'Kerrang' Music Magazine - Second Front Page Analysis

The Masthead/Title

The masthead/title of the magazine that I am analysing is ‘Kerrang’. ‘Kerrang’ is a UK based magazine devoted to rock music, it is named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on a distorted electric guitar, Kerrang! The title connotes that the magazine is to do with music, such as, British heavy metal and also it is about the rise of hard rock acts. The actual word is a bold yellow colour which contrasts well with its background which is red. On the issue Brendon Urie's (who is modelling for the main image) head is in front of the letter 'A' of the word 'Kerrang' and also the letter 'G' is partly covered, this design is common among all magazines due to the name still being recognisable despite its lack of full visibility.

The Headline

The headline features one of the main articles in the magazine 'Panic at the Disco'. The style of the font is sans- serif, it is very bold and it is written in caps lock so it comes across as very loud and it stands out. 'Panic at the Disco' is written in yellow and it's accentuated  by the black background also the colours keep to the house style which is mainly yellow, black and red, so this meets that criteria perfectly as the background the headline is on is red. Moreover, this will enable the reader to gather more of an idea as to whether the contents of the magazine appeals to them and gives them an idea as to what will be in the magazine.

The Main Image

The main image is of the attractive Brendon Urie dressed in a suit holding a lead of a Rottweiler dog in each hand; the dogs are in mid bark and look quite vicious. The man’s facial expression is very serious and he has confident body language where his legs are slightly apart and his lower body is more forward. He is directly looking at the camera. The ideal reader that is identified with this main image would be someone who has a good sense of style, quite outrageous in their personality, bold, and smart and well-dressed yet has a scarier side to them as well.

The Strapline

The strapline is the yellow strip at the top of the page that tells you further what is going to be in the magazine further in this case it is about ‘Linkin Park’ and ‘Alter Bridge’ this is written in sans-serif font and it is written in red this time with a yellow background and underneath it is some more writing in black which gives it more detail.

The Cover Lines

The cover lines are all very bold and stand out almost as much as the main title. I think all the writing as a whole is a little too bold and this then makes the reader unsure as to what is the most important. The content that is promoted by the cover lines is information about emo’s ‘The A to Z of emo’ which have pictures that go with them to add another dimension, 'Bite Back' which is written in white with a black outline, we also know that there is going to be something in the magazine about ‘Of Mice and Men in the studio’ and lastly, it is going to tell you about a review of an album. Again, the cover lines help to promote what is going to be in the magazines to try and entice the reader in and to grab their interest.

The Connotations of Typefaces, Graphics, Colours and the Language Used

Design Elements 

The whole front of the magazine is very bold, and it is a mixture of serif and sans-serif fonts but mainly sans- serif. The main colours used are red, yellow, white and black. The title ‘Kerrang’ has a completely unique font from everything else. Some of the words go over the main image making a nice frame around it, and some of the words have a shadowing effect on them which makes them look bolder and again contrast against the red background.

Language Used

The main language feature that is used on this front cover is the use of alliteration which is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connect words; they also use quite a lot of exclamation marks. There is a mixture of numbers and words also.

The cover says to its reader that I am bold, confident, quirky, sometimes a bit scary, and not afraid to stand out and into emo side of things and obviously that genre of music.

What Makes the 'Kerrang' Magazine Unique?

I think this magazine has a unique style as there are other music magazines such as 'Q' but that has a completely different layout and has not got as much content on the front page. What makes this unique is that all the writing is in capitals so it is saying that everything is important and that it is the best magazine to read. There is a range of font sizes and yet everything is in its own spotlight. 

Inside the Magazine 'Kerrang' and General Information 

Inside

How many pages are there and how many pages of adverts are there?

There are 63 pages in this magazine, the number of adverts that it contains is about 25. The things that are advertised vary from films, albums, ticket for concerts, joining up to ‘Kerrang’ on social networking sites,  signing up to more of their magazines, posters, music bands/ artist, fashion items, and memberships.

How many double page spreads are there?

There is a double page spread about ‘Of Mice and Men’ releasing their new album, there is one about the ‘Chinese democracy’ when Metallica arrived in China for their first ever show in the world’s most popular country. There is another double page spread about ‘Pearl Jam’ releasing their 10^th album – Lightning Bolt. There’s another one about ‘Feedback’. There is double page spread about ‘Panic! At the disco’.

Furthermore, there is another one about Alter Bridge, Halestorm and Shinedown who are about to ‘destroy’ arenas all over the UK together. There is one about ‘Linkin Park’. Lastly, there is a double page spread about the lives of recent rock stars. In total there is about 20 double page spreads all of the information that was on the front cover was a double page spread in the magazine. Some of the names of the double page spreads are on several.

    

Are there any “advertorials”?

There are several advertorials where there is a mixture of both an article and an advert on the same page and it is quite difficult to tell the difference, however, there is one in particular that does have an article on it about a group called ‘serial killers’ but also there are several adverts around the page as well and if you aren’t reading the article closely it’s easily overlooked as an advert.

    

What is this magazines house style and why is it appropriate for the target audience?

The magazines house style is that ‘Kerrang’ always has a big picture usually going over the masthead or just below it; the titles are usually very big, in capitals and mainly sans-serif. There are lots of columns and other bits of information in separate boxes so it fills out the page and there is a lot to attract the reader’s eye. This layout, which includes: bold font, text, and bright colours is all very appropriate for the target audience as it is aimed at teenagers to young adults that are into their emo music magazines, and this magazine is very appealing to that type of person .

General

Which company produces the magazine?

Here in the United Kingdom the magazine is published by Bauer Consumer Media and has become the world's biggest selling weekly rock magazine.

What is the target audience?

The magazine appeals to a specific niche audience because it concerns topics and themes that are relevant to people who listen to and are interested by rock music and its background. 'Kerrang' identifies its audience as 'individually minded, independent of thought and musically experienced, an audience defined by attitude, passion and loyalty'. This devoted audience of rock fans is made up of 60% males and 40% females with 'Kerrang's' demographic fall into social class D-C. The predominate ethnicity of the readership is white British with a target population of 16-24 year olds.

How much does it cost and how often is it published?

'Kerrang' magazine comes out every week, on Wednesdays. It costs £2.20 every week but on Christmas editions it can cost a little more and the magazine usually stays in the shops until Friday.

What is its circulation?

The latest statistics recorded from ABC's broadcast circulation systems shows that since the 25th of July 2012 the total circulation of the magazine is 42,077. The high number of circulation which 'Kerrang' has is evident that the magazine is successful and has a good understanding of its audience and what makes them want to buy their magazine.

What data is available about it on the NRS website?

The data that is available on the NRS website about 'Kerrang' is as follows:

Frequency: Weekly

Print: 813

Web: 90

Total: 903

Approximate monthly revenue streams from advertising and circulation:

Statistics show that the overall income of monthly revenue streams purely from advertising totals to £472,637 this may vary from time to time depending on the year, either when people have more money or if the actual issue is bigger, has more content or is a special edition and this will affect the price as well.