader feel although they are knowing something before anyone else. the image on the front cover is of a young lady the lead singer of a well known rock band called "the Gossip" the colors of her clothes she is wearing tie in with the colors of the magazine, red, black and white also the women is dominant in the picture with the two men pushed behind her, unlike other magazines where the women is sometimes inferior the women is this magazine is not and therefore shows that both sexes are represented equally. her face is looking over a pair of glasses with her eyes directly focused on the reader, making eye contact automatically makes the the reader think you are looking at them giving them the effect that the magazine was made for them and therefore leading them to buy it also the way the image is positioned is in the rule of thirds and on the natural sight line which means our eyes are naturally drawn to the right where the image is. The band look very edgy which tells us that the people who buy the magazine are very edgy too or aspire to be edgy like the band. the kicker is splashed right across the font cover thus making it stand out the font used looks old and worn down and almost like it had been pasted to a wall,which also looks very edgy like the image. The magazine is packed full of information and filled both sides with strap-lines, the way the sky line, strap-lines and kicker are laid out makes the magazine look
 professional and expensive. The magazine offers the readers unlimited access to the world of music both in the magazine and online and on the tv as a music channel,  it covers a range of genres which allows the reader to experience all types of music thus making the magazine very popular.

Dj music magazine




The magazine is called DJ mag, it is called this as it is a dance music magazine and Djs mix dance music so therefore  straight away you can tell it addresses people who like dance music or Djs or those who are aspiring to become a Dj. The significant words are Dj. The type of reader the magazine is targeting is those interested in the dance music scene, you can tell this by the  master-head "DJ" and the articles in the magazine " the drum and bass sound of the summer" all the articles on the front cover relate to some kind of dance music whether that be articles on the djs themselves of new music or the clubs to go to listen to the music. The reader can also  interact with them magazine online as in the master head it shows the website Djmag.com. the image on the front is of dubstep artist Skream, the backdrop to the image is of a brick wall with graffiti, this shows that the audience are young and quite edgy and cool as nowadays graffiti and images in front of graffiti are cool and trendy. The image is of a young man who is a very famous dj readers of the magazine would know this and therefore want to read more about the artist. A Puff at the top of the page gives the reader a chance to win tickets to "Global Gathering" which is a  very famous dance music festival this would also draw in readers of the magazine. A range of article are shown down both sides of the magazine the use of strap-lines on both sides makes the magazine   look balanced with the image in the centre. The colors used throughout the magazine are bright rave colors commonly seen in fluorescent shades which are used when  lovers of dance music go to rave this also links i with the genre of the magazine, the kicker at the top draws in the reader with the bright colors and  lets the reader know who the artist is. The language used throughout the magazine is very chatty and informal " nice n sleazy does it", " rebel yell skream gets ravey" this allows the reader to interact with the magazine as it makes the reader feel chilled and  relaxed when reading it. The overall colors and  they way the magazine is laid out gives the effect of a rave the way its very busy with bright colors it also draws in the reader as it stands out on the shelf. The magazine looks cheap however it is designed to look that way to appeal to the target audience and what they may want, which is something they can just pick up not waste a lot of money on and get the quick info on the latest news in the dance music world. Overall the magazine offers the readers new and up-to date information on the top dance music djs it allows the  reader to win tickets and listen to the latest music on the online magazine.  It talks the reader in a chatty manner making the reader feel relaxed and chilled.

Double page spread

You can tell the genre of the magazine by the artist displayed in the double page spread, Lilly allen is known for her wide genre of music involving pop, rock and rap therefore implying that the magazine covers all genres of music. when reading we naturally look to the left because of this the editor of the magazine has put the large image of Lilly cover the right hand side of the page. The target audience is young adults and teens you can tell this by the amount of text compared to the image, the image is larger making the text look small, this is because young adults and teens prefer to look at images rather than read the text. Therefore the editor will use less text and more imagery. The large text at the top fills the top half of the page to the left, the style of writing looks as though it has been cut out of a magazine and stuck down in a rush, which makes it look informal and less intimerdating letting the reader relate to the article more. The image and text use the same color scheme red and black this allows the reader to see a clear connection between the both. Lilly Allen in the image is looking straight down the camera at the reader drawing them in, her hands are on her hips making her look demanding  and assertive. 

