Magazine research, Analysis and Product placement

Research for magazine

Analysis of magazine (Hammer)

­­­

Design / content – The magazine cover uses on big photo that takes up most of the page. The photo is of Randy Blythe who is the singer from Lamb of God. He is being used as the background for the cover as he is the main focus and story of the magazine. He is also an artist who relates to the magazines choice of music genre. The house style features black, red, and white. The names of bands included on the front is written in a black scribbled and messy font. Information below it is written in red.

Masthead – “Hammer” very big and bold, aggressive looking red font, looks hand written and scribbled.

Headline – “The resurrection of Randy Blythe” Stands out on the cover, slightly hinting at what the story involves. 

Contents page:

Contents page:

Visual style, layout, design:

·         Clear, tidy layout, all information is easy to find and read.

·         Far right side includes names of editors and people involved in creating the magazine. Editor’s note is on the right page, with the main contents and page numbers on the left page, shows clear information.

·         Different content is in columns, lots of photos used of different famous artists who are included in the magazine. Under each title of a band is a brief description on what the page / story. It lets people to see what the page is about before they go to it.

·         Uses more aggressive language / swear words. Suits more to the heavier choice of music genre and their target audience.

Range of content on offer:

·         Deals displayed over pictures “Subscribe and save £££s! Page 112” included in a big red circle which stands out and attracts readers.

·         A page for a note from the editor, page for all of the different stories in the magazine, multiple photos on show.

·         “What’s on your free CD? Page 14”, CDS and posters are included in the magazine.

·         Exclusive content on the digital IPAD edition of the magazine which you can’t get anywhere else, could convince people to go and buy the magazine again digitally to get more.

Double page spread:

Design / content – Dark, black style being used for this story. Black pages with white being used for the main text. A pale green is used for drop caps, quotes, and the titles / questions being asked. It starts off with a question to Randy Blythe, with his answer being quoted below it. Afterwards, it includes extra background information on the artist, with another question being featured further into the second page. A quote is featured in the middle of the first page “I’m experiencing life again” this is written in a bigger font and colour which allows it to stand out in the page, it has also been put into a box which allows it to stay away from other content.

The tope halves of the pages features photos of Randy Blythe who is the main focus of the article, with information included about what the photo is showing, sometimes including quotes about the moment. The bottom halves of the pages include the main article and story of the artist. 

NME – 9^th June 2012

Design / Content – Black and white theme / house style, not featuring many stories or text. No pictures being used other than one big photo of David Bowie, being used for the background of the cover. All information being displayed is clear and easy to see + read. It is clear that the main focus / article in the magazine is David Bowie as the majority of information is relevant to him. Three other topics and stories are included on the left side of the cover, giving small information on what else is featured in the magazine. The barcode is located in the bottom left corner. Dateline is positioned on both the barcode, and on the side of mast head. Issue number is not displayed on the front cover. Does not include a skyline as the masthead is positioned right at the tp.

Masthead – NME, big bold white font, in the very top left corner of the cover. Size and boldness makes it eye catching and lets it stand out. Fits the house style of a black and white theme.

Main cover line – “Ziggy stardust” included in a different font to the other titles include on the cover. Goes across the width of the cover. Written underneath the photo of David Bowie as it relevant to him.

Cover line – “40 years on… The inside story of Pop’s greatest Masterpiece” this is giving a brief idea of what is included / the contents in the main story about Bowie. The font used for this text is the same as the font used for the main cover line above it.

Contents page:

Design / content – Contents page is laid out well, with all information being split up into separate boxes in a tidy design across the page. Information is easy to read and is not being cluttered together. Simple style, white background with black text. Big bold heading at the top to display that it is the contents page. Dateline is underneath the page title. Does not include a note from the editor. Main stories / highlights are included in the separate boxes, with a picture of the bands and artists. Includes a quote from the artists from the story underneath the picture – Pull quotes.

There is a brief note included which gives an idea on what is included in the story / what it is about. Extra features such as posters and crosswords are included in a smaller and separate column towards the left side of a page. Page numbers are positioned next to the pictures of artists. There is also an advert in the bottom left of the page, using a yellow colour which attracts attention and stands out on the page, it’s showing how to subscribe to the magazine and how much it costs. 

Double page spread – Feature article:

Design / content – Includes photos of David Bowie in the top halves of each page as he is the main focus of this article. Old photos of him from photoshoots, or music rehearsals. All text and information is laid out in columns, displaying the story clearly. Throughout the pages and in-between the article are quotes from people who have performed with Bowie, and quotes from Bowie himself. These are being highlighted by the magazine as they use bigger and bolder fonts compared to the rest of the text. On the right side there is another column used which has direct questions to David Bowie, this includes direct questions and answers which not related to the main topic featured below. Next to each of the photos, there is a small bit of text which has information on what the photo shows, where and when it was taken.

Product placement

Publisher: Bauer Media – I have chosen Bauer media as the publishing company for my music magazine as they are also the publishers of Kerrang, Mojo, and Q magazines, which are all magazines based around Rock music. As I plan to do my magazine based on Rock / classic rock music I feel that Bauer media may be more appropriate as a publisher as they already publish music magazines based around this genre. The Bauer media group also covers 16 countries which allows them to open up into new markets. They reach over 22 million adults in the UK which means that they already have a wide audience and market. Bauer media are also partnered with many different radio stations, along with owning a few radio stations themselves. This could allow for extra help with advertising the magazine as they would want to advertise their branded magazines more.

Distribution: I plan to have my music magazine distributed through stores such as WHSmith as they sell a range of their magazines in their stores. They sell magazines based on many different interest and categories. For example, the sell magazines for art, computing, news, and magazines focused on music. The music category on the WHSmith website includes around 62 different music magazine brands, including Kerrang and Mojo. WHSmith also offer subscription services for the magazines that they sell, where people can pay more money in order to get a certain number of issues of a magazine over a period of time. For example, you can spend £82.00 to get 51 different issues of Kerrang magazines over the next 12 months. WHSmith is one of the UK’s leading retail groups, with over 600 stores in towns, and over 600 stores at airports, train stations, hospitals, and motorway services. They continue to open up stores across the world. This makes WHSmith a widely available and accessible retailer to distribute my magazine through as they are able to reach a very wide market.

Target audience: The target audience for my magazine would be around 18 – 40 year olds as it will be focused mainly on rock music. Featuring rock music and artists from today and more modern times, also including more classic rock music and artists from older artists. I have chosen this age range as my target audience as people who are aged around 18 may find that the more modern rock music featured in the magazine appeals more to them and their style, whilst audiences of an older age range may find the older classic rock more appealing to them.



What I can use from the analysis for the construction of my magazine.
From doing an analysis of other magazines, I can use this to help me gain ideas on how I could structure my cover, contents, and double page spread. It has given me an idea on what content and colour schemes that I could feature within my magazine.