Front Cover Draft

3rd Front Page LIIAR Analysis

Language - Right away we see the focus of the the magazine as the metal band Avenged Sevenfold, for those who don't know the band is a metal/hard rock genre, which is why they're featured on the cover of METAL HAMMER, they're also shown to be rebellious with the black and white theme along with the tattoos. We can also see the large bold title which looks as though it has been sprayed on with a stencil like a piece of graffiti, this enforces the rebellious stereotype, the camera is also placed below the band to show them as being powerful, they're also in a midshot to show the full of the band, this lets the reader see the band and would draw in the fans of this band to add to the readership of the magazine. The splash caption which you can't see here due to it haing been cut off, mentions 'Jimmy' as we can see from the photo there is 4 members of the band, however there used to be 5, however he also is shown to be remembered by his drum and the graffiti work behind the band, showing that although he's gone that he's still watching over them and the fact that his drum and the graffiti is highlighted in light shows that they think of him as a powerful figure and that they worship his memory, the lead singer is also showing that part of the love of the memory by praying as he's sat on Jimmy's drum.

Institution - METAL HAMMER is published by Future Publishing. The institution is also assumed to be targeting people who prefer alternative/metal music, hence why the front cover features a well known alternative/metal band.

Ideaology - The ideology which we can see behind this front cover is something such as that they want to show that such a high profile band wants to be featured by this magazine, however the band itself has been non-exsistant for a little while due to the loss of the drummer, Jimmy Sullivan (The Rev) which I have mentioned is one of the main themes of this front cover due to the things such as the main singer with his hands in a praying position and the street art of him behind the band, showing us that the band thinks of him as watching over them and possibly making sure that he is not forgotten as such.

Audience - From research into the band I discovered that the age of listener's range from the lower ages of around 13/14 to around the earlier 20's, we can also assume from the different variety of dress which the band has we can assume that the listeners have different varities which might have similarities with the band, for example dark clothes/tattoos/short hair sort of thing.

Representation - The image which is actually on the front cover could be seen as an attempt to make alternative/metal bands look differently in the light of the public, for example at the minute there's different amounts of what people look like and the stereotypes which are associated with the bands type of music. This could be a reason for that to change by showing that alternative/metal bands do have real feeling and the fact that they lost a member and he is the main theme of this cover is fundamental in this change of feeling for the style of the band. The fact that rock/metal music is also stereotyped as music from hell etc. is also the opposite of the main singers posture in the way that he is also praying also shows that they are the opposite of the stereotype or are trying to break the mould.

2nd Front Page LIIAR Analysis

Language - Straight away we see that the band featured on the cover is called Converge, this is due to the large title which is bold and stands out from the other orange and blueish text around it, it's also almost the same size as the magazine name, this shows us that it is of importance, we also label the four people on the front as the band, due to them being stood just behind it. We can also see the sign in the top left which says FREE, this entices the reader to buy the magazine so that they get the free merchandise, in this case the ESCAPI MUSIC DVD, this helps get people who might not like the magazine nor the band to buy it, due to the fact that they could like the offer of the DVD. We also see that their style of the magazine is kept the same throughout, with the engaging colours of blue, white, orange and black, these are standard colours which could've been chosen due to the fact that they're easy to read, what with white and black being complete opposites and blue and orange being used in programs and magazines which people who have colour blindness might read, this could open the magazine to a larger variety of readers, therefore increasing the readership variety.

Institution - We can automatically assume that decibel wants to be the best music magazine for it's genre, this is due to the fact that the magazine is open to a variety of different readers, however in more research we also can find that decibel doesn't have a publishing house, this is different due to the majority of magazines not publishing themselves.

Ideaology - The ideology associated with this cover is that they want to show off the band CONVERGE, possibly for them to expand the music genre they cover to create additional growth in the audience or just for variety, however they also are trying to draw additional readers in with the offer of a free DVD and the other bands which are noticed on the cover, for example KillSwitch Engage (KSE) and The Dillinger Escape Plan. However the magazine itself also has it's own ideology in the form of it's name, we can assume due to it covering metal bands which are generally quite loud it's name shows that it wants to be the loudest and best magazine for metal and loud music out there.

Audience - From the look of the band we can assume that they're around 18-28 this involves the readers age also what with any readers from 18-28 being able to possibly relate themselves with the band, the audience could also look like the band, what with the long hair and tattoos.

Representation - The image on the front cover of the magazine shows off the iconic or blank t-shirts/vests which are associated with metal concerts and the whole metal fanbase, this allows the readership to relate to them, or possibly spot them in similar clothes enforcing the image of recognised metal symbols. The magazine also represents the band as quite rebellious what with the tattoos and the long hair which is noticeable on 3 of the 4 members of the band, this shows the more public stereotype of metal bands, due to the tattoos moreso than the long hair, due to most people who have tattoos being labelled as 'rebels' and not conforming to society's norm.

1st Front Page LIIAR Analysis

Langauge - From the language of the front cover headings, the magazine shows that the magazine is meant for a possibly rebelious audience due to it's standing as a rock/punk rock magazine, this is shown by the example of the subheading 'I couldn't give a s*** what Kurt thought' showing that they're not just the usual magazine and want to stand out from the rest by using a more broad and understood version of language. The main image also conveys this wild sort of feel to the magazine with the man featured in the image staring at the camera in a point blank way gives us this feeling of being measured in our own worth with the fact that he's wearing quite a judging expression, he's also featured in the main title.

Institution - The actual institution which publishes the magazine is called, IPC Media which also publishes other magazines of the same type alongside magazines of completely different genres.

Idealogy - The magazine cover shows that the genre contains rebellion, this is shown by the direct glare of the model, he also is wearing various animal print items of clothing which are associated with possible anger/ferociousness which is usually a forefront of rock, with the brash attitudes and angry gestures. He is also clad in studded clothing, showing another angle of the rock stereotypical anger.

Audience - The magazine has a distinct readership profile of people who are of the average age of 24, and are pre-dominately male, however it does have quite a large female following and over half of them work full time, the actual audience however would be fans of rock music what with NME being a magazine which only truly features rock artists and/or alternitive music genres. The magazine also has other bands interviewed about other bands which interests a fair few viewers.

Representation  - The magazine shows the main model in a heavy leather jacket and animal print, this could show the heaviness of the rock lifestyle along with the wild attitude and backstage shows which are attributed to it.

Target Audience + Price

Through research I have found that the average age of a person who reads a music magazine is around 24 and that 52% of them work fulltime while 27% of them are studying fulltime with only 7% of them working part-time, due to this and combine with my research which places popular music magazines costing from £2.30 to £4.50, with this information I will more than  likely make my magazine within the cost bracket of £2.10 - £2.35 this is due to it needing to be cost effective, however the people who I am trying to provide for also cannot afford a large sum for something which would be released every 2-3 weeks.