Double page spread

The double page spread is taken from the music magazine NME, however the title of the article is radar, The Teenagers. The article is targeting a younger audience which is shown by the layout, color and the images. The image is of the band " the teenagers" laying on a bed in a bed room surrounded by posters and photos, the  magazine have done this because it shows that the band are laid back and chilled implying that the  reader is also laid back and  chilled, also the band look hip, young and fashionable which attracts a younger reader sometimes wanting to take inspiration from the way they dress an act. The image is larger than the text which is common to trendy young magazines, this is because the younger generation prefer to look more at images rather than at a lot of text, therefore because of this magazines often take up 80 % of the page with an image. As i want my magazine to be aimed at the younger generation i will take this into consideration when planning my layout.  The colors used throughout the article are all the same, blue,black and white, this helps the magazine flow  allowing the reader to read the magazine easier. A pug at the top of the page says "NME loves" the font is like someone has scribbled it making the magazine look less formal and more informal. Down the right hand side there is a short article about other bands which are a similar genre to the one featured in the article, with the title " Everyones talking about..." thus implying that the bands are so popular everyones talking about them, this then makes the reader want to read it as they don't want to feel left out. The double page spread looks cheap however professional, when making my magazine i will strive to get the same balance,making the double page spread look very effective. The magazine editors have purposely made it look cheap as it suites the style and design of the magazine. The reason for the magazines popularity is because it isn't formal instead the magazine is informal, packed with lots of music information. It allows the reader to flick through with out feeling as though they need to sit there for hours reading through, its chatty language and heavily based imagery lets the reader look through feeling chilled and relaxed.

Contents page

This contents page is taken from the magazine "DJ mag". The colors and font used through out the contents page are the same as those used on the front cover which helps the magazine flow. The colors are bright and rave like which stand out, they have used this because the magazine is about raves and  club music, therefore the colors that connote with raves and clubs.  The contents page is laid out in columns, a vertical column down the left and four horizontal columns down the right. The ratio between the images and text is equal each title has there own image that applies with the title. The articles featured are about exclusive clubs and raves and inside gossip on the hottest DJ, this makes the reader want to buy it as it makes them feel as they  know something that know one else does which allows them to think they are ahead of the scene. The images all show either raves,DJ decks or famous DJs all keeping with the dance/rave genre the images give and exclusive to the actually article giving the reader a taste of what's to come. Unlike other magazines there isnt a letter from the editors, i think this lets down the magazine. The editors letter makes the  magazine personal to the reader as though the letter was written for them, it directly encages the reader and draws them in immediately, as the magazine doesn't have it it makes the magazine less personal and more just straight to point. Humor and a play on words is used in the contents page "Raving mad" followed by an image of a boy looking mad at a rave  allows the  be less formal and more informal and chatty which lets the reader relate more to the magazine. The way the magazine is laid out allows the reader to locate the  articles quick and easy.

Contents page


The contents page is taken from the magazine NME, which shown in the masthead "NME this week", the way its laid out is very cluttered  and its hard to see the article clearly. However the columns each have titles which shows exactly where articles are located. The ratio between the images and the text are predominantly more text than images, there is only one image which is situated between two columns of text, the image also has a page number which means the reader can go to the page to find out more information about the image. The house style of the magazine is black and red bold writing with highlights of white and yellow,The colors used on the front cover are followed through to the contents page this helps the magazine flow and  allows the reader follow magazine easier. Exclusive news and information makes the magazine appear exclusive and makes the reader think that only they know what's new on the music scene. Like the other magazine there is  no Editors letter,personally i think that this makes the magazine less personal and therefore could be seen as to appeal to everyone, however i think that the magazine needs an editors letter as it shows the editor has thought about the reader and also it makes the reader think the letter only addresses them thus making the magazine personal. The layout of the contents page is very busy which also implies that the magazine is full/packed with information which would persuade the reader to buy it. Unique to NME is a "band index" which allows the reader to find a band which they would like to read about and the page which contains the band information. Also there is an advertisement across the bottom of the page which allows the reader to subscribe to a membership where they can get NME delivered to them for a discount price.