Cover Analysis

Metal Hammer

The magazine is called ‘Metal Hammer’ because the magazine is a from the metal music genre. Both words are significant to the title of the magazine, the word ‘Metal’ tells the audience the genre of the magazine but also connotes to strength and anger which connotes to the genre of music. Also the imagery of a ‘Hammer’ further connotes strength and brutality which reflects the sound of the music from the genre and possibly the ‘dance’ often associated with the genre (moshing).

The British magazine is published by ‘Future Publishing.’ The publishing giant also publishes many other magazines such as: Total guitar, Classic Rock, Total Film, NGamer, Offical Nintendo Magazine, Cycling Plus, Knitting Today!, and Classics Monthly to name but a few. The company also publishes websites mainly to accompany the many magazines in the online world.

The magazine itself costs £3.99 and is published monthly. The average circulation of the magazine is 50,269 according to the guardian website. The magazine does currently have its own website: http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/. The website covers similar content as the magazine does and very much accompanies the magazine.

Although there is no clear conformation as to what the target audience is for the magazine, it would appear that a younger niche audience is being targeted. I would also make the assumption that the magazine is targeted more towards boys rather than girls because of the masculine use of dark colours in the magazine however on this specific cover an image of a famous artist topless could be considered not only an idol for male audiences but also ‘eye-candy’ for female audiences. This makes the intended audience harder to identify.

The reader can interact with the magazine through feedback pages as they are directly contributing to the content of the magazine. Also audiences of the magazine can further interact with the magazine through the website. Readers are able to comment on article and contribute to various forums on the website which fully demonstrates the use of web 2.0.

The main image on the cover of the magazine is of a well known singer from a hugely successful band which will be known to most if not all audiences of the genre. This will attract the attention of the band/singers fans or even fans of bands from similar genres as it is an indication to the reader that the magazine is on the metal genre of music. This image in particular shows arrows through the singer’s body which not only reflects the brutality of the genre but also connotes that perhaps the artist is not liked? This is further suggested by the sub-heading ‘These trad metal kids should stop crying’ which tells us maybe there is some controversy with the artist featured which will also attract readers attention and attracts non-fans of the singer/band as well fans. The body language of the main image is very open allowing the reader to fully approach the image. Also the artist in the main image is looking up and over, as if looking into the distance which will cause the reader curiosity as to what he is looking at which might make them want to read on. The tattoo’s on the artist’s body are also a very conventional metal image and are likely to appeal to metal audiences.

Assuming that the audience are fans of the band this tells us that the audience for the magazine might idolise the male figure or consider him ‘eye candy’ which suggests younger audiences, not only male but female also. Making the further assumption that the audience is not meant to like the artist this would reflect a very judgemental niche audience as they brutally show the artists with arrows stabbing his body in various places. This image however does reflect well the nature and general sound of metal music

Also on the cover there are various text bubbles with offers to win prizes and lists of bands and artists featured within the magazine. Text bubble draw attention to the text and can create a selling point to a reader if they see a feature the particularly like. There are also various cover lines and sub-headings, further promoting the content of the magazine to a potential buyer.

Most of the text on the cover is in capital letters which is more eye-catching than lower case letters and connotes that the text is loud and in your face which directly references the genre of music. The font used in for the name of the magazine particularly connotes loudness and boldness as it is in all capitals and is very bold and thick which again is attention grabbing. The colour scheme of the cover (yellow, red and black) intensifies the impact of the cover as it all the text and the image look linked and the use of these bold colours further connote loudness as they are bright and contrasting. The different font used on the band name ‘Bring Me The Horizon’ contrasts the rest of the cover as it is not only big on the page but also looks more stylistically complex in comparison to the bold capitals used throughout the rest of the cover, this further contrasts the text to the rest of the page as it may be a selling point for the magazine and therefore the audiences attention needs to be drawn to it. A subtle feature on the cover which has a less noticeable effect is the white light coming from behind the artists, although it is not noticeable at first the effect in fact gives the image depth and makes it more visually interesting for the reader to look at. The overall colour scheme used on this cover is very suited to the metal genre as all the colours used are either really dark or dull to make them look darker, this gives the cover a dark sinister feel which reflects the sound of the music. It contrasts rock magazine covers such a NME and KERRANG as they often use contrasting dark colours with bright vibrant colours rather than dull ones.

