MASTHEAD ANLAYSIS

Masthead ResearchI have researched all different mastheads and I have

chosen to analyze the most common ones and some others which are relative to my genre. The reason I

wanted to analyze some mastheads that were not of my genre was simply because I wanted to compare

and contrast the different genres to see if there were any major differences or similarities.

Popular Mastheads

The red writing illustrates that the magazine is representing a genre which are passionate and dedicated to their music and music in general; this therefore targets those who believe that they live and breath music. The title is also in 3D which makes the magazine appear more modern. The font of the masthead is very 50/60’s as are the colours; the combination of the 3D and 50/60’s style keeps the traditional rolling stone title but the 3D still makes the magazine modern so that it still has the ability to compete with all the other music magazines out there. As a lot of media is in 3D nowadays it makes more sense to make the title 3D to attract a wider target audience. ‘Rolling’ is said to mean, and I agree with this part, that something is constantly moving; just like music is constantly evolving. ‘STONE’ could indicate the genre of music or it could show that something is powerful. As I mentioned before the title is very 50/60’s thus it is assumed that the main target audience is older but the 3D affect could appeal to younger audeinces.

NME appears to be in the rock genre, just like the ‘rolling stone’ masthead as it used the colour reed to show the dedication and passion, which again targets a specific audience who are infatuated by music and have a deep passion for music. The red text is put up against a white background so that the red is more emphasized thus illustrating the passion of the reader. There is a black border around NME, possibly indicating that the magazine is about more than just the music but contains other information that is important to the audience. The colour is very bold and straight to the point thus potentially showing that the information in this magazine is very powerful and would most likely influence the readers of this magazine. As well as this, because the title is very bright and bold, it could suggest that the magazine itself is very good at attracting its viewers attention. ‘NEW’ – the word new could simply mean that every new issue the magazine has a new sector of information about that particular genre of music which their target audience would be interested in.‘MUSICAL’- This word could display to the audience that the magazine is purely about music and not any additional subjects. Thus relating to their target audience as their target audience are all about the music and supposedly have a large passion for music. ‘EXPRESS’- This could mean several things, for instance it could illustrate that the news that appears in this magazine is fresh, new and up to date or it could mean that your views and opinions about music and artists are displayed in the magazine.

‘NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS’

Instantly by just looking at the font that has been used for the title you are able to see that the genre of music that this magazine is representing; rock/metal. This is because the font is big and there are crack visible across some of the letters which appears to look like broken glass which consequently emphasizes power and strength this could relate to the main target audience (males) as it could illustrate their hard exterior which might be slightly shattered.The contrasting colours, black and white, could represent 2 very different concepts of music coming together because black generally represents a strong and powerful personality whereas white is a very calming and neutral colour. Both colours together work well and show that some one can be strong and quite neutral and calming; their target audience. This colour combination could also illustrate that the combination of rock and mental is a good musical arrangement as well as making the title stand out more. Although I said previously that the target audience was mostly male I believe that the simple colours that are used does not invite a specific sex/gender. The broken glass is very ambiguous, for instance it could represent strength or a broken exterior as well as people breaking things- stress releasing to this genre of music. From this observation you could say that the target audience could be assumed to be teenagers who like going out having fun/reckless teenagers.

The mast head is very simple and so are the colours of the masthead which could illustrate that they want the main focus to be on the magazines front cover and the artist that is displayed on the front cover. Despite this the colour of the title(bright

red) shows that the title is still an important feature of the magazine. Moreover the contrasting colours, white and help it stand out. Red could also be considered a

popular, cool, modern colour which is exactly the type of music it publishes. The font used for 'Q' is quite stylish which could convey that this magazine is aimed at a

higher class audience. This type of font also gives the whole magazine a more sophisticated, professional feel thus possibly attracting a wider target audience. The font and the colour of the font (white) is very neutral which further widen the target

audience; the font is nether feminine or masculine thus inviting a mixed gender audience.

'Q' was once called 'Cue' (to cue a record) however it was changed in case it was mistaken for a Snooker Magazine. I think the change was a good idea simply because

it separates the magazine from all the other music magazines as it only has a one letter masthead; making it very catchy and memorable. This could also attract a

different target audience or just more of the same audience.

My genre Mastheads

This is the masthead for a magazine called ‘Country Weekly.’ It is not a very unique title but never the less it does stand out because of how bold the colour is and the shadow that is behind it. The colour white is very neutral which could suggest that this magazine could appeal to anyone and does not have a set age or gender; it could also relate to the genre of music and how it is very calming and most people can listen to it and it is not really an acquired taste. White is also a very calming colour which could connote the personality of the target audience. The fact that the masthead itself is very simple could suggest that the focus should not be on the masthead but on the artist displayed on the front cover; this could suggest that the artist and viewer are very passionate about music and only care about the music; they like to keep it simple.