Jude White
AS Level Media Studies
Background Research
Kerrang! Analysis
The magazine I have chosen to analyse is Kerrang!, as the genre of music it deals with, rock, appeals to me personally. Kerrang is published by the Bauer Media Group. Bauer Media describes the ideal Kerrang! reader is a 25 year old who ‘lives and breathes rock music,’ and whose life, from choice of friends to fashion sense, is shaped by it. They are described as having a ‘strong moral code’ and ‘communicates their identity’ thorough the way they dress. It may be important to note that Bauer Media always use ‘him’ to describe this customer. Kerrang! is aimed at young people especially, and this likely influences the cost and frequency of publication. The magazine sells fairly cheaply at £2.20 GBP, and is published weekly, ideal for a young audience who generally tend to have less money and more time to spare. The net circulation of Kerrang! was 37,603 as of June 2013, a 6.5% drop since 2012. Therefore, per issue, 37,603 x 2.20= £82,726.60. Given that Kerrang! sells four issues per month, this leaves a £330,906.40 revenue based on sales alone, not including advertising.
Front Page Analysis
Kerrang! is titled as such as this is onomatopoeia for the noise of an electric guitar. This connotes the type of music the magazine focuses on, rock, and as such makes it obvious to potential buyers what the magazine is about. The Kerrang! title masthead is written in a very large, eye-grabbing, grunge-style font, with cracks at the edges, giving it a rough, rocky feel. There are also black lines at diagonals within the letters, similar to concert lights, and this once more connotes the rock/musical emphasis of the magazine.
The title in this issue is in a vibrant yellow to stand out against the darker background, and against the red of Gerard Way’s hair and the blue of his suit. The particular issue I chose has a colourful header bar, using vibrant reds and yellows, bold fonts and photographs to draw attention. Important words, such as the ‘Big’ in ‘Big plans,’ are emboldened for emphasis and to draw the eye of the reader.
The main image of the magazine is of Gerard Way, lying down casually, a dreamy, happy expression on his face to reflect his rock/alternative persona. His hair and suit are very vibrant and striking, and interestingly the cover has been laid out so Way’s head rests on the Kerrang! logo, like a pillow, a nice gimmick which makes the cover feel complete, as well as creating an association of comfort between the artist and the magazine, an important relationship for customers to see. Way’s loud hairstyle and attire reach out to the overly expressive ideal reader described by Bauer Media. Way also stares directly at the reader, connoting a connection between the artists and the fans.
The other pictures on the cover, besides the header, are a picture of a member of Slipknot, (associated with another article and designed to peak interest) and three pictures of free posters included inside, an example of a free giveaway often used by music magazines amongst other types of magazines to attract buyers; the offer of free items makes the buyer feel they are getting more for their money.
The cover lines of Kerrang! generally promote articles, largely interviews, within the magazine, relating back to the ideal reader, who is fascinated by the rock musicians themselves. The fonts used on the cover of Kerrang! are all bold sans-serif fonts, connoting a modern, big, bold magazine, relating to the rock sound it bases itself around.
The language on the cover is bold, concise and often punctuated with exclamation marks for emphasis. It is also fairly informal, using casual language such as ‘A day to remember get their bums out!,’ and it is worth noting that every single letter featured on the cover is in upper case, which relates to the loud, bold sound of rock music, as well as creating an exciting sense of emphasis for each cover line. A question, 'Heroes or Sellouts' is used, the answer to which can only be found by looking inside the magazine, because curiosity will attract potential buyers. There is also use of superlative, such as 'funniest' or 'best', to imply that this magazine offers something better than the competition. The magazine also advertises a competition, the word ‘WIN!’ in yellow, the rest of the sentence in white, so as to immediately draw attention to the importance and excitement of this word. Customers are drawn by the prospect of obtaining something of value for free, in this instance concert tickets.
Kerrang! has a well thought-out house style in this issue, and this actually changes weekly. The cover of Kerrang! uses many semi-transparent boxes to sort its text and allow each section to stand out from the background. Careful consideration has been made about what colours work together, I.E. yellow stands out against a red box.
Compared to another magazine of a similar type, NME, Kerrang! shares similarities and differences. NME uses a far more pristine, tailored font for its logo, which is also smaller, and the pictures on the front of NME tend to be more facially focused, which does not allow for the fashion emphasis presented by Kerrang!. The layout of Kerrang! is fairly symmetrical, whereas NME’s cover lines are positioned around the face of the artist. NME also tends to use less colour, and therefore seems somewhat more reserved.
Inside the magazine, there are 63 pages, plus a back cover page. Of these, 15 pages are advertisements, some of which are for band merchandise, the rest being for upcoming concerts by rock and punk bands. Inside the magazine, there are several types of article. The most popular by far are interviews with bands, but the magazine also contains a short comic strip, a competition to win concert tickets and energy drinks, and a copy of the official rock charts. There is also a column page where fans can write in and share their stories. Free posters of bands are also included in the magazine. There are seventeen double-page spreads inside the magazine, almost all of which are interviews. There are some pages inside which could be considered advertorials, such as the offer of a free T-Shirt with ten purchases of ‘Kerrang!’. The emphasis seems, however, to be on blatant concert adverts. The magazine uses a lot of red and yellow this issue, and thus maintains something of a grounded house style. It also does this through its repeated use of fairly informal language, and grunge-style elements such as faded-looking graphics. This rough-around-the-edges style directly relates to how the sound of rock music might be described, and as such appeals to the target audience.
Interior Analysis
