Codes and conventions of magazine covers:

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● Main Image: dominates the front cover, usually a medium close-up to close-up. Rarely covers the masthead but is always in direct site to the consumer.

● Main Cover Line: goes with the image and anchors it to its meaning. ● Masthead: centered or arranged at the top left of the cover, always written in a unique font design the

masthead is the magazine's trademark and is usually just one letter or word long. ● Coverlines: normally one or two words. Explains what's in the magazine, bold coloured in a large type size,

designed to attract the reader's attention and make them look inside. This frames the image, no text covers the face of the main image.

● Barcode: the barcode is always located on the front of the magazine as the back is usually taken up by an ad.

● Puff: a puff is when the magazine gives the reader something for nothing, eg. free gifts

Layout: The generic layout of a music magazine cover page is to have a main image in the centre of the page which is an advertisement for the most most important article(s) of the magazine. This image will mostly feature a single subject in medium to a close up shot, however there are occasions where the subject is not a person or can be multiple people. The masthead is featured at the top of the cover and is in the house colours of the magazine, the masthead may be in the foreground or background of the cover. The main cover line is always made to stand out from the others, be that through a larger/bolder font or use of different colours such as the house colours in order to assert its importance to the consumer. Coverlines are primarily positioned around the cover image and almost never go over it by much, the number of cover lines can vary greatly but usually the number is between 4-7 cover lines.the barcode is usually featured at the bottom of the cover at either side of the page; issue number date and price and usually placed at the top of the cover close to the masthead however. The background is usually just a single colour or gradient but can feature additional design elements to go with the main image.

Design: The design of music magazines can vary greatly but EDM specific magazine cover will always feature bold or bright colours that contrast well but there are very few colours used in the colour scheme. These colours are then used consistently throughout the magazine.

Content Features: EDM magazines will feature the most important/interesting articles in the cover lines that are simple to understand and quick to read by the consumer in order to gain their attention quickly, bright colours and bold fonts are also used in order to contrast to and stand out from the background and main image, this helps them to stand out further.