Market Research Into 3 Existing Magazines (Double Page Spread)

Billboard Magazine

Language

On this double page spread there is no masthead, which is something that they need in order to engage the audience and grab peoples attention. The main focus on this double page spread is the images, and there are four. One is of Lady gaga at a festival in America, the other three are from her Monster Ball concert, these images are bold and make a clear statement. There is a quote that is in pink writing which makes it stand out more than the rest to give the audience and in site into the interview, but it doesn't really catch your eye straight away. The text is normal and plain which is good, as you don't want fussy text when your reading a full long interview. There is also a small circle/bubble design around the page which doesn't make it not look so formal.

Institution
Billboard are the institution, they create the magazine and also publish it. They are a chart website/radio show in America and they are always up to date with the latest music.

Ideology
The ideology is to try and get the audience to want to know more about Lady Gaga and actually read the interview and enjoy it. Also the whole point of the double page spread it to make the audience want to buy the magazine, so if this isn't good then they wont want to buy this magazine again, as this is the main focus point.

Audience
Again, It depends on who is on/in the magazine, Lady Gaga would attract around the 16- 25 range but if it was someone different this could change. Billboard are a very diverse magazine and they seem to suit most people.

Representation

This double page spread is showing Lady Gaga at her recent concert and at a recent festival so new is being represented here, because Billboard are all about whats out now and whats going to be future hits so doing this double page spread means that Lady gaga is popular at this particular time. They also wouldn't pick someone who would represent the magazine in a bad way as people wouldn't want to buy it, so this double page spread is representing the magazine in a positive way, as its showing a popular artist.

To me, this is a bad double page spread, by doing this research and analysing it, its made me think differently on how I'm going to do my own. I think its too simple and needs to be more bold to be the main focus in the magazine

NME Magazine

Language
On this double page spread, there is an image of Lily Allen on the right hand side, the background is plain white and there isn't much a colour scheme as the colours are mainly black and white. The headline looks like it should be out of a newspaper and the font really stands out, and is bold. The introduction to the article is in italics and makes it more noticeable than the rest of the article which is quite boring. There is no design around the article which also makes it more boring. The way Lily Allen is posing, shows that she is tell you something, and have a engaging talk with someone and trying to get a point across. The font all seems to be on the left page and the image all on one right page, this means that when people are flicking through the pages, you will instantly see Lily Allen first and it will make you stop and read.

Institution
NME and IPC Media are the institutions, IPC are the ones who print the magazine, and NME are the one who publishes the articles and stories. They both are very popular and IPC don't just do music magazines, they also do other genres of magazines, like children's and fashion.

Ideology
I think that message been put across here is that she wants to tell you something, and shes not afraid to, there is also a message that she wants to try and make a stand. The image works really well with the headline. Shes going against what shes put in the headline, shes posing as if she is an attention seeker, which makes people want to read on.

Audience
The target audience is for people who usually like Lily Allen, so girls around the age of 15-30, she widens her audience as quite a lot of people like her, boys like her too but not to the extent of girls.

Representation
I think that she is representing power in this spread, she also is posing in a rebellious way, which is something that the magazine usually focus's on, and they usually have bands and artists who are quite rebellious and they usually smoke and drink.

To me this is quite a good double page spread, its really simple but so effective, it makes me want to read the article and if I was flicking through the magazine, I would notice it and it would make me stop.

Q Magazine

Language                                                               On this double page spread there is an image on the left hand side of the page, and on the other there is a full article, there is also a header in bold red writing, this stands out and makes the artist stand out to people who don't know who the artist is. There is an introduction in bold writing, this makes is easy for people who maybe might not want to read the whole of the article, get a better idea what the article might be like. There is also a bold R at the beginning of the article which also makes it stand out to people. The image is of Rihanna with a megaphone, this shows she trying to tell people something about her music or whats shes feeling.

Institution

Bauer Media are the publishers who print off the magazine, Q are the ones who write the magazine, and decide what images and what stories go into the magazine. On this occasion they have picked Rihanna

Ideology

The message is that shes angry and she wants to tell the whole world about it. The megaphone makes it more clearer on what she is thinking in the image. Megaphones are also something that make you loud, so this is been represented in the magazine, they always do artists who are always producing loud music.

Audience

16-25 year old girls would be the target audience, boys also like Rihanna but the majority are girls. Q magazine is a magazine more for boys though, so to get the target audiences attention for this spread, they would have to show that there is this interview on the front cover.

Representation

As I said before in language, she is representing power and being loud and outspoken.

I love this double page spread, its formal but at the same time, it makes an impact and it would make me read the article and the rest of the magazine. I might do something like this in my magazine, depending on what my front cover turns out like.