AS Media StudiesCase Study Analysis of a Music

Magazine

Izabella Tulip-Parkin

Case Study – Music Magazine

Iconic Masthead

Overlapped image

shows the importance

of the band

The used red, white

and black colour looks

sleek and simplistic

Free gift included on the

front draws the audience

to want to buy the

magazine as you are not

only getting a magazine,

but a free compilation CD

Over selling the

fact they have a

free gift to really

try draw the

reader in. Also as

The use of the

band logo

reinforces how

famous the band is

and to catch the

eye of ‘The Jam’

fans

Cover lines

down the side

which makes

the page quite

busy

Although the

two tone and

ranging in size

is eye catching

Tagline is in the left

third which is

unusual as it is

usually above or

below the image, it is

thought the readers

eye is drawn to the

left third when they

first look at the front

cover

Front Cover Deconstruction The top strapline drawers the readers eye

upwards and how they refer to is as ‘the only

interview’ creates the feeling of exclusivity

Overall I felt the page was too busy the red, white and black colour scheme complete the band ‘The

Jam’, but the free gift do not complement the colour and looked quite garish.

Contense Page Deconstruction

Iconic logo

Simplistic layout looks

elegant and stylised fits in

well with the genre of music

mojo features

The image of Florence Welsh

from ‘Florence and the Machine’

reinforces how Mojo look at the

more alternative music genre

and gives you an insight into the

contense of the magazine, even

with out having read the

contense page.

The layout of the

text forming

around Florence's

body keeping the

page simplistic

She almost looks like a

painting which gives the

page some arty elements .

The plain

background

works well in

contrast with the

colour scheme

Red and white

colour scheme

looks arty, but

still very

elegant

The range in font size

draws the readers to

certain parts of text

first.

Its interesting how

they out the contense

on the left third as it

is thought that the

reader will look at

that part of the page

first

Overall I felt the simplicity of the contense page fit in perfectly with this genre of magazine and they

only give the key information without having to ramble and don’t over categories the pages.

Further Contense page

deconstruction

Where it is published and

where such loved band as

The Beatles who are

regularly featured are from

and many other greats band

featured in Mojo

Its where a large amount of

Mojo magazines are sold This place changes

regularly as it is the

city of where the cover

feature comes from

Target Audience

Mojo magazine genre range from rock to

alternative to reggae and ska so has a wide

span of genres, but all artist are usually well

respected in the music industry so you

wouldn’t expect to see Cheryl Cole featured in

the magazine. But overall you would say the

main genre they seem to always go back to is

rock. The ages range from late teens 18 – 40 to

middle aged people. This is largely because

they mostly feature older bands, but from

time to time they will feature more modern

bands which draws in the students. The

gender focus of the magazine seems to lean

towards the more male side of things, but

does not specifically include male focused

articles so does not directly focus on a male

audience. Its a largely middle class audience

as they live the more bohemian life style and

are most commonly into alternative and rock

music.

Mojo the institution

The first issue of Mojo as shown to the left was published November 1993 which as

you can see featured the likes of John Lennon and Bob Dylan which gave them a

good start to the music magazine industry as it show how high quality the features are going to be in future issues. Although

they have been criticised for mainly feature classic rock bands such as The Beatles and Queen as time has gone on

they have introduced more recent bands in there issues. The founding editor of mojo

Paul Du Noyer previously had edited for the likes of NME and Q. Mojo regularly

release issue every month. Mojo regularly put in a compilation CD in their

magazines which are usually in reference to the main feature of that issue. Although

was originally owned by Empa in 2008 was sold to the company Bauer.

Article Deconstruction

Simple column

layout with a plain

font and white

background, but they

use a range of sizes

for the font to break

the columns up into

paragraphs and make

it easier for the

readers to follow

The panel of images at the top adds colour to the

page and works well in contrast with the plain text,

almost acts as a border

The key quotes have

been pulled out and

made bold. In

contrast with the

simplistic text it is

eye catching and

breaks up the big

chunks of text

The inclusion of the

features top hits in a

separate boxes and

including album pictures

again breaks the chunks

of text up and adds

textures to the article,

but still fits in with the

simplstic layout of the

text without cluttering

the page

The black and white

photo works well

with the black,

white and grey

colour scheme

surrounding the

text and gives it a

vintage touch

Types of articles featured

1. The main article is the cover story which usually consist of an interview and then sometimes they have an extra cover story feature if the front cover has more then one band on it.

2. Then they include between 4 to 5 interviews with a range of other bands who they often focus on a specific topic with like a recent gig or album releases.

3. Then includes a section called filters which look at books, albums, reissues, film screenings and live performance of the month.

4. Adverts

5. Competition which usually includes a crossword.

6. Ask Fred page where readers send in question mostly about music debates.

7. How to buy page were the readers vote the top ten songs of a chosen musician or band.

8. Final page is the is called ‘Hello Goodbye’ which features an band and looks there story together and then what happened after they split up.

Tone of the Magazine

The tone of writing in Mojo is

easy going with a mixture of

formal vocabulary. The sense of

humour used is dry and includes

many witty comments. Most

jokes made are going to only be

laughed at by the older

generation as most includes

inside jokes that if you’re not in

with you won’t understand . The

writing oozes middle class.

Although it can be formal at

times it has a bohemian tone to it

which is why I can see it would

appeal to the middle class

audience as they are commonly

known for living the bohemian

lifestyle.

Featured Adverts

Most of the adverts inside Mojo are for gigs and festival which they

have a separate section for at the back of the magazine. Usually

have at least one clothing advert for shops such as American

Apparel or Fred Perry. The occasional advert for alcohol usually a

beer brand , but sometimes a spirit like Smirnoff Ice. Maybe a car

advert . Always be an advert for a music shop like HMV and an

advert for a recent album release, but only that fits in with the

genre of music they would usually feature.

Website Analysis

The website includes tabs to recent

music news. A features tab which

has disc of the day, blog,

interviews, competitions, photo

gallery, videos and mojo extras.

Has a Mojo message board, Mojo

shop and so on. The website has

most of the things you would

expect to find on a music magazine

website, but doesn’t have the issue

for free online although offers

subscriptions to the magazine

which is not free either. The most

interesting part of the page is the

ticket of the day tab where you can

get tickets for quite a few bands on

that day you check the website. Its

interesting how although you have

a lot of information you do not get

a look into everything featured in

the magazine so means people have

to by the magazine.