Metal Genre Analysis

I chose to base my magazine on the metal genre and have done a brainstorm exploring what is common of the genre so as to apply it to my magazine

History of Music Magazines

The History of Music Magazines to the Present Day

I looked at the progression of Music Magazines how they have developed and changed to fit the publics demand.

Group Work Lesson - Double Page Spread Analysis

We did group work where we analysed double page spread articles labelling what was common of the genre

Institutions

IPC Media

a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. IPC Media groups titles under five magazine divisions: Connect (women's weeklies such as Now Magazine and Look), Inspire (leisure and specialist), Ignite! (men's lifestyle and entertainment), SouthBank (women's lifestyle and home interest) and TX (portfolio of television titles). In addition, there is Marketforce, the UK's leading magazine distribution business. Digitally they have WOTV and goodtoknow. International Publishing Company. They are responsible for the publication of NME and Guitar and Bass International Publishing Company

Bauer Media

A multinational media company headquartered in Hamburg,Germany which operates in 16 countries worldwide. Kerrang! is one of their magazines that specialises in Rock Music. It originally began as a magazine and in 2004 Kerrang Radio was launched. Q started out as a music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. Originally it was to be called Cue (named after the act of cueing a record to play). Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth felt the music press of the time ignored a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs then still a new technology from artists such as Paul Simon, Level 42, and Dire Straits. Modeled after Rolling Stone, Q was first published in 1986, setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography and printing, with an emphasis on style.

                                                      Emap

Emap was the second largest magazine publisher in UK with about 18% of the news-stand market by revenue (to IPC/Time Warner's 20%). However, in July 2007, the company announced a strategic review. The result was that the company was split up and sold off in December. The business-to-business magazines were sold to Guardian Media Group and private equity firm Apax - which owns Incisive - for £1bn. The new company is to be called Incisive-Emap. its consumer magazines and radio arm, including Kiss and Magic, went to Bauer for £1.14 billion - making the German magazine publisher the largest in Britain.

Development Hell Ltd

Set up by ex-Emap executives David Hepworth, Jerry Perkins, Mark Ellen and Andrew Harrison. Business plan to launch three magazines over six years. First launch, in March 2003, was Word , focusing on music and entertainment: 'New! Something to read !' screamed the cover.  Bought clubbing magazine Mixmag from Emap in November 2005. The Guardian Media Group took a 14% share in the company in July 2004.

Evaluation of School Magazines

From the school magazines I looked at I saw a lot of things I would like to do and a lot of things that I want to remember to avoid the first magazine I looked at was a student and sixth form magazine. It was good as they were very consistent in their colour scheme, fonts and overall design. The fonts related to the purpose of the magazine as it was in the style of a college/ highschool as well this the font is often used in mainstream pop culture currently making the magazine relevant. The colours were based around the theme of the issue this week being food and so the colour scheme is laid out to look like ketchup and mustard. They also use black as it contrasts against the light coloured cover image. The idea behind the colouring although is related to food does not encourage healthy eating and I need to apply that to my work so that it gives a positive image. The font and design are over the cover image and are made to look like they have been drawn over similar to a school book relating with audience and making the magazine seem relatable to their audience. They have used different font sizes in order to highlight the main article and the smaller articles and they have a magazine logo which is clean and neat which is opaque giving it a very professional look. I want to use this in my magazine highlighting my double page spread article by putting it in larger writing as well as having a logo as part of the magazine name.

The next magazine I looked at was for a school and had a lot less on it there was a main cover image with 3 images above the name of the magazine which is different to what most magazines have, but it looks professional. they have put the font in green opaque text boxes so as to show the picture through the text box whilst making it look neat. However there aren't many text boxes which doesn't help show what is inside and although the images show show some of the different features of the article its not very descriptive, I want to have subheadings to show what is inside.

The final magazine I looked at was another student magazine and while this did have subheadings it had too many and made the magazine seemed crowded, this wasn't helped by the advertisement that had been put on the front page taking up a lot of space. The image was unclear as to its purpose and had been put in front of the magazine name and whilst that looked professional it made the title hard to read. The font also wasn't appropriate it was too formal for a student magazine I want to make sure my font, design and images all relate to the magazines genre and ethos. It did have a consistent colour scheme but the white colour they had had chosen blended in with the background.

Music Magazine in-depth analysis

Metal hammer is a monthly Rock and Heavy Metal magazine published in the United Kingdom but with many other versions in other countries under different publishers it covers both mainstream bands as well as more unusual and unheard of bands In Germany, it has been the market leader since 1984 when it was launched.  