This cover does look similar to covers of rock magazines as the use of space is similar as text boxes and fonts are often places in the same way however I think that the use of colours is quite different as they have been used to create a dark feeling whereas current rock magazines on the market use the contrast of bright and dark to create impact. I think also this cover is very much geared more towards male audiences as the artist on the front is male and looking at other ‘Metal Hammer’ covers most of the featuring artists are male as the genre if music is very much male dominated. I think that the rock covers such as Kerrang! and NME have more freedom to experiment with the use of artists on the front as in the covers I have looked at they have both used female artists as the main point of focus in their main images.

The presentation of the magazine’s cover is slightly chaotic and very busy with little space left on the page; this makes the cover look as if there is lots of content inside the magazine which might encourage potential buyers to buy it. The text ‘Bring Me The Horizon’ and the main image of the artists are the centre of attention on the page and although the other text and images work around the picture the image also brings the whole page together as it all fits into place and is visually interesting for the audience.

The magazine is published monthly and judging by the cover includes a great deal of content so I would expect the magazine to be well priced. Also the high quality finish if the magazine and the professional images present on the cover would also lead me to expect the magazine to be reasonably expensive.

I think that this magazine is similar to Kerrang! in that it uses the similar technique of bold writing to grab attention and connote loud music. This is a feature that is seen in many rock magazines. I feel also that the magazine is similar with Rocksound because it covers a more alternative side of the genre as well as the mainstream. Rocksound is considered the ‘underground’ rock magazine and I think likewise ‘Metal Hammer’ could be considered the ‘underground’ metal magazine. The colour schemes of the two different genres of magazine differs in that ‘Metal Hammer’ creates a more subtle dark feeling where as the rock covers are simply bold and contrasting to look loud and grab attention.

I feel the overall effect is impacting as it is sinister and dark, it entices curiosity and excitement. The reader is not directly addressed by the artist in the main image which should encourage the reader to want to read on to find out more. The ‘Win’ text bubble however does directly address the reader as it is asking them to interact with the magazine which keeps the sense of personal address on the cover. Aswell as address from the magazine readers can also address the magazine through the magazine website and the various forums on offer. This furthers the interaction possibilities for the audience, making them feel more involved with the magazine.

The content covered in the magazine is very similar to that of a rock magazine, such as Gig, album, song and band reviews, news gig and tour listings and competitions are featured articles throughout and subjects such as albums, singles, bands, tours & gigs etc... are covered areas of interest.

KERRANG!

The title of the magazine ‘KERRANG!’ is used because is it the sound made when smashing a guitar or as other interpretations suggest the sound of a power chord played on guitar. This links with the genre of the magazine (rock) as one of the main instruments used in rock music is electric guitars. The use of onomatopoeia in the title of the magazine further signifies the action of smashing or power chords and creates an initial image of the rock genre allowing the audience to understand early on in observation what genre the magazine belongs to and what music/articles they can expect to find inside. Also the symbolism of playing guitar and the anger associated with smashing instruments can be closely associated with ‘Rock Stars’ which are a stereotypical feature within rock music and more generally the rock genre.

KERRANG! Is published by German media giants Bauer Consumer Media. The media giant is also known to publish magazines such as ‘heat, GRAZIA, Closer, FHM, Q and many more… Aswell as print media Bauer also broadcasts on T.V and radio with channels such as; Q TV, Kiss TV, The Box, Kerrang! TV, 4music, Kerrang! Radio, Magic, Kiss and many more… In Kerrang!’s case, this further widens their audiences as it is accessible on more than one media platform and therefore more likely to appeal to more audiences and also make it more accessible to target markets has they have a choice as to where the can access the music and information.

The magazine itself costs £2.20 and is published weekly. The circulation for the magazine currently stands at 76,937 with the readerships reaching 457000. The magazine also has a website - http://www.kerrang.com/ which is yet another multi-platform on which the magazine brand can be accessed and where information can be found.

The target audience for the magazine is described as by Bauer as ‘Individually minded, independent of thought and musically experienced, an audience defined by attitude, passion and loyalty.’ although it is popular belief that the magazine is aimed more towards male audiences however is known to still appeal widely to female audiences also. The Publishers website states this: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Kerrang/

The reader can ‘interact’ with the magazine by using things such as feedback pages or gig information. The reader therefore feels an interaction with the magazine if they can either relate to having been to or intending to go to the listed gigs in the magazine. Also the competition will make the reader feel that they can interact with the magazine because they can send in their input and possibly get a return/ response. The more the audience feels they are interacting with a media text, the more likely it will be that they will part with money to access it.

