Example of Metal

This is a song by a well known and highly respected band, Metallica. They are a metal band that have been performing for over 20 years and therefore are a good example to use for the genre that I am studying.

Introduction

Introduction to mediastudies blog.

In this blog, you will find updates on the work and research that I am completing on the music magazine subject. The genre of music that I am studying for this is the genre of metal.

Here you will find examples of music magazines that I have been researching and videos to give examples of what you can expect to see from the genre.

Magzine Cover Analysis

Music magazine front cover.

The music magazine I am looking at is Metal Hammer, it is a magazine that focuses on the genre of metal and gives readers updates on what bands are getting up to, and things like festivals that relate to the genre.

In order for the magazine to look suitable for the genre, the text used is bold and stands out, the positioning of the title of the magazine is also always at the top of the page. Showing the template used for the magazine. Every issue also has a main image usually of a band or a band logo, this would instantly attract fans of the band on the cover. Other bands names are on the cover to go along with the main image, this again will attract fans of these bands and will encourage more sales of the magazine.

The image on the cover presents the audience because a band that fits into the metal genre is shown each time, people in the audience who like the band on the cover would automatically recognise the sort of magazine and would be wanting to buy it on these terms. The articles advertised on the front cover usually include interviews with bands, normally on the subject of new material or performances coming up and ones that have already been, this gets the audience interested because fans will want to be up to date with what is going on with their favourite bands.

The magazine is priced around the £4 range. I think that this is the case because it is a monthly magazine so you get a lot of content for the price because of the time between each issue. In a lot of the magazines there are also free things in it such as posters or actual CDs. This would mean that the audience would be willing to pay this amount for the magazine because you get a lot for what you are paying for, particularly a music enthusiast. I think this price is also acceptable because the magazine is of a high quality and often advertises features with very popular bands such as Guns N Roses, Metallica and Slayer. These will all be very well known with an audience that enjoy metal music and advertising articles on these sorts of bands will increase the popularity of these magazines. I would happily pay £4 for this magazine monthly as I enjoy this genre of music and interviews with my favourite bands would interest me enough into wanting to buy this magazine.

The covers that I have looked at for this magazine has given me ideas for my own choices when creating my magazine, the idea of using a main image across the full cover is good because it is a bold advertisement for the content of the magazine which I think is effective on audiences that like whatever band I out on the cover. It is also good because it is also an advertisement of the genre of the music that my magazine focuses on, so that target audiences know what it is going to feature strait away. I also think that the bold title is a good idea, it also gives the magazine a house style that is good for brand recognition, the fonts and colours used could be used as a trend for the magazine so that it stands out from similar companies. Another good selling point of this magazine was advertising free items with the magazine such as the posters but I didn't find any with stickers for things like guitar cases which I think the audience would like, so that would be an idea o follow up to encourage the audience to want to buy my magazine.

The newer issue of the magazine also shows a lot more information on the cover and contains the free items which are a CD and poster. Whereas the older issue is a lot more basic and does not give a lot away. In order to see further into how magazines change over time it would be a good idea for me to look at even older versions of the magazine and to also look at the most recent copies of it, this is a way for me to compare how the company has changed it's view and how the magazine has changed its selling points in order to attract the target audience.

This is an issue of Metal Hammer from 2007. It shows a main image of an artist featured in the magazine and is obviously an icon of the genre. The cover also advertises articles that are featured in the magazine as a selling point towards the audience. The cover also shows how the title is unique for the magazine, giving it a house style. This is good because it gives the magazine a brand recognition for its font, meaning that the magazine will be recognised just for the style that is shown.

The magazine also offers a free CD and poster, more selling points that are advertised on the front cover as part of the selling point that goes along with the rest of the articles shown.

This is an issue of the magazine from May 2012. As you can see there are various differences to the magazine compared to the 2007 issue,but the layout is fairly similar. Although the design of the logo has changed, the positioning has been kept the same, and so has the idea of a main image. The selling points are also very similar.

Magazine Terminology


Slogan - Motto.

Pugs - Placed at the top left and right hand corners of the paper and are known as the 'ears' of the page. The price of the paper, a logo or a promotion are often positioned there.

Masthead - Name of the magazine.

Copy - The main text.

Strap Line - Memorable phrase that is recognised to a brand.

Banner - Text, which stands out because it's on a coloured background.

Lead - The introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold capitals.

Buzz Words - "Wow", "Exclusive", "Free" are all examples.

House Style - A magazine's distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors.

Puffs - Colourful boxes promoting features inside the magazine.

Headline - main story in a magazine.

Drop Capitals - Really big letter, which starts off an article.

Caption - Description of an image.

Anchorage Text - The way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of an picture and vice-versa.

Sell Lines - Text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience.

Roots of music genres: Metal.

The roots of music genres.

Music genres evolve over time. In most cases music evolves to fit in with what sort of thing is popular at any given time by public audiences. Music also evolves in ways that artists experiment different combinations of instruments to see what fits together to produce the best music. During the late 19th/early 20th century, music was commonly a way for labourers to keep themselves working at a certain pace and to make time go quicker for them. This is where the genre of Blues comes from. Blues then went into Jazz to form Rhythm and Blues. And this, when mixed with the genre Country, evolved into the genre called Rock n Roll. The genre I am going to focus on is a sub genre of Rock n Roll, this being Metal.

Rock n Roll is a music genre that formed in the early 1950s in the US. In the beginning Rock n Roll still seemed to fit in well with Jazz, but through the 60s, 70s and 80s Rock n Roll evolved even further into genres such as Punk Rock and Metal.

Metal formed around the 70s when artists decided to add more speed to their material, creating a completely different sound. Artists also created this new sound by using a more distorted sound, along with extended guitar solos and overall looudness. The first metal bands on the scene were the likes of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. To begin with these bands were very popular and still are to date. Metal in itself has remained pretty consistent and artists stay popular for long periods of time. This is why Black Sabbath are still performing after 40 years in the music industry. Bands such as Metallica are still very popular worldwide.

As music genres do, Metal again has evolved into sub-genres such as Death Metal, Metalcore and so many others. Again mostly artists changing sound by introducing new features suck as 'scream' vocals and further guitar distortion, along with different drumming techniques.

Metal Hammer, Kerrang and Revolver Magazine are some examples of magazines that you can pick up in the shops to gain information on current metal bands and what's new in metal music.