Music Magazine Research

In my music magazine research I found that a music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and music culture. They generally include articles on top music news, artist interviews, photos, concert reviews and advertisements.

I am thinking of creating a pop/indie pop magazine, so I have done reasearch into these types of magazines to help me get familiar with the right look for my magazine. I feel that by creating a magazine aimed at the type of music I normally listen to, it will be easier for me to relate to and make it as best as I can.




 
Billboard magazine: Billboard magazine is an extremely well known pop music magazine, it is said 'if its not on the billboard chart, its not a chart'. Billboard is the world's most influential music media brand going out to key executives and tastemakers in the music business. They generally use bright colours and white sans serif font on there front covers. On all of there magazine covers the Masthead is always the same colours which makes it recognisable to the target audience. Also on the cover with Miley Cyrus her head is covering part of the Masthead which shows the magazine is well established and they can assume the audience will recognise the magazine without the need to see the masthead completely. I think Billboard magazine is targeting the teenage/young adult audience, due to the type of music it advertises and the age of the artists on many
covers.

 

 

     

Q Magazine: Q was founded by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, it's first publication was in October 1986 and originally titled 'Cue' but on its 200th edition the name was changed as they didn't want the misconception of it being a Snooker magazine. 'Q' magazine is aimed at the older generation of music buyers, males and femals aged 25 and over. Q features many genres of music from rock, indie etc. It is suited to all music lovers but also as its based at an older audience they also focus on the 'old classics'.


 

             

NME: NME stands for New Musiccal Express, it was founded in March 1952 and belongs to company IPC. NME is aimed at the indie/rock genre but includes a variety of different bands/artists weekly. Most of NME’s audience are males aged 17-30, they represent males in this magazine by having male celebrities on the front page.

 

 

Blender magazine:

Blender was an American music magazine that classed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more".It consists of lists of albums, artists, and songs, including "best of" lists and "worst of" lists. Blender was published by Dennis Publishing. The masthead is in capitals and has a slash through it which could show an edgey vibe to the magazine. The genre of music it is aimed at r&b/pop culture and the its demographic is targeted at young lovers of r&b/pop.
The main image is normally a long shot of the artist at a tilted angle and Blender was also known for sometimes using steamy pictorials of celebrities as there main image. The font changes on the covers but they generically use Sans Serif fonts in blacks and bold colours.

Vibe Magazine: Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication features R&B and hip-hop music artists and other entertainers. The target demographic of vibe magazine is predominantly young, urban followers of hip-hop culture. After shutting down production in 2009, Vibe was purchased by the private fund InterMedia Partners and is now issued every-other month with double covers, with a larger online presence.