It is published by Future plc the sixth largest publishing company in the UK. It was founded in 1965 It currently publishes more than 150 magazines in genres such as Film, Video Games, Technology, Photography and Automotive. They also are the official magazine publisher of all the three main video game consoles. It effects the content as they are very technologically and media aware this benefits as it fits into the category and leaves a well finished clean cut neat magazine. As it is a monthly magazine they expect it to last longer.


The magazine prioritises its articles over its adverts you don't find any adverts on the same pages as articles it is kept clean and consistent the adverts are kept to a minimum throughout the article often to a minimum and the only Advertisements that are in the magazine are kept to the back of the magazine and are always linked to the Magazine in some aspect be that clothing adverts or Gig adverts they are all suitable for the target audience. The magazine has a consistent theme each week in the picture showed the theme for the week is the movie 'sin city' this style is consistent through the magazine. The style is sin city due to the artists new album titled the city of evil. The film noir/comic book style is popular with teenagers and so is more likely to be picked up.

They use casual language in the text so they can relate to the reader and get a laid back approach whilst still being controversial. As it is a monthly magazine they usually offer a compilation CD and some free posters. They also do subscription deals if you subscribe to their magazine they will give a free t shirt or something similar.

Music Magazine Mood Board

This Mood Board represents the main music genre my magazine aims to look at, this being Metal-core this includes the fashion the wear, the things associated with the genre and some favourite artists of the genre

Research for Magazine - Magazines displayed in stores

This task required me to go into a news-agents or shop that sold a range of magazines and take images of the chosen layout of the magazines and then analyse why they are where they are.

The Magazines all seemed to be ordered in height and age order the magazines aimed at children and toddlers are placed at the bottom where the children can easily see them and reach them. Above these are the Movie, Music and Gaming magazines as these are often aimed at teenagers and young adults and so are placed in the appropriate location. Above these can be found magazines associated with the older generation such as Health, Beauty, Cooking and Fishing. 

This image, you can see that they are a lot of different magazines. The most successful magazines are the ones with the big clear titles that stand out they use bright colours and unique fonts, they say one word that sums up the magazine this immediately the reader know if they want to keep on reading. These bits are made clear as if the magazine is not put at the front that is the only bit that can be seen so it is important to make sure its clear and concise. 

Analysis of Music Magazine

Rock Sound is a British rock music magazine. The magazine aims at being more less commercial focusing on up and coming bands, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts. It generally focuses on the pop, punk, pop-punk, emo, hardcore, post-hardcore, heavy metal and extreme metal genres of rock music. The tag-line "For those who like their music loud, extreme and non-conformist" is sometimes used. Although primarily aimed at the British market, the magazine is also sold in Australia, Canada and the United States. The magazines audience is predominantly teenagers and young adults. They have a very casual laid back attitude to their publications often making the front of the magazine look like it has been drawn or sketched. Its first publication was in 1999. They are well know for offering free Posters and promotional CD's with tracks from albums that wont be released as singles.

NME is a music magazine from the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine style during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the 14 November 1952 edition. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. They have a more formal tone to their magazine, sticking to darker colours and neater fonts. This magazine is aimed at an older audience to rocksound. They focus more on mainstream indie and rock they don't cover heavier genres of rock.

Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. The name Kerrang is intended to sound like the strumming of an electric guitar this noise would be familiar with many people who read the magazine. Kerrang is also aimed at a teenage audience often covering the latest rock celebrity gossip. Due to this they have a more informal casual tone occassionally swearing in some of their articles.

Rolling Stone Magazine is a magazine devoted to music, politics, and pop culture. It is published biweekly. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967. The magazine was originally known for focusing on the best modern day music and its political coverage. Rolling Stone magazine changed in the 1990s to appeal to younger readers, often focusing on young television or film actors and pop music. This led to criticism that the magazine was emphasizing style over substance. In recent years, the magazine has returned to its traditional mix of content, including in-depth political stories.

School Magazine

This is my final edit of my School Magazine

I like my Magazine, it's neat, formal and well polished. I have kept a consistent colour scheme and font style and colour to make my magazine look professional. I feel my magazine is appropriate for school because its formal and does a good a good job of informing whilst still being slightly comical and humorous as to draw people in. I have included a competition in order to attract students to pick up a copy of the magazine as they have the chance to win free stuff. I have used a big picture as my cover photo I like this its effective because it has a picture of focusing students in lesson which puts the school in a good light. As it is a school magazine it doesnt use a complex font or complex graphics everything is clean and neat.

Student Magazine Research