Magazine Survery

 

 

 

 

Rock Sound Case Study

Rock Sound Magazine

The main focus for the magazine 'Rock Sound' is to be 'less commercial' than other music magazines, whilt also giving coverage of well known acts. The main genres that Rock sound cover are Rock, Punk, Metal and Deathcore. 

Publishing Company

The British edition of Rock sound was launched in March 1999 by the French publisher 'Editions Freeway'. The magazine was bought out by its Director 'Patrick Napier' in December 2004. The magazines offices and located in London.

Circulation and History

The magazine had a circulation figure of 15,005 from January to December 2010 auditor by ABC. This includes 10,162 sales in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and 4,843 from Other Countries. 

The same auditing body said the magazine had a slightly lower circulation figure of 14,227 from January to December 2011, with sales of 10,053 from the United Kingdom and Ireland, and 4,174 from Other Countries. The majority of sales come from news trade, with some coming from subscriptions.

      The main rival to the magazine in Britain is Kerrang! because of the similar types of music both magazines cover. However Kerrang! is released weekly and doesn't tend to provide as much coverage to more alternative bands, to new and upcoming bands, nor to the British rock scene.

Year	Circulation
2009	16,374[10]
2010	15,005[11]
2011	14,227[12]

Title Ideas

Ideas for my title came from the bands that were on the front covers, contents pages and double page spreads that I researched and the names of these magazines, these bands were; Black Veil Brides, Sleeping with Sirens and Bring me the Horizon. These bands are the genre of rock/metal or subgenres so it was clear the magazine and title would be about rock/metal.

Genre =

 Rock/Metal

Bands =

Sleeping with Sirens, Black Veil Brides, Bring me the Horizon, My Chemical Romance

Magazine Names =

Kerrang!, Alternative Press, Rock Sound, Metal Hammer

 

Possible Names =

Sleeping, Horizon, Black Horizon, Metal Horizon, Rock Horizon, Sleeping Horizon, Romance, Metal Romance, Black Romance

Double Page Spread - Rock Sound

The double page spread is dominated by a main image of Oli Skyes, the lead singer in the band 'Bring Me The Horizon' which fills the whole left hand side of the double page spread The image usually features a direct gaze to the audience, giving them direct address, this image breaks the conventions and shows him looking to the side and off into the distance, which could represent him as a thoughtful person and there is something good to look forward to in the future, the subheading 'into the future' also hints at the fact that something is coming, the word 'future' could hint at the band could be long lasting.This immediately shows the audience that the article to the right is going to be about him. After the image, the audience will immediately see the band name in a large, white text which stands out against the dark background, which is usually occasioned with the metalcore and gothic theme, by putting the band name there it helps the audience to identify what the article is going to be about, much like the image but helps people who may know the band name, but not the faces of the members. The fond used for the double page spread is quite distinctive with filled in letters making it unique and stand out, the rest of the text on this double page spread is different and much thinner that the heading but is still white which provides a contrast to the black background. The text is laid out in two columns, which is a typical conventions of most double page spreads, it also makes the text clearer and easier to read, for this reason I would choose this double page spread to base mine on. Him looking into the distance may also be because he finds it difficult to talk about him past and can't face the audience directly when talking about this subject 'I look back at the person I was' which tells the audience that he did things in the past he wasn't proud of but doesn't want to continue regretting these mistakes and wants to move on with his life and move forward 'into the future'.

Double Page Spread - My Chemical Romance

                       The double page spread for this magazine is about the band 'My Chemical Romance'. This double page is spread into 3 different sections; a main, large image of Gerard Way the lead singer, smaller pictures of the other band members and two blocks of text. The title for this double page spread is a quote from the band "We're being the best MRC we can be!" this makes it more personal to the band and its members because they said it which would make it more appealing to the audience as they would be interested in what they have to say, the words "we're and we" are written in red to make them stand out and  involve them personally in the title. The subheading 'My Chemical Romance invite Kerrang! to their record studio' this tells the audience that the article below is going to be about this band (if they didn't understand the acronym 'MCR' in the title) this would interest their audience because a record studio would hint at the fact they're making music and may be able to find out more about this and the band from reading the text below. None of the images have direct address to the audience because these pictures were taken at live shows, these pictures could have been used to show their audience that the band are focussing on their live shows, also, the pictures are in black and white which fits in with the colour scheme. The font used for the masthead and subheading is printed in block capitals in white and red which makes it stand out from the black background, these colours are stereotypically gothic and fit in with the magazine and the band. The article is split into two columns of text, this is a typical convention of a double page spread because it makes the text clear, easily readable and more appealing to the audience because it isn't just one big block of text. Overall, the layout for the double page spread is well organised and serves its purpose as a double page spread very well. It follows the main codes and conventions of a double page spread and would be a good example to base my double page spread on.      

Contents Page - Metal Hammer

Contents Page - Rock Sound - Jacoby Shadd

This contents page for the magazine 'Rock Sound' is set out in a clear layout with its features and articles on the left hand side of the page, which allows the audience to see the subject of the contents page. The main three colours used for this contents page are blue, white and black, these also match the colours of the subjects clothing. The colour blue is used for the feature numbers to make them stand out against the black background and white text making it for the audience to identify the page number. The features are in bold, white text which also makes them stand out from the black background, by being in bold text it shows the audience these pieces of text are more important and are used to attract the audience than the smaller, thinner text below. This contents page has only one main image of  Jacoby Shadd to the right hand side of the page, he is faced slightly to the left but still gives the audience direct address. By him bring the only subject of the contents page it shows the audience that there will be a large article about him inside, these is also a quote from him below which makes it more personal and interests the audience as it makes them think and want to know what he is talking about. This contents page is set out very clearly and has a professional look by using only one image, for this reason I would take ideas from this when creating my own contents page.