Content Analysis

The Kerrang!'s content page is very consistent and not irrelevant, making it look more professional. It uses a lowkey colour scheme with dark colours, which focuses on what kind of music would be in this magazine. Underneath the picture it says "Kerrang! This week" which clearly informs you what will be in the magazine, it elaborates on the stories inside the magazine which would have been mentioned on the cover. It gives you the page numbers which you can quickly go see the story. It even has pictures of the double page spread on the content page which would attract audiences to want to buy the magazine. At the bottom right side corner you have an offer on wanting to get an subscription at a low price. On the bottom left hand side corner we have a very brief and short summary of what is in the magazine this weeks by the deputy editor, it also tells you where to go for the full story. For my own magazine content I would like to use lowkey colour scheme, I would also like to use the way they lay out the content, I would also use what the issue number is and what date it was published and I
would use the idea of having pictures of the double    page spread on the content page.

NME's content page is very consistent, it uses quite a dark-lowkey colour scheme but it's not as dark as Kerrang!s content page. The lowkey colour scheme for NME's content page can  relate to the music genre of the magazine. In NME's content page it is very clear that the main thing on this page is the mini article about Kasabian. The big picture of Kasabian performing in the middle of the page is more likely to attract fans of Kasabian, although it is only a brief article about them. On the left hand side of the content page they have made a list of what bands have been mentioned in this issue and next to the bands name are page numbers. On the left hand side is a list of what will be in the magazine. They also mention which piece of content was on the cover, making it easier for the reader to find the story that drawn them to the magazine. At the bottom left corner they include extra content that will be in the magazine. NME have also made "THE UK'S No1 GIG GUIDE STARTS p58" stand out by putting it onto an arrow, showing that this magazine is clearly about music, and as music fans, the readers would like to be informed about gigs or even have tips on how to get ready for a gig. At the bottom of the page NME made a lot os space for readers to consider becoming a subscriber, they try to attract them by making the title big and bold, also saying they will be saving a lot of money.
In my magazine I would like to use the "band index" and list what bands will be in my magazine, I would also like to use the layout of the content page.

Q's content page is very consistent and sophisticated. The colour scheme is very clear and would run throughout the magazine, it's very calm and makes the text clear, making it very professional. Most of the main content is at the bottom of the page, but there are three content paragraphs that are placed in different areas because of the photographs. On the left side of the content page it has some of the main features in the magazine. The Q logo is used consistently for continuity purposes. The title of it is "The Q Review the world's finest music guide" which shows how sophisticated Q magazine are. Underneath the title shows different categories, live, album, which includes the artist who is on the cover Jake Bugg, Reissues and Gadgets. These could be the main content that readers may like to see in the magazine. Compared to Kerrang! and NME, on this page Q doesn't include the subscription advertisement. For my magazine I would like to use the way the content page is layed out, as it looks very sophisticated and consistent.

Different institution analysis

Bauer Media Group
Bauer Media Group operates in 16 different countries. Their headquarters is located in Hamburg, Germany. BMG owns Q magazine, Kerrang! magazine and Mojo magazine.  Bauer doesn't only own music magazines, they also own women's weekly magazines, TV listing magazines and also puzzle magazines. They also own their own radio station which is based in the UK.  BMG also owns TV channels such as 4 Music, Kerrang!, Smash Hits and Magic. Bella was the first magazine that was published in the UK by Bauer in 1987.

NME
New Music Express is a weekly pop/rock music publication. They only own one music magazine and they also named the magazine NME. It was originally a music newspaper then it turned into a magazine in the 80s and 90s. NME used to have a channel on TV which launched on the 22nd of November in 2007 but then was closed down on the 2nd of January 2012, it was replaced with Chart Show TV. NME also have a radio (NME Radio). It first aired on the 24th of June, 2008. It is mainly based on alternative music.

BBC/Immediate Media Company
Immediate Media Company launched the magazine "Top of the Pops" in February 1995 after the BBC TV show Top of the Pops, which then closed down in 2006. Immediate Media Company also owns the monthly magazine "BBC Music Magazine" since 2012. Any magazine the BBC owned was sold to Immediate Media Company for them to publish it. IMG also publishes magazines for pre-teenagers, History, TV and radio magazines. Examples of the magazines they own are Doctor Who Adventures (since 2006), Radio Times (since 2011), History (since 2000) and Top Gear (since 1993).

