Magazines in the ukThere is a wide range of music magazines in the UK for all types of genres.Here are some examples:Bauer Media Group- Q Magazine- KerrangImmediate Media Company- Top of the popsDMC Publishing- MixmagTime inc. UK- NMEIsuee Digital Publishing- Mojo

Bauer Media Group

Immediate Media Company

Publishers

Type of music

Price

Circulation

Frequency

Bauer Media Group

Alternative £4.50 per issue

44,050 (ABC Jul - Dec 2015)

Monthly

BBC

Pop £4.75 per issue

63,483 (June 2013)

Monthly

DMC Publishing

Electronic, house

£5.50 per issue

20,053 (1 January 2011 – 31 December 2011)

Monthly

Reader profileBBC Top Of The Pops magazine is the UK’s biggest-selling teen title, with everything girls could wish for and more! We bring our readers closer to the stars with exclusive interviews, pictures and behind-the-scenes gossip. There’s also brilliant fashion and beauty, shocking real-life stories, gorgeous posters and must-have free gifts in every issue. TOTP Mag is the friend teen girls can rely on to give them confidence, make them LOL and share all the stars’ secrets. That’s why we’ve been number one for 20 years.

Reader profile

Reader profileMIXMAG readerThe MIXMAG magazine was first launched in 1983 this was published by Disco Mix Club (DJ mail out service). Back then when house music began Dave Seaman (DJ and editor) turned the magazine from a newsletter for DJ’S involved to a magazine which highlighted and covered club culture and all types of dance music for e.g. MIXMAG covered the ‘rave’ era.

An image of the publisher of the magazine, BBC is included  as BBC is a popular TV broadcaster which could intrigue the readers. Masthead: The masthead is aligned to the top left corner as it grabs the audiences attention as we read from left to right. They also used a bright pink as it’s an eye catching colour.Structure: Because the page is very busy they have used boxes to divide the page as it helps to keep it organised.

Colours: They have used very bright colours as it’s eye catching. The main colours used are pink and purple. These have been used as it reflects the magazines target audience, young girls. Red has been used as it relates to Christmas and this is the December edition.

Fashion: They have included articles about shopping as the magazine is targeted at young girls who are presumably interested in fashion. This allows the magazine to advertise clothing, shoes, accessories etc.They have inserted pictures of the items that are mentioned in the magazine to intrigue the audience into buying the magazine to find out where to buy them.

Images: They have included many different photos of different celebrities such as Little mix, Ariana Grande, Zoella etc to get a wider range of audience.

Language: Using words such as “plus” makes the audience believe the magazine has more to over than others and they are getting their moneys worth.

Graphics: They have used all sorts of graphics such as kisses around 5AM who are a boy band and this attracts the attention of young girls as it could contain information about the boys love life. Different emojis are used mainly Christmas ones like santa and reindeer as it’s the magazines Christmas edition.

Masthead: The masthead is in the top left corner in bright red to catch the audiences attention as we read from left to right. The red could signify love or anger.The cover star is Green Day, who are a well known band, so the magazine wont only interest the monthly readers but fans of Green Day as well. Their heads are covering the masthead to show their importance to the magazine.

They have included the names of other artists in bold fonts and colours to get people who are interested in those artists to buy the magazine to see why they are mentioned on the cover.

They use pull quotes on the cover to give the audience a sneak peak on what’s inside the magazine.

They have included some of the main headlines in the magazine so the audience know what their receiving when they buy the magazine.

The protagonists are making eye contact with the camera as this gives the readers a sense of quality

Colours and fonts: Green Day is written in a bold colour and font. As they are a well known band this will make it easier to grab the attention of the public and their fans. The main cover line stands out as they have used different colours, fonts and sizes. The artists name being the largest.

Freebies: They have advertised that inside the magazine there is a ticket to go to the Q awards 2016. This will intrigue the audience into buying it as it makes them feel as if their getting more than just the magazine.

Skyline: “The worlds greatest music magazine” runs across the top of the cover. Just by reading this the audience is intrigued as this makes them believe that it’s the best available. It also attracts different target audiences that are interested in different types of music.

Fonts, colours and sizes: The font size of the masthead is the largest on the cover as it’s the most important text being the magazines name.“Mixmag” could suggest the different types of music genres the magazine contains, so its aimed for fans of all types of music.They have written the cover stars name bigger than most of the text on the page and in bold fonts and colours to grab the audiences attention and the fans of the artist to persuade them into buying the magazine.

Language: Using words such as “plus” makes the audience believe the magazine has more to offer than other music magazines and they are receiving more for their money.

A skyline runs across the top of the page to call out to the audience. Mixmag uses their statement of being “The worlds biggest dance music & club cultures magazine” and just by reading this people will be intrigued to buy the magazine as it implies its the best one available.

The names of other artists are used on the cover to intrigue their fans into buying the magazine to see why they are mentioned on the cover.

Main headlines: The cover has some of the main headlines that are contained in the magazine related to music to give and insight into the magazine and grab the attention of music lovers and intrigue them into buying it.

They have included the date of the issue to inform the audience that the magazine is up to date.

There is no background or props used on the cover showing that only the protagonist is important.He’s looking away from the camera this could mean he’s shy and nervous about what is said about him in the magazine.

The use of the cover page and arrows on the contents page is to help the reader navigate the magazine and to help them find what made them to buy the magazine in the first place.

