Textual analysis of NME Magazine front cover (Eminem)
Denotation: This NME Magazine cover consists of Eminem who is a well-known rapper across the globe and has won many awards including the Grammys. This is a low angle shot of the Detroit born rapper. This shot was most likely taken while Eminem was performing due to the microphone in his left hand. Eminem looks awe struck, possibly from the ovation he has received from his fans. The Eminem is standing in a confident stance with his chest pumped out. The colour of the background behind the lyrical genius is mainly black and Eminem covers up a lot of the cover.
The colour scheme is fairly obvious because it contains red, black and white. Eminem is clearly written in white and boxed in red to make it stand out towards the audience. NME cleverly uses the theme of Eminem’s Recovery album on the cover. A red + (plus) at the bottom left is used because recovery is usually associated with a + sign.
The barcode is noticeable in the bottom right due to it being white while the background is mainly in black.
Masthead: The masthead, NME, is in bold white san serif font, which is clearly visible on the background. The font used creates a modern touch to the magazine although it has been around since 1952. NME is the acronym for ‘New Musical Express’, which is located just below the masthead. The acronym makes it easier for the fans of the magazine to memorise and to easily identify the magazine of the newsstands. This also has emphasis on brand loyalty.
‘From Rehab To Recovery To T.’ Not many people thought Eminem could cope with his constant addiction to drugs (he overdosed and was hours away from dying until he was saved) but he has now overcame it and is living a sober lifestyle healthily. His ‘Recovery’ album was about his road to recuperation. And the ‘T’ is about a major Scottish music festival (T in the Park) where many renowned artist headline. ‘The Comeback That’s stunned The World.’ This is to put emphasis on his ‘recovery’ from his addiction he suffered for many years. This is not simply only him coming back as good as he once was but even better.
The photograph is of Eminem wearing his signature look with his hood up which is stereotypical in the rap scene of the music industry. The clothes he is wearing is very typical of Eminem in the ‘Recovery’ album era. He is wearing a cross, which could indicate his change from drugs to his sober lifestyle, and perhaps religion or God has an input in his daily life now. His facial expression hints his awe towards the reception he has received by his fans while performing. He is looking out at the direction of his fans with his jaw dropped. When your jaw drops it usually signifies shock.
The cover lines are not all about rap, it has indie bands (Bombay bicycle Club), rock bands (Jim Morrison was the lead singer of The Doors) and indie rock (Arcade Fire). This shows it is not concentrated on one particular genre. It has diverse content on other genres in the music industry. The font is in san serif, bold and in white. This is easily seen by the target audience, which could help in marketing. The magazine is most likely aimed at well-educated fans of all music genres but in this specific issue rap (Eminem). The audience will most likely be predominantly from the United Kingdom.
The demographics of NME Magazine are men aged 17-30 years of age and 73% of its sales are male. Most of its sales are from NME fans themselves than the actual content. This magazine is well suited for the modern day music fans that are interested in the industry mostly from the UK.
Textual analysis of Q Magazine front cover (Tinie Tempah)
Denotation: The magazine cover consists of a British rapper Tinie Tempah wearing a pink shirt with sunglasses on. This is a close shot of his face and his upper body with his hands doing up his top button. By doing his top button, this could suggest that he is trying to look smart however; wearing sunglasses can create a more casual element.
There is a clear colour scheme on the front cover consisting of the colours of pink, white, black and blue. The dominant colour is white, which could represent the peaceful, purity and heaven like sense; this shows it is for targeted at adults.
‘25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition’ is above Tinie Tempah’s head which is clearly visible to the person buying the magazine. The font colour is also black which stands out on the white and red background. This makes this edition of the magazine seem more important than previous editions.
The cover line says ‘The MUSIC That Changed My LIFE.’ The capital letters emphasises the impact that music has on musician’s lives in the industry. The list includes famous names such as Jay Z, this furthermore highlights the effect creativity in music has on your life.
