Magazine Covers

The editor's main concern is the magazine cover. The cover attracts consumers and tells us all about the magazine. It is the face of the magazine and establishes a brand image; regular readers will be aware of the conventions and a consistant magazine will be easy to spot on the shelf.

On a Kerrang! cover, the "main sells" are exclusive 'freebies' such as posters, free stickets, calenders, etc. The editor of Kerrang covers all aspects of music on the cover to appeal to all of its readers; even though it is a rock magazine, it often features subgenres such as punk and indie music. As the target audience is teenagers, special-edition promotion magazines are often published to attract new consumers and engage the old ones; e.g. collect 5 issues, each one with a different member of the group My Chemical Romance on it.

A cover-mounted CD makes the magazine more desireble and can boost sales of 40.000 purchases; magazines then try to maintain those extra 40,000 consumers by enticing them with less-expensive freebies. Mixmag magazine always features a CD in each issue which raises the costs of production and thus raises the price of the magazine, it is very time-consuming to produce a desireble CD and eventually, people will begin to expect the free CD's.

The two most important areas on a magazine cover are the lofo and the 'sweet spot'. The logo is necessary for recognition, a well-established magazine can then progress on having images cover the logo as people will still identify the magazine. A 'sweet spot' is the place where the reader's attention is drawn to first, to tempt the reader into buying the magazine. Magazines try to reassure you with their front cover yet still attempt to do something different.