FOUNDERS|PRODUCER
OF KERRANG!...
Kerrang! magazine was foundered by GEOFF BARTON, it is a UK-based magazine all about rock music, it is published by Bauer Media Group (same company that publishes Q magazine).
COST|AMOUNT OF TIMES IT IS PUBLISHED...
Unlike Vibe and Q magazine, Kerrang! is published weekly and was first published on JUNE 6TH 1981, (way before I was even thought about, it still stands as a top competitive magazine). It now cost £2.20 for one magazine.
TARGET AUDIENCE...
The target audience was 16-25 year-olds (particularly rock music fans). Although over a period time the age of the target audience dropped to 14-17 year-olds (teens who tend to buy the magazines due to the featured bands on the front cover portrayed to much 'cooler'. Additionally the older years began to see Kerrang! in a different light, some saw their obsessed with rock music and being an emo as a faze and grew out of it. According to a website called journalism - 'complaints were received about Kerrang!'s sudden emphasis on emo and metal core music. The magazine continually printed issues with My Chemical Romance on the front cover several weeks, following the release of their album (The Black Parade) causing a slight alternation in readership figures'.
SELLING POINT...
A selling point of Kerrang! is the format of which they present they magazines. Their format aims to appeal to both genders, the hard rock and the metal ionic male bands on the front cover pulling angry faces or violent expressions appeal to the male audience, while the use of male bands on free pull out poster appeals to the female audience. Another point is that they involve their readers into their magazines, THE PAGES OF LETTER|DRAWINGS AND PHOTOS|COMPETITIONS etc all gives the readers the opportunity to respond and share their own opinions. Also Kerrang! gives away £50 worth of music vouchers for the letter of the week - this kind of interactions makes the audience feel not only involved (with the publication) but like feels like they are being sold more for a cheap price. Additionally because Kerrang! has other factors to it except from being a music magazine, it is also a RADIO STATION and TELEVISION CHANNEL, Bauer Media Group are able to promote Kerrang! through both TV and radio station which maximises their sales.
KERRANG!'S CIRCULATION...
The circulation for Kerrang! magazine is 43,033
THE COVER...
THE CONTENT PAGE...
The content page of Kerrang! has a variety of images, to draw the target audience in, The dominance of the images are clearly shown along with the advertising information shown throughout the magazine. The images featured are images that they believe would be of interest to the target audience - well known bands such as Time Low .
The word CONTENT stands out on the page as it should, the SANS SERIF font and vibrant colour YELLOW contrast greatly with black background. Below the content page their you have the information of what issue number it is, and the cover date, the reduction in the size of text shows that it is not that important in regards to the advertisement of the content page.
The words 'KERRANG! THIS WEEK' is the same size as the word 'CONTENT', showing the equality in advertisement, at the same time underlining that Kerrang! is published weekly. Also in order to make the title Kerrang! be significant in the content page, they changed the colour to white (which contrasts greatly with the black background) - it is to remind the reader what magazine they are reading. The colour palette BLACK|WHITE|YELLOW is used continuously throughout the magazine (the majority of Kerrang! magazines have this colour palette) moreover this identifies it as Kerrang!.
The main image featured is of a well-known multi-talented man called ROB ZOMBIE, he is known for his film directing|producing, being a screen writer and musician. ZOMBIE being known in the media-industry makes him relevant to the magazine, as he links with many of the topics the target audience would enjoy reading. The image's mis en scene shows the effect of the image being de-saturated. Even though the image is in an black and white tone it still captivates your attention. You can tell from the facial expression, as he looks down at his guitar, his passion and love for music. However there is no direct connection between the subject and the reader, this is not needed as the intensity in the subject facial expression makes up for that, and draws the audience in. Another way it draws the target audience in is because it juxtaposes with the white background. The dominance of the image is still shown even though their is two images overlapping it.
On the bottom right of the magazine there is a editors column white a close-up shot of the editor's face, which engages the reader. The editor's column is informal and quite personal - her signature signed at the end of the column implies to the reader that written by her and her only, additionally it tells the reader that her name is NICHOLA it includes her opinion on how she edited the magazine, the interviews she had with the featured artists|bands along recognition of people who made the magazine work. Her facial expression is subtle and welcoming. Having the editor's column is very important because it gives the target audience an insight on the people working behind the scenes of Kerrang!.
The rest of the content page is made up by the main article and the featured articles. All features have been organised in order by number. The highlighted words neatens up the magazine, as it shows structure and helps the reader to identify the different sections. All the bands displayed in the magazine is highlighted in the content page, for the readers to see it straightaway without having to read through the whole content page. Also all the bands listed are well-known bands moreover the more known bands are featured the more reader would be willing to purchase. For it shows the popularity of Kerrang! and their variety in bands.
Also in the centre of magazine there is a blink 182 poster, advertising tickets to a concert. This encourages the reader to purchase the magazine, for they would have hope of winning the tickets. Below this is a list of known bands|artists, connoting to reader, as the images are of importance to them. Direct addressing is used in the GOOD CHARLOTTE image as positive facial expressions and welcoming, happy hand gestures. Also Kerrang! uses black stars to help the reader easier identify the article the want to read. Additionally just like majority magazine there is a subscription box which increase sales.
In my opinion I think the Kerrang! content page is vibrant attractive, many might see it as a successful page which I must agree with. The combination of promotional gifts and a variety of images really makes the page interesting.
AMOUNT OF PAGES|ADVERTS.
..
In this issue of Kerrang! magazine their are 64 pages, out of that 47 are adverts, this showing that adverts take up majority of the magazine. These are two of the biggest adverts found on the inside cover and the last page of the magazine. Both adverts advertise music, the 'KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES DIRT' advert is and advert which is promoting the release of a new upcoming album called Dirt by a band called Kids in Glass Houses. The other advertisement is from a website called play.com and it is about a sale that they are having on their products. Their products range from CDs|GAMES|GAME CONSOLES to CLOTHING. The adverts take up one whole page which is quite expensive to publish but the cost is made up from the company wanting to advertise in Kerrang!.
Also in the magazine there were adverts from HMV, PETA and CHILDLINE, these are all adverts which relate to the target audience. For example the HMV adverts is for readers wanting to buy CDs from featured bands in the magazine, the PETA advert is about animal rights and it promotes musicians which support their - e.g. Tommy Lee of Motley Crue. The Childline adverts being advertised in Kerrang! is a brilliant idea, because large proportion of teens read Kerrang! magazines moreover it being advertised in Kerrang brings about more awareness. Additionally PS3 games their adverts which appeals mostly to the male target audience. Their are also GIGS adverts such as GREEN DAY|BOYS LIKE GIRLS|READING & LEEDS FESTIVAL|YOU ME AT SIX and online ROCK CLOTHING SHOPS adverts such as GRINDSTORE.COM|LOUDCLOTHING.COM
