Textual analysis of a double page spread

Denotation - The cover image on the double page spread has the main artist slightly to the left of the magazine fully facing the camera. We can see from her hip upwards making this a medium shot. The colors of the pages are related to the article as well as the artist. The layout of the texts has been put into four columns throughout the page.

Headline - The headline of this article is ‘The gospel according to Nicki Minaj’. ‘The gospel according to’ is in bold black serif font which shows that it’s elegant and classy, however ‘Nicki Minaj’ is in bright bold pink letters which is associated with her latest album  ‘Pink Friday’ this also connotes more up-to-date or modern feel to the page. There’s a wide selection of fonts used in these two pages to make it look more fascinating.

Nicki’s name is printed in the biggest size font which alerts the readers instantly that this article is focused on her. The colour pink which is the color it’s written in connotes youth, love, femininity and beauty. The color pink could have been used to reflect upon Nicki Minaj’s persona. 

Strap-line - The strap-line of this article is in serif font which connotes tradition and could link to the ’10 commandments’.

‘Bow down mortals, the newly crowned Day-Glo queen of hip hop stands before you. Jaimie Hodgson joins the throng and inscribes the 10 commandments of our saviour’ this is in black which adds a serious and more formal approach to the double page spread. The strap-line informs the readers about Nicki Minaj and her rise in success. This mirrors her accomplishments through her career. This shows that she’s a strong hip-hop singer who can get through obstacles. 

Character/model - The main article star is Nicki Minaj who is an American based singer and a rapper.

Composition - The model is looking directly at the camera. Her position makes her look like a doll; she looks rather stiff and plastic like. Her pose is very unnatural making her like a mannequin in a store window. However this is a perfect and expected position for Nicki Minaj as her character in the media is portrayed as wild and extravagant. Nickiis famous as she is shown as a life size Harajuku Barbie.

Costume - Nicki is wearing an on-going zebra patterned top this is very ‘in’ for this season right now. This will appeal more to the relatable the younger readers. Her ring which says ‘ICON’ could be telling us that she think she’s an icon in the hip-hip music industry. This may also connotes that she’s proud of herself and is confident about bold statements about herself.  She also has a necklace with different colors which may illustration her fun, wild and exciting personality.

Facial expression (NVC - Non-verbal communication) –  Her facial expression is very blank and serious which could denote that she’s very serious about her job and what she does best, create music. She has purposely opened her eyes widely which consists of a glaring gaze. This could show her darker side. Her hands are not interrupting her body position which connotes confidence and assurance.

 

Lighting - There is no shadow on both pages which connotes that she’s a happy person with no darkness in her life. It appeals to the audience that she’s a happy person full of energy.

Setting - The background is plain pastel pink which her fans can relate to as it’s her most distinctive colour. It adds a ladylike touch to the page as well as youthfulness and attractiveness. The background color also links to her album named after the color pink.

Music Magazine Industry

3 magazines suffered from the sales decline back in 2011; NME, Q and Uncut.

NME is a magazine targeted towards young adult’s ages 16+ who enjoy the music genre they sell are rock/indie.

Q’s marketing target audience is people above 30. The music genre they write about and publish is alternative.

Uncut is a magazine targeted to people ages between 24-45 the music they publish are in the genre of Americana, rock, alternative country and both bold and new.

Sales of weekly music magazine NME have dropped for the second six months in a row to under 30,000. It had the biggest decline out of all the other music magazines. Regardless of the magazine’s renovation and change they still fell.

Q fell by 10.1% on the previous year which was costly; they were the most affected magazine in the industry. Their sales were down by19.7% year on year.

Hand held hard copies of magazines have been replaced with digital data from the Internet which had made the decline. For instance NME has a website which is accessible to all general public it is easier and a time/energy saver to go online through a digital device such as an iPhone or tablet than walk down the street to go to the shop. In addition, the readers will get their digital copy for free, it holds the same content and articles.

Another issue which is has been the cause of the decline was the cover image or front cover in total. Many people have agreed that the cover of the magazine wasn't interesting and the same things were there which the majority of public thought that it was dull and boring. Instead they turned to the internet once more for online interviews and interactive articles.

On one hand, Kpop magazines are topping various countries world wide. Kpop has been introduced in the US late 2012 with Psy's hit Gangnam Style which has spread like wild fire throughout the globe. From then on, it has never been the same teenagers are looking into Kpop in more ways than one some countries such as United Kingdom have opened K-Clubs where the songs in the clubs are Korean or Japanese  You will be surprised with the amount of non-Asian people attending the clubs. Furthermore you will now see some Korean shops which sells Kpop magazines. Even though these shops can only be seen at China Town and London the spread of Kpop magazines are increasing.

Poll taking

I have started a bit of research and what would attract my marketing audience. I am trying to find out the style of music people commonly listen to. This will give me an idea of the kind of music they are into.

I've created a poll on the right side of my blog. I then sent an email to some of the people in my year asking if  they can vote.

