Market research

Finding out about music magazines available in the UK, recording who publishes them, what their circulation and readership is, and any information about their reader.

Metal HammerPublisher:

Circulation: 41,777Readership: 91,909

Average reader: Young male (85%)Average age 2241% in employment51% are studying.

QPublisher:

Circulation: 89,459Readership: 550,000

Average reader: Average age is 2968% male, 32% female

Kerrang!Publisher:

Circulation: 44,013Readership: 421,000

Average reader:Average age is 2270% Solus readership87% of K! customers buy every issue

MOJOPublisher:

Circulation: 91,678Readership: 218,000

Average reader:Average age: 37

Classic rockPublisher:

Circulation: 71,242Readership: 149,608

Average reader:Average age: 35+Mostly male43% share their copy

Textual analysis

Magazines I’ll be analysing:Metal hammerKerrang!QAnalyse their front covers, contents pages and double page spreads• Your analysis should focus on:

– Mise-en-scene: characters, costumes, props, location and lighting– Camerawork: type of shot and angle– Colour scheme: is there a house style? How many colours are used?– Language: what mode of address and register are used?– Fonts: serif, sans serif? Size and colour

Metal HammerMise-en-scene: there is a band, related to the type of music that the magazine is about, on the front of the picture. They are dressed in clothes that reflect the type of music they play, and that the audience of the magazine will be able to relate too, helping the magazine to sell. There are not really any props in the picture. It is in a dark area, with nothing physically striking to draw attention away from the band. The lighting is mainly dark, yet the band is brightly lit, drawing attention to them.

Camerawork: The picture is a long shot, capturing the entire bands full bodies, as well as a space above their head. This leaves room for the title of the magazine to be placed. The camera is looking up at the band, in a high angle shot, yet as the band is looking directly at the camera it also appears to be an eye level shot, as you can make eye contact with them.

Colour scheme: There are not really any bright colours in this picture, with the background a brown colour, and the band mainly wearing dark colours, such as black and dark blue. This reflects, again, the style of magazine it is, and hopefully reflects the way the readers of the magazine dresses, which will encourage them to buy it.

Language: the language used is very informal, using simple dialogue and not using overly complicated words. This helps it sell copies to its target audience, as they are likely not looking to read something that is elegantly worded, they want something they can relate too; something that’s worded the way they’d say things.

Fonts: The magazine follows a consistent pattern with its fonts, the exception being when it says the bands name. This exception is because it is using the bands logo, and as such it is printed in the font the band normally prints their name in. There is a consistent colour scheme, with words that they want to stand out being brown and the rest of the text white, and all of it, except the brown words, using the same fonts.

Metal Hammer contents pageMise-en scene: There are three pictures in the centre of the page, with each one having a little box laid over the top of it. The box contains the name of the band, and in white text contains the number of the page containing the story about the band. This is because these are the most important features in the magazine, the headlines that the magazine uses to sell issues. The images are completely different, yet all focus on a person. The bottom image contains the prop of a microphone, whilst the others contain nothing immediately visible. The background of each image is completely different, not sharing anything in common.

Colour scheme: The background is completely white, with bold black text sticking out. The black text is mainly band names, drawing attention to why the people brought the magazine in the first place. The images stand out the most, bringing attention to them, as they are the most important or well known bands on this page, so more people will want to read about them. The add at the bottom of the page is black, which contrasts with the white background, standing out and drawing attention to itself.

Language: There is not much writing on this page to analyse, and as such there is not much tow rite. However, the small amount of text that there is is written very informally, trying to appeal to the genre of audience that it is normally brought by.

Font: The font is clear and easy to read, allowing the audience to quickly and easily choose what page they want to read, designed for simplicity more then anything else, appearance wise. It is simple and cleanly cut, the letters simple and easy to read at a glance, allowing people to easily read it in a hurry.

Metal Hammer double page spread

This is a pull quote, pulled directly from the text surrounding it. This is a device that often grabs the readers attention, encouraging them to read on, intriguing them.

This is a medium-long shot of the person the interview was taken with. It allows the readers to recognize them, if their able too, as well as providing an image of him.

The background for this double-page spread is completely white. This is so it does not distract the reader while they are reading, and the red headings stand out easily on it, allowing the audience to pick them out.

This box has a red background, making it stand out from the rest of the text. This instantly draws attention to itself, as it is the biggest chunk of red on the page.

