TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

OF Q, KERRANG! AND NME

This magazine has very bold boyish colours and mainly includes male artists on the front page

therefore generating a male Target Audience. The only woman present on this cover is Rihanna. When applying Gauntlett’s theory of empowering female we can see that she is present to contribute to the edgy theme of the magazine, when also applying Mulvey’s Male Gaze which objectifies her which

implies that she is there to sexualise the magazine and entice males. The coverline ‘Perfect Playlist for every occasion’ shows this magazine understands the wants of the audience and can show relation between them through different types of music which provides a mass target audience lots of

recommendations and also recognition of a variety of Indie artists. The house style is dominantly red, black and white which is very masculine, however

the corner coverline is pink when talking about Rihanna which could connote a femininity inside this magazine. In the middle of the page there are four

medium closeups of four artists which connotes the importance is equal between them all.

The contents page is divided, one half includes a lot of pictures which reflects what is going to be featured throughout the magazine

in a visual way rather than through text and a standard contents page which is more informative, this provides the reader with a less

boring page to look at and gives an insight on what the magazine will be like throughout which is a god way to structure the contents. The title of the page is quite small and plain in the corner which is effective as there is a lot more going on throughout these pages,

there is also a ‘SUBSCRIBE’ box which is bold compared to the rest of the page which attracts the reader’s eye and allows information about the subscription to be read, this is an effective marketing

technique. The mise-en-scene in the Nirvana advert consists of a guitar being played by the man which connotes a rocky theme

corresponding to the genre of the band. The monochrome colour scheme of the image also connotes a dark edge to the band which

fits in with the connotations of the rocky theme.

This two page spread shows the house of Paloma Faith which

contradicts the idea of the target audience from the front page.

Not only does the woman feminise the magazine, the

domesticity of her house being featured in the magazine tries to encourage females to read it. The

layout ofthis article is very effective and allows sufficient space for both

text and pictures. The text is very small in order to get as much

writing in as possible and allows the

picture to be bigger. The text is in numbered boxes as a

border around the image allowing each point to be

clearly shown and makes space for the picture. The mise-en-

scene connotes a very quirky and girly female living there through

the use of the colour pink and the animal figure next to Paloma.

With other genres such as Pop targeting their market for teenaged girls this magazine is more alternative and is aiming at the opposite side of the spectrum; older teenaged boys. This magazine has a lot of coverlines that take up the majority of the page so the main image has to cover the masthead and then allowing the head to be the main attraction. The model is looking straight into the camera lense making the magazine more eyecatching, this is reinforced through the camera being in the mise-en-scene. Although the masthead is being covered by Oli Sykes’ head, the magazine has enough popularity for the people who look at it to know what magazine it is.

This information of contents is only actually small, it takes up a third of the page and includes the name of the article and little or no information on it. This therefore leaves plenty of room for other

information, in this case there is a competition which allows the magazine to use Web 2.0 to allow people to enter and allows readers the opportunity to win something whilst the magazine makes money. There is also a subscription information box in the bottom right hand corner, which is the exact same as

the other magazine, and is also eyecatching. At the bottom left of the page there is an editorial comment which is friendly towards the reader and offers an insight into the world of the editor.

This two page spread is looking into the following year and why its going to be really good. It will include information such as concert dates or music releases which makes the year ‘rock’ through a music way and allows readers to know what’s going on when. The coverline talks in a conversational way allowing a casual read instead of heavy reading which is what other articles in this magazine are like.

NME is a very popular magazine that only focuses on alternative music which allows

more bands to be spotted by the public even when they are not very famous.

Magazines like these will include upcoming artists which helps them gain popularity and be backed by a high end

music magazine. Top 40 music is dominated by POP music and these

alternative music magazines allow less known artists to spread through shops. The main picture covers the whole page and includes coverlines that are relevant

to the picture and correspond to the colour scheme of the tshirt and

instruments present in the picture and the colour of the masthead. The man’s hair connotes a grunge trend which is a common trend through this genre. The

dateline is on this page and includes information including date, price, website

and the barcode which every magazine needs to have.

The contents page is much more creative than the majority of mainstream magazine’s adding an individuality to the

structure. This contents page has taken up the majority of the page, unlike the other magazines and also has a main picture that covers three quarters of the page. The colours are very girly and includes females in the picture which could expand the target audience to girls as well as boys. At the bottom of

the page there is a point-of-sale where you can get money off the magazine if the reader has a ‘Virgin Addict Loyalty Card’,

this also shows album covers of various bands letting the audience know what they can get money off. Throughout this

magazine there is a page dedicated to Gorillaz’s new album ‘Demon Days’ which is an effective marketing technique.

This two page spread is dedicated to the then upcoming band Arctic Monkeys, there is a picture

of them on the left allowing readers to know what the band look like which makes them easily

recognisable in the future. The pink text goes across the picture and overlaps the text in an

original font and attracts a female fan base. The heading at the side ‘Meet the arctic Monkeys army’ shows that the band have a growing fan

base, the quote ‘they’re the best band since the Libertines’ expresses their talent and entices

readers into looking them up on YouTube which generates popularity. The structure of the page is

very effective and I really like it.

These pictures summarise the ideas that I would like to incorporate in my magazine:- A competition to win something on the

contents page- A headline that overlaps the main

image of the two page spread- A creative contents page following the

house colours- A corner of a page which is dedicated

to subscribing to the magazine- Numbered boxes on the two page

spread- A dateline box on the front page must

be included.