Task 2 - Magazine & Audiences: Magazine analysis

Kerrang Magazine 13/2/2010

This cover is a very good example of magazine marketing around seasonal events such as valentines day.

Kerrangs target audience is primarily teenagers and young students (13 -22) with an interest in the rock/metal genre. The logo of the magazine itself has no specific gender direction; however, the articles advertised have a suggested gender target around them.

 

The logo (shown above) is used as the masthead on every magazine issue, the colour scheme is a very basic black and white which could be used to suggest how bold the magazine is, it also could be seen as a visual representation to the punk genre (punk is known for how basic and 'raw' the music is). The suggestion of punk in the font is justified in the articles of well known punk bands or bands with punk influences. It is quite unusual for magazine names to include punctuation but Kerrang seem to use the '!' rather than having their selling line (Life is Loud!) but it still has the same function of emphasising the importance of this magazine.

The cracks in the font also suggest a theme of rebellion and going against the "perfect" image that much of popular music today follow too. For example. Q have a primarily target audience of the MOD/Indie culture and have a very plain and smart looking logo which reflects on the fashion style of MODs and Indies.

The main image on the magazine consists of Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari and Jonny 'Itch' Fox of The King Blues, both these bands are known for both their mix of different genres and being heavily opinionated in the current affairs in the UK.

Both members are facing forward towards the reader which makes them feel more involved in the music they listen too. Rou is also pointing towards the reader in a 'Uncle Sam' fashion which is a contradiction considering his political views.

 

The main cover line is in a bold blue and black with a stencil style font on top; this has a military style to it which relates back to the political opinions from these bands. 

The main cover line also features a quote from the article, the function of this is too make the read curious and buy the magazine to read it. The style of the main cover line is also very informal, it seems to be chatting to the audience rather then talking in a general manner, this is also another way of talking to their target audience, many music magazines for younger people keep it very informal and 'real' in a way, the magazine wants to convey the idea that these musicians are people too and keeping it in this style is very useful for connecting with the audience.

The left third of the cover features 3 main articles, two of these follow the same colour theme of the main cover line.

The summary of each article has quite an intense subject to it. Eg "Bomb threat". This is too also keep the reader curious but without giving too much away. Both Trivium and 30 Second to Mars are marketed slightly differently to You me at six. Eg. Trivium have been around since 1999 and the metal fan base is based upon long term fans rather than 30 second to mars sudden burst to popularity. 

The top article stands out from the others for offering the chance to win and meet a popular band, in this case it is the popular pop-punk band You me at six. This is  a good example of the seasonal advertisement with the dark but vibrant pink colour which draws to a more feminine audience and stereotypically females are more likely too be involved with valentines celebrations, the band you me at six is also marketed towards a younger female audience. 

These left thirds show that kerrang aim for all alternative genres rather than just one in particular, another part of the left third at the bottom also advertises what other bands are in the magazine so if one article makes the reader curious they can see what other bands are in the magazine that would interest them.

This is the most obvious point about the magazine having a seasonal theme to it, both Oli Sykes and Cristina Scabbia are known as quite attractive icons in the music industry and using both a male and female artist to advertise to both genders who are interested in the magazine. The heart is too emphasis the valentines theme however like the kerrang logo itself it's quite rough which keeps the magazine theme of alternative and against the mainstream.

The final part of the left third shows an article relating to the time of the year, this is a particularly interesting article where it relates to the target audience of young people/teenagers where relationships other than friends and family become more important to each individual. This article seems like it is coming across as the definite way too start relationships rather than simply suggesting a loose outline for it.