Magazine Analysis: Rock Sound

  Rock Sound is a British rock  music magazine that was first published in 1999. It is a monthly magazine that costs around £3.80.

  The cover features two artists from two different bands that are often associated with each other. In the background Pete Wentz is dressed in dark colours, which contrast with the bright blue that Mark Hoppus wears in the foreground. The magazine is full of contrasting colours - red and black, blue and yellow. This is used to draw the readers attention into the page, making them interested in what has been written.
 The mast head is the largest text on the magazine, however it is placed behind Mark's head, so it shows that the magazine is quite well known as it can be recognised with part of the name missing. The main piece of text is "Blink-182 & Fall Out Boy" as it is the names of the bands that the people on the cover are from. The bright yellow text that is used to draw in the readers attention states "world exclusive!" and "the only interveiw" which would encourage people to read the magazine as it is the only place that fans of the artists can see this interveiw. The red writing in the top left corner reports that there are 3 "free posters" with the magazine which would encourage people to buy it as they are getting more for their money. As Rock Sound is known for selling the magazine with a free CD, this would also greatly improve the chance of someone buying it because consumers like getting a good deal for their money. At the top of the page there is a banner, and in the bottom left corner there is a list - both telling consumers other features of the magazine.
   The layout of the magazine is very busy and un-organised, which is a very common feature of a rock music magazine as it illustrates how there is a lot going on in the sounds of the music and the contrast between that and the clean-cut pop music and magazines that are parallel to that type of music.
   An unusual feature of this magazine is that of the bar code. There is a piture of a female, Luna Coil, holding it up for the audience to see. This is a good way for the magazine to be unique and quirky, as well as getting the image of another artist on the page without taking the focus of attention away from the main artists in the magazine. The bar code features the price, month and issue number, as well as the website - so it used to inform the reader of all the finer details of the magazine without getting it mixed up in the stories.

The contents page for the magazine features two of the artists from the band Fall Out Boy, the main feature of the magazine. Pete Wentz is in the foreground, with Patrick Stump behind him, which is because Pete is the 'face' of the band, whom most people would recognise. They are both wearing boxing gloves and have aggressive expressions, which relate to the pull quote "I have no tolerance for anthing right now" as it shows neither of them are going to be messed with and are up for confrontation if a situation arises.
  The contents of the magazine is in a translucent black box, which allows the reader to both see the entire picture and clearly read the white writing. The page numbers are in red and the page titles are in white capitalised letters, so they are easy to distinguish from each other and the rest of the text. The smaller white writing allows the reader to further establish what will be on each page and therefore encourage them to read on.
  The name of the magazine, date and issue number are in the top right of the page so will make the magazine stick in the readers mind when reading, therefore causing them to remember it the next time they wish to buy a music magazine.

 

   There is just one image of the band on the double page spread, however it takes up almost the whole two pages. This is unlike other magazines that have many pictures of the featured band, but it allows the reader to see a better image of their faces up close. It also encourages the reader to focus more on the artist's thoughts, ideas and songwriting rather than their appearance. The band themselves seem to be dressed in their own clothes and are just in a grassy field, which relates them to the audience more than if they were dressed in costumes in a studio.
   The title of the page is the band name, A Day To Remember, which is written in the bands own font - thereby adding their own touch to the magazine. Before the main body of text there is an introduction which is highlighted with contrasting black writing in a white box. This piece of text tells the reader about the band and what the article will be about. Partway into the main text there is a pull quote which will immediatly attract the readers attention, exposing them to the lead singer, Jeremy M cKinnon's, ideas. This will entice them into reading the article as they would wish to know the context of the quote and what he is talking about.