I decided to compare a 'Q.' contents page and a 'Kerrang!' contents page. This was due to the fact that they are vastly contrasting magazines and, as such, analysing them will help to establish the conventions of an indie magazine in contrast to another genre's conventions.
The analysis is featured below:
I am analysing the two covers featured above; one belonging to ‘Q.’, the other belonging to ‘Kerrang!’. They are vastly differing contents page hence appealing to their vastly differing target audiences. Whereas ‘Q.’ appeals to a fan of, albeit mainstream, rock, ‘Kerrang!’ appeals to fans of heavy metal music. Moreover, ‘Q.’ appeals to an older audience that would, predominantly, be reasonably intelligent. Conversely, ‘Kerrang!’ appeals to a younger audience, consisting of mainly pre-teens and teenagers, therefore, the audience appeals to a less intelligent audience. This difference in target audiences is why the magazines are so different and the contents pages’ are no exception.
‘Q.’s contents page is much more organised with clearer labels to signify each section and only one image whilst the descriptions are fitted around this image. This is juxtaposed by the plethora of images and the lack of clearly labelled sections on ‘Kerrang!’s contents page. The lack of organisation will appeal to their particular demographic as they will see the superfluity of images and feel there is more to read than if there were no images thus being attracted to the magazine from the off. Furthermore, the contents page isn’t conventional due to the mixture of images and text thereby creating the pretence that the magazine is anarchic – a key factor in the movement of heavy metal and ‘emo’ fans. This further entices them to read thus achieving the magazine creator’s goal.
Furthermore, the colour schemes contrast each other immensely. Whereas ‘Q.’ stick to red, black and white, ‘Kerrang!’ implements several different colours – yellow, black, white, red and blue – although some of the colours are more dominant than other, they are all contained in one A4 sheet of paper. This contrast of colour reflects the difference in their target audience; whereas ‘Kerrang!’ needs to attract it’s younger and easier influenced audience with bright colours; ‘Q.’ lets the music be the focal point of the magazine – the simplistic colour scheme meaning the readers are not distracted from the content.
One element of the contents pages that are similar, however, is the conventional title of the article followed by a less brief description of the article. The use of this convention in both contents pages connotes that it is a tried and tested formula and that most, if not all, music magazines use this style in their contents pages.
‘Q.’s contents page is much more organised with clearer labels to signify each section and only one image whilst the descriptions are fitted around this image. This is juxtaposed by the plethora of images and the lack of clearly labelled sections on ‘Kerrang!’s contents page. The lack of organisation will appeal to their particular demographic as they will see the superfluity of images and feel there is more to read than if there were no images thus being attracted to the magazine from the off. Furthermore, the contents page isn’t conventional due to the mixture of images and text thereby creating the pretence that the magazine is anarchic – a key factor in the movement of heavy metal and ‘emo’ fans. This further entices them to read thus achieving the magazine creator’s goal.
Furthermore, the colour schemes contrast each other immensely. Whereas ‘Q.’ stick to red, black and white, ‘Kerrang!’ implements several different colours – yellow, black, white, red and blue – although some of the colours are more dominant than other, they are all contained in one A4 sheet of paper. This contrast of colour reflects the difference in their target audience; whereas ‘Kerrang!’ needs to attract it’s younger and easier influenced audience with bright colours; ‘Q.’ lets the music be the focal point of the magazine – the simplistic colour scheme meaning the readers are not distracted from the content.
One element of the contents pages that are similar, however, is the conventional title of the article followed by a less brief description of the article. The use of this convention in both contents pages connotes that it is a tried and tested formula and that most, if not all, music magazines use this style in their contents pages.
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