Genres of music magazine

A music magazine is a magazine specifically about music. Music magazine conventions typically include music news, interviews, reviews and photo shoots. There are many different types of music magazine and the target audience depends on what genre of music the magazine includes. Magazines such as NME include rock, alternative and indie music, this is aimed at a late teenage audience. They also publish new and upcoming otherwise unknown bands. Kerrang is based around metal and punk music; this is aimed at a different audience as the genre of music is very different. Magazines like these use darker bolder colours to appeal to a older teenage audience. There are several magazines in circulation that include these type of artists.

Magazines such as Top of the Pops and Smash Hits include teen pop music and are aimed at children and young teenagers. They seem to be a lot softer on the eye using bright colours and lots of pictures to appeal to the young audience. Top of the Pops magazine is the only music magazine aimed at younger teenagers, so there is possibly a gap in the market to investigate.

The X-factor magazine is different to other types of magazines as they don’t use popular music; they rely entirely on the sales of the magazine due to the television programme. Because of this the magazine appeals to a wider range of ages as there are many different age groups watch the programme.

The genre I have chosen to make is a teenage music magazine. As I am just a little bit older than who I am aiming it at I know personally what I would expect from this type of magazine. I feel there is a gap in the market for this type of magazine as music magazines such as Top of the Pops are aimed at a slightly younger audience than I am look at and there is no real music magazine in circulation that is specifically for this target market. The magazine I intend to research into will express the target market and the music by bright and bold colour and image.