Music Magazine Front Cover Analysis

The Masthead 'Q' takes up around 1/9 of the front cover, this symbolises a well known music magazine which has been around since 1986. Brought out in order to engage a generation of older music consumers. The letter Q is a single-letter title which is more attention-grabbing on newspaper stands, it catches the eye with its contrasting white on red colour scheme - which enables consistent buyers to spot it easily. The masthead has not always been red, up until 1993 Q magazine decided on a white on red colour scheme in order to represent itself as a unique music magazine and also to its audience.

< Old Q Magazine Masthead.

Q Magazine is well known for compiling lists - '50 Gigs you must see this decade' is what Q magazine is most famous for as shown in the puff on the right hand side. 50 is a popular number to Q magazine, for example the Q50 is published in every edition. Therefore this magazine has its own specialist audience.

The puffs (other information set around the main image) stick to the same colour system white, red and black. Which contrasts nicely with the main image of the dark crack in the floor - this portrays 'The Prodigy's' ideas and personality which is shown through their music and what they are generally famous for; being slightly extreme and rather disturbing. The appearance of the band represents the underground rave scene which they have emerged from. Lots of costume make up, extreme hairstyles and clothing is why the prodigy are so well known and loved by ravers not mentioning the 20 million albums they have sold word wide. They are loud (as shown by the screaming man on the front cover) and they basically appeal to those who love big beat music. The title 'the PRODIGY' is all in block capitals - which shows the main focus of the magazine, it's also in red which is eye-catching and it contrasts with the white backdrop. The main man is prominently shown at the front - so all eyes are on him. This is called depth of field. The main focus has been isolated from the background in order to represent the band. The Prodigy are also a Moral Panic famous for raving and encouraging drugs - this is a concern to society today, they are folk devils who need controlling as they portray a star image, in which the younger generation copy.

In addition the puffs show all contemporary bands and soloists - with the main interviews set in bold, black in order to grab the readers attention, with a mixture of different groups on show on behalf of people with different tastes in music aka Lily Allen, Kings of Leon and Green Day - who all produce different styles of music.