What is a music magazine?

The dictionary definition: A music magazine is a magazine

dedicated to music and music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a cover mount with recorded music.

My definition: A music magazine is a magazine which is dedicated to music. There is a music magazine for most genres; from pop to rock to rap to classical, there are specialist magazines for each one.

What content (text/copy/writing/articles/stories) would you expect to find in a music magazine?

Each music magazine has different features. Magazines for younger audiences e.g Top of the Pops, will probably have quizzes or activities to do, but most have interviews with artists relevant to their genre, news, album/concert/song reviews, competitions or posters.

What images would you expect to find in a music magazine?

You would expect to find lots of images of bands or artists that are related to their genre; e.g in Kerrang magazine youd find heavy metal bands, whereas in Billboard magazine youd find the latest chart topping artist. They also contain images of album covers, live concerts and maybe the celebrities private lives if they have a news page. Also, images associated with the genre will be used through mise-en-scene, for example a hip-hop magazine may contain images of alcohol and drugs, whereas Kerrang would contain guitars and drums.

Identify general characteristics/features that you would expect to find in all music magazines. All magazines must have: A bold, eye-catching masthead located at the top of the page. It is located at the top so it can be seen amongst the other magazines, and needs to be bold or brightly coloured so that people are aware of the title. It usually takes up of the cover. It has a main image which observes the rule of thirds where all the main parts of the image (eg the artists face or eyes) are located along the lines of intersection when the page is divided into nine squares. The image relates to the genre of music because this is what the target audience want to see. Rock fans will want to read and see about rock bands, not the latest country star. There are usually 2-3 font styles which run consistently on the cover and throughout the magazine. This keeps it simple for the audience and gives it a signature style. The cover lines relate to the artist on the cover so people are aware of who it is and also contains the features inside, to entice people to buy the magazine. A barcode, price and date all need to be included too, so that the magazine is sellable and can be retailed properly. Optionally, magazines may have a header and/or a footer with extra coverlines or puffers such as Free Posters or Win which again persuade people to buy them.

Bold, eye-catching masthead

Coverlines relating to features

Barcode, price and date

Name of the artist on the cover.

Main image of an artist relating to the music genre of the magazine.