So far I've gotten 3 votes and it seems that R&B is the most popular as for now but that's only between 3 people who have chosen their preference. From this I can gather ideas for my Music Magazine. I think that by creating a poll I can find out the direct information I need. It's a straight forward question with many choices to pick from

My personaly music preferences

Hi, my name's Kimberly (if you haven't noticed the blog's title yet) I'm 16 years old, I'm from the Philippines, it's located on south East Asia. But I moved to the UK when I was 7 exposing me to new varieties of music.

I grew up with music due to my parents who have influenced me. There will always be a CD playing Abba, Dionne Warwick or Celine Dionne. Surprisingly enough I enjoy listening to those genre of music and I know most of their songs. I also listened to many K-pop (Korean Pop) songs due to my cousins and aunt influencing me.

But as I grew up, I found some other artists such as the black eye peas, S-Club 7 and other mainstream pop artists. I adored their music and the dance tempo of their songs. However I grew out of liking their music and started to like artists and songs from the Philippines such as Christian Bautista and Sarah Geronimo.

Now in recent times I mainly listen to Korean or Japanese pop, I know it may seem weird that I can’t understand their lyrics but I really enjoy the meaning of the songs and the videos. I usually end up getting the English translated lyrics to know what they’re singing. I think it’s amazing how different genres of music can affect your life. On the other hand they do have English versions of song, nevertheless I feel that the original Korean versions are the best as they aren’t trying too hard to pronounce the words where as in their native language, they’re more relaxed and confident.

List of artists/bands I enjoy listening to:

2NE1 (Pronounced Twenty-One) –They’re a girl group in South Korea containing Sandara Parks, Pak Bom, Gong Min-ji and Lee Chae-rin (CL.) 2NE1 are very fierce with their image and sound but they also do soft and low tempo songs.

The genre of songs they do are K-pop, electronic, dance, urban and electropop.

2NE1 are able to jump genres for instance their first debut sing “Lollipop” featuring BigBang was categorized for pop while “Fire” was predominately influenced by hip hop and their latest single “I don’t care” was intended to have the reggae feel.

BigBang – They are a South Korean boy band consisting of T.O.P, G-Dragon, Daesung, TaeYang and Seungri. They are one of the most known groups in Asia. The songs they do are very unique and relatable. Back in 2008, BigBang’s music was predominately hip hop and pop but in their first album they also added R&B styled music.

Their music and song genres are; K-pop, hip hop, R&B, dance-pop, J-pop (Japanese Pop) and electropop.

Their latest album Alive contains multiple varieties of music styles. “Bad Boy” is nostalgic while “Fantastic Baby” is very strong on electro pop. On the other hand, “Ain’t no fun” is a mixture of euro trance and disco. The song “Blue” is defined as an electronic ballad which starts off with a soft piano which then blends perfectly with the acoustic guitar.

Taylor Swift– I also enjoy listening to her as she writes and sings songs from her past experience and it’s applicable for my age group.

Her music genres are; pop, pop-rock, country and country-pop.

Some people don't class her as a "real" country singer due to her new album which is more on Pop in my opinion. However her old singles and albums were but that was when she was about 16-18.

Magazine research

Kerrang

What is Kerrang?

Kerrang is a UK based music magazine in the genre of rock music. The first magazine was published in 1901 as a supplement in the Sound newspaper. The magazine was names after the ‘onomatopoeic’ which originates from the sound those electric guitars make. Nevertheless, Kerrang was firstly made for Heavy metal and hard rock acts.

Target Audience?

Kerrang’s target audience is near enough 50/50 which shows that this magazine is appropriate for both genres and doesn’t discriminate females and vice versa. The main readers and buyers of this magazine are people aged 15-24. It is very obvious that this magazine is aimed at a young audience. I can tell due to the layout, font which is bright and bold, the presentation of each article and the front page as well as the graphics.

I feel that this magazine specifically chose this audience as it concerns topic and themes that are relatable to people who listen to rock music. Moreover I think that it’s aimed at the youth and their lifestyle. The magazine incorporates adverts which interests then such as gigs and products. It also advertise music companies which as Play.com and HMV.

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Top of the POPs

What is TOP?

Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly published magazine by BBC Magazine. TOP shows chart information, gossip about celebrities, fashion and beauty advice, some quizzes (cross word, word search and spot the difference), posters and song lyrics. This magazine is accompanies the TV show Top of the Pops.

The magazine was launched in 1995 and is known for giving the girl group The Spice Girls their nickname. The magazine was first marketed as the link between NME and Smash Hits. However this all changed and was shifted to what young girls were interested in. The magazine is on-going even though the TV show has been cancelled.

Target Audience?

The magazine is targeted for pre-teen girls. I think this due to the colour scheme they have used. From looking at a few magazines issues, they colour schemes are mainly similar, using pink, baby blue and purples. This shows that TOP is biased towards boys as they use very girly colours moreover they have celebrities which girls prefer more than what boys like to read.

This magazine will appeal more on girls aged 11+ as they’re more interested in this type of magazine than girls. Boys will rarely buy this magazine as it will not interest them as much. Their interests are cars and cartoon such as Ben10 or characters and things like that.

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