The language used in this text is simple, yet still interesting to read. Since it was a spoken interview it was spontaneous, not planned out, and as such is not the most elaborate test, yet it is still interesting to the reader.

The font used here is simple, yet the colour used inside looks bloody, reminding people how dangerous it can be to “shred” on guitar, as your fingers could easily suffer damage, including bleeding.

These are images of the people Herman Li is talking about in his interview. In it he is talking about the ten most influential guitarists in him learning guitar, and the images provide some context, as not everybody will know the people he is referring too, so they help those people get an idea off them.

KERRANG!Mise-en-scene: The magazine focus’s on the band on the top of the page, which is related to the type of music this magazine is known for playing. There is no real props to be seen throughout the image, as they are not needed; the band is not engaged in any action. The band at the top of the magazine is brightly lit, with a bright background. This draws attention to the band itself, not taking away any emphasis from the band, the main selling point. The band are wearing mainly dark clothing, as it is what they wear on the stage.

Camerawork: The camera shot is a close up of the band at the top of the magazine, and the camera is eye level with the band, providing an eye level shot of them. His head cuts out part of the name KERRANG, which happens in almost every episode of the magazine, as a recurring image.

Colour scheme: The top half of the magazine is mainly dark, despite the bright light on the band. The black and white contrast of the title go well with the band, as the bands skin is light and their hair is dark, the same as the title. Straight under the picture of the band is red, with a lot of smaller images. This shows that, while these points are definitely in the magazine, they are not the main focus.

Language: The magazine uses mostly simplistic language, always in short sentences. This is because the sentences are there to simply make a point, a small advertisement of the magazine. Most of the words on the page are simply the bands names, which are the main points of the magazine.

Fonts: the magazine keeps the same font all the way through, keeping it consistent. The title is an exception to this, as it has its own, special font, not seen anywhere else on the page. This is so that it stands out, and that the customer can easily see the name of the magazine, not confusing it for any other. The text is almost entirely white, which stands out from the mostly dark background. The biggest words are the name of the magazine, KERRANG!, and the name of the band; that is because those are the two main selling points of this magazine.

KERRANG! Contents pageMise-en scene: There is an image of Herman Li, the guitarist from the band Dragonforce. He is very brightly lit, yet he is wearing dark clothing and holding a black guitar, which contrasts with the white background and the light shining on his skin. He is holding a prop, which is a guitar. This shows that he is definitely a guitarist, and most probably a very skilled one at that, as he is taking up over half of this page. He is surrounded by a completely white background, which makes sure no attention is drawn away from him.

Camerawork: He is looking directly into the camera, from a medium shot. This lets the audience see most of the guitar, and cuts off at the very top of his head, leaving nothing that the audience has to see cut off. It has a lot of spare space at the sides, allowing KERRANG! To put more images or text at the sides of the image, advertising more.

Colour scheme: the background is very bright, white, so as not to draw attention away from the main text of the page. The headings are black, with yellow text, as this colour contrasts strongly with the bright background. The images are mostly on the top of the page, each one with a white box covering part of the image, containing a number in red and the name in black.

Language: It is very informally written, with elements of comedy put into it in order to draw the reader further into the writing, engaging with them and convincing them to read further on. It does not have many long words, and uses a common register, as the people they are trying to sell to don’t necessarily want complicated writing, they want to read about their favorite bands.

Fonts: the word KERRANG! Is written in a font different to every other font on the page, making it unique and stand out from the rest. The rest of the writing is written in a normal font, allowing the audience to read it easily.

KERRANG! Double page spread

The colour scheme is very dark, consisting of mainly dark colours. All of the images are in black and white, showing no colour within them at all. This helps to make the text stand out so much, as the text is white, which sharply contrasts with the other dark colours dominating the page. There is also the colour red spread about, though not in as much abundance, as it is mainly used to draw attention to particular points, mainly the important ones.

This is a picture of the featured bands, my chemical romance, singer. It is extremely dark, edited to only be in black and white, yet you can tell that when it was taken it was brightly lit. He has a prop, in the form of a microphone, indicating that he is the singer of the band. It is a medium long shot, and his clothes, though you can’t actually tell, seem to be of a dark colour.

This bit has a white background, as opposed to everything else on the double page spread. It also has a chunk of red at the top, helping to draw attention to it, and the headings within it are written in red, drawing further attention to it.

The language used here is informal, using some specialist terms though for the main part using simplistic language, reflecting the fact it is an interview, and the fact that interviews are almost always unplanned beforehand, at least the party being interviewed.