The barcode is clearly visible in the bottom left corner of the magazine and out of the way of the main image, which keeps the primary focus on Tinie Tempah.
Masthead: The masthead stands out a lot due to the simple logo and colours used. The colours of the logo are red and white which could symbolise the English magazine. The bold professional logo also suits the target audience who tend to be adults. The one letter logo is catchy and easy to remember which is quite effective in marketing. E.g. the prominent logo will be attention grabbing. The logo was once ‘Cue’ which was then converted to ‘Q’ due to people mistaking it as a snooker magazine.
‘Discover Great Music’ which is located underneath the logo is again short simple and mind sticking to the audience which can easily be seen on the newsstands. If you were a music enthusiast, obviously you’d love to discover great music. This would then seem to be the magazine for you.
The cover photograph is of Tinie Tempah who is a well know British rapper possibly dressed as if he was going to a club, this is because he is wearing a fairly smart looking pink shirt (supported by fastening his top button) but this could be juxtaposed by the sunglasses. This tends to be typical in a clubbing environment. The choice of shirt colour could be connoted in a seductive manner. He has a serious facial expression, which could possibly display the seriousness of the cover line ‘The MUSIC That Changed My LIFE.’ Tinie Tempah’s signature is also across his upper chest and neck, which gives it a more street/rap vibe to the cover. This is reinforced by the ‘By 25 Artists including’ section in similar font. The diversity within the artists listed shows it isn’t all about the rap scene in this magazine.
The cover line ‘ #01 of 25 Covers To Collect.’ This grabs the audience’s attention of this special edition magazine cover and that there are twenty-four more 25th anniversary collector’s editions covers. All loyal Q Magazine subscribers would probably love to have all their favourite magazine’s covers. The black font stands out of the washed blue background, which furthermore helps the public identify the magazine.
The serif font used shows it is aimed at the mature adult music fanatics. This connotes the long lasting legacy of the magazine; the lettering matches the logo and is very professional. It portrays the heritage of the magazine. The font clashes in the Tinie Tempah themed cover which is quite oxymoronic but effective towards the audience because of the contrast.
Q Magazine is more often bought between the ages of 15-45 years of age monthly (approximately 505 times) than aged 45+ (approximately 77 times). Although the demographics suggest teenagers also read the magazine, it seems more likely that older well-educated people will tend to read this magazine. Music fanatics who are interested in current big music artists and the music industry will enjoy this magazine.
Textual analysis of Rolling Stone Magazine front cover (Jay Z)
Denotation: Jay Z is the photograph on this Rolling Stone magazine cover. Jay Z who is an American rapper rose to fame in the late 1990s with the success from his third studio album ‘Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life.’ This is a close up shot of Jay Z wearing sunglasses with a serious facial expression; this choice of shot could have been taken to show his emotion due to the metaphorical cover line ‘…King of America…’
The colour scheme consists of the colours black, white and red. The background is white, which makes Jay Z, wearing black clothes and black accessories, visually stand out. The name of the artist is not very big, however he is known worldwide which I assume why it’s not big at all. It could also emphasise ‘King of America.’
The barcode is not visible on the front cover of this magazine.
Masthead: The Rolling Stone’s masthead is very distinguishable due to the unique logo with a serif font. The letters within the logo joins up which creates this universally known logo. The first letters of the words ‘Rolling’ and ‘Stone’ also seems dramatically rounded to give it a bigger look and effect (makes it more noticeable). The illustrious phrase ‘Rolling Stone’ has multiple meanings:
· A person who is unwilling to settle for long in one place. (Could this be the reason why the magazine is published every fortnight?)
· An English rock band formed in 1962.
The phrase has been used my many musicians across all genres such as Eminem, Bob Dylan, The Weeknd, etc.
‘How Jay-Z Became King of America.’ The size of ‘King of America’ is bigger to accentuate his status within the rap scene. The cover line also indicates that Rolling Stone knows exactly how Jay Z conquered American music. This could be because he has more number one albums than Elvis Presley who is commonly known as the ‘king of rock and roll.’
