Detailed Research into Forms and Conventions

Detailed Research into Forms and Conventions

The genre I have chosen for my magazine is Female Rock. The main focus is heavy music such as Halestorm and Nightwish, but the magazine will also include some alt rock bands such as Paramore and We Are The In Crowd. My target audience is going to females in the 16-25 age bracket.  In order to research the forms and conventions that I would need to include in this genre I have looked at the magazines Decibel and Kerrang. Decibel is a monthly heavy metal magazine from America; it focuses on extreme metal and is aimed primarily at men.  I analysed an issue that had women on the front to see how they were represented in male magazine. The style of music featured in Decibel is the kind of music I want to focus on, only using female bands instead.  Kerrang magazine features a broader spectrum of rock music and has more female readers. I looked at this magazine because it had a younger feel to it and also attracted more female readers than Decibel magazine.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Decibel Magazine

The masthead font is sans serif, bold and thick. This echoes the no nonsense image of the women. This style of font attracts the male audience as it connotes being muscular and strong, something a lot of men want in their lives. As it is a dominant ideology that men should be fit and healthy. However the font colour is quite light, this connotes a softer side of masculinity, and perhaps they have chosen that colour to tie in with the women on the front cover. The same goes for the coverlines which are also in light colours. However, with the darker background the lightness of the font means the coverlines stand out more.

This magazine represents women as strong and powerful. The woman at the front of the photo is wearing a red leather jacket. The connotations of the colour red can be danger, the devil, passion or love. The colour is anchored down by the woman’s stance. She is standing with her legs apart looking down at the camera; this connotes masculinity and power as she is not afraid to stand out. This stance mixed with red of her jacket gives the impression of danger and that she is a woman you wouldn’t want to mess with.

This appeals to the male audience of the magazine as the type of man who listens to heavy metal wouldn’t want a woman who dresses in pink skirts.

The people featured in the photos inside this magazine always have serious stances. They look straight at the camera which is often placed below them to make them seem taller. This attracts the audience as it makes them seem powerful and ‘badass’.

The layout of the front cover stays constant throughout each issue; this is because the style of music the magazine writes about remains the same through each issue. In mainstream music magazines the style of music tends to vary more.

The spread inside this magazine has dark backgrounds; this reflects the style of music that the magazine is about. The font used is unusual which reflects the radical image that the audience feels that they have.  The cracks in the words represents how heavy metal is about destruction and bringing down the ‘man’, which appeals to the audience because they see themselves as against the traditionalists in society. Drop capitals and quotations from the text have been used to help focus the reader’s attention and to let them know where to begin reading.

The articles included in this magazine are pieces on specific bands, reviews on bands and gigs, as well as regulars such as music news and new releases. This content is all focused on the one genre appeals to a very specific audience who will buy this because they know that there will only be articles they want to read it.

Decibels’ media pack states that they don’t have readers they have believers and that it is the love of extreme metal that makes people buy the magazine. This would suggest a varied readership profile as music tastes vary from person to person. However, with 88% of their readership being males and 86% being white, there is a very clear profile of the person who reads decibel.  61% of their readers play an instrument and 77% own an iPod or music playing device, which shows that they like playing music, not just reading about it. Decibel is produced by a small company in Philadelphia that owns three other magazines, one focused on indie music and one environmental magazine.  It is only available to buy in six different outlets and is available in only six countries outside the US and Canada. International distribution is currently at 0.6%.

Kerrang Magazine

The masthead of Kerrang magazine is thick and bold. It changes colour from issue to issue, this represents the variety of rock styles that the magazine includes. The iconic font looks as if it has been smashed with a hammer; this connotes destruction and appeals to the rebellious nature of the target audience. The thickness of the masthead and the fact that it is sans serif connotes masculinity. Kerrang is also always written with an exclamation mark, this connotes excitement or maybe even anger. The exclamation mark also acts as a screamer, grabbing the reader’s attention from the off. When you put all of these features together they anchor each other down in to a masculine, rebellious, destructive ideal.

The images used on the front of Kerrang magazine are often comical in nature. This represents the less serious side of rock that is more pop-like, that the magazine writes about (for instance you me a six, who a regularly in the top 40.) This draws in readers who like the idea of being slightly less mainstream, by liking ‘rock music’.

The layout of the magazine cover rarely changes, this makes the magazine easy to spot when the readers look it. It also shows which bands the magazine will focus on that week, therefore if non-regular reader likes that particularly band, they will buy the magazine.

 

The double page spreads inside Kerrang magazine often feature short and snappy titles that are printed in large noticeable font in order to get people to read the articles when flicking through the magazine.

The use of a fire effect connotes anarchy against society, which applies to the audience who feel that 

they are radicalists. This is replicated with the statement ‘set the world on fire’. Layouting features such as drop capitals help the reader to navigate their way around. The quotation pulled from the text gives the reader an idea about what’s included in the article. Sometimes these quotations are controversial to pull the reader in.

The contents page of Kerrang magazine follows an identical styling throughout every issue. This appeals to their audience as they know what to expect each time they open the magazine. The layout is simple which makes it easy for the reader to scan and find what they’re looking for. The competition helps to sell the magazine as people will buy it to get a freebie. In the bottom corner of the magazine they have an advert telling readers that if they subscribe to the magazine they will get a free gift. By doing this the magazine creators increase the number of regular readers. The magazine keeps the colour scheme of red, black, white and yellow consistent, this stops the page from looking messy by only using a few colours, but it also uses contrasting colours to make things stand out and attract readers.

Kerrang magazine is owned by Bauer Media, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group, it was started in Germany 136 years ago.  The company owns 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as tv channels and radio stations. Kerrang has a readership of 404,000 and a mean age of 22, the gender split of the magazines is 59% male, 41% female.

How the research is going to affect my magazine.

After researching these two magazines I have decided on the following features to include in my magazine:

I will use a distressed font for my masthead, as this will show the nature of the music that I am going to include in my magazine. I will make my masthead thick and bold as both magazine have done this. However, because my magazine is aimed at females I will use white for my masthead colour, to bring some femininity to it. I may use an exclamation mark like Kerrang to grab my reader’s attention.

I will use serious images like the ones in Decibel Magazine as the main genre of music is closer to the genre featured in Decibel than the ones featured in Kerrang. As my models will be female, this serious stance will oppose the dominant ideology that women should be timid and ladylike.

Inside my magazine I will be sure to use drop capitals and quotations pulled from my text as both magazines have used these features in their layouts.

Finally I will use effects such as fire or smoke to make my models seem more mysterious and to add to the aesthetics of the magazine by livening it up.