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1. Masthead is the specific fontand size
that is always used on every single
Kerrang! magazine, itis at the top of
the page as this meets the codes and
conventions of a magazine. The
masthead clearly indicates thatKerrang
is a rock magazine becauseof the
format it’s in. The mast head is being
slightly covered by a head which shows
that Kerrang! Is a well established brand
and doesn’t need the whole masthead
on show for itto be recognised.
The main image shows well known
celebrities in the rock scene, such as
Kurt Cobain,by usinga medium long
shot. These well known artistwill draw
in attention to the magazine by
appealingto fans of these artists.Itis
uses a directmode of address which
makes the reader feel involved with the
magazine.
The main cover lineis bigand bold
so it stands out. It’s clearly the
main coverlinebecauseit is the
largestbitof text, apartfrom the
masthead. The word “Heroes” is in
block capitalsso this makes is stand
out and also itgoes across two
hotspots (rule of thirds) so the
reader will bedrawn to look there.
It denotates that in the magazine
there will be an articleabout
heroes in the magazine because it
is anchoragetext, it also relates to
the main image on the front cover
as itgives context to the picture, it
has connotations thatthe people
on the front are heroes.
The puff “10 amazing
posters” uses the colour
scheme (red and yellow) so
it links with the rest of the
front cover. Itattracts
buyers becausethey’ll be
getting 10 “free” posters
with the magazine and a lot
of teenagers liketo have
posters in their rooms so this
would appeal to them. There
is another puff: “Going to
university...” this would
attractthe older range of the
target audienceas the
magazine is relatingto their
lives.The white and yellow
stand out on the red
background.
The “exclusive”cover linewould drawin
the reader because they would feel like
they were getting news and gossip
before anyone else and this would
convincethem to buy the magazineas
they want to be up to date with
anythingthat is goingon in the rock
world.
The colour scheme Kerrang uses is red,
black and yellow.On nearly every
edition the Main cover lineis in yellow
because itmakes the words stand out
and has a consistenttheme for the
magazine. In this edition (the same as
many others) the masthead is black a
colour which has connotations of rock
music which is the genre the magazine
focuses on.
Kerrang costs £2.20 and this is an
appropriatecostbecausethe target
audienceis teenagers whose parents are
in the working classso they wouldn’t
have much money so couldn’t afford an
expensive magazine.
The bar code is a legal requirement on a magazineand is
usually in theright hand corner however Kerrang breaks the
codes and conventions as on this magazineits towards the
left hand sizeand it’s not at the bottom; it is slightly raised.
The issuenumber and date allows the audienceto stay up
to date with the magazine and know which edition they are
reading.
The footer bar is not clearly a bar
however atthe bottom you can see that
there is more information aboutwhat is
in this issueof the magazine.
The informal language“what the hell”
shows that this is a magazine aimed at
teenagers becauseof the languageused.
If it was aimed at adults itprobably
wouldn’t use the word “hell” on the
front cover. The languageused is the
sortof thinga “rock star”might say so
this would help the reader associate
with their rolemodels.
The grab quote “These people changed lives”
adds more detail to the main cover lineand to
the main image. It gives an idea to the reader
about why these people are “Rocks greatest
heroes” There is a second grab quote “we’ve
been throwing beanbags in the car park”would
attractthe reader becauseit is not the thing
you would expect to read so they would want
to buy the magazineand read on becauseit is
an interesting cover linewhich are important.
Analysis of Music Magazine Kerrang! The target audience for Kerrang! is males
aged between 14 and 18, who are a
White-British ethnicity and their parents
are in the working class.

2. The mast head is on the contents page
exactly the same as itis on the front
cover justsmaller in size.This reminds
the target audienceof the name of the
magazine, and because the brand is well
established itdoesn't matter that the
end of the word is covered on the
contents page as well as itbeing
covered on the front page.
Kerrang! Have stuck to the codes and
conventions by repeating the issue
number and the cover date on the
contents page as well as on the front
cover. This again allows thereader to
make surethat they are readingthe up
to date issueof the magazine.
The contents page does not includeany
social media links which stops the
magazine being ableto reach out to
their onlineaudience.
