Music Magazine Conventions - Ancillary Research

In my ancillary products i am creating a magazine advert, I have chosen to do some research into music magazines as well so that i could get a feel of the genre for my advertisement. I plan to identify the common codes and conventions of magazines in order to produce successful content.

The images used on covers of music magazines is mostly the artist. Eye contact is often used to engage the target audience to the artist, creating a rapport. Often it is a mid shot or close up for one artist and a band is often a longer, wider shot. There is nothing distracting in the background, so that the focus is on the artist.

Typically there is no more than three colours used at a time to keep it simple and minimalistic - and keep the main image as the main attraction. If too many colours are used it can be considered as overwhelming, and can deter the target audience.

The other text on the front cover eg, subtitles and brief text is always in capitals to grab attention, making it appear loud, bold and appealing to target audiences. The font is the same and used in bold across the cover. The sublines beneath subheadings is usually in a different colour so that people reading the magazine ca easily differentiate between sections.

The name of music magazines are usually brief and catchy so that they are easy to remember. Examples of this are:

• NME
• Kerrange
• Q 
• Billboard
• Rolling Stone 

The name is always at the top of the magazine and often a block colour so that they are clear and readable to immediately catch attention. The main artist feature on the magazine as the main attraction.