Front Cover Analysis

The masthead is bold and is in bright orange to make it stand out. Also it’s in orange to show that it’s the summer edition because orange and yellow are summer colours. Mariah Carey is on the front cover which will make listeners of her music pick up the magazine and want to read about her. It will also make the male readers pick up the magazine as Mariah Carey is a very attractive woman. She is big on the page to make her eye catching to potential buyers browsing through magazines. It also offers extras and exclusive interviews with artists like Jay –Z which will make the readers choose this magazine over another to buy. This is aimed at the target audience of teen, mostly girls, who are interested in pop music. The seasonal feel to it will also be eye catching to potential readers because the colours will brighten peoples moods compared to other magazines which may be dark and dull.

The masthead is stylistic and bold with yellow being a good choice of colour against the dark back drop. This immediately makes the masthead stand out and be more visible to readers browsing. Lil Wayne is on the front cover which immediately targets the audience who listen to Hip Hop and Rap genres of music. This audience is predominantly teenage boys.  He is one of the best artists in his genre so having him on the front cover will make readers pick it up and want to read about him. It offers extras such as exclusives with DJ Khaled and has previews of new songs by artists such as Akon! The colour of the backdrop also shows the genre of the musician on the magazine because rap is meant to be happy its all about sad times the rappers have been through so the backdrop is dark. Also you don't associate the typical listener of rap music to be interested in bright happy colours so that would not interest them at all and wouldn't match Lil Wayne on the front cover. The style of writing for 'Simply the best' is in a graffiti style writing which shows the genre of the music and that the artist has maybe had a bad upbringing in a run down area.

The masthead is not as big as the others but it stands out as it is red on a white back drop. The word 'NME' also covers up some of the picture which means that when someone is browsing through a magazine rack and sees the picture of Ian Brown they will automatically be attracted the the masthead just above it because it is eye catching.The front cover has Jay –Z on it as well as Ian Brown which will attract readers’ attention because Jay – Z is a major artist in most genres and collaborates with many artists. The target audience for this magazine would again be teenagers but of both genders which will mean more people will buy the magazine. Both of them are on the front cover because Ian Brown is doing an interview with Jay. This informs the reader of what is going to be inside the magazine before they have even read about it. This magazine also offers stories about Bloc Party and other bands and their houses. This gives you an inside look into their lives which most people who follow the bands will like. 

The masthead is not very big, its situated in the top left corner of the magazine and is in red writing which is similar to NME. The masthead is hidden partly behind one of the musicians in the centre of the page. This attracts your attention away from the title and more towards the artists on the front cover because this magazine isn't well known so they will want to try and get people to buy it by having famous artists on the front cover. The Killers are on the front cover of this magazine. They represent the genre of rock and pop which has the target audience of teenagers and young adults being mostly male. They stand out because they have the band name in bright red letters across their chest with almost a show effect because it has white circles in the letters acting as lights. The Killers are top musicians in the pop and rock genre having sold millions so it would attract mainstream listeners to pick up the magazine. It offers interviews with Tom Jones and The Zutons as well as having a free CD giveaway which will make the readers want to buy that one because of its added value.

The masthead is very big and spreads across the whole top of the page. It is written in black on a white backdrop to make it stand out and it has a red ‘F’ to catch readers eyes. Katherine Jenkins is on the front cover looking bright and radiant against a dark and dim background. This will catch readers eyes as he is an attractive woman and her blonde hair will stand out against the background. The fact that she is looking into the camera gives the effect that she wants you to read it as if the story is aimed at you. Also she is a multimillion single selling artist in her genre of opera which targets middle age to elderly women. Her name is in bright pink writing to make it eye catching to the readers when they are looking through magazines. It also gives off a nice calm, gentle feel to the magazine as opera and classical music is soft and relaxing. It offers an interview with Katherine Jenkins and has a free give away of a CD as it is the Christmas edition which may make them choose this magazine over another one. 

The masthead is very big and bold and it spreads across the whole of the top of the page. It is written in red on a white background to make it stand out. It is in bold to make it eye catching. The fact that it goes in front of the artists on the front will attract the attention from the title to the picture as the first thing the potential buyers will see is the title because it stands out so much. T.I is on the front cover after being photoshopped so he is completely grey. This gives a mysterious feel to the magazine as he is quite a shady character in real life. T.I is a chart topping artist in his genre of hip hop so it would attract the teenage male readers to pick up the magazine and buy it. This magazine offers a list of 51 lost albums from artists that never sold and also many more interviews with artists such as Busta Rhythmes. This could be the difference between them buying this magazine or buying another. Some of the words are in red writing which makes it stand out so people will read it before the writing turns back to black once it has grabbed their attention. The number 51 has also been emphasised to grab the readers attention because that is one of the extras that come in the magazine. 