The image on the cover is of a well-known band which instantly appeals to their fans and maybe fans of similar genres. Also the facial expression of the lead singer (middle front) is a slight pouted smirk; this, along with the detective uniform suggest that there are secrets or that she/ they know something the reader doesn't and that it will be revealed inside the magazine. Also because the band is looking directly at the camera this directly addresses the reader and makes it feel personal to them. What's more, the reader’s attention is drawn to the lead singer by use of contrast with the rest of the band. This is done by use of clothing because the band it wearing all black which contrasts the light brown/cream of the singers coat. Also her hair is a huge contrast to the band: dark almost black hair contrasts to her bright vibrant coloured hair. The use of extremely contrasting colours is another convention found in rock magazines as they are bold and look visually more aggressive. The use of the image of the band on the front tells us that the audience is likely to be a fan of the band if not their genre of music. The emphasis on the lead singer also suggests that maybe the magazine is aimed towards men slightly because she is contrasted to the rest of the band and people may find her visually attractive. This however can be attractive to girls as well in an idyllic way in which case she becomes also a role model. There are also lots of subheadings, text bubbles and smaller pictures on the front. This gives the reader an idea of what's inside the magazine.

The typeface of the sub headings are generally the same style. This makes it less confusing for the reader to look at and more appealing to the eye. Also the subtle used of the pink text and the lead singers pink lipstick sub-consciously show the reader that the band are a part of the magazine and that they can be related/ associated with the magazine. It also shows the femininity of the singer which is a rare image to find within the rock genre, this subtle use of it however may encourage and attract female audiences. Furthermore the use of contrasting colours are very eye catching and the key words highlighted in yellow draw the readers attention to them and are visible from a distance. These act as hooks of interest and are intended to attract attention.

The cover does look similar to other magazine covers in that the information is structured and arranged on the page in the same way, however I think that because the word ‘KERRANG!’ is an original font and logo used only by the magazine it is like a motif and distinguishable from other magazines. The presentation of the magazine is a somewhat ‘organised chaos’ in that text and images are sometimes placed a little randomly but they still are and look organised and concise. The presentation looks very clean and crisp and to the point.

The magazine looks well established and professionally made so I would say that the magazine looks reasonably expensive. I think this magazine can be compared with Rock Sound and NME in that they are both from similar genres. They are also well established magazine and they all use similar if not the same music artists to feature in and on the cover of their magazines.

The overall effective is that the magazine is very loud (music); the bight colours, forward position of the lead singer and capital letters suggest loudness. This is a good image/theme to use for the rock genre because rock music is often very loud and ‘in your face.’ The main facial expressions used in the main image are secretive which attracts the reader’s attentions and will make them curious as to what's inside the magazine. People will therefore buy it to see what the secret is.

Readers can address the magazine through things such as competitions. The competitions allow the reader to feel they are interacting with the magazine because they are giving input to the magazine. Also the magazines website can build relationships with the reader and the magazine. Articles likely to be found within the magazine will be about up-coming bands, recent shows or events relevant to the audience. Things such as interviews, gig and album reviews, new appearances, gig and tour listings will be found in the magazine however they will be specific to the genre (rock).

ROCKSOUND

The magazine is called ‘ROCKSOUND’ because the music genre of the magazine is Rock. Both words are of equal significance here, the use of the word ‘sound’ is almost a replacement for the word ‘music’ as music is merely sounds. The use of the two words together tells the audience that the magazine is about music from the rock genre.

‘ROCK SOUND’ is self published magazine covering what is often considered the more ‘underground’ rock artists as well as the mainstream ones. The magazine as of yet does not publish any other magazines, but does however have an online website often referred to as ROCKSOUND.TV (http://www.rocksound.tv/). The magazine is closely related with the website and covers similar content.

The magazine costs £3.80 and is published monthly with an average of 23,027 copies sold a month. The magazine website and Wikipedia state that the target audience for the magazine is 15-24 year old girls and boys. This shows that the magazine targets quite a wide audience, especially as is target both boys and girls.

The reader can interact with the magazine through things such as feedback pages and gig/ tour listings. Feedback pages voice what the reader has or wants to say, the reader will feel they have interacted with the magazine as they have directly contributed. Also show/gig information tells the reader how and where to experience the music featured in the magazine first hand furthering their experience of the magazine and the music the magazine has presented to them.

The image on the front cover is of a well known and hugely successful band which should instantly attraction the attention of their fans or people that might know of them. The low camera angle makes the band look ‘powerful’ and successful which reflects their real situation. Also three of the four band members are looking directly at the camera which makes it more personal to the reader as if the artists are looking directly at them. The member on the far right however is looking out which could suggest looking out over a crowd or even looking into the magazine which could cause curiosity to the reader as to what is inside the magazine. Also they are all dressed in space suits, which matches the sub-heading ‘out of this world’ suggesting that the band are so good they are from another world. The body language is quite open which is obviously more inviting to the reader than closed body language and allows the reader to relate with the image more. The two main colours used are blue and white, these colours are often associated with the sky and space and bright lights such as UFO’s and un-earthly things and happenings which further links the sub- heading. This also draws attention to the band members faces because of the contrast of the dark colours of their faces against the light blues and whites draw attention to their faces and make them stand out hugely.

