Classic Fm

The next magazine i will be analysing is Classic FM.

Once again i will be looking at Genre, Media Language, Representation, Ideology and Institution.

Genre

The text generally covers a more traditional background of music but has used a more modern celebrity on the cover - Myleene Klass. It does represent the radio station classic FM which is where the target audience can listen to the music. The genre of classical music has been represented by Myleene Klass as he does play musical instruments such as piano and violin, also the image of the CD cover represents the genre because of the piano, which is classes as a classical musical instrument. It does not however represent genres such as Punk Rock, RnB or Country/Western.

Media Language

The main font used is quite large so that it is easy to read and it is quite a thin, normal font, it doesn't have big bold curves or bulky straight sides, also the 'F' for FM is in red which makes it stand out that little bit more. Overall the same font is used all over the cover but in different sizes and colours. The main colours used are white and red, i think white symbolises purity and peace and the red represents love, it could represent hate but i think with genre of music it would not match.
The main photo used is a picture of Myleene Klass and there are others of Kate Royal and 'Fiddler on the surf'. There are also other images of a cd cover which has a piano on the front and a music guide. All the styles of photos are classical, for example Myleene Klass is a well known classical instrument player. There is a mix of gender due to the stars used both men and women are represented. The photo of Myleene Klass is the largest image and is centre of attention, it is set more to the right and all the other images of the others stars and musci cd cover are spaced around that main image.
There is a lot of white space but that is not because things have been missed out, it's what is intended to be the background but as a whole tha mian colours used are red and white. The images and text relate it each other because the text is about the classical genre and the images relate to that.

The idea of this title is to show the audience what the magazine and show what it is about. In the world as a whole it does refer to the radio station 'classic fm', this automatically lets the audience know what the magazine will have inside.

The facial expressions on the people are happy smiles, Myleene Klass' picture stands out the most because it is the main image, her hair is curly and natural looking, her attitude seems cheerful due to her smile. The 'fiddler on the surf' is a very posed photo next to a surf with a serious attitude and Kate Royalis also a posed photo, she looks like she is trying to get the audience's attention.

Representation

In these photographs the idea of classical music is being represented, i think perhaps there could be another image of maybe church singers which is a more clear representation on classical music. I think the cover does represent the idea of both men and women being able to buy this magzine, it's targeted at both genders. When you listen to classical music the words don't tend to relate to sexual attractions therefor the images don't represent any sexual attraction. The representation of race is not clear because only white skinned people are on the cover, although Myleen Klass is slightly tanned his doesn't necessarily show that people with a darker skin tone are represented.

Ideology

This magzine cover will interest those who like classical music and perhaps the radio station 'classic fm'. I think the values that it supports are peace, happiness and classic music instruments for example piano, violin and the flute. But on the otherhand i think it challenges most of other magzine genres because more modern music is popular so the magazine needs to keep it's classic theme and not turn the classical music genre into something else.

Institution

Due to the magazine being called 'classic fm' after the radio station i think the people who designed it are related to the radio station and are fans themselves of classic music otherwise they wouldn't know how to lay the cover out to appeal to the audience. The magazine makes money by appealing to their target audience so that they want to buy it and also influences 'new comers' who may see the magazine and think it looks good to read through. The interests of the reader are extremely important because if the magzine contents start to talk about another genreof music such as punk rock it won't apppeal to them and has nothing to do with the cover and their interests which is why people buy maazines because it's in their interest to read about what they like. The only slight change that is taking place in this media is that more modern celebrities are being represented but they still stick to the genre of classical music, these change are taking place because new classic singers or music instruments players are entering the music biz.

Metal Hammer

The key concepts that i will be analysing are the Genre (What kind of text is it?, What other things is it like?), Media Language (How is it constructed? What elements have been chosen? How are they arranged?), Representation (What does it say about the world?), Ideology (In who interest?), Audience (Who is it for? How can you tell?) and Institution (Who made it?, How can you tell?).

The first magazine i am going to analyse is Metal Hammer.


Genre

This text covers both traditional and contemporary metal bands, hardcore, Gothic rock and punk. Some similar magazines are Kerrang, Total Guitar and Meltdown. The genres of music that are represented are mainly Gothic rock and Heavy Metal due to the idea of the colours dark grey and red, the grey to represent metal and red to represent blood. Musical genres such as Pop, RnB, Dance, Classical or Jazz are not represented, you can see this due to colours, pictures and conventions on the magazine.



Media Language

There are seven elements to the media language which are Fonts, Size, colours, Photos, Styles, Stars and Gender. The font used is quite a bold, strong font which represents the idea of 'Metal' Hammer but in the title the word 'metal' is not the same font as the rest of the title it looks like a stamp print effect which is on a slant. For the text that reads 'Iron Maiden, these colours don't run' it is a similar font to the title but it looks almost like it's trying to look more of a curvier font but because of the idea of 'Metal' it can't because iron is seen as hard to bend.

