Music Magazines Conventions

The image on a music magazine is either a singer or a band. Depending on the genre of the magazine depends on what singer or band they have on the front cover. You would not see some one like Brittney Spears on the front cover of a rock magazine like Kerrang. Some magazines like NME have new bands or singers on the cover to help them astablish themselves.


The title otherwise known as the masterhead is usually diplayed in in the top left corner of the magazine. This is because it can be seen clearly and because when we read we read left to right so it will be the first thing that the reader will see and therefore read. Each magzine has there own brand image this starts is clearly seen with the masterhead



Each music magazine has their own design for their name which makes the magazine instantly recognizable. The name is usually in bright colours to attract the audience and to draw theuir attention to the cover.


Every music magazine has a cover line on the front cover. This attracts the audience to the magazine and persuades them to buy the particular magazine. They have to be interesting and relevant to magazine as they have intise the reader to buy it. Cover lines are relevant to the magazines genre so that they are appropriate for the target audience. You would not see a pop star like Brittney Spears on the front cover of a heavy rock band like Kerrang

Each magazine also has a sell line which attracts the reader.The sell line relates to the genre and target audeince of a magazine by describing the magazine usually in a phrase contaning three words. An exmple of one is Kerrang's sell line which is 'Live, Life, Loud'. This describes what the magazine is about in as little as three words. Kerrang's sell line is correct for the genre it is aimed for as you would not listen to heavy metal music quietly, it is the type of music that needs to be listened to loudly, which the sell line indecates. Asell line shows the reader what the magazine is all about and therefore giving a chance to persuade the reader to buy their magazine.

The date and issue number are important part of a magazine. They can usually be found in two places; in the top left hand corner underneath the masthead and sell line or they can be found in the bottom right hand corner near the barcode. The date and issue number help the reader if they need to refer back to a past issue of the magazine, an exmaple of someone who may find this useful is a  magazine collector. the date can also help the reader so that they know what issue it is so that they dont buy it again. The date and issue number also help the publishers of the magazine. Some magazines are issued weelky or monthly.

 The price is another important part of a magazine. It can be found on the same two places as the date and issue number can. The price is one of the most obvious things on a magazine, to tell you the price of the magazine. The price also indecates the target audience. If a magazine is really expensive and a good quality the target audience of that magazine will be the higher end of the class scale such as C+,B or A. If however a magazine is cheap or evan free it will be aimed at the lower end of the class scale such as E,D or C.