The use of this band on the cover of the magazine tells us that the audience is likely to be a fan of the band and/or their genre and style of music which means even if they are not fans of this particular band there is a good chance they will be fans of other bands from the genre likely to be featured in the magazine. The main picture suggests the band are ‘out of this world’ which means that the audience are attracted to new and big bands which is how the band here have been presented. There are also smaller pictures of other artists, sub-headings and text bubbles and boxes on the front cover; clues to the reader as to what’s inside the magazine with the intention of drawing the reader in and encouraging them to buy the magazine.

All of the text on the cover is in capital letters which are bolder and eye catching than lower case fonts. There is shadow used on some of the text/lettering which gives the cover more depth and makes the cover more visually interesting for the reader. The text all keeps within the same colour scheme which is also the same colours as the background image: blue, white, grey and black. Exceptions to the single words ‘MUSE’ and ‘150+’ which are in yellow to highlight them and catch the readers attention more as it may be a point of interest to the reader. This is also done with the ‘FREE CD’ in red. Also the masthead and cover lines are in different fonts maybe to put emphasis on them and make the reader more likely to read them first (they are also a lot bigger than the other texts and lettering on the cover.) In addition to this the alternation of black and grey lettering used on the lists moves the reader’s eyes down the list and organises the lists into the separate names. The organisation of the lists adds to the theme of space in that space ships are very organised and conforming. Lastly the yellow lettering and handwritten like font used for ‘I'm not trying to be the tough guy,’ makes the line look as if the person has just said it and that’s it was something personal to them.

This particular cover looks different to other Rock Magazine covers because the colours are all very similar and soft which does not conform to the harsh clashing dark colours seen on the conventional rock magazine. There are no clashing colours or bold colours used on this cover, they are not particularly bright and the text and pictures on the page look well organised rather than the conventional, bright, bold, information packed chaos seen in rock magazines.

The presentation of the magazine is clearly organised on the page and even uses columns in the two bottom corners. The lists are piled on-top of one another to form what look like groups. This is another reason for the overall image of organisation. The magazine looks finished to a high standard so I would expect it to be well priced. Also because it is published monthly rather than weekly I would expect there to be more content and therefore more expensive in comparison to rock magazines published weekly such as KERRANG! and NME.

I think this magazine can be compared with ‘KERRANG’ and ‘NME’ in that they are all rock magazines; often featuring similar if not the same artists and bands. This particular cover however contrasts with the boldness and loudness often found on the covers of ‘KERRANG’ and ‘NME’ in that the overall effect is slightly more reserved and this could have been a selling point for this particular issue of the magazine as audiences often like new and innovative medias.

The overall effect is themed out of space. The sub-heading: ‘out of this world’ suggest places like space and far away planets, hence the band are dressed in space suits with and un-earthly white glow behind them. The idea and concept of ‘outer space’ is something huge and in some sense ‘epic’ which is suggesting that the band featured and ‘huge’ and ‘epic.’

The reader is directly addressed by the image of the band because they are all looking directly at the camera. This makes the mode of address personal to the reader and encourages them to buy the magazine. Also the free CD is addressing the reader because they are receiving something physical that they can interact with. Also readers are allowed to address the magazine through the feedback pages and the forums on the ROCKSOUND website.

The magazine itself contains articles on gig, album, song and band reviews, music news, gig and tour listings and competitions. Subjects covered in the magazine are things such as albums, singles, bands, tours & gigs etc... These are very conventional content found in music magazines. The articles on live gigs however are more specific to rock magazines as live music is a huge part of rock culture.

NME

The title of the magazine is ‘NME’ which stands for New Musical Express, this suggests to us the magazine is fast and up to date, the abbreviation of the three words to ‘NME’ is also short catchy for the reader to remember. ‘New’ also tells the reader that there is ‘new’ things to read about and ‘Musical’ fully establishes that the magazine is a music magazine. When read aloud, the sound ‘NME’ could connote to the word ‘Enemy’ as they sound very similar and could indicate that perhaps other magazines envy their success and popularity.

The magazine is published by IPC media who are also known to publish magazines such as, Now Magazine, Look and Marie Claire to name but a fews. The media giant has also further reached its assets to the radio and internet, widening audiences by using multi-media-platforms.

