Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis • Gaby Kirk • Kerrang & Q 17.02.11

Information-Kerrang! • Circulation: 44,013 • Readership: 396,000 • Mission StatementKerrang! will ensure that we are constantly appealing to our spectrum of readers. From the younger teenage readers who are more open to different genres of rock music – from emo to thrash etc, to the readers who respect Kerrang! as an authority when it comes to our scene’s heritage bands. Each issue will include a balance of bands and scenes to guarantee that we’re providing for our readers’ need for variety and their passionate appetite for their favorite bands as well as their desire to be introduced to NEW MuSIC within our world.We will focus on the BIGGEST things that are going on in our world each week, as well as guaranteeing that we are giving our main base of younger readers everything they need to get into, on top of this the interest in older, harder bands, cementing our role as an educator. • Readership Information:ABC1: 52%Mean Age: 22Amount of readers that buy every issue: 87%

Information Cont. • Publisher: Bauer media is a part of Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group. The business is a worldwide business offering over 300 magazines, in 15 countries, as well as Tv and Radio stations.Front Cover: Contents: Double-Page Spread:

Front Cover Analysis • The colour of this Kerrang! front cover, is mostly in relation to the change in Gerard Ways hair, and focusing around that using matching colours such as the red and yellow, writing being used throughout the front page of the magazine cover itself. When the reader is looking at the magazine itself, there is a main focus on his red hair, due to the fact that it is a dramatic change. With the colours then contrasting all throughout. As well as this the mood that all the colours give off is more of a dangerous, scary colour with a sense of awareness. With the powering colours becoming eye catching, it will catch the readers eye quicker, and therefore may influence potential readers to buy the magazine. The use of him wearing the black jacket gives off a sense of mystery, with it contrasting with the colour red used throughout. In addition it also gives the main image an idea of power and authority of the magazine itself. As well as this, the new My Chemical Romance is more leaning towards a cartoon strip, Marvel characters, which therefore creates the design of the magazine, being more in tune with Marvel in this issue. The design of the magazine, such as the pictures and the text work very well with each other. The image itself gives the reader the idea of shock. With the text saying “this is really scary” in line with the picture linking together to shock the reader, and make them become interested with what is in the magazine, and an explanation of what the image & text is about. The fonts that the magazine have used, are simple however are placed all over the magazine to become eye catching. With the title ‘Kerrang’ being white, and contrasting with all other colours, it stands out more then all other text. The main image within the magazine, is used for those who relate to this music, and are interested in the various images of what it is about. The strap line that was used in both the bottom and top of the front cover, is small and catchy to give off more information about what the magazine involves, as well as this the colours used are the main, red and yellow colours, to follow the colour scheme of the magazine.

Front Cover Analysis Cont. • The features that are in the magazine, are more related to the reader, with most Kerrang! readers listening to this type of music. As well as this Foo Fighters are also features within the same magazine. The music that they both play are in the same genre, which therefore would mean that the readers of Kerrang! may be listening to both types of music. This would be more relative, and better on both groups if it featured the same type of musicians which therefore may means that they may get more potential readers as both the musicians music, compliment each other. Whereas if they use 2 bands of both completely different genres, e.g. one from Rock and another from indie. The pose that Gerard Way is doing, is linked with the cover lines as well as it influences the readers choice into buy them magazine. The picture on the front is a main hint in what the article is going to be about. Due to the fact that MCR have returned, it will most likely be about the new comeback. Therefore this may interest more people interested with the bands comeback. When first at the magazine, straight away your eyes go straight to his eyes. This may be because it is what interests you the most from the magazine. As well as this when reading the magazine the various styles of writing and different size fonts, reflect what the readers are going to read first. ‘My Chemical Romance’ is the first thing looked at when it comes to the text of the magazine. Then the various cover lines and the strap lines are also eye catching to the reader. There are various written codes on the magazine that are there mainly to interest the reader and fulfill their needs and wants of the magazine. The various colours that are used in the magazine, help the magazine itself stand out on the shelves. When it comes to the small description under the coverlines, they have been left short and sweet. This may be done, to not give out too much information so that the readers don’t have to read the entire article to understand the article, however enough information to interest the reader. The text is also neither formal nor informal, it is standard language used within the magazine, which can interest the reader, as it is not too informal that the reader is put off by the lack of in depth text, however it speaks to the readers maintaining their interest in the magazine. The text is big enough for it to catch any potential buyers eyes, which therefore may increase the demand for the magazine. The whole magazine itself with the use of the image, the text, the colours and the size of font, all links together to make the magazine stand out on the shelf.

Front Cover Analysis Cont. • With the Magazine it uses various words to catch the readers attention. With moat words on the magazines front cover being short and snappy, this will therefore attracts the readers attention with the words relating to them to interest them within the text. • Overall on the front of the magazine does give a good impression of what the magazine itself entails. It is able to give off a lot of detail of what the articles are about without given too much information. The magazine gives off a variety of needs for the customers.

