Music magazine research

I decided to do some initial research into music magazines. There are many different genres of music, therefore there are many different genres of music magazines, so has provided me with an array of different magazines to look at.

This is an example of a cover from NME - a music magazine which primarily focuses on the indie music genre. Personally, this is my favourite music genre. As you can see, this magazine tends to have a central image (in this issue, of 'The Last Shadow Puppets' Alex Turner and Miles Kane) surrounded by text. A simple colour sheme of red, white and black is used, and it is very effective, as it clearly seperates the titles from the subtitles etc. The colour scheme also contrasts, but also compliments the background image, so it draws the cover together very well as a whole. A small bit of yellow is also used in the plug, which is effective, as it stands out from the rest of the text.

This is a cover from Kerrang! music magazine. This magazine is more based around heavier rock music than NME, featuring bands/artists such as Metallica, Biffy Cliro and American alternative rock bands such as You Me At Six and My Chemical Romance. In contrast to the NME magazine, Kerrang! has several other smaller images which accompany the main image.

 

Rolling Stone is a very mixed bag, with many features from various genres - the first image featuring more pop type artists such as Lana Del Ray, Lady Gaga and Azelia Banks, and the second featuring an article on Pink Floyd and The White Stripes, two very famous rock bands. Obviously, some music magazines are successful without having a definite genre. Again, similar to NME Rolling Stone features a singular image surrounded by text.

Vibe magazine on the other hand has a very clear genre - R&B and rap music. This cover features Kanye West, a very famous rap artist. Like Rolling Stone and NME, this magazine has a single, central image.