Contents Page Analysis: Kerrang

On this contents page, the top half is very dark and creepy. Marilyn Manson has always been known for his dark image, and the red sofa adds to this which could symbolise blood or gore. The bottom half of the contents page has pictures with people looking happy and smiley, which shows the idea of there being two sides to rock music: the angry, slightly scary music and the lighthearted, fun music.

The letter from the editor makes the reader feel like they are on a much more personal level with the magazine and the people who produce it. In the letter, the editor asks "how has 2010 been for you? Did it pan out how you hoped? Did you give it everything you've got?". This makes the reader feel like the editor is actually interested in their lives and genuinely wants to know more about them. She then follows this up by relating it to a band, which assures you that we are all here for the same reason: music.

The editor has signed this letter with her first name, and this makes you feel like this letter was personally addressed and written to you.

In the bottom corner, there is a promotion for a subscription to Kerrang. This shows that if you buy this magazine once, you will buy it again. The magazine always features bands within the rock genre, and if you like rock music, you will love Kerrang magazine because it is so varied with the sub genres of rock, but there is always something you will want to read. Having people subscribe to Kerrang guarantees them circulation, and because Kerrang comes out quite regularly(weekly) sometimes readers can forget that another issue has come out, so they don't buy it. They also promote the fact that subscribing can save you money in the long term, which obviously appeals to the reader, because no one wants to spend more when they can get the same thing for less!

The contents page shows everything featured in the magazine, which is mainly live reviews, album reviews, news and a competition. This magazine focuses on music, mainly well known bands, and this shows that the readers don't care about fashion or gossip, they just care about the music and when they can see their favourite bands live.

Front Cover Analysis: Kerrang

This front cover is from issue 1338, November 13th 2010.

Kerrang feautures rock bands, but as there is so many sub genres of rock, the magazine has to correctly represent the bands according to the kind of rock music they make. For example, Paramore are considered alternative rock/pop punk, and the frontwoman, Hayley Williams, is featured on the front cover of this particular issue with a cheeky grin and a bright colour scheme. However, if Bring Me The Horizon were on the front cover, the colour scheme would be darker as they play a heavier form of rock music, and they would probably be considered a more masculine band, however, the frontman, Olly Sykes, is considered attractive to females, so Kerrang have to try and make the front cover appeal to both sexes.

This particular issue features a review of Paramore's year, and Paramore is thought of to be one of the most recently successful rock bands, and they are an American band, so their fan base is huge. Kerrang are promoting the fact that this is exclusive because they know just how popular Paramore are and it pushes you to buy the magazine.

This issue has free posters in it of some of the most popular rock bands at the moment. This shows that the readers of Kerrang are the sort of people who like to cover their bedroom walls with posters of their favourite bands, and this shows that to these people, music means alot.

The competition featured in this issue is a chance to win a trip to Barbados and record an album. This shows that the readers may be in a band themselves, or have friends that are trying to make it big with their band. It shows that the readers of Kerrang are one hundred percent committed to music and see it as a way of life rather than a hobby.

At the top, there is a snippet from an article about The Damned Things. The idea of 'invading' shows that these bands are all about power. It shows that these bands are here to stay, and they're not going anywhere. It promotes this idea of creating an army with your fanbase against the world, with obviously the band being the leaders. Alot of rock bands use this idea, for example, 30 seconds to Mars with the Echelon.

Front Cover Analysis: Rocksound

This front cover doesn't seem to have a particular colour scheme, it seems very random. But Rock Sound front covers have always been known to look quite random, cluttered and a bit all over the place.

The font of the masthead is the same as always, but the strapline is not shown on this front cover. The masthead is very simple and one block colour.

The colours used tend to be thought of as quite bright, happy, fun colours. However, this is contradicted by the man in the picture with the growling, menacing expression on his face. The men behind him look less threatening, and their pictures are alot smaller than his. This shows the idea that to get anywhere in life, you need to be tough and ruthless and a little agressive.

The picture used doesn't seem to link with any text on the front cover apart from the bands featured.

This issue also came with a free CD which was stuck to the space in the bottom left hand corner of the front cover. This shows that CDs are what interests the reader, and the CD consists of tracks from new and up and coming bands, and this shows that the reader is always wanting to hear new music and new bands and see what they think of them.

Each of the people featured on the front cover are a frontman of a band. Because they are all male, this gives the impression that rock is a particularly masculine genre of music, when this is not the case. Most of the successful bands are all male, but they do have a large female fanbase.

