Front cover research
Research into Q magazine
Q magazine is a popular music magazine that is published monthly in the United Kingdom by Bauer media group. Each monthly issue costs £3.59 and contains an extensive review section that features: new music releases, reissues (music), music compliations, film and live concert reviews, as well as radio and television reviews.
The main focus of the majority of Q magazines front covers is the aritist/artists. The general theme is then that the image is surrounded by text that advertises the various artists and content within the magazine. The examples of Q magazine that I have took try to create a realtionship with the reader in different ways due to the different shots and images they have used. For example the front cover that shows Matthew Bellamy the lead singer of Muse presents the stereotypical connotations of rock bands. Rock bands such as Muse are often associaed with eccentric behhaviour, not caring about the consequences and living a headonistic lifestyle. The image of Matthew Bellamy smashing the Q logo with his guitar is something that supports all of these stereotypes of a rock band. The text is then centered around him which creates an idea that he is the most important and everything/everybody else is centered around him. The other two examples of Liam Gallagher and Jay Z are slightly different to the magazine showing Matthew Bellamy. On these two issues of Q magazine there are close ups of the two artists that are captured at eye level. The front cover of Liam shows the other members of Oasis in the reflection of his glasses which shows he is the main one out of the 4 and like the other two the text is placed around the image of the artists. Like the other two the text is centered around the image of Liam which shows that he is the main focus of this issue of Q magazine.
Research into Vibe magazine
Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by Quincy Jones. The magazine predominantly features hip hop and R&B artists as well as actors and other entertainers.
The two magazine covers that I have chosen from the Vibe magazine both show a mid shot of the main artists Eminem and Drake. The colour red that represents danger is used as the colour for the title on the issue that shows Eminem. Eminem himself has often been portrayed as a negative figure and bad influence within the music industry due to things he has done in the past. Also the picture of Eminem is showing his tatoos which is something that could be seen as rebellious. Both the colour and the image itself therefore represent Eminems personality and what he stands for... The text that is used around the image of eminem could also suggest that the target audience is younger people who are more up to date with this type of music and with the current artists. For example one piece of text says "swaggajack" which comes across as language that an older person may find hard to understand or be off putting to them.
The Vibe magazine that has Drake has the front cover is similar to the one of Eminem. The main focus is clearly Drake as he is in the centre of the page and takes up the majority of it and the text is placed around him. Direct eye contact is caught between the reader and the picture of Drake which creates a relationship with the audience. The two colours used on the front cover of the magazine create a contrast due to the different connotations of them. The background of the front cover is black which is usually associated with the unknown and power, this could link in with the powerful songs that Drake writes. The yellow text represents a feeling of warmth and happiness and the white text represents purity and saftey, both of these could also be assoicated with the songs Drake writes and what he stands for. The white masthead makes it stand out against the black background and also makes it clearer and bolder.
Research into top of the pops magazine
Top of the Pops magazine has been running since February 1995, and filled the void in the BBC magazine portfolio where Number One magazine used to be. It began much in the mould of Q magazine, then changed its editorial policy to directly compete with popular teen celebrity magazines. The BBC announced that the magazine would continue its publication despite the of the television series.
The magazine that is made up of predominantly pink fonts and headers is specifically aimed at young girls. The front covers of the two examples that I have picked are quite clustered and unorganised with a range of pictures, stories and products which may appeal more to a younger audience. The first example I have chosen contains an image of the boy band One Direction. This shows that the audience is younger girls as their fan base is mostly made up of females. They would not come across as appealing to a male in the sense that a lot of them would not want to pick up the magazine and read it. In my opinion these magazines do not look as professional in comparison to Q magazine and Vibe and look slightly cheap and tacky. They may come across as appealing to a younger audience but not to an older and more sophisticated audience.