Research

After researching different genres as on my mind map below, I decided that I would further research into rock music magazines, as these are the ones that I found most interesting and also proved most popular to my target audience.












Kerrang! is a rock music magazine published by Bauer Consumer Media. The name refers to the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar, which makes it onomatopoeic. It's genre is mainly rock/metal and covers all the sub-genres related to this, such as grunge, punk and folk. The target audience is young people aged 16-25, who are more specifically interested in rock music. The colours here are mainly bold: red, black and white, which reflect the magazines loud music genre.

Q is a music magazine which is produced by Bauer Media Group. It's genre is more general than most magazines, being mainly modern alternative music. It is aimed at an older generation, such as people in their 30's, which we can see from the sophistication of the format of the magazine. The audience want to know more about the actual music rather than things like celebrity gossip (that would be featured in magazines such as Kerrang), which usually would appeal to a younger audience. The magazine was originally going to be called 'Cue', however it was changed to 'Q' due to possible confusion with it being a snooker magazine, plus a single lettered title is thought to be more prominent on news-stands. The colours used are mainly red and black, with extras sometimes added (like blue). This conveys simplicity and attracts the older target audience by making it look professional and more sophisticated than other magazines.