ANALYSIS OF THE META-LANGUAGE OF MUSIC MAGAZINE JOURNALISM

This is an Rnb magazine called Ebony. Ebony is a very dark black colour; this has connotations of power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery. Black is a mysterious colour as we associate it with fear and the unknown. Usually black is seen to be a negative colour as it symbolises death. However, black denotes authority and strength which could link very easily to rnb as it is seen to be very popular and strong as many famous celebrities are in the Rnb music industry and have the power to entertain, motivate and brain wash society. My particular demographic that would read this magazine would be mostly from a black or Asian background.

The cover lines on the magazine use informal and formal language. Moreover, they use very explicit language like sex as you would associate this with the music industry especially with Rnb; as you see this portrayed through the music videos and the lyrics to the songs. Furthermore, we get the use of informal language through Baby mama which means the mother kept to bring up the baby. This is added within the magazine as many Rnb artists have kids but may not be married; with this the audience may feel theyre getting advice off celebrities and feel it is important. The reason this may be added is the age the target audience is 17-19, who may be young parents that need certain advice. This gives a certain edge to the magazine showing how it is not for young children as it would not be appropriate. This sentence can also be linked to pregnancy and having children. As we would have imagined popping the question would mean getting married, however in

this genre it means asking about getting tested for pregnancy. Through this we see the clear difference of normality to Rnb, as Rnb likes to set new trends instead of following old ones. Gunned down gives us a very negative image of guns and death. This again is shown to us through the lyrics of the music we hear. The demographic will be familiar with this as with that particular generation now; you hear a lot more about gun crime and the outcomes of it. Therefore, by adding it within a popular magazine, it can educate the young minds of how bad it is, and give other alternatives and solutions to such a horrific topic. Also, it shows the demographic through a negative light as it implies that those from a black ground are mainly linked to gun crime. This will give certain guidance to the target audience, as theyre going through the stage of seeing different influences negative and positive. If people in higher class picked up to read this magazine, they would be confused on some of the terminology used. Just as shown in this cover line, Teddy Pendergrass is associated with weed, swag, green. These words are all linked to Rnb as we see through the use of imagery of the artists and music produced. The formality is evidently informal. This gives the article a more edgy tone and dangerous as only some people know about it, and not everyone is educated about what some of the words mean, almost gives it some secrecy. Therefore, this type of language is appropriately used as it relates to the target audience as they would most definitely be aware of this type of informal language also, they may even use it themselves; moreover they would have been bought up with it within their generation. Also it shows

The language used on my double page spread will be an equal mix of informal and formal as it will relate more to my demographic rather than just the use of informal language. On this double page spread you see how the grid lines have not been crossed over as one whole page is taken up by the image of Wiz Khalifa and the other side is talking about his life. This gives great detail into his profile as it provides us with a rich higher classed photograph of him smoking which is his signature look. On the right hand side we see the big initials of his take up half the page, this could represent how he is well known in the music industry or how he wants the attention all on him. We also see how the colours relate back to his song he produced BLACK AND YELLOW which adds in more effectiveness as the demographic will associate him with those colours and recognise who he is without even reading the rest of the

article. Underneath the main title, we get How high? this could mean different things to different readers as it is a play on phrase. As we would associate Wiz Khalifa with weed the particular audience that takes an interest into his music will think it means how high you are going to get relating to smoking weed. However, audiences may think it means how high you are willing to go etc. This shows how the language for the chosen demographic is important as everyone can misunderstand the message being delivered. The rest of the language used on the page is mixed between formal and informal as it is someone giving an account of his experiences and not he giving actual spoken words as we would know the language would differ if it was coming from a personal account. This all would be related to the particular demographic as their lifestyles would consist of weed and smoking and also the terminology they would use would be very basic and full on informal language and colloquialisms. Their education usually would be very basic and not of high standards compared to those from a white background who would be of higher class.

Lastly we have the contents page. On this page we see the main image of the artist but then writing to the side of it. The language used on this is formal as it is explaining the contents of the magazine but also it can relate to the demographic, as theyre now more mature they dont need to have excess amounts of informal language to understand what has been included in the magazine. This is what I aim to use for my magazine, as I would like to appeal to the audience as young people entering the mature adult life. The font of the subheadings look more laid back and fancy this can symbolise the type of fashion approach Rnb artists take as fashion and what they look like is the main selling point of their career alongside their voices.