Kerrang! Analysis

Kerrang! Analysis

For my second magazine analysis I chose to do a recent issue of Kerrang! Magazine, which is the most popular rock magazine, it hold the kind of informality with knowledge that I would like in my magazine and it also has a section about unsigned bands that I could use to give me tips on my magazine, as it’s all unsigned music.

The Kerrang! Masthead is big, bold, sans serif and on this issue, black. Despite the fact that it isn’t gender specific, this suggests masculinity and the ideology that men are dominant in this genre of music. Also on the cover of this issue is reversed out cover lines. It is a Halloween issue so it is a more gruesome cover that others. One technique is used as part of a reversed out cover line. It is a competition to win, and it is on a red background that is supposed to represent blood dripping down the cover. On one side of the cover, it shows the kind of posters that are inside and they are all of popular new bands that appeal to a young audience, which suggests that this magazine is aimed mainly at teenagers.

The contents page for Kerrang! Is very well constructed. The competition I mentioned in the previous paragraph is part of the contents page, so it is the first thing you see when you open the magazine. This makes the magazine and it’s writers feel more friendly and personal, because it makes the reader feel like they are directly being given something straight away, which will make them want to buy the magazine even more. Underneath that is a message from the editor that he puts there every week, which has the same desired effect as having the competition there. It makes the reader feel more personally acquainted to the editor and more likely to buy the magazine. For the actual contents section of the contents page, it is very clearly laid out. Everything has a subheading like “news” or “albums” and it is very easy to find your way around the magazine. Once again, there is a lot of very bold, dark lettering which again shows the idea of masculine dominance.

For my double page spread, I have been thinking about reviewing a small, local concert I may be going to, so I have decided to analyse the live music section. The captions to all the photos are making jokes, something which may make the reader fonder of the magazine or may make the reader more at6 home, which is once again more likely to make them buy it. There is also interviews with very successful bands, which could make the reader feel like it is a very successful magazine and he/she has the potential to be a very successful person if they read it.

These are all reasons why Kerrang! Magazine is a good magazine to research and analyse, and to look up to when actually creating the magazine.