The title of course is the largest text so that it stands out to the audience of what the magazine is called other fonts such as the Plug along the top 'Free DVD and CD!' and 'Iron Maiden, these colours don't run' are in a slightly smaller font but not dramatically different front the title, they are still easy to read and notice.

There appears to be only red, yellow, grey and black colours used.The grey and the black are dark colours so this represents the darkness and Gothicness of the magazine. I think the idea of the yellow font is to make particular words stands out such as 'Free' and the plug on the left side. Finally the idea of the red font i think is to represented blood which is seen as Gothic, red can represent other types of feelings such as love but i think in this case of the idea of it being Gothic it represents blood.

The photo on the cover appears to be a skull wearing an army hat, with two guns in front of it, also behind this skull there are what looks like bullet holes where the guns may have been aim at. I think the style of the photo comes across quite scary and threatening but also Gothic as it is a skull which relates to death.

There are no Stars used on the cover so this does show that it is not clear what Bands or Singers will appear inside of the magazine and due to there begin no Stars no genders are used so it doesn't show who would buy this but maybe the idea of there being no genders being shown is to show it doesn't matter whether you are male or female you can get this magazine.

The Title is along the top of the magazine but there is the plug 'Free DVD and CD' above it and the other text 'Iron Maiden, these colours don't run' is along the bottom of the magazine and the picture of the skull with guns is in the middle, centre of attention.

On the cover there is no white space, the picture and background cover the whole page and has text on top. The colours as a whole are used to create darkness which is mainly the grey and black shades. When i first looked at the cover the word 'Hammer' stood out to me the most, i think this is because of the large font and the colour. But then after a while i started to notice the picture more because it's unusual to me. The images and text relate to each other because of the word 'metal' in the title because the guns will be metal and metal is strong and the picture used is a strong effective image.


The idea of the title is to refer to music but think in this case it relates to genres rather than music such as Punk, Gothic Rock and Hardcore. All the genres are related to the title and so is the image of an actual metal hammer tool.



I think that this chosen image comes across with angry feelings, looks like a strong character especially with the guns in front of it, they create the idea of army soldiers who are people who represent our country and to protect which is maybe what the image it trying to portray. This represents the world as a whole to be a protective maybe violent place perhaps the people who buy the magazine feel this way about the world.

Representation

I don't think that overall the magazine represents either men or women but does show that either men or women can purchase the magazine, it doesn't make it clear whats it's target gender is. Due to there being no images of men or women it is hard to show whether there is sexual attraction/orientation and also doesn't show anything about the race of people,although the image is white it doesn't necessarily mean that it's more towards white skinned people.

Ideology

The people that will be interested in this magazine are either males or females who have a particlur interest in music in genres such as Gothic Rock, Punk and Hardcore. It appears to support violence as a whole the guns and army skull represent this and i think that it challenges the idea of protection, happiness and strength.

Institution

I think the person who made this has obviously got an interest in Gothic Rock music otherwise they wouldn't have known how to law out the convetions to look like that style of magazine. The media text makes it money by strongly representing it's target audience so that they want to buy it. The importance of the readers interest is important because if it doesn't appeal to them then they won't want to buy it, which would make the magazine not a very good success. I think that it's views are very independant in the way they are controversal by representing the idea of death, war and soldiers in music. When i looked at other Metal Hammer they had started to have more images of people on there and i think this is to show what bands and music interests the magazine it for.

LIIAR

Language
Technical terms
-Masthead
-Splash
-Headline
-Photo
-Plugs
-Headings

Ideology
The message i want to give out is that this is a good music magazine, buy me. I want it to relate to the target audience too.

Institutions
-Music
-Bands

Audience
-Gender
-Class
-Age (example, 16-18 maybe for Punk people.
-Socio Economic groupings

Representations
-What's on it?
-How will it portay the image of stereotype for people to buy it
-Denotation
-Connotation
-Form, how i present it
-Stereotypes

Introduction

After analysing college magazine front covers i am now looking at conventions of Music Magazines. Our main task is to create a front cover, a contents page and a double page spread of the inside. I will start by analysing at leat two Music Magazine covers to ensure i know the convetions. I will then make notes on the contents pages and a few of the pages inside, to have an idea of what the inside and contents should be like. The presentation of my work will be published on Blogger and the main document i will use for my work will be Microsoft Publisher. As usual at the end of the topic i will create an evaluation.

There are currently many different genres of music magazines such as;

-Rock

-Punk

-Indie

-Pop

-Classical

-Jazz/Blues

-Dance/RnB

-Country

-Soul and Reggae

Here is an example of a Classical music magazine;

Here is an example of Dance/RnB;

I will base my own magazine on one of these genres and will research the Language, Insitutions, Ideology, Audience and Representation for the genre i choose. It is important that i research these concepts in order for my magazine to look professional.