Music magazine analysis. The inspiration for my magazine – themes and conventions of the media giants.

Rolling Stones magazine is a rock magazine; however they do introduce artists from different genres of music e.g. Rihanna and Lil Wayne have been on the covers of Rolling Stones magazine. More so, when a different genre artist is on a magazine that does not fit their typical genre, the magazine portrays them in a way that fits well with their magazines genre. For example on a magazine like Vibe Lil Wayne would be portrayed in quite a thug way with lots of gold jewellery and giving quite a hostile mode of address as that is how Hip-Hop artists are stereotyped. However on this cover they challenge the dominant ideologies of rappers, as Lil Wayne is portrayed and shoes the dominant ideology of a rock star which is -tattoos, topless, the typical styled hat- which they have portrayed Lil Wayne in that way. This appeals to the audience as the usual target audience will be interested in the change over of having a rap artist on a rock magazine. Furthermore, on a typical Hip-Hop magazine, the cover model gives quite a hostile direct mode of address, looking straight at the audience as if they are talking to them. Whereas on this front cover they have used indirect mode of address to portray Lil Wayne in a somewhat sensitive thoughtful way like he has maybe a plan or is in deep thinking, this appeals to the audience as it will give them suspense, wondering why Lil Wayne is on the front cover and what the article is about. As Lil Wayne is not the average person to be shown on a Rolling Stone front cover as he does not fit in with the genre, they have allowed they magazine name/title go over the cover photo, they do this as even though Lil Wayne is very famous and well known he may not be as known in the rock world and genre. Also if they were to put the cover photo in front of the magazines name, the audience may get confused as to why a Hip Hop artist is more important then the name of the magazine, as they are to different genres on one page. However they use a flash button to cover the name of the magazine, this shows that the magazine is still well known as the audience will known that it is Rolling Stones without having to show all the letter of their name. By having the same font for the name of the magazine this creates a brand identity, as this type of font used with any word, the audience would automatically link it to Rolling Stone magazine. The magazine uses a simple layout and does not use very many conventions and techniques that we would see on a typical magazine cover it has a flash button which shows a important article that is inside the magazine. The front cover then shows the usual list of cover lines showing the audience what they will expect to see inside the magazine. This will appeal to the audience as the cover is simple yet appealing as it shows them what is included in the issue, without overpowering and filling the cover up. Rolling Stones uses simple colours which contrast well together –yellow, white and black, these colours fit well with the cover photo as the do not take the focus of the cover photo and cover lines as they are very neutral colours. Rolling Stones magazine does not stick to the same colour scheme every issue.

The masthead on the cover of this magazine is layered on top of the main image which shows that many people know who the artist is on the front cover. The mast head is one of the first things that the audience will see as it is bold and uses red which is a bright colour that stands out. There are three main colours used in this magazine they are: Black, White and Red all of these colours are bright and stand out well. Red is used for the masthead and also for some of the cover lines featured on the cover. White is used for the background of the magazine and also for the main cover line which is the headline about the artist that is on the cover. Black is used for the various cover lines on each side of the cover as it stands out against the black background it is also used in the main image as the artist is wearing a black jacket and black sunglasses. The colours used are quite basic and are quite commonly used for the genre that is portrayed through this magazine cover. This magazine shows the rule of thirds as the layout of the cover is set like there is an imaginary grid with the centre of the grid being the face of the artist, this is the first thing that the audience will notice as it is the main part of the magazine cover. Also the mast head is part of the rule of thirds as it takes up the top part of the magazine and makes the audiences eye draw to it, as does the main cover line. The cover lines on this magazine match the colour palette this attracts the audience as the colours used are bold and bright and standout against the white background. Also the cover lines are mainly shaped around the main image, and the main cover line stands out as it is a bigger font from the rest of the cover lines and stand out because the bright colours stand out against the artists black jacket. The main image of the artist ‘JAY-Z’ that is featured on the cover of this issue of rolling stone is in keeping with the colour palette as the colour that the artist is wearing is black which is the main colour used throughout the cover. This is shown on the jacket he is wearing and also the glasses. This makes it easy for the cover lines that have been layered on the image to stand out as the production company have used the other two colours on the colour palette to make the main cover line stand out. The target audience for this magazine is mainly young adults also males as the colours used are quite rocky and bold. Having an image of Jay-Z on the front may attract the male audience as they may think that he is an icon and will look up to him because of the popular music that he has made. On the cover of this magazine everything is based around and layered on top of the main image for example all the cover lines are shaped around the image of the artist and also the main feature cover line is layered on top of the image, as is the masthead.