Contents Page Analysis • The contents page holds most the information that the magazine holds. As you can see from the contents page to the right, it holds various colours with it’s main one being yellow, for the writing. There are many pictures being used for the contents page. This may be used to interest the readers. As well as his the colours give off more of a carm impression, compared to the Front Page. However red is commonly used to gage the readers attention into the more exciting things that the magazine holds. As you can see clearly from the contents page, with the different pages and description of what’s in the pages, there are different starts and stamps next to some of the articles. This may be used to interest the readers, and may get potential buyers to get the magazine. The contents page also has spilt the different articles forming various categories. This may be used so that when the readers look at the contents page they’re able to quickly find what they’re looking for placing them into each category. As well as this, it also makes the magazine look like it holds more of a variety of articles, going from Feedback, to the K! Quiz to Live reviews. These are used so the magazine, can put a description to the readers of what is being involved within the magazines. Different fonts and sizes are used within the magazine, this may be used to interest the readers making it more eye catching, and exciting. ‘Iron Maiden’ is also written in the style of the bands name, this is so the audience recognise this style, and can link it to Iron Maiden almost immediately. Various pictures are used throughout the magazine, suck as the editor of Kerrang! to Iron Maiden. As well as this, the content also has a small block containing a special edition, for valentines day. It offers various pictures of Band members especially taken for valentines day. The use of the lips, link in well with the theme they are aiming for, to catch the readers attention.

Content Page Analysis Cont. • The pose of the top picture, makes the audience feel as if they’re looking at them. This gives the audience, as sense of involvement within the magazine. As well as this the text becomes more informal, and involves the reader more. With the left hand article of the editor talking about this weeks issue, it is done as if she was talking with her personal signature at the bottom. As well, Kerrang! choose to advertise their special delivery of the weekly magazines, per month. The writing involved with it is in a red background, which stands out from the other text boxes. This is mainly to catch the readers attention of the magazines offers. The small titles in the magazine, are used to give the reader more detail about the magazine, but again not too much. The titles of the magazines, are the main, most interesting parts of the articles. Or interesting titles that involve the articles, so the readers are more interested in what the articles entail.

Double-Page Spread • The colour scheme of Kerrang! is focusing mainly on red and white. This is due to the fact, that the new release of MCR is based upon the primary colours. Red being the main focus, with it matching Gerard Ways hair. His new hair has created a new image for MCR. The article, that is mainly dedicated to them is full of red, with the questions being red, for them to stand out more. Red gives off a sense of danger and warning which may suggest that there’s more to come. The colours manage to this this giving off a sense of alarm, however the contrast of the white also being a main colour used, makes the red a little less harmful, and more carm. The use of the technique of the red looking like it is splattered on the back of the pages, gives the impression of blood being splattered on the back of the pages. on the right hand side of the double-page spread, there’s a text over Gerard saying ‘I want to be a silver fox‘. The text that is usually taken out of the article and put on another page, is mainly going to be interesting and will make sense to the reader. Which then makes them want to read on and find out what it is about. Furthermore the fonts used on the Double-page spread is just a normal size font used throughout. This may be a disadvantage as it does not have much more but that. This could effect the readers choice of purchase as they may be out off by the reading of it. The images used, are more used to give off sympathy, with the Frank Iero in the middle acting as if he is pleading to the audience for help. And Gerard Way acting more of a high position, with a serious look on his face. This may interest the reader, with Frank acting more Innocent whereas Gerard being more forceful. Various shots are used in this double-page spread with Frank being more of Close up, where as Gerard, more of a mid shot. The use of Gerard being more of a mid shot is to show his posture which gives him more of a higher status and high level of authority. Whereas Frank is more of a close up, giving more of a close, bunched up picture, which makes him look more innocent and helpful.

Information-Q • Key information about Q: • Circulation: 89, 540 • Readership: 547, 000 • Mission Statement: ‘Q is a Bastian for music of substance guiding its readers through just the good stuff in all forms of music each month via its unparalleled access and Q Review, the world’s biggest and best music guide.’

Information Cont. • Publisher: Bauer media is a part of Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group. The business is a worldwide business offering over 300 magazines, in 15 countries, as well as Tv and Radio stations. • Magazine • Front Page: Contents Page: Double Page Spread:

Front Page analysis • Front Page Analysis: • The colour of the front page of this magazine is very bland, with a grey background and linking with the colours of gold & red for the writing. The colours used, may not make the magazine stand out from others, with not using bright eye catching colours however it does give off an effect that Tom and Serge are a part of a higher authority/status. The effect of the light in the light in the middle of Tom and Serge makes them stand out from the front Page. As well as this the different colours used such as Red and Gold can be seen to have an association with celebrations or special occasions. This may be linked with this issues special edition of this Q magazine. The mood the front page gives off is very cold, yet in some light makes it interesting and gives a potential reader more incentive to read on. All the colours complement each other; in this case the use of the grey background helps both the red and gold complement each other. If another colour was used for the background then the magazine such as purple, then the magazine would look quite unprofessional and childish. The use of the grey, dark background makes the magazine look more professional with a calm mood added to it.