Jay Z is the cover photograph of this particular Rolling Stone’s cover. The Brooklyn rapper is wearing sunglasses; this could connote him looking nonchalant/cool, hide emotions in the eyes, to feel intimidating or maybe mysterious. He is also wearing a black looking leather jacket and a black t-shirt complemented by black necklaces. Jay Z is usually quite protective about his private life, which could explain the black look. The sunglasses distance you from Jay Z due to no eye contact.
The cover lines are about general topics in the news such as the major criticised gulf oil spill (‘The Scandal At The Heart Of The Crisis.’ Located in the top left). This is included on the cover because all media outlets (BBC, Sky News, etc.) were highly critical of this ‘disaster’ at the time this was magazine was published.
The next cover line ‘Summer Tour Meltdown’ is about the cancelled shows during the summer of 2010, which was a drought season for music fanatics because they could not hear their favourite musicians and idols live on stage.
Below that, the third and final cover line is about the American alternative dance band: ‘LCD Soundsystem’.
The cover lines use a serif font, which compliments the style of Rolling Stone magazines in the past. It is highly recognisable because of the consistent styles on the magazines.
The demographics show that mainly men between the ages of 25 and 24 with children enjoy this magazine. This explains the professional serif font used through out the magazine. Over the years the magazine implements world news to inform their audience so it is not just music orientated. People that are well educated would probably read a magazine like Rolling Stone.
The colour scheme consists of the colours black, white and red. The background is white, which makes Jay Z, wearing black clothes and black accessories, visually stand out. The name of the artist is not very big, however he is known worldwide which I assume why it’s not big at all. It could also emphasise ‘King of America.’
The barcode is not visible on the front cover of this magazine.
Masthead: The Rolling Stone’s masthead is very distinguishable due to the unique logo with a serif font. The letters within the logo joins up which creates this universally known logo. The first letters of the words ‘Rolling’ and ‘Stone’ also seems dramatically rounded to give it a bigger look and effect (makes it more noticeable). The illustrious phrase ‘Rolling Stone’ has multiple meanings:
· A person who is unwilling to settle for long in one place. (Could this be the reason why the magazine is published every fortnight?)
· An English rock band formed in 1962.
The phrase has been used my many musicians across all genres such as Eminem, Bob Dylan, The Weeknd, etc.
‘How Jay-Z Became King of America.’ The size of ‘King of America’ is bigger to accentuate his status within the rap scene. The cover line also indicates that Rolling Stone knows exactly how Jay Z conquered American music. This could be because he has more number one albums than Elvis Presley who is commonly known as the ‘king of rock and roll.’
Jay Z is the cover photograph of this particular Rolling Stone’s cover. The Brooklyn rapper is wearing sunglasses; this could connote him looking nonchalant/cool, hide emotions in the eyes, to feel intimidating or maybe mysterious. He is also wearing a black looking leather jacket and a black t-shirt complemented by black necklaces. Jay Z is usually quite protective about his private life, which could explain the black look. The sunglasses distance you from Jay Z due to no eye contact.
The cover lines are about general topics in the news such as the major criticised gulf oil spill (‘The Scandal At The Heart Of The Crisis.’ Located in the top left). This is included on the cover because all media outlets (BBC, Sky News, etc.) were highly critical of this ‘disaster’ at the time this was magazine was published.
The next cover line ‘Summer Tour Meltdown’ is about the cancelled shows during the summer of 2010, which was a drought season for music fanatics because they could not hear their favourite musicians and idols live on stage.
Below that, the third and final cover line is about the American alternative dance band: ‘LCD Soundsystem’.
The cover lines use a serif font, which compliments the style of Rolling Stone magazines in the past. It is highly recognisable because of the consistent styles on the magazines.
The demographics show that mainly men between the ages of 25 and 24 with children enjoy this magazine. This explains the professional serif font used through out the magazine. Over the years the magazine implements world news to inform their audience so it is not just music orientated. People that are well educated would probably read a magazine like Rolling Stone.