Research Analysis

After analysing three different music magazines, I have found the conventions used to create a successful front cover, contents and double page spread.
The Front Cover- The masthead of the magazine should be wrote either on the top left of the magazine or right across the top of the page. If it is for an Indie magazine, the masthead is usually short and maybe an abbreviation. The front cover of my magazine should include a main image which is the main focus of the page. This conventionally should be a medium close-up of the band or singer. The main cover line should link to this image and be wrote in big writing, also if I am doing an in Indie style magazine I have found that the important writing is done in capitals. Other cover lines should be wrote in smaller writing but in the same font as the main cover line, and often surrounds the image. It should also have a date line, issue number and bar code, as well as main colour scheme which will continue on through the magazine. When choosing the colour scheme I should make sure that I choose the colours carefully to put across the message I want to represent in my magazine.
Double Page Spread- A double page spread of a magazine is usually made up a big image of the band/singer, a big head line and then an article about them. The image could either take up the whole of the two pages, with a neutral background so that the article can be wrote on top, or take up the whole of one page and have the article on the other. The headline is usually wrote in big writing and can take up half a page and be in capitals. Also, the headline should link to what the image is showing. It should continue on the colour scheme from the front cover and the main headline colour so that it makes the connection.
The Contents Page- The contents page needs to have a main image that takes up quite a lot of the page, from my research it is usually on the right side of the page. On the other side of the page is where the contents are listed, usually split up into sections and headed with sub-titles. 'Contents' is often written at the top left of the page, above the listed articles. Also the name of the magazine and the date is put here. At the bottom of the page an advertisement, magazine information or review might be places.

From doing my research I have found that there is different conventions used in Indie music magazines to Pop music magazines. Also that there is not many magazines that cover both the Indie and Pop music genres, so my magazine will fill a gap in the market. The main target audience of my magazine will be both genders of the age group 16-24.