The masthead is a recognisable one so the magazine can get away with positioning the main image in front of it. It is positioned at the top of the page as naturally people read from top to bottom, left to right. Also on a shelf in a shop the bottom of the magazine may be covered but the masthead is still visible.

The strapline is at the very top of the magazine which is conventional of a magazine. This one in particular features the “best” albums and songs of 2012 which is a good selling point for a customer as people want the best of anything.

The main image takes up a majority of the cover. The person featured is making eye contact which has a personal effect. The expression reflects the style of music and also the kind of person they are. The image covers part of the masthead as it is recognisable and give a more 3D effect. A usual convention is to have the artists name on the cover somewhere and an audience assumes that the picture and name are related, however this one does not. This may be due to his world wide popularity and is a unique and recognisable character.

A barcode is a convention of a magazine. It usually states the price, date and issue.

The background is white/light grey. This may be to emphasise why he is on the cover. It could also be a contrast to what he is wearing as he has got a black jacket, t shirt and necklace on.

Another convention of a magazine is to have other inset images on the cover, however this one does not which may be because the main story is very important and they want it to be the main focus of the issue.

There is a range of cover lines on the cover and features of what is in the issue. They engage a reader and give them a bit more of an insight to what is inside the magazine. They usually ask questions or feature some kind of gossip. They may also be quotes .

This feature is to engage the reader. It gets them thinking about what their top 50 hip-hop songs would be and then makes them want to see what the magazine issue says they are. It is cleverly written and the black on white fits in with the general theme. This also links to the picture because jay z is a talented hip hop artist so the reader makes the assumption he is in the top 50.

As the masthead is a recognisable one the magazine can get away with placing the image over the front of it. The design of the text is black, as the magazine is about rock music it is fitting to the colour as black is often associated with rock. Furthermore, the style of text looks slightly ‘smashed’ which could link to the idea of rock being aggressive. Finally the exclamation mark may be a statement of rock as it is bold and stands out. The general convention of the masthead is at the top of the page.

The strapline is at the very top of the magazine which is conventional of a magazine. This one in particular features Framing Hanley “let loose” in London. The significance of the chosen words are that they are associating rock bands with animals who go wild which may have a good effect on an intended audience as they my want to see wildness from a band. Finally the end part of the strapline is coloured in red to fit in with the general colour theme, including the main image.

The headline is the name of the band in the image. This is a convention of a magazine. The audience assumes that the name of the band in the picture is the name of the headline because it is bold and ‘in your face’. It is offset to the left possibly to show that rock isn’t neat and perfect.The featured headline is a cleaver pun which links to the image. In American football, when a player scores it is called a touch down, which links to the outfit. Also this links to a plane touching down to the ground. “in the UK” and the image is a contrast as football is an American sport.

Having inset images on the cover of a magazine is a convention of magazine covers. It almost gives a tater into what to expect inside, plus it features free gifts such as posters, which may convince a customer to buy the magazine.

There is another strap line along the base of the magazine to show extra information about what is featured in the magazine. This is conventional of a magazine cover as it is a quick way of giving a customer enough information about the magazine in order to convince them to buy it without reading it first.

In regards to images there are many placed all around the magazine but one main focus. This is the image which links to the headline and also the main feature of that particular issue. All band members are making eye contact for a psychological effect and are out of their stereotypical labels. Because people do not expect musicians to like/play sport. This may entice a reader. The image also links to the cleaver pun of the subtitle and acts as most of the cover background. The colours they are wearing link to the theme of the text and red has connotations of something bad, aggressive, stop. It is very noticeable and un miscible which is possibly why they intended to use it on the cover. The lead singer is always a front man and this is a typical convention of music magazines and also music in general.The other images, such as the splash image are to add to the contents of the magazine and widen the target market as different people may like different musicians. (e.g. Dani Filth) There are also images of featured posters and other images.

More conventions of a magazine cover are quotes, cover lines, a barcode featuring the date, price, issue and date line.