AS coursework research, conventions of music magazines and terminology

2. Masthead
Main cover story
Date line and barcode
Cover lines
Main image
Strapline
The main focus of the front
cover as it is recognisable to
the audience as well as the
main image. It needs to stand
out on the cover. It is the
name of the magazine so it
needs to be readable to
establish the brand.
The main cover story and
image are usually related.
This gives a clear impression
of who is on the cover and
why, with metal music
magazines specifically a
common thing to use as a
cover story or cover line is a
band name and logo as it
attracts the bands fans.
The date line shows when the magazine
is released as magazines are normally
weekly or monthly and the barcode will
usually also contain the price of the
magazine.
The main image is usually related to the
main cover story and will usually contain
a full band or the most famous /
recognisable member of the band. The
person usually has eye contact with the
audience and in metal music magazines
they are usually unemotional or angry
looking.
Coverlines tell us the stories which are
in the magazine apart from the main
most popular story. They use different
colours and fonts to the rest of the
magazine in order to stand out as a
small aspect. Most magazines have
multiple coverlines.
The strapline is above the masthead
and will sometimes contain more
stories an add ons like posters and
competitions.

3. Title of page,
usually with
issue number
and date
Clear page
numbers to
help people find
the articles they
want
Feature section
on specific
band or person
Sections that
appear in each
issue. Things to
look forward to
in each month.
Interesting
images to get
the attention of
the reader
Subscription offers and the name of the magazine is also very common to find on
a content page.

4. If not in the main title,
the name of the band is
usually mentioned to
attract fans
Language features in
title making it more
interesting, this one
also uses different fonts
to make it match the
image
Neatly spaced writing in
proper columns making
it understandable and
readable
Opening to article a
different size font and
larger to make people
interested to read more
Small tagline
explaining who is in
the image and what
the context is
First letter of article
larger and in different
colour, to make it fit in
with the colour scheme
and to stand out.
Quotes, usually
controversial with the
purpose to attract
attention
Main image can be of one or many
people, usually spans onto both sides
of page to make it look as one page,
usually to grab attention by using
famous faces