The masthead is bold and stands out because it’s in white on a black background but also it is behind the artists on the front cover so you are more drawn towards them and nothing else. This is because this magazine title will stand out a lot so potential readers will pick it up to see whats inside and then their attention will be drawn to the artists on the front because you can see the tops of their heads blocking the title. Diddy Dirty Money is a well known rapper which shows the genre of this magazine. This is aimed at teenage boys. He was formally known as P Diddy but changed his name to boost sales and popularity as if to reinvent himself. This would attract the youth area of the audience to buy this magazine. This magazine offers interviews with Diddy Dirt Money himself and also the top 42 power players of the year which is very interesting and could make readers choose this magazine over others. Also down the side it give a list of who else you can find inside the magazine. These aren't all music artists as basketball sensation Lebron James has got a section in their. This may attract basketball lovers to pick up the magazine to read the article on one of the best players in the game as well.

The masthead is bold and the ‘F’ in it stands out because it is white against a gold background. The title cover some of the picture of the artist which will draw the readers attention to the picture and away from the title because the magazine brand isn't well know. Drake is on the front cover of the magazine because he is a well known and new to the music scene doing songs with the likes of Rhianna who is also a big selling artist. This will target pop lovers to pick up the magazine. Also it is a close up of drakes face and he is wearing sunglasses which may make him seem mysterious and makes people want to find out more about him. The magazine offers exclusive interviews with Drake and also and story about a group who go to San Francisco to chase a dream of being famous. The gold block around the 'F' in the masthead then links down to where the writing is about Drake which is also in gold. This gives an 'easy on the eye' feel to the magazine and a seamless flow. The word 'Drake' is in bold letters as well which will catch the readers attention and tells the readers who the mysterious person is on the front cover if they don't know who he is already. The price of the magazine and issue number are in very small text at the top right of the page because that shouldn't be what makes someone buy the magazine the content is more important. 

The masthead is small in this picture as it only takes up the top left part of the page. This however is still effective as it is in bright red lettering and gives more space for pictures and information on the front cover. This makes the front cover very easy on the eye because most people will just look at the pictures and not want to read lots of words on the cover before buying the magazine.Vampire Weekend are enlarged on the front cover. They have done this because Vampire Weekend are big in their genre of pop and it will draw people into reading the magazine. The target audience for this magazine are teenagers of both genders.There are a lot of bright colours which will also attract peoples attention and make them want to read this magazine. This magazine offers the list of top 25 bands making America cool again and interviews with top bands such as Kings of Leon and gives the chance to win VIP camping upgrades for Reading or Leeds music festival!! Festivals are massive to the target audience of this magazine so the fact that they have included Reading and Leeds Festival as their competition will mean lots more people will pick up the magazine and will want to keep looking back to see if any more amazing competitions like that ever come back up. The fact that Vampire Weekend are wearing sunglasses shows that they are still youths themselves and may also give off a summery feel as if the festivals are just about to come up so that is what they might be talking about in their interview.

The masthead is hidden behind the artist but is still visible as it is in white on a black background. This means the readers can pay more attention to the artist of the front cover than the brand name. Satyricon is on the front cover taking up the whole page. This is done to show the genre of the magazine which is either gothic or heavy metal. This will draw people who like that genre into reading the magazine which is a small majority of teenagers who are into that kind of music. It is also effective because there is no colour on the front cover it is all in grey apart from one part which is in red to signify blood. The use of a crow in this picture signifies evil which fits in well with the genre.This magazine offers exclusive interviews with the artist and also with top bands such as My Chemical Romance which are the same genre. Also it has a free poster give away of the band Slayer when the readers purchases the magazine which may tempt potential readers into buying it over another magazine. The colours however will not attract the attention of people browsing through magazine racks so they have to hope that the big picture on the front is enough to grab their attention. The price of the magazine is down by the bar code in the bottom right corner which stands out because it has a white outline to attract attention down towards it after people have looked at the front cover.