Q Music Magazine Front Cover-
Institution - The institution of this magazine is Bauer Media.
Ideology - The ideology of this magazine front cover, I feel, is to make the magazine look and feel very modern and daring, in an attempt to grab the audience's attention. The reason I believe this is because of the image used on the front cover. It is very 'out there', daring and different from many images that are usually used on music magazine front covers. I feel that it gives off a very modern feel to the magazine because of the casaulness as it were of the image used shows how it is socially acceptable it is for women to pose for photos without being fully dressed in our modern day society. I also feel because of this, it is showing the liberation of women which is very modern, but bringing a hint of class and indervidualness to the image, unlike images we would see on the cover of magazines such as Nuts or FHM.
Audience - Due to the specialist style of the magazine it is obvious that the magazine is targeted at a niche audience rather then a mass audience. Due to this, the magazine's target audience become a lot more narrower. This means that people without a specific interest in the certain styles of music included in this magazine would not willingly go out of their way to buy this magazine as aposed to a different music magazine, not only because of this but because of the actual price of the magazie itself because compared to other magazines, it could be seen as exspensive to someone who is not interested in this type of music. Due to the bands and artists included on the magazine's front cover; eg Lady GaGa, Madonna, Vampire Weekend, Jimi Hendrix, Gorillaz, etc, the magazine instantly grabs the attention of the pacific target audience because the reason that they buy this magazine is because of the bands and artists themselves that are included in the magazine. The bands and artists may not be mainstream and so would not appear in many other, if at all any other magazines and so grab the audience's attention straight away. I think the age of the target audience would be between 15-late 20 year olds, possibly pushing early 30's. The reason I believe this is, is because stereotypically, it is assumed that older people would not find this magazine, the features included or the music that the magazine is based upon ineresting or in the simplest of words - 'their cup of tea'. Due to this, the magazine's target audience is narrowed further.
Representation - I think that this magazine front cover is represented to be very futuristic, out of this world and cool. When I look at it, I get this almost speechless kind of feeling because of the oddness and weirdness of the photo because of what Lady Gaga is wearing and I think other people would to. Personally, I believe this is what the creators of the front cover wanted to give of to their target audience one, because Lady Gaga is included on the cover and she is known for her weird and wonderful outfits and two, because I think that the people who buy this magazine want to feel different to other people buying other music magazines, the reason for this being is because they want to feel cool and different for buying this certain magazine.
Q Magazine Feature Spread -
Language - Through out the magazine feature, a colour scheme of red and black is used. We can see this in the red writing used and the red boxes put around certain parts of the interview and the black writing used throughout the magazine. Linking with this colour scheme is also the front page as we can see that red is used on the title and some of the features included on the front page. Due to this, we can see the linking connotations through out the magazine and due to this, we presume to see more linking of colours through out the magazine. The colour scheme is broken down however in the actual interview itself, the questions to Lady GaGa being in red and her response in black. This gives the reader a clear visual image of what they are reader without actually reading the writing itself.
On the bottom of each page, the magazine’s logo, magazine’s issue date and the magazine’s website is included as well as the page number. Each of these things have been added for a reason, these being; the magazine’s logo, I think, has been added so that the audience never quite forget what magazine they are reading as they are constantly reminded with the logo, the same can be said also with the magazine’s issue date, the website has been included on each page, I think, so that the reader is constantly seeing this website URL and so, subconsciously think about going onto the website and the page number is obviously added so that it is easy for the reader to find a page/feature/article/interview/etc that they want to see by looking at the content page.
Institution - The institution of this magazine is Bauer Media.
Ideology - The ideology of this magazine’s feature spread from what I can see, links very much to the ideology of the front cover of the magazine due to the linking photography being used. The futuristic feeling towards Lady GaGa’s outfits and ‘out of the world’ quality of herself follow through into the magazine’s feature spread due to the similarity of the style.
Audience - As apposed to the front cover of the magazine, it can be argued that the actual feature spread within the Q magazine is targeted at a larger audience then the niche audience that the front cover targets. The reason for this is because the front cover of the magazine, due to the specialist information included (things like non main stream artists, gigs, etc) targets a niche audience. However, the Lady GaGa feature spread targets a larger audience because; she is very well known due to her main stream music, the genre of music which because some people say it does not fall into just one genre of music, it can be further targeted at a larger audience. Additionally, it targets a larger audience due to the fact that she is very well known due to her being constantly in the public eye.
When putting an actual label on the audience however, it quite hard to do as Lady GaGa has a huge fan base ranging in age most definitely. However, I would say that this feature spread, due to the fact that Lady GaGa is in it, would target an audience of people from early teenage years to late 30’s. Mostly a female audience and very much so a gay audience.
Representation - There are many different representations to this feature spread. I believe the message wanting to be put across to an audience as a whole, taking into consideration the outfits/costumes worn by Lady GaGa, link very much so with the representation of the front cover of the magazine due to linking outfits/costumes being worn and used throughout the magazine and the same style of photography (camera angles, distances from Lady GaGa in the photos, etc) been used. Therefore, the representation has the same linking ideas of being a very ‘out of this world’ due to outfits worn by Lady GaGa, giving off a very futuristic feeling to the photos used in the feature.
A representation that could be argued for and against is liberation VS un-required nudity. Some people would say that Lady GaGa’s outfits that she wears through out the magazine are liberating. They would think this because of the fact that Lady GaGa is not wearing a revealing outfit that would be seen on the front cover or in a magazine such as Nuts or Zoo, but she is wearing a revealing outfit with class and sophistication. Some people would additionally say that the way that Lady GaGa is, just as a person and her music is breaking down the barrier for women in the music industry and a lot of people can see that male artists dominate the music scene and have done so in the past.
