A Case Study

Background

• Country Weekly is owned by AMI, which is the American Media Inc.

• Country Weekly provides the latest on country music and the newest songs. It started in 1994 and has been the number one for country music gossip and the latest song crazies.

• The magazine has a circulation of 505,000 and is printed weekly. The audience has a median age of 45 showing that the age range is generally adults.

• The editor in chief of the magazine is Lisa Konicki. The EVP group publisher is David Jackson. The publisher is Jeff Meltesen.

Audience

• The audience is at an average age of 45 years old meaning that the mode of address will be formal and professional but will make the audience feel involved. This can mean that the language used is not slang words like ‘ but traditional words.

Website and social media

Country Weekly not only has a printed magazine but also a website for the readers to keep up-to-date. The webpage is visited monthly by 479K this shows the huge fan-base that the magazine has. There is also 720K followers on their social media platforms.

The median HHI is $43,921 for the print magazine copies of country weekly and $40,705 for the website of country weekly.

Website

• The website shows the articles from recent Country Weekly magazines and also shows articles that are from NASH another country music magazine.

• Most of the Country Weekly magazines are available on the website, so that the magazine is able to be read in other countries other than America.

Exclusive Interview – this makes the reader interested in the magazine and what Carrie Underwood will reveal about her tour.

Colour scheme is a pinkish purple colour for the magazine name and sell-lie titles. And black for the small paragraph underneath briefly explaining the article.

In the earlier issues of Country Weekly the layout was different along the with the image.

The writing is all on the left side of the front cover and is taking up roughly half the page.

The image is more casual and is a medium close up of the artist, which is usually not the case in the more recent issues. It is also on positioned more on the right side of the page.

The colours are red for the image, costume and yellow and white for the sell-lines and magazine name.

Yellow is used in this front cover to highlight the title of the sell-line and the artists names. In most of the front covers a vibrant colour (Pink, Yellow) can be used to highlight these key features.

Earthy colours are used in the image on this front cover. In most of the front covers earthy or floral colours are commonly used for the image, to represent the country genre.

There is also advertisement of other country music platforms, such as a TV show. Nashville is a TV show promoting and spreading country music

In the newer issues of Country Weekly the colour scheme and layout has changed but we are still able to view the image fully.

Colours and Layout

• The colours used in the front covers of Country Weekly are floral or earthy colours; these can be from yellows and reds to browns and denim. The colours used in the earlier issues of Country Weekly were reds for the costumes and more earthy colours for the background. Whereas today the colours used in the costume and background can vary depending on where the image was taken.

• The layout has also changed during the years, this is because in the earlier issues the layout had the sell-lines positioned on the right side on the front cover, however today the sell-lines are positioned in the skyline or in the centre bottom of the front cover. In the newer issues there is also a puff being used which is usually positioned under the magazine name, whereas in the older issues there was no puff used.

Costumes

• The costumes for the front cover of Country Weekly magazines has changed a large amount since the first few issues of the magazine. It started out as more casual costume, such as jumpers, cardigans and shirts. Whereas now its expensive dresses, denim and suits. This has also impacted on the image of the artist because in the earlier issues the image was generally a medium close up whereas now it is generally a medium long shot.

• The change is costume over the years shows the changes with the audience and what they want to see on the front cover and what appeals to them more.

One of the earlier issues One of the more recent issues

Inside

• Country Weekly offers a range of articles inside their magazines. This can be an interview with an artist or a page of letters from fans to artists or artists to fans. There is also competitions within the magazine and a large range of photos, tour dates and reviews on songs.

• The inside of a magazine also involves the contents page which tells the readers what articles feature on which pages.

• Country Weekly layout the inside of their magazines with a mixture of text and images for their readers.

Double page spread• The double page spreads contain a large image and

an article relating to the artist or artists within the image. There can also be more than one image within the article.

This is a double page spread from the October 27, 2014 issue of Country weekly. This double page spread is an article on George Strait and his new album and older albums. In this double page spread the colours are set to match the image of George performing at a venue, therefore the colours are yellow and small amounts of green to create the affect of the lights hitting the stage. The text is written in the colour black to stand out from the image and colours behind the text.This is a double page spread from a 1994 issue of Country Weekly. This double page spread is different to the 2014 issue, this is shown through the images which are more casual and basic, they are not taken at a performance but in a everyday area. Also the colours are different to the 2014 issue because they are browns, the text however is positioned in the same place to the 2014 issue.

This is telling us that the article is about country music and females within the genre of music. This can also be seen as a sell-line on the cover of the magazine as it is unique and will attract attention.

This is the article about the two artists, Maddie and Tae, they may new to the country music industry and are becoming popular and this article is an insight of their journey.

This is another image but of them performing at a venue, this can also be telling the audience that the article is about their journey.

Inside Country Weekly

Double page spreads

Contentsletters

Competitions

• http://www.countryweekly.com/reviews• http://www.americanmediainc.com/brands/c

ountry-weekly