Magazine Cover Analysis

I've been assigned the task of analysing three magazine covers. After seeing the wide variation in Tesco over the weekend, I opted to choose three very different music magazines.

1. Q

Q is a monthly music magazine covering the Indie Rock genre of music. The consistent house style is the red Q in the top left corner. This edition features the lovely Florence (minus the machine) as a cover star. What is worth noting is that the creators of Q have opted out of overly sexualising her in the image which can be the norm with females on the covers of magazines. The image instead focuses on attracting people with the vibrant colours of Florence's hair and makeup contrasting with her pale skin. This appeals to their demographic of music listeners who are far more likely to appreciate music on its own merits, not relating to the attractiveness of the artist.

The hooklines link to articles within the magazine and promise features that will appeal to their readership - the 16-Page Gig Guide would have likely been published during festival season, when the readers are likely to go to see their favourite bands for the first time. The pull line for Skrillex raises a debate many readers feel passionate about one way or another and are likely to want to read the view of writers, who's opinion they respect.

2. Kerrang!

Kerrang covers a different genre to Q and therefore appeals to a different demographic. This time, teens or young adults who like rock. These readers will appreciate the promise of posters inside as they are more likely to place them on their wall than readers of other magazines. 

The band's facial expressions seem very aggressive and chaotic (except for the guy on the right, who doesn't look like he's even trying) which would appeal to their target audience of individualists who want to rebel against the "system" and listening to a different genre of music not considered pop. The bright colours make the magazine stand out amongst the others and give it a distinctive style.

3. Guitarist

This is a very obviously different style of music magazine, intended for the creators instead of the consumers. There are no singers or bands on this cover, instead a very striking blue electric guitar. This magazine will, I imagine, appeal to the must niche market out of the ones I have chosen to analyse. It is only those with a prior knowledge of guitar playing who will consider buying this. The interviews it offers aren't well known people yet I imagine due to their prominence appearing on the cover they will be recognisable to the community. The promise of 51 pages of product reviews highlights the main content of the magazine and shows the reader what they can expect.