Kerrang! have broken the codes and
conventions of magazines because in
most magazines the page numbers are
bigger than the text on the contents
page but in Kerrang! the page numbers
are the same sizeas the titleof the
page.
The features are, likeNME, grouped
under headers which allows the reader
to have some routine in their reading
and allows Kerrangto have specific
types of articles each week.
The message from the editor
makes the audience feel
more involved with the
magazine as itgives the
magazine a personal touch as
though itis justfor them. The
photo allows thereader to
put a face to a name again
makingthe magazinehave a
more personal feel.
The columns on the contents page are
not obvious:there is one clear column
on the right hand sidewith the page
numbers and an advert for subscribing
to Kerrang! On the left there is a larger
image and the text underneath is split
into two columns.At the bottom the
editor’s message is splitinto 3 columns:
a photograph in one and the text in two.
By splittingthe text it makes it easier
and more appealingto read.
The main image is promoting a T-shirt
the photograph is on a purple
background and has a white border
around it. It is then in a black box.This
image would appeal to the target
audienceas it is relatingto a
competition that they would be interest
in.The other images arethe photo of
the editor which gives a personal feel
and the pictureof the magazine in the
advert.
The advert is encouragingthe reader to
subscribeto the kerrang. This promotes
there magazine so helps with their
brandingand also itis a suitableadvert
because if the reader is readingthis
magazine then they would probably be
interested in getting a subscription as it
would be cheaper and also get delivered
straightto their house instead of them
havingto go the shop.It also means that
they would never miss an edition.
The title of the page (code and
convention) tells the reader what the
page is set to do – tell the reader what
to expect in this edition of Kerrang.

3. A code and convention of magazineis to
give credit to the person who wrote the
articleand to the person who has taken
the photos for the article. However
Kerrang has not done this in this
particulararticle.
The headlineof the
articleis thelargest
text on the page and
is bold to draw the
reader’s attention to
the articleif they are
skimmingthrough
the magazine italso
gives an initial idea
of what the articleis
about.
The main image is the band that the articleis aboutso itgives a visual aid for
people to quickly seewhich band it is,italso updates the target audience with the
bands visual styleand how each band member looks becauseover their time as a
band they have changed their appearancea lot. The middletwo band members use
directmode of address,which would attract the audience, and the two on the side
are not completely direct but they aren’t indirecteither. None of them aresmiling
which could suggest that they take their music very seriously as mostof the target
audienceare serious aboutmusic as well they could possibly relateto this. The
main image takes up most of the top half of the page and adds a visual appeal to
the magazine.
The writingis in columns,keeping to the
codes and conventions of a magazine,
makingit easier to read and more
appealingthan a big block of text.
Teenagers would find itdifficultto be
motivated to read bigblocks of text so it
is better that itis in columns.
Kerrang does not use a drop capital to
visually indicateto the reader that the
articlehas begun. A drop capital is a
common feature of an articlein a
magazine.
Kerrang has used
a stand firstbut
instead of placing
it underneath the
headlinethey
have placed it
above the
headlinein the
middleof the left
hand top half.
Kerrang have not
included a large
quote as such but
they have included a
mini interview on the
righthand sideof the
page. This changes up
the way the text is
presented and adds
more detail to the
articlewithout it
getting too long.
The page number at the bottom of the
page connects the articleto the
contents page and allows the magazine
to flow. The reader can find the article
again easily if they put it down as they
will knowwhat page to find iton.
The “33 days and still no justicefor
pussy riot”would interest the
target audiencebecause itkeeps
them up to date with what is going
on with bands elsewhere in the
world and italso gets pussy riot
attention and if people didn’tknow
what was goingon they would look
it up to find out more.
“NEWS” shows what ‘category/section’ this articleis in,in
this magazine. It shows that this is an articlebased on/uses
facts so the reader will be interested and will wantto read
this section so that they can keep up to date with news on
bands that they like.
The word “Album” being the largeston
the pager would grab the reader’s
attention becausethey would relate the
word “album” to new music from the
band and if they were a fan of the band
then they would want to hear more
music and have more released.
Usingthe Main Image as the
background makes the page look more
interesting more appealing.I likethe
way that the red hair and the red jacket
match with the colour scheme of
Kerrang! It makes everything look linked
together, italso stands outon the white
background colour makingit easier to
see and read.