Music magazine timeline

I have researched Q magazines history and picked covers that have four years between them, ranging from the first ever issue to the first issue they will publish in January 2014. In my analysis I have seen that the Q logo changed, it still has a red background apart from July's issue in 1990. In the first issue in 1986 the logo is in a rectangle, throughout the years they've changed it into a square making more room for the artist on the cover who is the main focus of the magazine. Throughout the years the magazine has become more sophisticated, they developed a lot since their first issue. In their first issue they had everything put into grids  until the September 1998 issue where the cover stories were just put around the artist. After April 2010's issue they've layered the artists ontop of the Q logo. They've kept the artists name at the bottom of their issues from September 1998. Q magazines background is mainly lowkey apart from June 2002 which is highkey. On the 20th issue of the magazine they made lists of top 20s for the greatest albums and tracks in Q's life, also 20 interviews with different artists. Q had 20 different covers to collect for their 20th anniversary. The audience pretty much stayed the same, fans from different genres read this magazine with some pop but also indie.

In my magazine I would like to use the technique of layering the artist over the logo, and also putting the cover stories around the artists. I would like to layer the artists name on them like on the April 2010 issue the way Lady Gaga's first "Ga" is behind her then the second "Ga" is layered onto her.

Comparison of two magazines

Q and NME magazine both have different institution that own them. Q magazine is owned by Bauer Media Group. BMG headquarters is located in Hamburg, Germany which operates in 16 countries world wide. NME is owned by IPC Media. IPC Media's headquarters is located in London, it is only in the United Kingdom, unlike Bauer Media Group which spreads across 16 countries. Bauer Media Group publishes Q magazine monthly, while IPC Media publishes NME magazine weekly. Q magazine brand has expanded into radio and television, Q Radio and Q TV. Q also holds an award show called Q Awards, it has become one of Britain's biggest and best publicized music awards. Similarly to Q, NME magazine has NME Awards. NME Awards is an awards show held every year to celebrate the best new music of the past year. The nominations and eventual winners are voted for by the readers of the magazine. The target audience for Q magazine would be more of a sophisticated rage of people which includes young adults and adults.  Similar to Q, NME magazine is also targeted at young adults and adults, but the magazine is written informally compared to Q magazine as it is written formally. Q magazine has only one picture on their cover and it's the artist that has made the monthly cover, while NME has the main artist on the cover but also includes other pictures of bands on the cover that are inside the magazine. In both of the magazine covers they both question why the artists on the covers are good and why many people enjoy their music. It also shows that it will go in depth on why people find them so good. The Q magazine cover is quite highkey while NME magazine is quite lowkey but has elements of it being highkey. 

Music Cover Analysis

What institution owns this magazine?: it was owned by EMAP then it was sold to Bauer Media Group in January, 2008.
What effect does this have on the content?: the magazine every other month and its sister magazine Mojo, which is also owned by Bauer, have special editions that include musical times, genres, or a very important/influential musician. In late 2008 the magazine changed its image with smaller amount of text and increased focus on subjects other than music.
What impact does this have on the audience?: It has got the magazine some criticism from traditional readers, some readers believe it has lost its edge, caring more about the bands popularity rather than their music and plays it saying on who and what it covers.
Who is the target audience?: the target audience are mainly young adults, adults and adolescents. This magazine is mainly for people who listen to a variety of music genres that goes from rap to indie rock, to alternative, to punk rock, to rock and to pop.
What is the tone of the writing?: the tone of writing in this   is quite basic, it doesn't have too complex writing but it is formal compared to other magazines.
What do they offer to their readership?: they put in their magazines interviews from readers favourite bands, they also tell them whenever they are going on tour, they inform you about new bands/artists and relate them to other bands/artists the readers may life so they enjoy them. They also give away £100 iTunes card for free to readers who fill in surveys for their magazine.
What elements would you like to "borrow" for your own magazine?: I would like to use some of their cover stories, the bands and artists they have inside the magazine and maybe use a similar font to theirs, also the lowkey background of the cover.

