Analysing ‘VIBE’ Music Magazine
In this presentation I will be analysing the front cover, contents page and a double page spread inside the most famous hip hop, r&b and rap music magazine called ‘VIBE’.
Masthead: Ever so familiar capitalised VIBE masthead, starting from the left hand side page so the ‘V’ is visible on newsagents shelves. Vibe meaning feel the vibe or vibe to the music. White coloured capitalised bold sans-serif font. The name VIBE represents the magazine as energetic, lively and happy.Main Image: This denotes a medium long shot of a professional singer/songwriter/rapper called ‘Chris Brown’ he is a very popular artist, known by many all over the world. This is used to attract the target audience through their knowledge of the genre of music. Represents the magazine in a positive manner as Chris Brown is a role model to all ages and has worked hard to be successful.Skyline Banner: above the masthead is a thin rectangular shaped text across the top of the page to look like it’s stuck over the magazine. Uses powerful words in different colours so that it will standout to the target audience and also appealing to others. Kicker: Using the famous artists name in big writing to stand out to attract fans, along the left hand side so it’s visible on newsagents, supermarkets shelves. Explanatory quote line: Used underneath the kicker and relates to the article attracting more potential consumers to the magazine. Puff: Stuck over the top of the ‘V’ of ‘VIBE’ denotes “Name That The MEGA MUSIC issue” this is used to bring awareness to this specific issue of VIBE.
This makes the magazine more valuable convincing the customers to buy it. Also positioned along the already busy left hand side. Cover Lines: These are the lines of text down the right hand side of the magazine, used to attract the audience as it leads us into a story that will be developed inside the magazine. The use of popular artists names comes to the target audience’s attention, artists like Chris Brown, Will.i.am, Usher and Ja Rule who are all big in the hip hop industry, therefore known by the majority of the target audience. Also, using all these artists inside their magazine is a big use of synergy.Pug: This denotes a pug promoting downloadable content music, positioned in the bottom right hand corner of the front cover. Font is a basic bold sans-serif font but has an appealing look as it’s inside a pug with 2 different colours that stand out from the bright red background. Barcode: This convention is an ugly but necessary part of a cover and is often disguised or creatively placed in an unusual way. On this front cover the feature is used in a sneaky way. Attempting to disguise the ever so obvious barcode along with the Kicker and Explanatory Quote. The side on barcode gives the magazine a mature yet commercial appearance.
At first this contents page comes across very classy, upmarket and formal but it’s really just a simple dark colour themed contents page. Easy, soft and clear on the eye when trying to read the content as its simple white sans-serif font on a dark background. This contents page is very different to the genre of the front cover but fits in with the front cover as it involves many dark colours and has the same famous artist as it’s main image. The writing of this page is set out in one wide column echoing the shape of the main image’s body, filling in the blank space without ruining the essence of the photo. The contents page text always has the page number before the text, followed by some words that explain the article. The main image denotes an indirect address photograph of Chris Brown singing passionately in a smart, dressy and elegant appearance. This convention on the contents page indirectly links to the main story of this issue of VIBE magazine because it’s focus on the front cover was Chris Brown, which is also the focus of this contents page. The masthead is a simple capital V with a barcode spread next to it, this represents the magazine in a retro way and gives an old fashioned typewriter appearance to the masthead. This contents page is quite simple and less stereotypical as there is no smaller sub-images that link to other stories, there is no deal or deals for subscription in this issue of VIBE, It does not contain an editors letter or editors photograph and the masthead doesn’t even explain that this page is a contents page. This is so unique, out of the ordinary and rare from VIBE that it attracts you into reading more, limited information on the contents page is terrible for magazines sales and attraction yet this gives the opposite consequence of what it should. The magazines contents page still holds some common conventions, for example the small printed text in the bottom right hand corner displays the companies website which shows recognition to their brand name, the name of the photographer of the main image which shows recognition to his photography company and credits him. Continuity is shown highly in this contents page as the V is the same as the front cover, Chris Brown is the main image of both pages and the list of contents involves all cover lines from the front cover. Finally, the clothing on the main image goes against all stereotypes of hip-hop and rap music, many people today believe that this genre is about who is more ‘gangster’, who talks about criminal activities and who dresses more ‘hood’ like. Chris Brown is dressed rather suave defeating all past stereotypes and representing this genre of music in a positive spotlight.
This Double Page Spread (DPS) is an article about an artist called Aubrey Graham, also known by his stage name ‘Drake’. The main headline is also a drop quote, the combination of two conventions in one gives this DPS a special touch. The drop quote headline is automatically the first thing you read, completely stands out from everything else as it’s the only red coloured big bold serif font there is on this DPS and also the fact that it’s positioned precisely where people start to read. The main text is spread all over both pages, covering a majority of the double page spread, in four columns. The first column is along the left hand side of the page starting with a capital T drop cap underneath the drop quote headline, simple thin black sans-serif font on an extremely white background. The rest of the text is on the second page, three wide columns fill up the bottom half of the second page, also in the same font. This main text convention denotes an article about the artist Drake, how he made it and his view on the scene. VIBE represent Drake in a very professional, sophisticated and cultured manner in this double page spread, which also represents hip-hop/rap genre in the same way as he is a highly anticipated artist in this genre of music. On this DPS there is two main images of Drake, one indirect address landscape photograph of Drake smiling in a checkered shirt and one direct address portrait of Drake working in his music studio. These photos are positive and inspiring photos of how drake is as a person. On the second page underneath the second photograph is by-lines to the photograph which credit. In the top right hand corner there is the re-use of the simple capital V with a barcode spread next to it, once again this represents the magazine in a retro way and gives an old fashioned typewriter appearance to it. The mode of address does not suit the front cover but from what we see inside the magazine, it does suit the mode of address of the entire magazine. To conclude, I believe that this double page spread doesn’t necessarily have many of thecommon conventions that it should have toattract the target audience. This is because Drake is such a well known artist in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre that just a photograph anda story about him is enough to catch the eyes of many.
By Ross William Georgallides
