Textual Analysis of a Music Magazine.

 

The music magazine cover I chose to analyse is a cover that has come from the magazine 'Rolling Stones'. The magazine 'Rolling Stones' usually caters to an audience that enjoy pop music but now it covers music in general with their content ranging from folk music to Hip Hop as seen in the coverlines.

The front cover consists of a medium long shot taken from low angle with the main masthead positioned (with a thick shadow) right behind the internationally known pop/rock artist - Avril Lavigne. The choice of costume connotes a rebellious attitude which fits into the teenage rock stereotype though Avril's facial expression and makeup challenge the image the costume creates. The minimum use of makeup and the piercing blue eyes makes her appear innocent which also adds emphasis to the teenage stereotype that they may appear innocent but could also be troublemakers. Also the anchorage used supports this that this particular artist is rebellious and possibly the opposite of the 'Pop' princess innocent act - "hunt with the Britney Slayer".

The coverlines frame the image positioned on either side of the image and from the choice of topics we see that this magazine explores different genres of music : pop rock, hiphop, soul and folk music, to politics with a special report on the Iraq war. Also the choice of topics are diverse catering to all audiences maybe of different ages aiming at the younger years that enjoy music from Avril Lavigne and the comedy of Ali G and also the older ages that know the music of Ben Harper and also want a more intellectual political read tackling an important issue as war and since there is a box surrounding it it shows that it is separate from the more less trivial issues.

Following the usual format of a magazine, it includes the date and issue number located in the top right corner under the main masthead but it does not have a barcode.

The colour scheme used is red, black, white and blue which could connote patriotism expressing the American flag addressing the whole nation of America.

Overall I think that this magazine would be aimed at people that love music but of a mature age (16 - 29) as there are topics that are aimed at older audiences e.g. wars or sex.