History of Billboard Magazine

The magazine on the left is the very first issue of Billboard magazine, which was published in 1896. However Billboard magazine didn't become very well known until 1936. It is clear that Billboard magazine has gone through some dramatic changes since the establishment. By looking at the first edition I can see that the target audience is probably for people who are a lot older because the colour scheme and imagery used isn't suited to a young audience. Also, it looks like Billboard magazine first came around to be an advertisement base for concerts and fairs etc. and not a magazine about music artists themselves as it says 'A monthly magazine for advertisers'. Over the years Billboard have changed their content and target audience to fit with the times. This was mainly because of the development of the jukebox industry during the 1930s, Billboard started to publish their iconic idea; the music charts. Originally there were only three specific genre-specific charts: Pop, Rhythm & Blues, and Country & Western. In the 1950s it introduced a section covering the television industry, including ratings charts for programs. It continued to carry news of fairs, carnivals, theme parks and other outdoor entertainments until 1961 when these departments were spun off into a new weekly magazine.

At the start of 1961, The Billboard was renamed Billboard Music Week. The publication was now devoted almost entirely to the music industry, with some coverage of coin-operated vending and entertainment machines on its jukebox pages. The title was changed to simply Billboard at the start of 1963. In 2005, the magazine and its web sites were repositioned to provide coverage of all forms of digital and mobile entertainment.

Comparison of Music Magazines

These are two very different music magazines aimed at completely different audiences, and this is why I have chosen to compare them as they represent different parts of the music industry. The Top of the Pops magazine on the left has a very stereotypical target audience of young teenage girls and therefore includes stereotypical content such as female role models, like Katy Perry. Also it includes male artists and boys who young girls would consider to be 'hot', for example where it says 'Super Bods!' it shows hot, young boys that would appeal to girls and encourage them to buy the magazine. Also the colours used on the magazine are high in contrast and are 'funky' which is what young teenage girls look for. When I was younger I used to love the contrast of blue and pink and they were my two favourite colours, this is the case for a lot of girls today also.

Top of the Pops magazine is very different to Vibe magazine, mainly because of the target audience. However the content and images are also very different. The genre for Vibe magazine is rap and urban music such as RnB. This would appeal to older teenagers who used to listen to RnB when they were younger, but mainly boys because in general boys listen to more rap music than girls do, but this doesn't mean that this magazine won't appeal to girls. The colours used are quite neutral, like the white with the strong contrast of the red making it attract attention to the target audience. It is clear that the target audience isn't young people because of the content which is mentioned in the feature stories. For example there is 'iconic cars' and 'sex symbols'.

The style of the two magazines are completely different, and the fashion sense in both magazines are also different. The Top of the Pops magazine has singers and artists dressed in pretty, bright clothes which young girls would love to copy and style themselves like. It also has lots of pictures around the outside to get girls excited about reading the content. However Vibe magazine is quite basic and it shows that the chosen target audience don't need over exaggerated colours and fonts to attract them. Even the clothes the featured artist (Kendrick Lamar) is wearing aren't eye catching, just a white shirt with a gold watch, however this creates a contrast and along with this creates a sophisticated and professional image. Also Vibe magazine only has the main feature photo on the front. This is all this magazine needs to get the target audience to pick it up and buy it. However Top of the Pops likes to cram as much content on the front as possible for their target audience to see, so they know the information inside is going to be interesting and worth buying.

Another thing that is completely different in the magazines is the facial expressions of the artists. Katy Perry is smiling which is a stereotypical facial expression for young girls, and it shows that this magazine contains exciting and interesting information. Also Katy Perry is a role model to many young girls and she needs to be shown in a positive way so that the target audience can take away the positive influence. Because Vibe magazine has an older target audience, things like the facial expression and clothing aren't important, this is mainly because older people have usually established who they are and therefore don't become easily influenced by images, like especially young girls do. On the cover of Vibe magazine Kendrick Lamar has a straight facial expression and he isn't expressing any emotion. This may be because of the genre Kendrick Lamar is, he is a rapper who generally speaks about crime and violence and his facial expression, plain clothes and gold watch all play a role in expressing his music.

Analysis of Music Magazines

This is Billboard magazine, it is a popular music magazine about the charts with a target audience of older teenagers who enjoy listening to pop music.

The colours on the magazine all revolve around the vibrant red colour of Rihanna's hair. Having a darker background creates a strong contrast with the red hair and automatically draws attention to biggest and most important part of the cover. Red and Yellow are two bright colours which help create this contrast.

Rihanna's gun tattoo relates to the words 'The Re-Reinvention of Rihanna' as it's a James Bond theme writing style. Also 'Re-Re' is related to Rihanna as she refers to herself as 'Ri-Ri'.

