Analysing Magazine Covers

‘Q’ is a music magazine targeted at 24 – 44 year old British men as much of the magazine is devoted to interviews with popular music artists and serious, in-depth stories. This age group would have interests in a broad serious genre of music, ranging from the White Stripes to 50 Cent and reading deeper articles. We can tell that these interests are met by the magazine because of the puffs that promote articles on a wide range of acts such as Midlake and John Lennon; this tells us that the magazine aims at people that do not concentrate on just one type of music. The puff that that states ‘The 10 Best New Acts’ explains that this first issue of 2010 will predict and promote successes in the following year; it also works as a buzz word as it makes the magazine sound more exciting. This is an effective way to get people to buy the magazine – regular consumers will be attracted to this feature as it consists of new music from a wide range, and new customers who are interested in the upcoming music would also purchase the magazine.

The main article in the magazine is about Cheryl Cole which is advertised by the anchorage text “3 words... Cheryl Cole, Rocks”; this does not reveal a lot about the story but engages the reader as we are interested in this different representation of Cheryl Cole as she is detached from her zone as a Girls Aloud pop star and portrayed as a rockstar. This satirical use of ‘3 words’ which is the name of her new album is a tabloid way of attracting customers. By creating a ‘rock’ image for Cheryl, this appeals to the target audience who are not particularly interested in her regular pop music. There is a direct mode of address as the magazine wants to create a strong direct relationship between it and its readers. This should typically encourage the consumer to purchase the magazine. Cheryl Cole is on the front cover as she has recently released her solo debut album and as a rising star she would be of interest to readers. Considering that the target audience for ‘Q’ is 24 – 44 year old men, it is evident that Cheryl Cole would have sex appeal and entice readers; she was voted number 1 sexiest woman of 2009 in FHM. It is rather unusual to have someone on the cover who is not under the range of ‘serious’ music, but this is justified because she is a star icon at the top of the music world.

The overall message presented by this central image is her sex appeal. This is heightened by her separation from her regular pop image to meet the interests of the target audience. The image reflects the film “Sin City” which is an intertextual reference that the readers would be aware of; this is to make sure that the readers do not feel estranged or alienated. Her her dark, rough make-up and wet hair create a ‘horror’ effect. Combined with the anchorage text it makes it seem like a scary movie advert; again playing on this idea of “Sin City”. The pointy blade ring emphasizes the overall message of her sex appeal as she is licking the tip in a sexual seductive way. Her red lips make her seem like a vixen, which stands out and sexually attracts men to the magazine. To the female readers of the magazine, this could represent feminine power.

This image represents a few stereotypical groups. As mentioned before, is could symbolise the power and rise of females. It could also be used to show that rock images are stronger than the image of pop, as a pop star was transformed into a momentary “rockstar”. The magazine represents this by the vixen colours, direct mode of address and appealing “Sin City” reference.

The title block reveals the target audience and emphasizes the message of the cover; the colours of red and white symbolise power, perhaps a sexual appeal; both features that the central image tries to convey. The red symbolises an alertness, an important warning, which is soothed by the peaceful white ‘Q’. It is aimed at the British audience so the colours that reflect their flag -white and red would be appealing to the British citizen. The fact that it is a one letter magazine shows the power and prominence of the newsstands. The letter ‘Q’ is not perfectly straight, it is slightly tilting to the left; this is visible by the red centre circle. This shows the ‘quirky’ side to the magazine, that is is not what expected. As well as covering the classic rock, it covers the left-field acts, hence the tilt to the left. This fits in perfectly with the image of Cheryl Cole; she is portrayed as edgy and is not what is expected.

There is a slogan-type coverline at the top that claims that ‘Q’ is “The UK’S Biggest Music Magazine”. This helps to attract new readers by basically saying that ‘Q’ is the magazine they should be reading. It also maintains old regular consumers by saying that ‘Q’ is still the best magazine and they should carry on reading it. It tells us that the magazine is prominent on the newsstands and has the ability to dominate the music magazine market.

The colours used for this cover are black, red and white. These are very powerful, dominant and sexual colours that also appeal to the target audience. The red highlights the sex appeal of Cheryl Cole and the black demonstrates her authority. These colours are the primary colours used in horror movies, especially the typical ones like “Scary Movie” and ergo heightens the “Sin City” appeal. This creates an edgy, dark and rather scary atmosphere that makes us idolise Cheryl as she looks so confident and powerful in such a mood.

