Music Magazine Sub-Genre Research

POP:

The typical target audience for a Pop music genre magazine is usually aimed at teenagers but their are also some styles suited more for the younger target audience. Pop magazines are also aimed towards young adults which is shown in how Billboard have presented their magazine. Billboards magazine is very simple in how they laid out their information and how they use consistently one main image to present their front page. This differs to the magazine 'Sugar' who have crowded their front page with lots of information presented using different styles of fonts. This may suggest that this magazine is aiming towards predominately teenagers and the younger target audience, compared to the professional lay-out of the magazine 'Billboard'. All of the magazines shown use currant and trending artists which allows the target audience to understand whether or not this magazine links to their chosen genre type and if it appeals to their specific needs. In terms of production value, you would suggest that Billboard has a bigger production value based on the various different target audiences they are able to appeal too. In contrast to 'Sugar' who predominantly only aim their target audience towards the lower age groups.

In terms of layout, the conventions of a pop music magazine typically have one main image in a mid or median shot. This then allows their cover lines to stand-out around the image in a very typically bold, colourful font. Another point to make about the typical lay-out of a pop music magazine is their common use of having a bold masthead which stands-out on their magazine front covers. This connotes the typical conventions of a pop music magaizne becuase of the effect of having bold typography layered on the page which ultimately allows pop music magazines to stand-out.

ROCK:

The typical target audience for the Rock music genre, I believe is aimed towards teenagers, young adults and also the older target audience. The older target audience age range is evident in magazines such as 'Rolling Stone'. Rolling Stone usually use classic rock artist as their main, medium close-up shot on the front page of their magazine. However, they do occasionally use trending artist such as  Jay-Z which may suggest how their magazine targets the teenage and young adult age range. This may also suggest that 'Rolling Stone' magazine has a higher production value than other rock magazines such as 'Kerrang' because their magazine can appeal to various age ranges. Kerrangs only main target audience is in the older age range which effects their production value. The lay-out of the Rolling Stone magazine front page is very neat and appealing compared to Kerrangs which is crowded with information, making it hard for the reader to understand.

The main conventions in terms of lay-out for a rock music magazine is typically a jumbled front page which includes various different cover lines which link to their main image.  Their masthead does however stand-out very effectively. As you can see on Kerrang's front cover, all of their masteheads stand-out very effectively to the target audience. Also, Q's magazines masthead stands-out very effectively to the reader. This allows their target audience to be drawn into their content shown on the front cover of their magazine.

HEAVY METAL:
I believe that the heavy metal music genre is aimed at the older target audience as this genre, I believe is a very old music genre, thust linking it to the older age range. Magazines such as 'Kerrang' and  'Q' also offer Heavy Metal content as well as Rock. This suggest that both 'Kerrang' and 'Q' are predominantly linked to the older are range, even though they offer relatable content to the younger audience because they also present content for Rock. Given that the heavy metal genre predominantly targets itself at older age ranges, you would suggest that the production value for these magazines are reasonably low, however popular magazines such as 'Kerrang' and 'Q' may have a higher production value because they link to various different target audiences.
The artist who are shown on the front cover are usually related to the heavy metal genre. Avenged Sevenfold and Metallica are very popular in heavy metal and are frequently used on the front page of heavy metal magazines because they allow the audience interested in heavy metal to be more attracted as it shows a popular heavy metal band.

The typical convention in terms of lay-out for a heavy metal music magazine is generally quite a 'busy' magazine front cover. Again, like Rock magazines, their mastheads stand-out very effectively on this page more than anthing else. It ctahces the readers eye the most effectively when they first see this magazine front cover. Also, the images on their front covers have a large group of artists centered in the middle of the page. This differs from a typical pop music magazine lay-out which typically features on one artist.

INDIE:
The primary target audience for Indie music magazines I believe is from ages 16-25 plus. Indie style music is frequently shown and presented at festivals where this music genre is most popular. This I believe is evident in how the layout and colour palette is used. The layout used on the front page is very simple, with magazines such as 'Indie' only using one main medium close-up shot with at least one main cover line shown. The colour palette is vey simple with the effect of only useing calm primary colours standing out on a very blunt secondary background. This may suggest that the production cost of Indie magazines are ultimately low. I believe the Indie music genre makes most of their profits from frequent festivals with rising artists such as the Artic Monkeys and The 1975 who are continuing to attract many target audiences with their trending music.

The typical conventions of an Indie music magazine

HIP HOP/RAP:
The target audience of Hip Hop/Rap is becoming increasingly popular with the teenage age range. Artists such as Macklemore, Fetty Wap and Drake are now becoming increasingly popular with the teenage age group. Music magazines such 'Vibe' and 'The Source' use these trending artists to attract the growing teenage target audience. Vibe uses a classic layout of having a medium close-up shot of an artist and most commonly keep their main cover lines and cover lines to a limit. This connotes that they are trying to show themselves as a professional style of magazine. In contrast to 'The Source' who again only use one main image, but use various different fonts to show their cover lines which seems to take over the front page. As a viewer I find their front page complicated and uninteresting. The production value of Vibe compared to The Source you would suggest to be higher because of the professional presentation they have significantly shown to their target audiences and as a reader, I would be more interested in purchasing Vibe than The Source ultimately because of how both of their front covers are presented.