Codes and conventions are what make up something and are the key to creating an item. In this case I will be looking at the codes and conventions of a music magazine. I will be looking at what magazines use as a way of creating a magazine that shows how it is of the music genre and style.

1.      Mastheads: The masthead is commonly found at the top of the magazine. In a music magazine it is generally the name of the magazine or the logo of it, in this example “Rolling Stones” would be the masthead. The mastheads are always in a bold and easily visible font which relates to the music genre (e.g. rock would be a dark coloured font).

2.      Headings, subheadings and tag lines: Heading, subheading and tag lines are nearly always on a music magazine. Headings are usually used to link the main image and to let the reader know what it is about. In this example Shawn Mendes is the main image on the magazine, so to follow this the heading is of his name. This lets the reader recognize who is on the cover. They are written in certain fonts which match the characteristics of the person in the image. Although headings are recognizable and clearly visible, they generally never over power the masthead.

There is no subheading in this example, but these are found underneath headlines and will mostly be a short sentence or phrase to get the readers attention to the story.

Tag lines also draw in the readers attention and are generally very short so that they can be read quickly. The can link to the main article and headings and subheadings or can be used to advertise something else (e.g. a special addition).

3.      Coverlines: Cover lines are mainly found at the left or/and right hand side of the page on the font cover. They are used to tease the reader by giving them a short insight to what may be in the magazine. It can also give the reader a general idea of what the magazine is about (in our case music) as the cover lines may give an indication of who the stories involve (such as musicians or singers). Therefore the audience can guess this is a music magazine due to what the stories are based on.

4.      Taglines: A tag line is usually placed above the masthead yet does not overpower it. It is used to attract attention by either stating that the magazine is a ‘Special Addition’or that there is a interesting story in the magazin. It is also used to make the magazine sell.

5.      Color Schemes: Color schemes are quite imortant when making a music magazine. They can be used to make a magazine look feminine or masculine (which would be beneficial if you wanted to aim the magazine at a particular target audience). Color can also set the genre of music that the magazine is aimed at. Black and white are commonly found in every magazine, along with one othwe color. Red is also a common color in magazines as it is a neutral gender color. Music is mainly targeted at any age group or gender, thereforethe color scheme should suit bith genders and all ages unless it has to be specific to either. The color also adds to the overall aesthetic of the magazine. If it doesn’t look good people won’t want to buy it. Too much color can cause the magazine to look messy and hard to read, so no more than 3-4 colors are generally used.

6.      Buzz Words: Buzz words are words such as ‘free’ or ‘plus’. They are used to draw the reader’s attention and to make them want to buy the magazine. If someone is getting something for free or extra information added from the magazine they are going to feel more inclined to want to buy it as they will feel it is more ‘value for money’.

7.      Subsidiary Images: Subsidiary images are used which may also get you to look at the magazine, especially when well known images are used. These images may be used as a back up if some of the others do not appeal to the audience.

8.      Basic Information: Basic information is always needed on a magazine. This information usually consists of a bar code, issue date and price. If the price is quite expensive compared to other magazines, it tends to be smaller. Whereas if the price is cheaper or on a special offer it is usually made more visible so that people are more interested in buying it.

9.      General Layout: The general layout of a music magazine can be used to identify what genre of music the magazine mainly focuses on . For example Q magazine has a very formal and simple front page as it is a general all round music genre magazine. Whereas Kerrang! tends to have a more edgy rough look because it mainly consists of heavy metal or rock music.

10.  Background/main Image: The background of the magazine is usually plain for basic pages. However the front cover is generally a large picture of a close up of a person that is featured in the magazine or who has a main story in the magazine.