Magazine Research-Kerrang magazine cover

   First published in June, 1981, Kerrang! magazine originally started out as a supplement in The Sounds newspaper. Yet due to increasing interest in the magazine, it was popular enough to later become independent and started selling monthly. Again, due to a vast increase in popularity, Kerrang! magazine later went on to become a weekly magazine and focuses mainly on rock music.
   Kerrang! magazine, published by Bauer media who own over 238 magazines in 15 countries with a turnover of 1.79 million pound, obtain its name through the onomatopoeic sound of thrashing the strings on an electric guitar.
   When Kerrang! first became popular in the 80's and 90's, the magazine mainly focused on thrash and glam metal yet later discarded this theme when grunge music became immensely popular. This was discarded as well when the phenomenon of Nu-metal became popular, yet this style of music seem to last just a short period of time and Kerrang!'s sales declined in 2003.
    Following this, Kerrang! underwent a dramatic format change in 2003 in order to accommodate and incorporate much more modern and current musical trend. This gave the magazine its readership of 404000 and circulation 43033.
    Kerrang! describes its audience as 'individually minded, independent of thought and musically experienced, an audiences defined by attitude, passion and loyalty.' The magazine is said to be 'where jackass meets PlayStation and skate culture meets iPod,' and appeals to wide variety of people. Yet the magazines main target audience consists of mainly male 16-24 year old with a demographic of CD.
   In order to attract audiences, the magazine works on creating synergy between technological convergence with the use of a variety of different technologies. The idea of having a website, a radio station and a music channels enables Kerrang! to address their audience directly as keep them up to date with exclusive music video previews and even their own music tour consisting of a variety of different acts to ensure that their audience is completely satisfied.

Annotated cover of Kerrang! magazine-Britannia special

    Kerrang magazine also use their cover to convey the content of the magazine and attract their readers.
    The title of the magazine itself is written in black, a bold, dominant colour which is apparent and strong next to most colours. Although obstructed, the title is still visibly clear due to the use of the colour. The font of the title appears distressed and slightly 'rough' looking. The use of such a chaotic font could be use as an insight into what the magazine is about. The idea that the magazine covers rock music and rock concerts could be injected into the title as most rock concerts appear frenzied and hectic as opposed to a more civilised concert which more elder people would attend, therefore the font may be a way to directly address the audience.
   The cover image on the magazine is posed, with a medium shot and the use of pale blue background. It automatically becomes clear that the theme of the issue is Britannia with the use of the union jack, patriotically coloured and English musicians. The idea of a pale blue background enables the image to still fit the patriotic theme yet doesn't fully obstruct and distract from the main focus image.
   The main image itself consists with three stereotypical rock musicians which becomes apparent with the use of an act cover in tattoos, something often associated with rock music. The use of eye contact with the musicians directly addresses the audience and gives a much more intimate feeling with the magazine. Again, pale blue in the centre colour for similar reasons to the background and the symmetry created through the union jacks covering the other two acts creates a sense of structure and organisation. Although the idea of formation and organisation contrast vastly with the idea of chaotic music, it may have been used to convey the idea of obtaining the musical experience, yet through a much more civilised and organised way.
   The main focus of the issue shown is Britannia as the main stories focus on covering English rockstars such as Oli Sykes, Josh Franchesci and Rou Reynolds. The colour scheme used helped to portray this with the use of red white and blue, this helps link the magazine together as it incorporates a running colour scheme. However, Kerrang! usually incorporate a very different colour scheme, black and yellow. This theme is usually associated with 'Danger' signs as it is also used within these. This may have been used to suggest an element of danger with rock music due to how reckless and crazy it can be, this links back to the chaotic and mental atmosphere usually associated with rock music concerts.
    The magazine cover also works of advertising its content to the reader. The use of freebies attracts readers as it enables them to get more for their money, something that any person is unlikely to turn down. The idea of incorporating the word: 'plus,' followed by a list of a variety of different bands, enables the magazine to give an insight into the content without giving too much away as the magazine doesn't actually tell you too much about the story. This element of mystery draws the reader in due to a natural desire to discover.

    The text also incorporates a variety of literary techniques in the headlines to create a wide range of effects. The use of exclamation marks on several headlines enables the reader to detect which of the headlines are considered most important and allow the magazine to advertise some stories in a different way to others. The magazine also uses a range of declaritives stating information is a bold and stand-out way which may have been done to assure the reader of the magazines truth and eliminate any idea of doubt in the stories,