Red is the main theme colour on the magazine and it also links to the feature stories listed down the side. For example, 'Bull on Parade'. When you think of a bull, red is the main associated colour, the same with 'Killer App Summit', the word 'Killer' makes you think about the colour red relating to blood. The lighting of this magazine is generally dark with one main bright colour, red. This would be because red is the colour that relates to Rihanna really well and she is the main subject on the cover.

The fact that Rihanna's head is on top of the main title of 'Billboard' could suggest that she is chart topping at the time of this issue release, or she has just released a new song.

This issue of Billboard is featuring Lady Gaga as the main subject. She has bright purple hair which creates a light contrast with the background making the colours very appealing to the target audience.

The title 'Billboard' is in black as it's a very contrasting colour with the neutral purples and this is the part of the magazine which catches the eye of the readers and allows it to draw in attention. The colours used also are fresh and new relating to this new issue. Thirdly the colours are consistent and bright which reflects the pop genre and the only anomalies are the blue and yellow colours in the title 'Billboard'. However on every issue 'Billboard' has two, strong contrasting colours in the 'a' and 'd' of the word. This is  a constant feature for 'Billboard' and is how they make their magazine different from the other music magazines.

Lady Gaga's hair is the main attraction of the magazine cover, it's big, bright and in a unique style. This reflects the sort of person she is because she does lots of weird things that you see and hear about in the media and press. Also Lady Gaga likes to be centre of attention and she likes to do things first, and it's an unusual thing to see somebody with purple hair, especially with it made into a bow. It's not only Lady Gaga's hair that is unique, she also has a very strange fashion sense and wears clothes that nobody else has seen before, just like the outfit she has on in this image.

This is Top of the Pops magazine, a magazine which is targeted at an audience of young teenage girls. This is further emphasised by the glittery pink title and the different shades of pink throughout the cover.

TTOP magazine try to include lots of interesting topics to keep their target audience attached. For example one of the feature stories is about One Direction and Justin Bieber. The majority of young teenage girls love listening to pop music and are obsessed with male singers like Justin Bieber and One Direction, so including people like this keeps the magazine relevant to the target audience and therefore makes them want to buy future issues.

The bright pink and the black on the front cover creates a strong contrast which the eye is naturally drawn to, and because these are young, fun colours it attracts the young target audience to it.

This magazine is also very popular with it's target audience because it includes huge pop artists such as Jessie J, Lady Gaga and Rochelle from The Saturdays. These are all role models to young teenage girls who they want to be like and dress like, this is why there is a feature story about dressing like Rochelle for a small amount of money. This magazine also offers advice about the stereotypical things which young teenage girls go through which is another good asset to the magazine encouraging this audience to buy it.



This is XXL magazine which mainly features the rap genre. In this issue Lil Wayne is the main subject on the cover and inside this copy. Again the colours on the magazine are very consistent and black and red reflect and describe rap music very well, deep but passionate.

The colours on the magazine also reflect the genre as they are quite violent and 'in your face' which could be seen as intimidating, a bit like rap is if an outsider listens to this genre.
The intimidation is also emphasised by Lil Wayne himself, he is a controversial artist who a lot of people like but a lot of people are unsure of, his pose also adds to this. However using intimidation isn't to scare people away it's a way of drawing people in because the strong contrasting colours intrigue them, and this isn't seen as intimidating to the target audience, stereotypically older teenage boys. However rap is an open genre which is for whoever wants to listen and be involved in it.

Although the name 'Lil Wayne' is big, it's transparent, this is showing that Lil Wayne is a big world wide artist who doesn't need his name to be highly recognisable. Also 'Still I Rise' is a song by Lil Wayne, but it could also mean that he is rising in the charts and becoming more and more popular.

My School Magazine

This is my school magazine which I created about life at sixth form. However in this edition there are pages about the lower school.

I decided to base my magazine around sixth form life as it is like a separate school from the younger years and not many people know what happens in sixth form, and in this magazine it has lots of information about what sixth formers do during the day and  just general advice to help anybody with study.

I decided to keep the block colours neutral to allow the writing to draw in the readers' attention, and I think that using red and white does this well.

In my magazine I wanted to include information about house competitions to keep the healthy competitiveness that the school has and give the readers something to talk about with their peers. I also included debates about topics that students would be interested in and have a lot to say about, for example school uniform.

I also think it's a good idea to include things like exam tips because it's a really important thing that everyone goes through at the end of school, and getting help and support with exam stress will really benefit people in the rest of their school life.

Finally, not all the information in the magazine is about school, there is also pictures from prom which people can look at and follow a link to buy online.

