Front Cover Textual Analysis 03

[Image from: http://www.getloadedinthepark.com/images/news/209/DJ%20Magazine%20-%20July%2009.jpg]

'DJ Magazine' (shortened to 'DJ Mag in the masthead') is a monthly U.K. Magazine, dedicated to Electronic Dance Music. I have chosen to analyse this front cover because the magazine has a different musical genre in the ideology when compared to the other two I have chosen. This means that there will be more variation in my research.

• The masthead (almost entirely blocked out by the main image, showing only the word 'DJ',) consists of the conventional colour scheme of red, black and white. Unlike the other front covers I have looked at, this one has more aspects of the institution in the masthead (despite the name of the magazine/company) as it has the website on the side, instead of in the bar code. This is good, as people who mostly use the Internet may have hard of the website and not the magazine, so they will recognise the magazine from the web address, and, if a person doesn't buy the magazine, but are still interested, they can go on the website increasing their chances of returning and purchasing it.

• The main image features two male models, both making eye contact with the camera, who are posing with the prop (sunglasses) in such a manner that they appear confident. Their clothing is representative of what the target audience of the magazine think of as 'cool', (differing from clothing featured on the Kerrang! and NME front covers, as the target audiences like different genres of music, so will prefer different fashion styles). The brighter colours on their clothing choices are more reminiscent of the upbeat, happy-sounding dance music featured in the magazine.

• The main cover line (red, black and white colouring,) is related to the musical act in the main image, and the normal cover lines are all relative to other musical acts of the same/similar genre. They are relating to acts well known on that music scene, but they may not be well known to other people, that is why the main image and cover line stands out very well, as they need to be noticed by the intended audience.
  

• There is a bar code and price, (as it's a commercial product,) the price being slightly more expensive than the other magazines analysed, as the magazine has a slightly smaller target audience.

• They also advertise free items with the magazine. This is clever as it would entice people in to buying the magazine for the free remix song, especially if they are interested in the musical act who made it.

• It also contains information about festivals and live music, which, it being a dance-music magazine, will be important in the ideology (such as live DJ music in nightclubs), so it will be an important aspect of the ideology.