Textual Analysis of a Music Magazine

Textual analysis of a Music Magazine

This magazine denotes a mid shot colour photograph of Oli Sykes. Oli Sykes is the singer of the popular rock band “Bring Me The Horizon”. Oli Sykes is renowned for his numerous eccentric tattoos, which are displayed and rather emphasised in this photo, particularly the skull on his left hand. The background is all grey; thus not taking any attention away from Oli Sykes. There are two puffs, one saying “The Uk’s biggest gig guide” Whilst the other says “Most revealing interview ever” The denotation of this picture is primarily coloured photographs and letters. It shows a 15% off deal for Oli Sykes’ very own clothing brand along with an image of the poster that comes complimentary with the magazine.  The Kerrang! logo is shattered and directly above the logo lay another remind of the free drop dead clothing discount card.

The shattered logo represents the heavy music along with the attitude of those who listen to the heavy music. It shows the devil may care attitude of the readers whilst connoting a sense of being hardcore. Other logos of softer music magazines have fully intact logos, and the readers dress more clean and listen to cleaner music, we presume they act in a far less rebellious manor as opposed to the readers of Kerrang!.

Oli Sykes in covered all in tattoos once again showing the carefree attitude of a rock star. His hair also conveys a feeling of rebellion as long hair on boys is not always permitted in certain cultures. Half of his face is covered by his hand, showing the audience his skull tattoo. Only a rock star would be permitted to get a tattoo on his hand, connoting that he feels he can do whatever he likes, he is his own boss. His entire NVC puts forward the idea that he does not care, whilst somewhat concealing his true self by covering half his face.

The fact that half of his hand is covered by his face supports the tagline “You don’t know me”. It represents that we only get to see half of him whilst the other half is hidden from the public. However the tagline also persuades people to buy the magazine due to Oli Sykes’ fan base there is a large amount of people who would love to get to know him in depth. The tagline suggests that there is an entirely different person inside Oli Sykes, behind all the hair and tattoos. This also connotes a feeling of misunderstand, which is something many rock lovers may face. Misunderstood people may turn to this “angry music” as refuge; it essentially plays their feelings through guitar, bass, drums and singing. The second tagline “Rock’s most controversial star bares his soul” would be enough to entice huge amounts of people. This interview is heavily hyped up all over the front cover. One of the puff’s say “Most revealing interview ever” putting more emphasis on this interview.

Further enticement would be the discount card for “Drop Dead”. If people are interested in Oli Sykes and interested in his music, the chances are they will be interested in his clothing. It is excellent marketing as there is nowhere else more suitable to advertise his clothing brand than a magazine doing a front page spread about him. Even the name “Drop Dead” connotes a care free attitude, taking death lightly. Drop dead is a saying commonly used to those one dislikes, many people who listen to this genre of music may be criticized and a saying to use their disproval may be “Drop Dead”.

The background is entirely grey, not drawing attention away from Oli Sykes. I feel the grey is used to connote a sense of uncertainty as many people who read Kerrang! and listen to the music made by bands in Kerrang! are maturing and maturity brings a sense of uncertainty. They have broken through the threshold of mainstream music in an attempt to become an individual, and are uncertain as to where to go in the future.

Further enticement is the mention of other bands. People are persuaded to buy music magazines by the bands/artists that are mentioned on the front cover. In fairly bold letters, used to draw attention, both Green Day and Rammstien are mentioned. The Green Day tour is mentioned which both persuades people to buy the magazine, and advertises the tour.

The colour scheme is fairly colourful with a great use of the colour red, which I feel is appropriate as it connotes a feeling of anger and love. Something Kerrang readers may be struggling to express. For instance, colours such as green or blue would not be suitable as those colours connote peace. Kerrang is about many things, but peace is not one of them, red helps signify the mayhem lies within Kerrang.

There appears to be a strong emphasis of identity in this cover. On the poster at the bottom right hand corner we see Marilyn Manson and to his left and to his left we see Behemoth’s Nergal. Both these artists are infamous for their use of make up; which conceals their identity. I feel this connotes the idea of not being able to show your true self, a dilemma many readers of Kerrang and listeners of Rock face. This helps identify the readers with the magazine and bands, Kerrang’s true selling point.