The magazine costs itself £2.10 and is published weekly. The circulation for the magazine is 40,948 and the readership is 369,000. As well as the printed magazine, there is also an ‘NME’ website: http://www.nme.com/. This furthers accessibility for audiences and shows how the magazine has developed with the online age to suit meet audience’s needs.

The typical demographic audience aims at A, B and C1 which entitles people with jobs like lawyers, doctors going right through to jobs like (office workers) junior managers, nurses, bank clerks, etc. This loosely narrows down the age group to around 24 year olds also slants towards male audiences. I learnt this from various links from the publishers website; http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/fd4e20nlh1xefkowjxdha4xu.pdf Here I found information on the circulation, readership and target audience.

The reader can ‘interact’ with the magazine through things such as show listings, album and single advertisements and even feedback pages where letters and pictures from readers are printed and responded to by the magazine. This makes the experience to reading the magazine more personal and allows the reader to feel more involved with the magazine and more likely to encourage them to buy it.

The image on the cover is of a well known British artist. The picture has clearly been taken outside because behind her bushes and sky can be seen. Also the lighting is bright and directly over her (shadow shows this) which suggests the sun. This is done because the issue is a ‘Festival Guide’ and festivals are huge outside events in the summer. Also her casual and laid back clothing (loose top sunglasses) and facial expression suggests she is at a festival because they are often laid back atmospheres. This shows that the audiences are likely to be older maybe 16 and older because younger audiences would be too young to go to festivals and the subject would be irrelevant to them.

There are also lots of sub-headings and text boxes, smaller pictures of other artists and lists of other bands that give ‘survival tips’ inside the magazine. This crams in lots of information on one page for the reader to get an idea of what’s inside the magazine and convince them to buy it. It also makes the page look busy so which suggests there is lots of content in the magazine which might also encourage the audience to buy the magazine.

Most of the text and lettering on the front cover is in capital letters which is potentially more eye catching then lower case letters as it is bolder than lower case letters and suggest that more of a statement is being made. Also the use of white lettering on red and on the background image is hugely contrasting and makes the text stand out making it very eye catching for the audience or someone briefly looking at the magazine. The black text one the yellow/ orange box on the left hand side of the cover is still bold and easy to read however does not draw attention away from the main picture. In addition to this the vast use of red, orange and yellow suggest heat, the sun and summer because they are hot colours (perfect festival weather). The Cover does look similar to some other magazines in that lots of magazines use the contrasts of red and white on their covers.

The presentation of the magazine is made to look chaotic; this is done through the un-levelled text and the bright and often used colours. This works well because the issue is on festivals. Festivals are often known to be busy, chaotic places, this shows that the presentation of the magazine reflects the content of the magazine which may further encourage a potential buyer to buy the magazine.

The magazine looks successful as it has well known artists on the cover which would lead to the expectation that it would be priced reasonably high. Also the magazine is finished to a high standard which shows the success of the magazine because the production cost will be high to produce a well finished magazine which shows that they make a lot of money to cover the production costs.

I think this magazine can be compared with other rock magazines such as Rocksound and KERRANG as they are both generally from the same genre and feature similar articles and similar if not the same bands and artists. I feel also that some of the colour schemes used such as dark greys and blacks are common within the magazines and the use of bold capital font is also common across the magazines. The three magazines are all finished to high a standard which again suggests they are all reasonably successful.

The overall effective of this cover gives the impression of a loud busy outside event. This is done by background of sky and green plants that can bee seen behind the artist in the main image and the loud colours, bold lettering and cramming of information on the page, convey loudness much like a busy cramped festival. The artwork of the daises in the top corners suggests good weather and summer which again reinforces the theme of festivals on the cover.

The reader is addressed directly when by the magazine cover, especially when the cover reads ‘10 best bands YOU must see.’ This directly talks to the reader making it personal for the reader to read. Also the image of the main artist has her sunglasses directed centrally as if she was looking at the reader which again makes the image personal to the reader as if they are being personally addressed.

As well as being addressed, readers can address the magazine through the feedback pages within the magazine or optionally the website. On the cover there is also a competition which suggests the reader would be interacting with the magazine in order to win something.

The magazine itself contains articles and features on things such as Singles chart, Articles on bands, recent shows, single and album reviews, up-coming events etc... This is shown on the cover by the artist and bands names in the black text and on the right bottom corner there is a red box with white writing which also indicates what is inside the magazine. Subjects such as interviews, gig and album reviews, new appearances and gig and tour listings are covered within the magazine which is very typical or rock magazines.