What institution owns this magazine?: the institution that owns this magazine is Bauer Media Group. The original owner was United Newspaper who then sold it to EMAP in 1991.
What effect does this have on the content?: during the 1980s and early 1990s the magazine placed many thrash and glam metal acts on the cover, for example Bon Jovi and Metallica but later discarded them when grunge acts such as Nirvana rose to fame. But Kerrang's popularity rose again with the hiring of editor Paul Rees cicra in 2000 when nu metal genre, featuring bands such as Slipknot and and Limp Bizkit were becoming more popular.
What impact does this have on the audience?: readers have criticised the magazine for changing their style of genre whenever a band has become popular.
Who is the target audience?: the target audience are clearly people who listen to bands from the rock/metal core genre. It's based in England so mainly English people are the target audience. Adolescents, adults and older adults are main target audiences for this magazine.
What is the tone of writing?: the tone of writing is formal, the language isn't too complex.
What do they offer to their readership?: Kerrang! Offers posters of favourite bands/artists to the readers, it includes when bands are touring, interviews with bands and rank the top artists/bands/guitarists ect. for readers, they also include prizes to be won.
What elements would you like to "borrow" for your own magazine?: I would like to borrow from this magazine the ideas of the posters of favourite bands and the ranking idea. I would also like to borrow the fonts of the titles.

What institution owns this magazine?: New Musical Express (NME) is an institution that owns their own magazine.
What effect does this have on the content?: throughout the 60s/70s/80s/90s/2000s. In the 60s The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were mainly on the cover. During the 70s the magazine was in danger of being closed down by it's institution because of another magazine called Melody Maker. Alan Smith was made editor by ICP, in result the magazine was trying to become more smarter, hipper, more cynical and funnier than any mainstream British paper there has ever been previously. To achieve this his assistant editor Nick Logan raided the underground press for its best writers such as Charles Shaar Murray and Nick Kent, recruited other writers such as Tony Tyler, Ian Macdonald and Californian Danny Holloway. By the time Smith handed the editors chair to Logan mid 1973 the paper was selling nearly 300,000 copies per week and was outstripping its other weekly rivals. By 1974 NME had become the best music paper in Britain.
What impact does this have on the audience?: audience would feel a change in the context of the magazine, there would be a more variety in the magazine, the audience has probably preferred the changes to the new style of the magazine as it had sold a lot of copies.
 Who is the target audience?: the target audience would be people who listen to mainly pop/rock genre, but they includes bands from the indie genre.
What is the tone of writing?: the tone of writing is lowkey and informal
What do they offer to their readership?: they offer interviews from their favourite bands/artists, talk about artists going on tour, they also have posters of artists/unseen pictures.
What elements would you like to "borrow" for your own magazine?: I would like to borrow the cover story of this magazine and I would like to use the font of the titles.

Completed school magazine

This is my completed school magazine. I have called my magazine "Sixth form life"because it's a magazine dedicated to the sixth formers at Epsom & Ewell High School on what they will need get kept up with all the latest news. I have used highkey colours as the text so you can see them clearly, the titles are lowkey but they're in big sizes so you'll be able to read it, I have used them to make them stand out to students that are interested in buying the magazine.

I have included three of my own photographs that I have taken whilst walking around the school, they are all of sixth formers. One of the pictures I have taken is the main cover of the magazine. I took it of a sixth former next to the sign to make the magazine welcoming for students.

I have made my headlines both catchy and witty to get students attention. The magazine covers stories from the canteen food to help with revision towards the exams. I have also included competitions that students who read the magazine can win, and also a headline for future trips to be planned outside of school, and students could submit where they would like their subject to make a trip.

If I was to change my magazine I would try to get rid of the school in the background and just get the sixth former and the school sign, and I would get my background to be a highkey colour. I would make my titles a different colour and make the information underneath the headlines I would make them black and maybe make the size bigger. I would include more headlines and photos as well.

If I went with my plan I would have gotten prom pictures from last years year 11s and previous school trips on the cover of the magazine, I would also make a light background with a student carrying a textbook from a popular subject.

I think that I have mostly done everything that was on my plan apart from some of the things I have said I would do but haven't. Overall, I am quite happy with my magazine cover.

Planning for my school magazine