A good starting point would be to look at the Press Pack that the magazines that you are exploring have released.
for example, here is the link to Kerrang's:
Thursday 16 December 2010
Additional research- consider gender representations
· How are men and women represented? (look at both the images and the text.)
· Are there conflicting representations? If so, why is this?
· How do these representations relate to the readership?
· Is there a limited range of representations for man and women? If so why are they and why?
· What groups do not appear in the pages of the magazine? Why?
· Are celebrities featured in the magazine? If so, what kinds of celebrities? Why have they been chosen?
Interesting Blog:
Key questions for analysing your chosen music magazines
Using media terminology (what is denoted and connoted) conduct an analysis of the magazine's front cover under these headings:
THE FRONT COVER:
Target Audience: (mainstream, niche, gender, reasons for this based on content)
PLUGS (comment on their positions, what they say and why they are there)
Masthead and Sell Line (mode of address - what kinds of words have been chosen and what are the connotation, colours, fonts, size)
Main cover image (mode of address - ideal self/ideal partner? mise-en-scene, camerawork and composition - what representations do these micro elements create?)
Main cover line for splash article (mode of address - words, colour, font and connotations)
Cover lines (including banners - again look at the words chosen, size, font colour and connotations)
Other images (why have these been used? ideal self/ ideal partner? mise-en-scene, camerawork and composition - what representations do these micro elements create? Juxtaposition with cover lines?)
THE CONTENTS PAGE
Content (mode of address - comment on types of articles and how they target their readership, images, text, colours)
Juxtaposition of elements (space, layout, connotations of juxtapositioning)
A DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
Content (mode of address - comment on images, text, colours, topic)
Juxtaposition of elements (space, layout, connotations of juxtapositioning)
THE PUBLISHER OF THE MAGAZINE:
- Who publishes the magazine?
- What other magazines (if any) does it publish?
- What other media interests (if any) does it have?
- How much does the magazine cost?
- How often is it published?
- What is its circulation/ readership?
- Does the magazine have a website?
GLOSSARY for analysing your music magazines
Masthead – The name and logo of the magazine.
The Lead – the introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold or capitals.
Body copy - refers to the text of your written articles, which should be produced as a printed presentation to accepted industry standards, e.g. correct use of language, font size, word limits etc. Usually written in columns.
Serif font – fonts like Times New Roman, or Baskerville Old Face, which have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.
Sans serif font – fonts like Impact, or Agency FB, which do not have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.
Drop Capitals – Really big letter, which start off an article.
Cross Head – Small sub-heading used to split up a large block of text.
White Space – white parts of a page other than text or pictures.
Mode Of Address – How the magazine talks to the audience.
Sell Lines – Text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience. Kerrang!’s sell line is “life is loud”.
Banners – text, which stands out because its on a coloured background.
House Style – a magazines distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors.
Borders – the gaps at the edges of the page.
Gutters – the gaps between the columns of text.
Leading - the space between lines of text.
Kerning - the space between letters.
Strap Lines – a smaller headline, printed above the main headline.
By-lines - name of the person who wrote the article. Picture Credits - where did the photos come from, or who took them.
Anchorage – The way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and visa versa.
Kerrang Target Audience
Interesting work on Kerrang magazine and identifying their target audience.
http://journalism.winchester.ac.uk/?page=257
http://journalism.winchester.ac.uk/?page=257
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