Analysis of Meta-Language

1. Analysis of the meta-language of music magazine journalism Carolina De Freitas

2. NME MUSIC REVIEW Genre; The unusual and distinguished genre of “Space rock” follows through the theme of this article; with references to “Death Star’s” and “constellation” used to depict the quality and style of the music. Having a theme running through the article implies that there is a consistency in the album mirroring the consistency in space vocabulary in the review. Ending on the phrase “out of this world” again correlates with the space theme, however it ends up acting as a poignant factor; it doesn’t end with factual or musical referents. Musical references; The journalist in this article compares the stylistic qualities of the album in question (Circles by Moon Duo) to other bands; this reflects the hyper consciousness of music magazines today. The information regarding the album is assumed on the readers knowledge of the genre it is in therefore only targeting a certain music orientated demographic. This also ascertains readers who previously have heard or follow these bands; alluring them into wanting to anticipate more from this artist. Technical terminology; Using musical terminology in order to describe a tone of music is effective; the journalist hypothesizes that the reader will have a vast, rich bounty of knowledge concerning this variety of music and band. This feature of meta-language has connotations with rock/heavy metal music; the word “drone” is affiliated with monotone and one dimensional, and correlating this with guitar creates a bass-like imagery that would appeal to those edging towards experimentation rock music. This can be easily depicted from the terminology, although it may seem abstruse to those who don’t acknowledge this style of music. Literal techniques; The use of alliteration tied in with colloquial language is one that is present in many music magazine reviews and articles; it plays with formal and informal manners of conduct in order to present gritty realism in terms of music. Referring to guitar riffs as “stoned” uses personification to create a correlation between the tone of the music and drug related symptoms. This implies the light heartedness of NME’s reviews; they are honest and realistic with their interpretations with the music in order to create comprehension for readers who have not heard this music/album. Direct address to reader; Having the journalist address the demographic directly in a review reinforces the fact that the review is not narcissistic; it is not singularly focused on the opinion of the journalist writing the review but it is taking into account the reactions that they are expecting the audience to get from it. This, in turn, allures the reader; “muscular experimentation” refers to the ‘heaviness’ of the rock music – that it is an unambiguous and specialized genre that will not appeal to a wide demographic.

3. BILLBOARD MUSIC REVIEW Title; Having a clear focus on what the article is about enables the reader to see whether or not it is an album review or single (Live While We’re Young). Also, having all the features and details of the song before the article outlines specific professionals that the readers may like/follow; this means that although the reader may not like the artist in question, they may like the producers or writers. Hyperlink; The framing of the name of the artist (One Direction) with a hyperlink, perhaps to their own page, explores the advances in social media today. By reading one article you are being recommended another therefore advertising your magazines website more thoroughly. This is a successful technique, as it not only draws attention to the article, but to others. Musical references; Comparing the artist (One Direction) to other artists not in their generation implies that the article is written by a music journalist with a wide spectra of knowledge of musical eras. It also implores the nostalgia and active audience that music magazines have; they use comparison between eras in order to attract a wide demographic into understanding the context of the article. The also use their active audience by using other bands to describe this band, assuming that the reader already knows it. Technical terminology; Having technical musical terms embedded into the article reinforces its credibility; it shows the reader that the article has been written by a music journalist who acknowledges the detail. It exploits the “surprisingly salacious lyrical suggestions” which is a form of sibilance, giving the article a serious (s sounds) yet playful feel and it acts as a form of tongue twister. This portrays the colloquialism of music magazines; they are juvenile with the use of their words in order to attract a laid back, easy going demographic. Criticism; Using criticalities of the artist in question (One Direction) implies the nature of reviews; it offers the reader criticisms of the music alongside the positive remarks. This, opposed to news articles, allows the reader to follow up opinions and reactions to issues, thus enabling a more personal and modern review. This entices a younger, revolutionary demographic as it defies natural conventions of journalism.

4. MOJO MUSIC REVIEW Superimposition; The use of advertisements over magazine internet pages is much more common nowadays; this could be due to the receding sales in the magazine sector. However, the advertisement by the actual magazine overlaps the title of the artist in which the review is about, giving off an unkempt look. “Whole year” is highlighted in white in an attempt to make the banner un consciously appealing; the price is also highlighted reinforcing this. Hyper consciousness; Gritty realism is a style that is commonly present in pieces of music magazine journalism; instead of adopting formal written language it adopts colloquial spoken language in order to correlate with post modernist values. A large chunk of the article follows this ideology; “epic”, “nagging” and “psychedelic” all act as factors contributing to this colloquial post modernist article. ‘Blurb’ of album; MOJO use short colloquial summaries of the album in order to portray a down to earth persona in which readers can relate to. This also implores the magazine sectors hyper consciousness; the journalist is aware that in order to attain a wide demographic it must appeal to the ‘ordinary person’. This is done in the form of using a common ground; by the phrase “when the neighbours get you down” it is an issue almost every reader can relate to, and it’s delivery in a satirical form makes it more enticing and intriguing to read on. Musical references; As other articles have illustrated, the use of linking modern artists to older generation artists enables the reviews to appeal to a wide opposed to a niche demographic. However, it features a list of comparative artists, meaning that the journalist has made the assumption that the music magazine has an active audience. This reflects the demographic of modern day music magazines; they are knowledgeable in music. Modes of address; Reflecting the colloquialism of the articles, the modes of address usually are in first person “I”; this makes the articles much more personalised and effective onto the reader as it portrays a singular point of view. The review automatically becomes one sided, which is an example of an act against modernism; it doesn’t adopt ideals and conventions of articles (eg, news articles) which involve various opinions and ideologies.