Play Music Analysis

For my music magazine I decided to research and produce a magazine for unsigned bands and artists. I researched into this type of magazine and noticed that the features are very similar to that of a general music magazine. The first magazine I decided to look at was Play Music.  Play music is slightly different to other music magazines because it is free, but the general features are similar. It has a puff line which says “Britain’s best free music magazine” which makes it appeal to its target audience well. Like other magazines it has a competition (in this case to win a guitar) which will make it sell more, making readers believe they will gain more than they lose from buying this magazine. The masthead of this magazine is in two different fonts. It is all lower case and in black and white. The first font for the word “play” is in a serif font and looks like paint has just been splattered and formed the words. It is also a font that could be associated with Halloween or dark emotion which works well with the black cover and metal band on the cover. The contents page is written on a torn piece of paper and says “Set-list” at the top. This is something associated with live music which anchors down the theme even more. On the double page spreads there is a decent ratio of text and pictures. It is very easy to read as every page has black text on a white background. Also there are facts, figures and recommendations which readers are likely to trust considering the writers and reviewers are experts. The cover stars are a band called Gallows who are all dressed in matching suits and look very smart. This may convince male readers to buy the magazine because they want to be smart and sophisticated like the band are.

I’d say this magazine appeals mainly to industry insiders and music business owners as the adverts are for very expensive hi-tech equipment, despite the fact that the magazine itself is free. Obviously because it’s free, it will appeal to everyone. People who are classes E-C on the jicnar sale will like it because it’s free, groups B and A will like it because it is aimed at high end, rich, professional people. This magazine isn’t particularly gender specific, as always the rock genre is enjoyed by both males and females. This is a kind of magazine that appeals to people at different life stages too, it appeals to kids, people who have a musical career commitment, people living single who like to spend their money on themselves, people without kids or people who want to get their kids into music, and people interested in specific types of music. The ideal reader for this magazine is someone who owns a music business, like a recording studio and like to buy as much hi-tech equipment as possible, they are experienced so are 40+ and know exactly how the music industry works. They are class B on the jicnar scale and like to treat themselves. They drive an expensive car and like to eat out at fancy restaurants or go to conferences.