Analysis of Two Covers of Music Magazines

This is a front cover of the very popular music magazine ‘NME’. The most eye-catching part of this magazine is the very bright, red hair of the model as it contrasts so much with the pale blue background. Also, the text helps to bring attention to the hair colour as it says ‘Gerard sees red’. This makes it obvious that the magazine is trying to highlight the red hair as an important feature of the magazine. The eyes of the model are also very intense and draw you into the magazine. The style and facial expressions of the model set the genre of music that the magazine includes. The genre of the magazine is of an indie rock and roll style. The layout of the magazine is quite basic which is pleasing to they eye. It doesn’t look too busy and therefore doesn’t pull your attention away from the model. I like this magazine front cover because the male model isn’t portrayed stereotypically. The use of some of the text also backs up this point. The quote “We loathe what goth has become” proves that the magazine are trying to pull away from the stereotypical views of the magazine. This makes the magazine unique however, it decreases the amount and type of people who will buy the magazine. The target audience is probably 16 to 25 as the music taste is mainly popular with the younger generation.  

This is a front cover of a pop magazine called ‘Top of the Pops’. Unlike other magazines, the first thing that I noticed was the main cover line; “No more secrets”. This stood out because of the use of the colour yellow on the pink background. These colours contrast with each other, making the yellow pop out. The main celebrities on the front are The Jonas Brothers and they are more noticeable than the other singers on the cover because, the picture is bigger and they are central, automatically bringing your attention to them first. This cover is unlike the NME magazine front cover because this is very stereotypical. It has a well-known, good-looking, popular Disney band of brothers and they’re posing in a less serious manner. This is probably aimed at young girls and young teenagers because it contains a lot of gossip of celebrities who are more likely to be known to younger girls. The uses of celebrities such as Cheryl Cole also contribute to the stereotypical vibe that this magazine gives out because she is an example of the ‘perfect’ woman. The cover lines also include competitions to ‘win signed stuff from Ashley, Miley & Jo Bro’, which attract the target audience because younger children enjoy competitions.