Plan for School Magazine

Analysis of School Magazines

The title of the magazine is "The Kings School", this represents the school as a whole and tells people that the magazine is about the school and what goes on during the day. The magazine is called "The Kings School" because it's the name of the school and it's just simple and convenient to have a name that everyone will know. 

The main subject is a school student and he is standing in front of the school building in his own clothes. When you first look at this magazine, the fact that he's in his own clothes draws you to the cover, and then draws you to the words on the side "UNIFORM the debate it on", this then answers the question as to why he is controversially in his own clothes. The main subject is also standing in front of his own schools building which adds to the relevance of the magazine.

One of the feature stories is about exam stress and tips to help you succeed. This is relevant to the school because this magazine issue was obviously released during exam time and it is something that the older years would want to read to help them through their exams. Another story in the magazine is about the prom and probably includes pictures of people from the prom which is something that I think students would want to see.

The lighting on the front cover is very bright and appealing and the attention is on the main subject in the centre. However the clothes that he is wearing contrast this as they're not bright and appealing. Which tells me that there is interesting content and debates in the magazine. The colour red is used on the sections of the cover which want the most attention, for example "only 80p!" is in red to draw the attention to the customer. On this type of magazine the connotation of red is excitement and a feeling of power, for example with the words 'New!". I think that on this magazine the red represents power because this is written by school students who have the power and freedom to write their view points.

On the front cover there are all the typical codes and conventions for a normal magazine which you would buy in the shop. There is a big title at the top, a barcode, issue number and catchy enticing words to draw you into the magazine. The font used isn't very consistent however I think it represents school and the students in it and emphasises again, the power they have over this magazine. I think that the font used for the bar along the bottom is a good style for school students, it's a swirly interesting font which could reflect the content of the magazine and the creativeness of the students and the school as a whole.

This school magazine is called "FFH" which stands for "Further Faster Higher". This is obviously a sport magazine for a school and it talks about the PE department and all the sports which people have been participating in, and what is happening in the future. The title is very positive, and the fact that it has been abbreviated makes it catchy and easily said. I think they chose this choice of name because it gives off positive vibes and it's short and sweet and represents the success of the school.

The image on the front are of the school netball team who are smiling, this again adds to the positive vibes that the magazine clearly wants to portray. The image appeals to the target audience as they're of similar ages, and maybe they're students' friends on the front which would mean the magazine would definitely appeal to peers.

The feature stories are all about what is going on in the Sports Department and what is going to be happening in the future with sport or anything to do with the school, like trips and clubs. But the school obviously specialises in sport and are very proud of what they do.
I think that this magazine has a good colour scheme which attracts the necessary attention from peers and fellow students, but also it would interest fellow teachers and also parents. I think it's good that the magazine has a wide target audience because it means that everyone is included in the magazine, and the topics and content have a relevance and interest to everybody.

The magazine also includes typical codes and conventions of a normal shop magazine, it has a bold title, slogans and the issue number. It has also put the contents on the front which I think is a good idea because it grabs the audience from the very first glance, they don't have to look inside the magazine to know what it's talking about. I also like the font because it's very consistent and practical, which is something that opens this magazine to a wide target audience. If the style of font was swirly and "child" looking, it would attract the attention away from older people like parents and teachers. But the fact that the writing is practical and consistent means that this magazine is suitable and interesting for anybody.

The title of this magazine is "Harlow High" which I'm guessing is the name of the school. I think they decided to choose this name for their magazine because it's simple and easy to remember and reflects the school, the colours used also represent the school as they're probably the colour theme for the school logo. This makes the magazine look professional as it all ties into the school and represents it in a good way.

The main image on the front of the magazine is a picture of a boy and a girl, this would appeal to the target audience of students as it is their peers and the content inside will probably be relevant to young people. The fact that there is a boy and a girl on the front portrays the mixed school in a positive and friendly way as it shows them getting along and helping each other.

The feature stories are mainly about exam results and upcoming events. The fact that the magazine has the exam results on the front means that they are proud of what they've achieved and again, it portrays the school in a good way as it shows that "Harlow High" is a good place to be, this is also shown by the word "High" and represents the really good exam results and could represent how good the school is as a whole.

This magazines main colour scheme is black and yellow, I think this is because the theme for the school logo is also black and yellow, so it's good that the magazine has kept consistent with the school. I think the colour scheme works as the colours are a contrast and naturally draw in the readers' eye, and once the initial attention is grasped it probably won't be lost. Also the font is very interesting a swirly, which emphasises the fact that the audience is the young students in the school, and the font makes the magazine appeal to them.

This school magazine has lots of codes and conventions just like a shop published magazine. It has a bold, catchy title, a big logo, issue number and date and feature stories. However the only thing that this school magazine doesn't have is a barcode.