At the top, it advertises the fact that with this issue comes with "free CD + massive paramore + biffy posters!" This shows that the reader is the type of person who likes to surround themselves with music by listening to it, and then covering their bedroom walls with posters of their favourite bands. This statement is at the top of the magazine, so if the magazine was on a shelf behind others, this statement would stand out and the person buying it would have a look because this is exactly the sort of thing they want from a magazine.

Pre-Lim Task

We came up with the idea of 'Academia', which was a magazine for St Andrews students that enjoy their studying and are very much for the academic side of school rather than the social aspect.

They will not be considered the most popular people at school, and they may be bullied alot. The readers spend most of their time studying rather than going out, so even though they may be doing extremely well in school, they won't have a lot of friends.

Academia would be a guide to school for them. For example, telling how to stop themselves from being bullied and how to get that gorgeous girl that they've fancied for ages. It would be aimed at mainly boys, aged 11 - 16.

Quick Analysis: Rocksound

Publisher: Editions Freeway


Strapline: New Music First


Price: £3.50


Frequency: Monthly


Approximate Circulation: 22, 527



Approximate Readership: 74,000


Launched: March 1999


House Style: Rocksound magazine's front covers are known to look cluttered and a bit 'all over the place'. For this issue, the colour scheme is very much grey and white. The 'broken' writing shows the destructive and slightly scary side of the bands that are featured in this issue.



The menacing and slightly threatening looks on the men's faces show what kind of music they create and their expressions allow their personality to come through.



I would consider Rocksound a serious competitor of my magazine because it is very similar to the magazine I want to create. It focuses very much on promoting new bands as well as covering stories about famous bands.

Quick Analysis: Kerrang!

Strapline: Kerrang doesn't have a strapline, however, the name itself is onamatapoeic and refers to the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar.

Publisher: Bauer


Price: £2.20


Approximate Circulation: 134,000


Frequency: Weekly



First Issue: 6th June 1981



House Style: Each issue looks different in the way of colour scheme, but the masthead always stays the same. This particular issue has a yellow theme linking with Hayley Williams hair, which has always been known to be outrageous. The continuous yellow over the cover allows the magazine to stand out from the rest that would be on the shelf.

I would consider Kerrang a competitor of my magazine because it offers the same sort of thing to its readers as my magazine would. I want to offer competitions which you can win tickets, advertise places to buy merchandise, promote upcoming gigs and feature famous bands such as Paramore.

A Day In The Life Of A Reader Of My Magazine

She gets up for school and dreads the day ahead. But it's a Friday, so she looks forward to the night ahead and the rest of the weekend. She leaves for school, listening to her ipod, singing along to her music. She arrived at school, and she was pleased to see her friends, but school dragged. The whole day passed by in a blur. She had been set homework, but she'd think about that another time, there was no way she was going to make an attempt at doing that tonight. She agreed with her friends to meet them at the train station and they could head out together. She got the bus home and looked forward to what the night ahead had to offer. They were heading up to Camden to see a band that they all loved play a gig. The girls had gotten to know the band, and considered them good friends. She sent a text to the singer of the band, letting them know that her and her friends would be coming along to the gig tonight, and he text back saying he looked forward to seeing them and would save them tickets. She could barely contain her excitement as she got dressed. She backcombed her hair a little, did her makeup, laced up her grunge boots, grabbed her money and headed out for the train station. She hugged her friends and they all talked about the night ahead and previous memories they'd shared with the band as the train headed up to London. She really fancied the drummer, and couldn't stop thinking about how gorgeous he'd look tonight. They went through Waterloo and headed for the underground, getting a few heckles and whistles as they went, but they just ignored them. They're not interested in dirty men like that! On the tube they joked and giggled and she started to get slightly nervous about seeing the drummer, hoping he could maybe like her back and she wouldn't say or do the wrong thing. When they arrived in Camden, her favourite place in the world, they headed for the venue and sure enough, the guys in the band didn't disappoint; they all looked gorgeous. The friends headed inside and chatted whilst they were waiting for the first band to come on. They said hi to people they knew and some guys were checking the girls out, and the girls replied with a smile. It gave them confidence. Then the band came on ; the music was loud and everyone felt great. The girls jumped around and had a good time, trying as much as possible to avoid the moshpits. After the gig, the friends hung out with the guys from the band for a while before deciding it was time to head home. They each hugged the band members and said goodbye before heading back to the train station. She turned round and gave a cheeky grin to the drummer, and she thought about him all the way home. The train journey home passed by quickly as all the girls chatted about the evening and they'd all had a great time. When she finally got home, she snuck in as to not wake her mum, and she reluctantly set her alarm for work the next morning. She fell asleep dreading work the next day, but thinking that she was very lucky to have the friends that she did and she just couldn't wait until she could see the drummer again...