Front Page Analysis Cont. • The various words used in the magazine are highlighted on the front cover catch the reader’s eye for them to read on such as ‘the hot list’. The use of this text may interest the readers into reading on. As well as this, under the large font name ‘Kasabian’ it quotes; ‘Life inside Rock’s new royalty’. The use of this text gives off a large amount of idea in what the article is about, giving the reader a lot of detail, in one short sentence. The images used on the front cover give off a serious note, with both Tom and Serge pulling very serious poses. This may however give off the wrong idea to the reader, making them feel threatened, as they give off an unwelcoming vibe. However the target readers would be Kasabian fans and therefore will know about the band themselves, and understand the meaning behind it. The mid shot used on the front cover of the magazine shows the reader how both Tom and Serge are standing with their posture giving off more of a higher authority vibe. In addition to this there are other well-known artist used in on the front cover, which may interlink with the Kasabian, such as being the same genre of music or very similar. Kings of Leon would be an example of this, as they’re also small feature within the front cover. And the target audience, are more likely to like both Kasabian and Kings of Leon due to the similar genre. The overall impression of the magazine is very striking and effective. The colours used in the magazine complement each other, giving the magazine a much better, more professional look. As well as this, the front cover isn’t full up of text covered everywhere. Giving off the idea that it is of a more intellectual magazine type, with more formal language used.

Contents Page Analysis • Contents page • Q magazine have now changed who is the main story to Kings of Leon, taking up the main cover on the front page of the contents. Unlike many contents pages on various other magazines, Q has spread it out onto two pages instead of just the one. This can be used to an advantage, and disadvantage of the magazine itself. The use of the contents page being spread over two pages gives the reader more idea of what the magazine entails, without having to go through the whole magazine. However in some ways can be seen as quite clustered and somewhat not needed. The colours have stayed throughout with the main colour being red. The contents page has been separated into two different sides. One being Features, such as Kasabian and Kings of Leon. And the other side being Regulars which are featured in mostly every Q magazine. This would be things such as the Q quiz etc. The language used in the magazine is more of a formal, intellectual text, which may vary the target audience of the magazine being of a higher class. The main image used on the contents page is Kings of Leon, with the image representing the idea of the Kings of Leon we don’t know. The various images used in the contents page are used to interest the reader into the articles that are featured within the music magazine. The poses used throughout the magazine are mainly serious, yet still give off an interesting vibe.

Double-Page Spread • The double page spread has many different influences that I will be taking into consideration when creating my own magazine. One of them being the large red font of the letter ‘K’. The colours used within the magazine itself again has carried on with the colour red, maybe used within the association of Kasabian being a keen England supporter. There are various things used throughout the magazine such as this quotes, and pull quotes are used. This may be featured so that the target audience are more interested with the text. However, the use of all the text merged together into separate pages may put off the readers from reading the text. Therefore even though this magazine will be a high main influence of my magazine, I will separate the text into different paragraphs with the use of a couple more images. This is my opinion of how the magazine can be improved, yet as it is seen to be more of an intellectual text, and magazine this may be a reoccurrence in all magazine types. The images used in the magazine are mainly what represent Kasabian as a whole. With the first image on the top right, being of Tom at an England vs. Mexico game, the readers who follow Kasabian a lot would have an understanding of how keen they are about football as a whole. As well as this, the bottom left picture shows Tom on stage, showing that they do live a normal life while being on stage. The double page spread holds the information about Kasabian and what they’re getting up to but the pictures however include a big part of how Kasabian have a double life of being on stage, and going to a football match. The amount of writing there is within the double page spread suggests that the readers of Q will be of a more high intelligence, then other music magazines. The amount of text could put off various people reading the article itself. Yet if they’re used to reading this much, in a magazine, then the target audience are more likely to have a better understanding of the text used. The amount of text also stops the reader from just picking up the magazine, reading the article & then putting it down. It makes the reader want to read on, and interest the reader. The language of this magazine manages to catch the reader’s attention when being interested in Kasabian, and what they’re up to.

Double-Page Spread • Main image dominating the page is a long shot, showing the whole of Kings of Leon, this may being used for Kings of Leon to give of more of a serious, and in depth feeling of how they are, and what they’ve done. The long shot gives off the whole posture of Kings of Leon, being more of a serious idea that they are in the middle of nowhere. The background is a long road, in the sunset, but instead they’ve showed Kings of Leon walking away from the generic usual image of people walking towards the sunset. The background looks as if it is in the middle of nowhere and no one to be seen, which says a lot about Kings of Leon as a band, and as well as this what the article is representing. This image may represent how far they’ve got and as well how long they have left to get to their destination. The text in the magazine is quite formal however Q manages to still make the text talk to the reader, with the idea of the reader getting involved. The overall impression from the contents page, gives off the idea that the magazine holds many interesting articles. It is clearly labelled and various images are used to help get an idea of what the magazine entails.

Textual Analysis