Signs and Signifiers Music Magazine

Annie Myatt

Magazine Cover Analysis

The Genre of the NME Magazine cover is Pop.

The magazine title is ‘NME’. This is written in eye-catching, big, bold white capitals. NME

stands for ‘New Musical Express’, this appeals to the magazines audience because it shows that NME is A ‘music’ magazine. A symbolical sign is

the use of colours, which are pink, therefore stereo-typically sway towards a female target

audience. Pink is a more feminine, elegant and girly color, which contradicts the fierce,

aggressive looking image of Noel Fielding.

The Optional Reading of these colours may dismiss the actual target audience however,

because the pink may associate it with females a lot more, making males feel less invited to read.

The preferred reading would be that they are just trying to appeal to the female audience and grab the attention. As the

main image is quite masculine and violent that the pink produces more of a connection with both the female and male audience.

The cover lines are written in a column, starting with the larger text at the top of the column and then decreasing in sizes at the lower area of the column. This is an indexical sign because they

are trying to develop a sense of importance of each subject.

This let’s the reader know what and who is involved in the magazine but also emphasis the importance of each subject or person featured. For example ‘Noel Fielding’ is in big and

bold letters forcing us to realize he is featured a lot more. The central image is of Noel Fielding from the band ‘Loose

Trapestries’. From this is can see his dress sense is rather eccentric therefore grabbing the readers interest even more. The anchorage ‘NOEL FIELDING IN HIS WEIRDEST INTERVIEW

YET’ lets the audience know who is the central image for anyone who may not know him.

The oppositional reading of the cover lines is that it may be too hard on the eye, people don’t want to be uncomfortable with reading their

magazine, if people suffer with eyesight or are colour blind, they may feel its difficult to read it. However the preferred reading is that they made it BIG bright and bold, to create emphasis on certain areas and

subjects within the magazine.

The masthead is an iconic sign for the company, because the NME is a well known magazine that people are familiar with. The NME is also there masthead and their specific logo. So people will understand

and appreciate their logo. NME is a specific magazine based on music, as it’s also a record company, so people will know they can go

to NME if they wish to hear latest gossip or information to do with music.

The oppositional reading is of the masthead is that the font may be slightly childish and not appeal to a slightly elder audience.

The preferred reading however is that they must appeal to a wide range of audience and although it may not look like a classy font, it is still

smart, clear and understandable.

Magazine Cover AnalysisThe Genre of this magazine is pop. The

well-known artist on the front page signifies the importance of this type of music magazine alongside the heavy

eye makeup which makes her stand out even more making people interested in

the look of the front cover.

The colour of the image on the front page is very bright and vibrant which catches

peoples eye, it is a symbolical sign because the colours may give off a

feminine vibe but not really with-hold many masculine colors, however the

bold white lettering really jumps out to the audience.

Although the colours aren't stereo-typical boys colours like blue or green, boys may still be very much interested in the magazine because they

stereo-typically may find women on the front of a magazine cover attractive and still enjoy reading

it or scanning it.

The Optional Reading of these colours will be that people will assume that as there is a female artist

on the front it is aimed towards the female and more feminine audience.

The masthead is an iconic sign for the company, because the ‘Q’ symbol for the magazine is worldwide known and people will know clearly of the ‘Q’ magazine. It is specific to magazines.

The oppositional reading is that people although they may recognize the symbol itself, may not know or understand the

meaning behind the one letter symbol is!The preferred reading is though people may not know the meaning behind it but they know it’s an easy to remember

symbol for a well-known magazine, therefore unless it’s fully necessary for them to dig deep into the company, the only

way they need advertisement is for their label to be completely on show and promoted around, so people

recognize the logo. The preferred reading would be that the producers are trying to

make it appropriate for both genders and so have made the female look really attractive on the front cover so males will

be interested but females will also envy her.

The cover lines are very elegant and look classy, producing more of a sophisticated vibe which will again develop audience

numbers. This is an indexical sign because it points out very specifically

that the whole magazine is aimed at the more feminine and glamorous target audience.