Colours:  Bright pinks and purples across the magazine as it represents the femininity of the magazine. Yellow is also used as it represents happiness and that’s what they want because the magazine is targeted to a younger audience.

Fashion: They have included articles about shopping as the magazine is targeted at young girls who are interested in fashion and want to keep up to date with latest trends.

They have used a few images of different clothing to keep the audience reading to see why they are mantioned.

Structure: The magazine is very busy and contains a lot and to keep it organized they have structured the page into boxes. This keeps it from getting cluttered.

Using articles that are about the readers makes them feel included in the magazine.

Images: They have included various pictures of different celebrities to intrigue a wider range of audience as there isn’t just pictures of celebrities in the music industry but youtubers, tv presents etc.

Simple fonts and colours are used throughout the page. The main colours are red, black and grey. This simplicity draws more attention to the images.

The artist’s head covers the title to show his importance to the magazine.

Costume: All of the artists clothes are black, it gives a sense of mystery, power and dominance.

The structure of the page is divided into three columns to give it a more simple and professional look.The page is more organized and helps the readers locate the things they want to read.

The date is written at the top of the page to inform the audience on how up to date the magazine is.

Angles: Low angles are used on the artists to show the dominance they have over the readers. They are looking down at the camera showing that they are more important.

Blue and pink are used on the page to say that the magazine is for both genders.

The numbers of the pages are a different colour to the text to help the reader locate the pages they want to read and that were mentioned on the cover.

“The world’s biggest & best music guide” is written on the contents page to inform the reader that their magazine is where you can get the best information.

Well known artists are used in the sub images to help the readers know who the page is about while also exciting them to read on to see why they are mentioned.

The title is aligned with left corner and larger than the rest of the text to reinforce dominance over the rest.

There are different sizes and fonts. The sub headlines on the page are larger  and in a different font than the summary of the page.

The structure, colours and fonts of the page are very simple. The main colours are black and white. This draws more attention to the images as they contain  colour.

Numbers are used to help the reader navigate the pages of the magazine, this suggest these pages are expected to be the most popular.

Imagery: The images on contents pages very large and cover most of the page this leaves less room for text. This keep the readers from getting bored. One of the images used is of a someone hiding behind a mask, this gives a sense of mystery and secrecy.

Freebies: When buying this magazine you receive a free CD by including free items in a magazine makes the audience feel their getting more for their money. And could target an audience who would only buy the magazine for the free items inside. They have included a short description of the artists music background which may convince the readers to listen to the CD. The CD also contains 15 tracks not just a couple which most free CDs do.

Competitions: They have included pictures of the things you can win in competitions that you can only get with the magazine. This intrigues the audience as they think they might win something therefor getting more for their money.

Structure: The double page is divided into three columns and organised. It makes it easier to read as the magazine is directed to a younger audience.Pull out quotes: “There’s a lot of me in Penny” is written in big across both pages. Pull out quotes are used to give the readers a sneak peak on what they’re about to read.Colours: The colours are very simple. They have used colours such as grey, white and red as they relate to Christmas and this magazine is the December edition.In the interview the questions are in red and the answers in grey as this helps the readers know who’s saying what.

Graphics: They have used different types of graphics such as the present surrounding a pull out quote, the candy cane effect on one of the sub images and the snowflakes all over the page, they all relate to Christmas.

Images: Having a large image cover most of the spread makes less room lots of text. This will keep he readers interested instead of getting bored as the readers are mostly young people.Sub images are used. They are pictures taken of the protagonist, Zoella. This gives the reader an insight into her life.

Language: Using words such as “exclusive” draws the readers attention as it makes them believe that it’s never been seen before and is only contained in this magazine.

The language used in the text is very formal, no slang, this reflects the target audience as more mature.

The colours they have used are very plain. The main colours being white black and grey and also red used on a few of the words in the summary to catch the readers eye.

They have inserted the location of when and where the photograph was taken and the names of the people in the band.

Structure: The structure is very bold. This reflects on the band featured on the page as they are a rock band and rock bands are very bold.There’s a small summary of the text below so the readers know what their going to be reading about.They haven’t used a lot of text on the page, this keeps the readers from getting bored.

Images: There is only one image on the spread. This makes the readers focus only on that image.Everyone in the band is making eye contact with the camera, it gives the audience a sense of equality.The image is taken in an unknown place suggesting that anyone can read the magazine.

Costume: They’re all wearing bold colours, like black, as it stands out and it catches the readers eye when flipping through the magazine.

Structure: The structure of the spread is very simple and basic 

Imagery: The double page spread only contains one image. The image is very large and is spread across both pages, using only one image leaves less room for text and keeps the readers from getting bored.The image used is of Anja Schneider, who is a German singer. They have used a picture of Anja on the top of a building which plays on  the title used  'room at the top'.They have blurred everything around Anja to make the reader focus solely on her.

Language: The use of formal language is presented in the text, this reflects the target audience on being older and more mature.

Conclusion

After having analysed three different front pages, contents pages and double page spreads I have recognised many similarities between the three magazines.

Some similarities between all the pages of the three magazines are that they are all organized into columns whether it being two or three.

On the double page spreads they all have an image that covers a whole side of the spread or even more.

The front pages either have the masthead aligned with the top left corner.

The contents pages all have the numbers of the pages to help the readers navigate the magazine.