Third analysis of Music Magazine Cover.

Third analysis of Music Magazine Cover.

This is going to be the third and last of three music magazine covers that I am going to analyse as part of my music magazine re-search, this will help me in the step by step process in producing my own music magazine cover. The three music magazine covers that I am going to analyse are going to be of the same genre that I have chose to base my music magazine on which is heavy metal / rock. The last music magazine cover that I am going to analyse is going to be an issue of “Classic Rock“. I will analyse the cover using the LIIAR technique.

Language – On the cover of this issue of “Classic Rock” the masthead is positioned at the top of the cover and is spread across the entire width of the page. The masthead stands out incredibly well because the font colour is white and the main background colour on the cover is black, contrasting the two colours together it gives the masthead a feeling as though it is important especially the way the word “Rock” is the largest piece of text on the cover and the word “Classic” which is also featured in a white font, is spelt in capital letters with stars positioned on both sides. There is also a small slogan featured underneath the letter “R” which says “HIGH VOLTAGE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL”. I think it is clever the way that they have worded the slogan, it is like a statement. When thinking of high voltage the first thing that comes to mind is electrical power, which could be describing an electrical guitar, the power and the unstoppable force that a guitarist feels when they are playing their guitar brings out high voltage and the “rock ‘n’ roll” in the slogan is put in there because the genre for this magazine is rock music. The main image featured on the cover, is of guitarist James Hetfield who is a member of famous rock band Metallica. His picture has been taken at a medium long shot. With this shot we can still see the expression on James Hetfield’s Face, while getting more information from what is going on around him. By having James Hetfield on the cover of this magazine, because of his huge success and because he is known by almost all rock music genre fans, it will make the audience for this particular music genre want to buy this magazine due the huge success that he has had in his music career. He is a role model to most rock and Metallica fans, they all want to be just like him. Seeing him on the cover shows he is a huge role model in the rock world. This is also shown by his body language on the cover. He isn’t stood normally, he is stood looking down at his guitar and has both arms spread out equally, as though all the adrenaline is rushing through his body. Also by the way he is standing it looks as though he is untouchable, like there is no other person out there like him. There is also a catch subheading positioned underneath the Metallica logo, it says “THE 1000 DAYS THAT CHANGED THEM FOREVER”. This will make most fans of Metallica to buy this issue of the magazine because they will be interested to see what happened during the 1000 days that changed them forever and they know there will be a huge article on this story within the contents of the magazine. Classic Rock magazine has a consistent house style by using gold, black and white colours on the cover of the magazine. They will use the same font and position the masthead in the same place on all issues that they release. This is to make the magazine noticeable and easy to spot.   

Institution – Classic Rock is published by a company called Future Publishing. As you may notice, Future Publishing are also the main producers for Metal Hammer magazine which I analysed earlier in my re-search and I said that Future Publishing only produce one magazine of a specific genre so they don’t eat into their own budget. However Metal Hammer magazine and Classic Rock magazine are two different genres. Metal Hammer focuses more on heavy metal music, whereas Classic Rock music genre is classic rock which is ironic because that is the name of the magazine. Synergy is used in the institution for this magazine. Metallica and lead guitarist James Hetfield have allowed Future Publishing and Classic Rock to feature them on the cover of their magazine. Which will help Future Publishing make lots of money because it will sell thousands of copies of this issue. In return Future Publishing are helping Metallica and James Hetfield out by letting them be on the cover of the Classic Rock magazine and they will have a positive article written about them inside the issue.

Ideology - The ideology on this magazine cover, are the messages, morals and values that the company/magazine has. Classic Rock magazine, their ideology is to get the latest information and news from the classic rock music genre out on a monthly basis. They want to ensure that the audience who purchase this months issue of the magazine, will come back again next month and purchase the newest release with the newest news and information featured in it.

Audience – Classic Rock appeals to a specific target audience. The target audience for the magazine is for an audience who like to listen to and enjoy classic rock music. When you first look at the cover most people will be able to tell that it is aimed at a classic rock target audience even without looking at the masthead because the cover looks modern and old fashioned. It doesn’t use bright colours because we associate classic rock with black, gold and white hence the reason they are the three main colours used on the cover. Classic Rock magazine is priced at £4.50 which may seem expensive for a magazine but it is only released on a monthly basis. Due to this magazine mainly being aimed at people over the age of 40 as it features classic rock music. I think most people over that age wont mind paying £4.50 for a magazine on a monthly basis. So I think that £4.50 is a reasonable price for this particular magazine.

Representation - When looking at the representational features on the cover of this magazine. Its main aim is that the image on the cover of the magazine represents the target audience, it represents what the target audience aspire to be like. Which for this magazine it has Metallica member James Hetfield on the cover and it represents the target audience really well because Metallica have been active since the 1980s. Metallica have millions of fans around the world, which sells the magazine. they are presenting aspects of society back to us in a positive way. This is another use of synergy. Metallica are helping to sell the magazine due to their main role in this issue and Classic Rock magazine are helping them out by featuring a fantastic article inside on the band whilst also promoting their upcoming tours and concerts etc.