The fonts used on the anchorage remind me of the fonts used on horror film posters; the framing and positioning of the text is also similar to this, again an intertextual reference to the film. The fonts used are simple and bold that attract the audience and make it easy to read and quickly spottable on the shelves.
‘Q’ magazine does not aim at its audience through ‘freebies’ or posters; it targets them by the exclusive stories and special features that are promoted by the buzz words such as the John Lennon feature and the Best New Acts, etc. Through the use of all the mise-en-scene and denotations, this magazine successfully attracts consumers.

NME, first published in 1952, stands for ‘New Musical Express’ which clearly denotes the aim of their magazine; to reveal new artists and genres to the world; a journey of discovery. The target audience for this ‘heat magazine’ of the world are 15 – 24 year old males. Their block title aims at this audience by the vibrant colours and simple font. NME sounds like ‘enemy’ which reflects a rebellious newspaper and interests their target audience; even though now it is more glossy than it used to be. NME targets two audiences of diverse interest; it established new genres to its readers and it aims at regular readers by its close association with punk/rock music and has adapted such a reputation. Therefore readers with interests in punk/rock and readers with interests in new music would buy this magazine, creating double the profit for the magazine. The puffs scattered all over the magazine establish this “punk” association as the music it talks about is classified as rock/punk or somewhat indie; e.g. Vampire Weekend, My Chemical Romance, etc. This is also an effective way to attract potential buyers.

The main article in the magazine is about a member of the punk band My Chemical Romance which is explained by the anchorage text “MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, on their punk comeback album”; this anchorage text also mentions the interests of the target audience – PUNK; this would not estrange the regular readers from what they are accustomed. However, NME will also attract customers that have an interest in a broad genre of music as this is a ‘comeback’ of My Chemical Romance and would possibly strive to be popular in the upcoming year. There is a direct mode of address between the reader and the man on the cover as the magazine wants to create a strong relationship between itself and the reader to encourage them to purchase this magazine. However it is evident that this contact is an unfriendly one; perhaps to show his uneasiness with the world or detachment from society; possibly even a malcontent of the music world? He is on the cover because his band are going tor release a ‘comeback album’ that rock fans have been anticipating. The framing of the shot is a long-shot that shows his entire body; this is to show that perhaps he was in motion when the picture was taken to echo the chaos of the music and to emphasize his body language. His left-faced body position could symbolise the left-faced music acts, not just punk and rock; again to subtly entice both punk lovers and new-genre fanatics. His edgy haircut and dark make-up could reflect his character; it makes him appear like a Vampire. This is strengthened by his facial expression and studio lighting. His facial expression is a solemn, mysterious and edgy one that although communicates with the reader, it is still a distant one; like he doesn’t want to let the readers access his personality, which ironically he reveals in the articles. The shadow caused by his hair combined with the dark lighting of the studio shows that there is a hidden part to him that could be released in the new album – this again heightens the aim of the magazine ‘NME’ to revel a new music genres to the world, yet still please the punk/rock audiences. This creates an overall message that his edgy persona will be revealed in the new album and that there’s more to him than just punk. His outfit also hints at the idea of vampires; this costume looks like a common uniform for a time period back in the 1800’s, yet it has been made “cooler” and more fashionable. The colour theme of this cover is black, red and white. These are very dominant and powerful colours that would appeal to the male target audience; they also fit in with the consistent colours of the title block to compose the magazine cover and glue all the factions together using the same colour theme. These colours are often stereotypically associated with rock/punk magazines, as it reflects the personalities of the “emo, rocker, scene” kids .

There are slogan-type cover lines at the top and bottom of the magazine, both of which promote artists featured in the magazine. It is interesting how both cover-lines contain a buzz word each, i.e. “NEW” and “PLUS”; this attracts readers as it makes it seem like there is something in this issue that is exclusive and not found in others, e.g. NME was the first British magazine to include a singles chart, so they could potentially continue to surprise their audiences with new ’inventions’. The fact that the artists featured in these cover-lines are in fact not classified as punk, such as Kid Cudi, allows the magazine to function as the “New Musical Express” that it is by featuring new genres of music.

NME magazine does not aim at its audience through ‘freebies’ or posters; it targets them by the exclusive stories, special features, compiled lists, etc. Through the use of all the mise-en-scene and denotations, this magazine successfully attracts consumers.