The oppositional reading is that people may feel that the language may be to advanced for what the magazine is. The

teen age is usually the common age for interest in music, however this magazine, based on music is still rather formal

and sophisticated for the teen age range. However, the preferred reading is that they wanted to make it formal and posh so that people were impressed and that it didn’t seem

‘young, and chatty’ because that wouldn’t be professional of them.

Contents Page Analysis

The genre of this magazine contents page is Pop. It consists of an eye-

catching but tense image of Adele on the front. This will straight away

develop readers, as the audience will be especially intrigued to know and

read about famous artists.

The colours within the page ranges from grey to red, these are colours

that stereo-typically I would call ‘uni-sex’ this is definitely a positive when

trying to gain a wider target audience of both female and male. This is therefore a symbolical sign is

the colours give us an idea and opinion as to who and what the

target audience should be aimed at, in this case, both male and female.

• The oppositional reading of these colours may be that the page on a whole is quite dull looking, with blacks and greys and only a little red, the colours still sway more towards males stereo-typically, the picture of the boys at the bottom of the page also looks a lot more of a boys interest from the way they are positioned, they aren’t trying to look appealing towards girls, meaning they are trying to produce ‘males’ to be envious of them.

The typography within the contents page is rather plane and dull again, but also is the same throughout the whole page. There's no verticality, this is therefore an indexical sign

however because the’ average’ font is supposed to suggest more of a masculine vibe meanwhile the bright red gives off

that feminine idea.

The oppositional reading would be the idea of such similar fonts with no change, for the younger age group, they may get bored easier, or expect something a little more adventurous. However the preferred reading would possibly be the wise

choice of having such clear fonts, therefore making it so much more understandable and easy to read.

The layout of the magazine on a whole is rather formal giving us a sense that it should be aimed at an elder audience, however

this contradicts the colours used as they aren't very sophisticated colours and wouldn’t really appeal to elder

audiences.

Within the layout, the centre image of Adele is an iconic sign as her mood and persona she is giving off through her facial

expressions match the dullness and theme of the page as a whole.

The oppositional reading of this would be that maybe her mood within the image matching with the dull background and

theme may be seen as ‘boring’ leaving the readers unimpressed and thinking its not ‘grabbing’ the readers

attention, however the preferred reading would argue that and suggest that the theme and layout of the page is all in

sync and attracts a very wide audience for the fact alone that it is understanding and clear enough to navigate around.

Contents Page Analysis The Genre of this magazine contents page is pop. It consists of a huge

title taking main masthead. This will straight away interest audience members as the target audience

will be music lovers, musicians and seeing ‘DRUMMER’ would straight away attract audiences. The body language coming from both the male playing the drums and the males at the bottom gives off a

sense of pride, as though they wish to develop envious fans and expand

there fan base a lot more. This is therefore a symbolical sign as the

understanding of males body language and stance isn’t always

obvious and easy to pick up.

• The oppositional reading of this will then be that the target audience of this page is aimed more towards boys and their interest to be like the artists they see on the page. However the article can still appeal to women and their interest in the males appearance, they may be intrigued to see weather the male is ‘attractive’, or not only that but they themselves may also be interested in ‘drumming’ and may want to know more, this would be the preferred reading.

The main image on the front of the page is an indexical sign because it explains straight away from one glance at the page

that the magazine involves music. Therefore people will be intrigued straight away. The oppositional reading of this would be that it will detach other types of audiences just because of such a huge image of drums on the front cover. Singers may feel uninvited to view. However the preferred reading would be that it is specified towards the music area, and a male sat with a drum kit is suppose to encourage passion and people to pick up an instrument and learn, its not suppose to detach

singers, but make them want to develop their skills.The camera shots are quite professional but have been taken in

dark areas, this may decrease the readers because the camera shots are mainly of males… this may intimidate women and make them think they aren't as capable as males therefore this is an iconic sign. The oppositional reading of this that

females may feel that the lack of females used as images may intimidate females. However the preferred reading is the

producers trying to inspire other artists.