However, it could be argued that Lady Gaga, in this feature spread as well as in the public eye, is just a pretentious woman who is just trying to be different and uses this as an excuse to be able to wear very little clothing. The reason for this is because it is a known fact that of this magazine, most reader’s are male and so, some people would say that she is just posing in this certain way, with a small amount of clothing on, so that male readers can look at her. Additionally, some people could easily get the impression that she is doing this in an attempt to sell her music as in the interview she is obviously talking about her music.
X magazine front cover -
Language – The mass head is included in the far left hand corner. We instantly now what the magazine’s mass head is due to the word magazine actually being used in the title as well as the large X used within the title of the magazine. The X is a well known symbol to the target audience of this magazine, as this magazine has been specially created and targeted at the popular TV talent show, X-Factor. Due to the actual X symbol being used, it is a simple convention used to grab the target audience’s attention and make them want to buy the magazine as they recognise the symbol.
-The denotation of the magazine front cover shows one main image as well as other smaller images which relate to the text which is either next to or on top the smaller images. The main image is a photo of Danni Minogue at a medium close up and she is looking at the audience with a direct mode of address. We as an audience can instantly what her name is due to it being in large, white standing out front in front of the image. Due to the larger image of Danni Minogue, we presume that within the magazine, she will have an interview, or has had some recent publicity within the X-Factor. The smaller images are all mostly bands or artists, which links in with the obvious musical content of the magazine itself. However, in the top right hand corner there is an image of models fashioning clothes with text linking with fashion. Due to this, it is obvious that the magazine is not just targeted at music and also, due to this we instantly presume, due to stereotypes, that this magazine is targeted at a female audience as well as the pink and white colour scheme used on the text included on the magazine front cover as well as the borders for the text. Additionally, there is also a piece of text which says ‘WIN tickets to the live show!’. This immediately would grab the target audience’s attention to buying the magazine due to the fact that the target audience have bought this magazine due to the actual theme of the magazine (the X-factor) and so would buy the magazine due to the chance of winning tickets to go to a live show. Linking with this, is a colour scheme, in some sense. This button as well as the banner on the bottom of the magazine are the only things on the magazine’s front cover that are in a bold yellow colour. The reason, I think for this is because subconsciously, the colours grab a person’s attention and make them take into consideration to what is included within the yellow outlines.
- A barcode, price, issue number, date and information on the publicity is included on the magazine within the white box in which the barcode is included. It is important that the price has been included as it is a key feature that the target needs to know. The issue number and date is also important as the target audience can keep up to date with what issue is being sold as well as which one they are in need of purchasing. The publicity is also very important to be included on a magazine, however is not always included on the front cover of magazines. The reason for this is because the target audience instantly know how often the magazine is published and then know and have an understanding of how often, if they are dedicated to buying the magazine, how often they need so buy the magazine and how often they will need the money to buy it.
Institution – Haymarket Network
Ideology – The ideology of the front cover I feel is to create a girly and fun feeling to the magazine. Other magazines, like Q have very daring and individualistic styled photos included on the front cover. However, this can put some people off buying the magazine, people who don’t like ‘weird’ things and anything different to what they are used to seeing in their every day society. They find photos and ideas like these intimidating and off putting towards a magazine. These styled magazine don’t seem to be an easy read as it were, not something you could pick up and have a browse of whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea and a biscuit, they are they types of magazine that due to their specialist content, need attention when read. However, the ideology of this magazine, just by looking at the front cover I feel is a type of music magazine that although include a specialist type of music (X-Factor sang musicians) it is a type of magazine that can easily be read due to no sophisticated language used on the front magazine cover and all connotations being very simple. It is as if, although the magazine is dedicated to music, has elements of a gossip styled magazine with celebrity gossip culture due to the appearance.
Audience – It is clearly obvious that the main audience of this magazine are people who watch and have an interest with the popular TV talent show, the X-Factor, due to the fact that this is what the magazine as a whole is based around. However, when looking furthering to the target audience, due to the colour scheme used on the front cover, as well as the main image, the bands/artists included in the magazine and the features it seems that the magazine is stereotypically aimed at a female target audience. Reasons for this can be seen when looking further into each of these features of the cover; the main image – Danni Minogue is well known by the target audience due to her appearance on the X-Factor, however due to her TV programme on ITV, Style Queen, she is also well known in the fashion industry, additionally due to her small singing career and her sister’s fame. These elements make her more instantly well known to women and not so much a male audience as stereotypically, men do not have a great interest within fashion. The colour scheme – the colour scheme used on the front cover is pink and white, the pink dominating over the white. Pink is a stereotypical girl colour and so, appeals to women more then men. The smaller images – most of the smaller images are boy bands or models fashioning clothes. The boy bands who have been included on the front cover are well known by females not just for their music, but for their looks. This is another feature which targets a female audience as they would buy this magazine to see their favourite looking stars within the magazine. This feature again, makes the magazine targeted at a more female audience. Additionally, both of the boy bands have a different target audiences which widens the audience of the magazine. JLS is a band most ‘adored’ as it were buy a younger audience of young teenage girls. Take That, being older targets an older audience. Due to this, women of different ages would be interested in buying this magazine.
Representation – I think the front cover of this magazine is representing a modern day pop genre of music as well as a pop celebrity gossip news culture and in doing so, following the stereotypical audience of people who the genre of music included through the bands features on the front cover and also the programme that the magazine is based on. The front cover is represented to be very feminine and girly with all the features and connotations used.
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