LIIAR Analysis of front cover, contents page and double page spread

Kerrang

Kerrang magazine are published by Bauer Media group who have also published magazines like Q magazine which is also a magazine which targets people who listen to alternative music. Bauer publish 38 million titles a week and operates in 15 countries worldwide, it is well established since it was founded in 1875 and started out as a small printing house which has grown into a worldwide publishing and media company. The group has always been managed and privately owned by the Bauer family and has been managed by four generations of the Bauers.

On the front cover the recent Reading and Leeds festival is being advertised showing some of the bands that played there. This conveys that the music genre the magazine represents is quite loud and shows that it is based on rock music and variations of that genre. The expressions of the models' faces look as if they are screaming or shouting which shows that they don’t care about being loud reflecting the genre of music that their band focus on. The magazine goes against the conventional mainstream views of music and aims to target the audience that prefer a more alternative, unique view and taste in music. The three lead singers shown on the front cover are modern rock stars which shows that the magazine is aiming to advertise bands who are newcomers to the music scene. However, Green Day and Foo Fighters, two bands that are also shown, shows that Kerrang try to advertise the reader’s favourites who have been around for many more years than groups such as You Me At Six, The Blackout etc. Kerrang aim to provide a balance of music groups to account for their variety of readers and aim to educate their younger audience in older music as well. Bands such as Green Day, Foo Fighters, Paramore go against the particular social norms and represent the percentage of the population that are more unique and in to alternative types of music. They don’t look like the majority of people you would see in the street, for example on the front cover Hayley Williams has bright orange hair and the lead singer of the Blackout has bright red hair. The acts that the magazine features are rebellious and could be known to get into some trouble but they are still making a success of their lives through music.

The majority of the target audience for Kerrang magazine are people who come into the age range of 15-24 with a slightly bigger male percentage than female. Kerrang also have a small percentage of readers who come into the age range of 25-34 as well which shows the variety of the bands that the magazine tends to feature. This is shown by the age of people pictured on the front cover, double page spread and contents page as there are acts who are fairly modern and young, but there are acts who have been around for a long time but appeal to the younger audience at the same time. The colour scheme of the magazine is bold and eye catching and couldn’t be classed as boring or too traditional in any way, the use of upper case is on the cover, contents and on the double page spread is so that it is clear and easy to read, as the target audience for Kerrang magazine probably don’t want to have to read something that looks boring and old fashioned. The overall layout of these three features of the magazine makes it interesting which the target audience will want from a magazine.

The main image on the front cover of the magazine consists of three members of three different bands all huddled together looking as if they’re having a good time. The three different bands focus on slightly different styles of rock music but all come under the category which Kerrang specifically tries to promote, therefore this gives the readers the message that this magazine is for everyone who likes alternative music and will cater for all tastes of rock music. This image links with the cover line at the bottom of the front cover, ‘brodown’ suggests that they all get along even if they are in different bands and suggests that everyone else should too if they are from different groups, especially at Reading and Leeds festival which is the main feature for this issue of the magazine.  The colour scheme for the front cover links with the double page spread feature which advertises Reading and Leeds festival, showing that the festival will be the main focus of the issue as this will appeal to the target audience since many of the readers may have attended this festival. The heads of the three main models covers the mast head, this shows that Kerrang is well established since Kerrang’s readers know the magazine and shouldn’t have to see the whole name of it to know what magazine it is. The mast head denotes being  smashed by music being at such a high volume or a guitar playing such a loud big note. The cover lines are positioned in the conventional left third and highlight key features which the target audience may be interested in, for example, Green Day making an unexpected appearance at Reading festival, and a new found love between the lead singer of Paramore , Hayley Williams and Robert Smith. This links with the headline ‘The 20 Greatest Moments of Reading & Leeds 2012’ as Green Day, Paramore and the Foo Fighters are some of the acts that appeared at this particular festival. The headline is partnered with the pull quote ‘This weekend was a riot!’, this makes readers want to know why the weekend was a riot and making them more likely to turn to the double page spread describing ‘The 20 Greatest Moments of Reading & Leeds 2012’ as well as reading the rest of the issue.

The main image of the contents page is composed with the four models' looking away from the camera, they look quite serious and are dressed all in black suggesting that the particular band come into the heavier metal genre, representing a genre of music that Kerrang’s readers are interested in. The expressions on the four models' faces connotes that they are serious about making music about their job. The main image is part of a competition advertisement which gives readers the opportunity to win tickets to see that particular band, Skunk Anansie, the font is wide and bold to catch the reader’s eye when they first turn the page to the contents page, therefore encouraging them to enter the competition. The list of articles in the magazine are placed in the conventional  far right with an image next to it, this highlights particular categories of stories in the issue in bold upper case yellow font to attract attention. Below, subtitles are in black font which is slightly smaller to highlight the features that come into a particular category in upper case font so it is clear and easy to read. The contents page also contains a conventional letter from the editor, which talks directly to the readers as it is aimed at a particular group of people. James, the editor talks informally to the audience, this makes it more personal and friendly. The letter is paired with an image of the editor and Hayley Williams, which links with the cover line on the front cover and the double page spread for Reading and Leeds festival since she appeared at this particular festival. The content page also contains an offer for the magazine subscription with the freebie of V05 hair gel which many of the target audience may use, encouraging more sales of the magazine and promotion of V05 hair gel.

The double page spread links with the main image on the front cover of the magazine at is a feature interviewing the three different band members about their experiences at Reading and Leeds festival. The headline of the double page spread ‘Reading  & Leeds 2012 belongs to us!’ shows how You Me At Six, Deaf Havana and The Blackout were big hits of the festival. However, this could also refer to the festival belonging to the people who went since the festival wouldn’t have been what it was if the people weren’t there either. The main image of the double page spread is positioned conventionally alongside the article as it links with the interview, this is because it shows the three people who were being interviewed together in a festival background, showing what they are going to be talking about in the feature and suggests that they may have been interviewed fresh off the Reading & Leeds stage, also linking back to the original headline. The text is arranged in the style of an article so the audience know how to read it, since it is nationally known that you read a newspaper from the first column to the column on the far end of the page. The pull quote ‘Right now, Britain has better bands than the Americans…’ highlights a particularly interesting point that was made, almost promoting the three bands interviewed as they are all British. This represents that a large percentage of Kerrang’s readers are British and appeals to them directly. It is in bold, black upper case font to draw attention to the quote in the aim of making the readers read the whole article to get to that particular part instead of just scanning through the article.