The ‘Exclusive’ written inside brackets Is an iconic sign because it represents that the magazine, may be a one off, or is important, this increases viewers as it

makes the magazine sound more important, therefore it will be more appealing to the audience.

An oppositional reading of this may be that it’s giving the reader false hope because it isn’t clearly stated

as to which part of the magazine is ‘exclusive’. However the producers want to gain audience and

so will let the audience know its an exclusive magazine as a whole.

Two-Page Spread Analysis

This double page spread is from the genre of pop. The glamorous,

talented Artist on the front, will produce the magazine to develop a

much more varied audience. The image of the artist spread across a whole half a double page is really effective and would inspire other

females viewing it to be as glamorous and talented as her. This

is therefore a symbolical sign as people will envy her and be forced

to think that they are the expectations they need to work up

to.

The oppositional reading of this is that it may make teenagers insecure about there appearance or force them to change it

due to societies expectations, however the the producers aren’t trying to make people feel uncomfortable they are just trying to grab the viewers interest and real their attention in.

So they can then aspire into that artist.• The colour scheme and theme of the page is very eye-

catching for both a younger and elder target audience, it is formal and smart however still looks fun and interest to navigate around. This is therefore an indexical sign as it represents the theme of the magazine as a whole and gives the audience a real idea of what its involving. The oppositional reading is that people may think involving such a stereo-typical glamorous female on the front may detach the magazine from any male audiences. However the preferred reading is that the producers expected males to find the image appealing and interesting but also the more feminine males to envy them.

The overall typography used over the double page spread looks very professional and sophisticated. The ‘got to love’ has been used

with a sort of elegant swerved font to show elegance and glamour. This works and is a symbolical sign because it is a stereo-type and

opinion that the ‘soft curl’ of the ‘g’ is glamorous.

This oppositional reading of this is that the elegance in the font, may not welcome males as much as females and so may detach the

page from its target audience of both male and female. However the preferred reading is that it has been made to develop a more

professional theme matching vibe, it matches the classy body language that ‘Florence and the machine’ gives off.

The ‘Exclusive’ written inside brackets Is an iconic sign because it represents that the magazine, may be a one off, or is important, this increases viewers as it makes the magazine sound more important,

therefore it will be more appealing to the audience.

An oppositional reading of this may be that it’s giving the reader false hope because it isn’t clearly stated as to which part of the magazine is ‘exclusive’. However the producers want to gain audience and so

will let the audience know its an exclusive magazine as a whole.

The genre of this magazine double spread page is pop music.

The big bold masthead develops a sense of importance in the title.

It drags the readers attention straight to it. This is a symbolic

sign because the ‘FIERCELY’ is in a font that look ‘fierce’.

The oppositional reading of this may be that with such smooth

looking skin and hair on the image, this may contradict the

straight, sharp, harsh lettering in the title.

Two-Page Spread Analysis

However the preferred reading may argue that ‘opposites attracts’ and so the sharp fonts, were used to compliment such perfect skin and perfect hair. So that people compared the sharp with the smooth.

The overall layout and theme of the double page spread on a whole looks professional and the white font contrasts well against the purple backdrop. The gradient of purple, that goes from light to dark is an indexical sign as it represents the idea that Beyonce filling the whole of the left page of the double page spread, is becoming more gloomy, dark and fierce, this correlates to how she looks in the image.

The oppositional reading of this is that people may think the sharp stop of background colour from grey to purple is

completely discarding the idea of her smooth skin and ‘silky’ looking hair. However the preferred reading maybe that the

severe change between both colours is used to add affect and exaggerate the perfections Beyonce possesses.

The fierce look on Beyonce’s face is an iconic sign because it is a reference to the subject of the magazine on a whole. The

fierce glance in her eyes give off an idea, we look at the face and relate it to the ‘FIERCELY’ font. This is an oppositional reading because it may distract the audience into them

thinking she is looking aggressive rather than fierce. However the magazine have tried to provide passion and motivation to

progress, rather than a negative outlook on it.