This is a pull quote, pulling a quote directly from the text and putting it in bold font, urging the reader to read onwards in order to find it.

QMise-en-scene: There is only one person on the cover of this magazine, who is a well known musician, who plays the genre of music that this magazine is well known for writing. He is the main member of the band Foo Fighters, which is the headlining band for this magazine issue. He is dressed simply, in a dark shirt with dark jeans on. He has a prop with him, which is an electric guitar. This shows that he can play guitar, as well as letting people who don’t actually know who he is to make an educated guess as to what he can do. He is surrounded by a white background, which helps to focus on him, as it is very dull and doesn’t attract attention away from him at all. He is brightly lit, with light shining in from the right hand side. You can see this as there is a shadow on his left.

Camerawork: The picture is a medium long shot, as you can see him from his knee upwards, as well as a small amount of space above his head. This is so that they could include more of him, as well as allow the audience to see his guitar, which otherwise they would not have been able to see .

Colour scheme: This is a very brought magazine, with the main person brightly lit despite his dark clothing, and the background completely white. The colours used in the magazine are also very bright, such as the bright reds and oranges.

Language: this magazine does not really use much language on its front cover. It has a quote from within the magazine on its front, which is meant to intrigue the audience into reading further into it. It lists a lot of well known artists and bands on the side, which allow people, at a glance, to see what style of music is covered in this magazine, which will help people decide if it is for them or not.

Fonts: The font used is a very relaxed one. For example, the font used for the word Foo fighters, and the font used for the fonts of all other artists, are very informal and relaxed, almost as if telling people that this magazine is the same.

Q contents pageMise-en-scene: There is a person stood in the middle of the page, looking away from the camera. There is a prop included, which is a guitar, and this shows us that the included person, Dave Grohl, can probably play a guitar at a professional level. He is very brightly lit from our right hand side, his left. You can tell this as his right arm is shadowed. The background to the image is very brightly lit, just a white background, which does nothing to distract attention away from him, instead focusing attention on him.

Camerawork: The type of shot taken on the person in a long shot. You can tell this as his entire body, from his feet to his head, is in the image, with a tiny amount of space over the top of his head. This is done as he is the main point of this particular magazine, and so it wishes to focus most, if not all of the attention onto the image of him.

Colour scheme: The magazine predominantly features two colours, red and white. The background of the page is completely white, and everything that they wish to draw your attention to is either in a red box or underlined by red. This is emphasised by the picture of the man, as the colour of the shirt he is wearing in it is coloured red, matching with the colour scheme. All sub-headings are underlined with a thick red line, which draws the readers attention to it, and the name of the magazine, Q, is written in white over a red background.

Language: The language used in this page is mostly simple, straight to the point, as the reader doesn’t want to read huge points of text in this page; they want to find out a small overview of what’s on each page before going to that page, reading it in detail there. Still, the language that is used tends to lean towards the informal, sometimes trying to be comedic.

Fonts: This magazine uses a mostly simple font, allowing the readers to easily and clearly see what is written, even at a glance. This allows the reader to find what they are actually interested in reading quickly, as the font does not hinder them at all.

Q Double page spreadThe background of this page is completely white, not having anything special or distracting to draw attention away from the main chunk of text, or the image, allowing the reader to read on undistracted. The main colours used on this double page spread is black, white and red. White is mainly used as the background of the page, while black makes up the chunk of the text. Red is reserved for areas that need special attention, and as such is rarely used compared to the others.

This picture is very dark, edited to be darker then it is. It is a medium long shot, and the person in the image is using a prop, an acoustic guitar. The lighting in the image isn’t overly bright, much brighter on one side of his face then on the other, drawing attention to one side of it. He is not looking into the camera, instead looking at the guitar he is holding, insinuating that he is actually playing the guitar as the photo was taken.

There is a pull quote from the main body of text here, urging the reader to read onwards, as well as giving them a slight idea of what the text is about.

The language used here is formal compared to some, as it is about a serious issue, the persons dreams for the future, yet it also has some informal features. It mainly uses simplistic language, though where necessary uses technical terms, allowing them to talk more in-depth about it.

The font used in this text is very simplistic and consistent, with barely any changed from body of text to body of text. This allows the readers to read without interruptions, or having to try and figure out what a word means, as well as hinting at their target audience: an older audience doesn’t necessarily care about the font used in a text.