Analysis of Front Cover of Magazine Kerrang

I'm going to do an analysis of the front cover of the magazine Kerrang from 30th March 2013.I'm going to do an analysis of the front cover of the magazine Kerrang from 30th March 2013.

This magazine is for a Niche audience because it is targeted at people who like rock music. It’s for a niche audience because they are likely to be loyal to musicians featured. It’s likely to be for a younger audience because that’s the age group for who mainly like these musicians. It’s also generally for males as there is mostly males featured on the front page.

The masthead is hidden by the people that are featured on the front which could suggest that the people on the front are more important than the name of the magazine. Also, the masthead is white font on the red back ground which makes it stands out and shows clearly what the name of the magazine. Also, it's quite large font, all in capitals with an exclamation mark at the end again showing the fact that it's making it stand out. Also, it seems quite aggressive because of the exclamation point on the end seeming that it is being “shouted”.

The shot of the main people on the front are medium close up which is a convention to magazine front covers.

All of them on are following the convention of looking straight in the camera. They two on the right are looking straight in the camera with narrowed eyes which again gives an aggressive look to the front of the magazine.

The man in the middle looking with a raised eyebrow adds to the aggressive feel however he also has a slight smile on which means he might not be taking it at seriously. 

The man to the right of him has a smile on which follows the convention of looking straight into the camera and smiling which is how most people look on the front cover of a magazine.

And finally, the man on the far left is also staring into the camera but as he has sun glasses on which finally adds to the aggressive feel of the magazine. All of the men have their shoulders back which shows the stereotype of males to look strong and important.

The stories on the front cover are all to do with rock music and rock musicians such as the main story in the middle that says “100 greatest rock songs” which definitely shows that the magazine is for a niche audience because most people don’t have an interest in rock music and bands that this magazine will be showing. 

The main colour scheme for this magazine cover is black, white and red, with the red and black symbolising aggression because of the stereotypes of them and the white stands out well to tell the story on both these colours.

There is a bit of specialist terminology that will only apply to this type of magazine. The use of the word “rock” and “Rockstar” is repeated throughout the magazine which again shows how the magazine is directed at the niche audience of fans of rock music because many people haven’t got a strong interest in rock music.

                                                                              (ROCK STAR)

Curran and Seaton explored the face that media companies address the needs and wants of the target audience. They describe media companies doing this by "newspapers and magazines respond to the concern of their readers if they want to stay in business". Kerrang does this as the target population is people who are have an interest in heavy metal music and the front cover responds to their wants by putting images of heavy metal musicians which appeal to the target audience.

Barthes semiotics are also featured on the cover because of the signs and signifiers that have been used. A sign is something that conveys a meaning, and there are many different types of signs. For example, the iconic sign used on this magazine cover is the Kerrang logo because it is what people recognise the magazine by. The visual signs on this cover are the images of the celebrities on the front and the word signs is all the writing, what is included in the magazine.