Prior to starting to plan my own music magazine's front cover, in order to get an idea of the types of elements that compiled to form a typical magazine front cover, I analysed a magazine that already exists. "Kerrang" is a music magazine that has existed for some time on the media market, and is a rock music magazine, which can be seen immediately from the masthead of the magazine. Focusing particularly upon this at first, the music magazine's front cover evidently portrays a rock genre, as the lettering is in capital letters, bold and very large across the page. Alongside this, the writing is cracked, which implies a rock genre as it suits the behaviour of rock stars, as being random as well as very spontaneous. The masthead immediately suggests that the magazine is exciting through the masthead, and will be entertaining, as there is an exclamation mark following the title "Kerrang", which emphasises how the genre of this music magazine is rock as it reflects the behaviour of rock stars and those who enjoy rock music; they usually are carefree and very lively.
To elaborate, upon this magazine front cover there is an opportunity for the target audience to 'Win' something, and this is an appealing element to Kerrang as a magazine, as the opportunity to win something entices many members of the target audience. The prize that they could win is also appealing, as it is something that Kerrang's target audience are likely to be interested in. 'A meet and greet with You Me At Six' is an appealing prize to the target audience as the band that they have a chance of meeting is one that they are likely to be interested in, as it is a band in the genre of the magazine that they have bought. Another appealing element of the magazine front cover is the use of language such as 'new' and 'revealed'. 'New' suggests that there is something up-to-date included within the magazine, that possibly will be the first time that the target audience here of this information. The information is also likely to be appealing to the target audience, and related to their particular interests.
Including an article on the subject of 'Valentines day' implies that a young target audience is trying to be appealed to, as this age group is more involved in this occasion in general. To elaborate, there are posters included within this magazine, as indicated by the coverline 'Valentines poster special'. This indicates that the target audience will be gaining something extra by buying the magazine; and this is appealing as the posters are of artists that are popular in the genre of music that this magazine reflects. The magazine states these artists as 'Oli Sykes' and 'Cristina Scabbia', and writes after this 'and more', which entices the target audience to buy the magazine and find out which other artists are featured upon a free poster. Similarly, the magazine 'Top of the Pop's' includes posters of artists that are popular within the genre of Pop, and also seem to link this with young girls having a crush on these Pop stars. This appeals to the target audience of young girls, similar to Kerrang who are trying to appeal to a young audience who are interested in particular artists in the genre of rock and Kerrang link this to love. This also shows how Kerrang are aware of the time of year that the issue is being sold within, and incorporate this within the magazine in order to appeal to the target audience; it seems to link with their current lives, as Valentines Day will probably be celebrated by a younger audience more than an older one, and this is the age range that Kerrang are trying to appeal to.
A banner is included upon the front cover of Kerrang in order to attract the target audience by having this information segregated from the rest of the front cover. This implies to the audience who see the front cover that this information is important and is being highlighted by Kerrang for them to make sure that they read. This is an effective part of a magazine front cover that can be incorporated into many magazines, including those under the genre of Pop. For example, the magazine 'Top of the Pops' incorporates a banner into their front cover, in order to attract their target audience of young girls who listen to Pop music. Here, the Pop music magazine tries to appeal to the young girl's lives away from music, by stating an offer related to a clothing brand 'Pineapple', that evidently is popular with this age group. Upon a magazine banner, usually there is information that would be particularly appealing to the type of target audience, and it is likely to be read as it is highlighted specifically by the magazine at the top of the page and segregated.
Kerrang states a cover line which expresses; "The Ultimate Love Guide" This is yet another reference to the time of year that this issue of the magazine is being released within ('February 13th 2010, as stated as the date of the magazine's publication); near the special occasion which is Valentines Day (14th February). This is effective as the magazine strives to relate to the target audience's life away from music; as love and relationships are common within the majority of young people's lives, as this magazine is trying to appeal to a young audience, a 'Guide' that is likely to help them with relationships, it is appealing to them. Valentines Day is also an occasion which is publicised to a large mainstream audience, and has become a novelty day almost, with people finding it appealing as it is popular and allows them to celebrate their love for someone.
The magazine seems to be giving something to the target audience; assisting them, and therefore providing them with a reason to buy the magazine as it is beneficial to them. The use of symbols upon the magazine seems effective with this magazine, as the symbol of a love heart is located nearby a cover line which is linked to Valentines Day; a visual tool such as this is effective as it is likely to draw the audience into the magazine front cover initially when they are glancing at magazines. As it is the time of year whereby the special occasion Valentines Day will be celebrated, a love heart indicates straight away to the audience that the magazine will be referring to this occasion which they are likely to celebrate if in a relationship. Another visual tool near this is a man and a woman located near each other, which also indicates love or a relationship, which relates to the special occasion of Valentines Day. The people are also celebrities, which is likely to attract the target audience too as they will be interested just by the sight of their favourite artists.
The location of one of the Valentines Day cover lines is on the left third, the 'Valentines Poster Special', and this is effective because the target audience will be attracted to this straight away, especially with the presence of the heart as a visual tool. The target audience are able to immediately see this cover line as the location of the left third is somewhere where the information is usually seen rapidly. The main cover line "Enter Shakari and the King Blues" links with the main image, as they both refer to a particular band that the target audience are likely to be familiar with. The direct mode of address of the main image is effective as the audience feel involved straight away with the magazine; the eye contact that seems to be made between the artists within the main image and the audience engages the target audience as they become attached to the magazine due to this emotional connection. As in real life, when someone makes eye contact with another person, there seems to be a connection and establishment of understanding between the two people, and this can be reflected through the direct mode of address of the main image. Therefore, it seems key to include a direct mode of address if a celebrity is included within the front cover of the magazine, in any genre; the target audience begin to attach themselves emotionally to the magazine as eye contact is made. For example, the magazine 'Top of the Pops' also seems to have a direct mode of address through the main image; the audience want to connect with the artist that they are interested in and this helps them to do so, whatever the target audience may be interested in, regardless of genre or type of magazine.
An enticement of the magazine is the part of the main cover line, whereby there seems to be a section of speech taken from an artist that the target audience are likely to be interested in; by including this, it seems as though this celebrity has contributed to the magazine and provided their input to the main article within the content of the magazine (as the main cover line usually links with the main focus of the magazine, and therefore to an important article inside). The names of bands listed at the bottom of the front page attracts the target audience as if they spot a band that they particularly like (which is likely to be the case because the bands listed are within the genre of music that the magazine is focused upon), then they are more likely to be interested in the magazine as it has information about one of their favourite bands. The use of the symbol '+' also appeals to the target audience as it implies that there is extra information for them, and if a list of something follows after the plus sign, then it seems as though there is much more information within the magazine that hasn't already been mentioned in the other cover lines on the front cover of it.
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