music magazine front cover interpretation 2

L: the colour scheme for Kerrang! magazine tends to differ depending on who the main story is about. The main feature for this issue is Green Day, therefore, green has been incorporated slightly via the font, however, dark colours are usually used in the background of the cover. This suggests what genre of music the magazine is about, it also helps to make the other information on the cover stand out, including the images. Red and yellow are often used to outline the smaller features and the header and footer also. These primary colours stand out when placed on a dark magazine, therefore, it will attract the audiences attention causing them to take the time to look at the rest of the cover. The splash takes up 2/3 of the cover - the left and the middle - this helps the audience to recognise Billy Joe Armstrong - as he is a well known rock star - when it is stacked on a shelf as the left third tends to be on show when stacked. This entices the audience as they could glance at the magazine when pasing and recognise him which could then lead to them stopping to pick up the magazine and have a lok at it properly. The main image is a mid-shot however, there isn't direct eye contact with the camera lense. This breaks the conventions slightly as the main image on the magazine usually has direct eye contact to attract the audiences eye contact. Despite this break in the conventions it works alongside with the genre of the magazine.
I: the publishing house for Kerrang! magazine is BAUER CONSUMER MEDIA.
I: the name "Kerrang!" connotes a power chord being played on an electric guitar. The onomatopoeic qualities combined with the exclamatory punctuation suggests the music reported in the magazine will be loud with a heavy use of electric guitars alongside other instruments associated with rock; such as drums for example. The guitar in the main image also shows this along with the other images of Slipknot and Reading and Leeds festival. Finally, the use of informal taboo language - wtf - shows the issues in the magazine don't shy away from the criticism which other magazines, such as pop magazines for example, would.
A: the target audience for Kerrang! magazine is most likely to be lower class - under class. This is suggested as it only costs £2.20 and is a weekly magazine. Therefore, it isn't too expensive compared to other magazines such as Q. The paper used is also of a lower quality compared to Q magazine which connotes the people who read it don't have a lot of spare income to spend on leisure. Also, the image of which the bands portray suggests students and specific stereotypes, such as rockers and emos for example, will be the main audience for Kerrang! magazine. This is also backed up by the image of their website and the Kerrang! television channel.
R: the issues faced in Kerrang! magazine look focused on music mainly and the personal lives of certain musicians. This is suggested by the images used of the artists as the reputation that comes with the image of the stereotypes portrayed tend to involve a lot of issues - usually including drink, drugs, sex and rehab. It is also backed up by the cover line - "READING AND LEEDS '09: RATED! 8-PAGE PULL-OUT" and the poster pull-out section plus the album reviews. This shows that this specific magazine does focus on it's genre rather than drifting to other issues in the world which isn't involved in the music industry.