Conventions Of A Music Magazine

The Conventions Of A Music Magazine:

All magazines are made up of the same rules no matter what genre magazine they are. When designing a magazine the image and logo must be made to fit the content and the target audience. The name of the magazine and the colour scheme is also important when designing a magazine as it must appeal to a wide audience in order to sell.
The mode of adress is a key selling point for a magazine. The most common mode of adress is the direct adress which means the person on the cover looks out to the audience making the audience feel as though he/she is looking at them. Indirect adress is also used, this does the opposite of direct adress and makes the person on the cover look away from the audience. Indirect adress is not convention but it has been used on magazine covers in the past. Mode of adress can also refer to how a writer adresses the reader in his/hers article, usually in a normal friendly approach.
Celebrities are used to increase sales and profits as they sell a magazine by appearing both on the front cover and on the inside of a magazine. Celebrities inspire people and magazines use this as people will want to read about them.
The magazine cover is one of the most important conventions of a magazine, it is the magazines main advertisement because it represents the magazine as a whole. Magazine covers are more often than not bright, interesting and eye-catching to grab the audiences attention and make them want to find out more about that magazine. Colours on the front cover of a magazine are important as they should reflect the target audience and present the genre of the magazine. Fonts are used on the front cover to make it visually interesting and different to other magazines. The header is usually at the top of the page and this is used to make it recognisable to the target audience. A slogan is often used under the header to explain what is in the magazine and also explain how that magazine is different from any other. A main celebrity or modal is used in the centre of the magazine usually covering most of the page in a medium shot or a close up, some music magazines will use group shots. The leading caption is known to dominate the page and is focused on the magazines feature article, it should 'anchor' the cover story. Subheadings are the main stories used in the magazine so the magazine advertises them on the front cover to appeal to the audience. Straplines usually go at the bottom of the magazine highlighting any other vital information the magazine may think is a key selling point.
Contents pages are usually bright and colourful encouraging the reader to carry on reading the magazine. Images are used to dominate the text and it is common for page numbers to be printed over images. Direct adress is used in the images and a header appears on everypage. The contents page is used to give information on what is in the magazine as a whole and it has a list of contents telling the reader what information is on what page.
The feature article is used to attract an audience and then keep them interested (puns or shocking information on the celebrity ect). Celebrities don't appear on the front of a magazine unless they have something to sell or they want to become even more famous and talked about that what they already are. The images should dominate the article as again the magazine will want to draw the audience into reading it. White space is often seen on feature articles to balance out the images and the writing, depending on the audience the writing should be clear and easy to follow directed at the reader.
The majority of the money that makes the magazine possible comes from the advertising revenue, not from the actual sales itself. The sales are important however as the more a magazine sells the more likely it is for businesses to want to advertise in that particular magazine.