Music magazine research

Generic Conventions of a Music magazine

I have decided to make a Rock music magazine which covers all type of rock from punk to harcore metal. Before beginning work on my magazine I began to do research on other magazines of the same genre. The first magazine I took a look at was 'Rolling Stones' but this magazine was more of an all-genre magazine. I then looked at 'Kerrang!' which is a very popular rock magazine. Through looking through various images of their covers and contents pages I began to obtain ideas for my own products and also learnt more about conventions of rock magazines and how they differ from other genre magazines.


This is a picture of the front cover of a 'Kerrang!' magazine. One of the most conventional things about 'Kerrang!' and most rock music magazines is that it has a very full front page. There is little free space as big images and multiple amounts of text fill up the cover. The main image is of a stereotypical rockstar with dark clothes, messy hair and a musical instrument (in this case a guitar). These qualities immediately create awareness to the rock audience on what type of magazine it is and what is inside it. The image is large but goes against the conventions of most magazines because the model is not looking directly at us. None the less, the face is clearly shown so that fans of this particular person can immediately see him on the cover and get drawn into the magazine. In a further attempt to attract the audience, the bands name (Green Day) is towards the top of the page and at eye level and is written in big, bold letters. Also written in big, bold letters is the name of the magazine. This attracts the 'Kerrang!' audience to the magazine regardless of who features on the front cover. A well known and respected brand will be easily able to attract a wide audience as they have a reputation for presenting interesting stories relating to a particular type of music.


Also conventional to a music magazine is the front cover broadcasting of other stories in the magazine. In this cover, Muse and Slipknot are shown. There is even a small picture of Slipknot that is also conventional of rock magazines and not of others. Most Hip Hop magazines, for example, have the image of only one artist on their front covers.


This is a picture I took of a 'Kerrang!' contents page that I used to inspire my own magazine ideas. The page conventionally has a main image complemented by a few smaller ones around the page. The use of a big image at the top of the page shows a link to the contents of the magazine and that it is related to punk or emo sort of music. The picture is contraversial like its genre. This is shown through the long hair, screaming through the microphone and collapsing about of the rockstars in it.

The layout of the contents in columns makes it clear and easy to understand and it immediately shows a vast amount of stories which will attract the readers and it shows that the magazine covers a wide area of music. This is supplimented by the smaller images which help to liven up the page so its not boring. The titles are written in different colour writing also to liven up the page. I have also noticed that the rockstar on the contents page is not the same rockstar on the front cover which shows the range of popular musicians the magazine has stories on.


This is an image of a 'Kerrang!' double page spread. It conventionally show a big picture of the musician being interviewed with a short introduction in bold writing and a longer introduction right before the interview begins. The questions from the interviewer are in a different colour then the answers from the musician which distinguishes the two, making it easier for the audience to understand. In bold letters at the top of the page are blocks of speech quoted from the musician being interviewed. This is conventional to magazine interviews. The colour scheme is plain and dull which is also conventional to a rock magazine. These sorts of magazines usually use colours like black and grey as it is dark like the genre of music.