Textual Analysis of front covers

The 2 front covers are Kerrang! and Q. They are both published by Bauer Consumer Media. Q is published once a month, whereas Kerrang! is once a week. Q is more of a collectors magazine, where as Kerrang! is not one you would keep for a long time. Both Q and Kerrang! have a radio and TV channel.

This cover of Q magazine was published in April 2009

• Price in corner, it is expensive, they put it in the corner to hide it. This is balanced out by all the big numbers they put on, such as '25 GREATEST ROCK MOVIES'


• Names of bands and Lily Allen in biggest font - want to make a point, make it stand out


• Plain background, so words stand out


• Blue arrows against the words- draws attention to them


• All the font is the same - not busy, simple, eye catching and easy to read quickly


• Maybe aimed mainly at men? Lily Allen isn't wearing very much, and the 'wicked ways' ties in with the panther on the cover, and also has sexual links, the lack of clothes. This may be copying men's magazines to draw the target audiences attention.

The next magazine is Kerrang! It was published in May 2007.
Mast head - 'Kerrang!' the font is very bold, the word looks cracked. this may link to loud music shattering something. Also, the black word against the white background creates a great contrast.

Cover lines - Biffy Clyro is the biggest cover line, it is more obvious than the masthead itself, obviously they want the readers attention drawn to that.
With the picture of Biffy Clyro, because of the pose the tattoo on his hand is more obvious, this is just a minor detail that adds something to the image making it more interesting. Also, another cover line, or caption that is linked to the article of Biffy Clyro is ''unfold the puzzle of life' this may link to one of their albums, which is called 'Puzzle'.

There are banners on both the top and bottom of the cover. The top advertises tickets, anyone reading the magazine will be interested in music and want to go see it, so this will draw them in. The banner at the bottom is like a film strip, this seems to be a common trend with magazines. There are photos of bands which are probably inside the magazine. there is also a slight amount of detail, which helps to incite people to read inside.
Also, 'Free! Poster Special' is in bold writing and backed by red, and as this cover is mainly black and white it stands out even more.
The price is small and at the bottom by the bar code. 'Kerrang!' is a throw away magazine, you read it but do not keep it for long, like a newspaper. The magazine is quite expensive for this type of magazine.
Like Q there are bold and big things on the cover to draw the readers attention away from the price
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Mojo, December 2008,

Also a magazine produced by Bauer Consumer Media.

The only colours used on the front cover are red, black and white.
The big picture is of Leonard Cohen, who is a singer-songwriter; he has a very serious expression, indicating that it is a serious magazine. Also, the font is very simple, except for the “Music magazine” which is an old fashioned, classic font. The fact that it is only black and white and very simple, and that Leonard Cohen is an older artist that young people may not have heard of could show that it is aimed at older people.
The masthead is in a bold font, but behind big photo, which may suggest that they do not want the reader to notice this first, however, it makes it hard to actually read the title of the magazine.

Also, the most popular and important things are in a red font, so it is the first thing that we notice. Also, the words are things like “the devil” which fit in with the red and evil feel of it. The first thing you see when you glance at the magazine is the red writing, his face, and then the offer in the top corner, which is also in a very obvious red.