Textual Analysis of a Music Magazine Front Cover

Textual analysis of a Music Magazine Front Cover

In this analysis I will identify why and where exactly the different terminology is used throughout this music magazine cover. I have decided to analysis this music magazine cover as I thought it had a unique youthful appeal to it, which made it eye-catching.

The masthead is bold and large font making it stand out from the rest of the fonts. This is a well known RnB magazine called “Vibe”. I believe that its masthead is a connotation as it is slang for the word vibration which was shorted to create a unique youthful magazine masthead.

Something that is really noticeable would be the way that the masthead, the celebrities name and the question “Hot like me” are all in a bright yellow extremely large font. When comparing them to the rest of the text, which is common in a masthead and sub-heading, this is an unusual contrast against the blue dull background.

The lighting on the celebrities shining on her body is high key lighting, as she is clearly visible. Her non verbal communication informs the readers that she knows the picture is being taken (the way that she is posing suggests that she slightly uncomfortable or was told to look over her shoulder). The skin tight costume that Ciara is wearing connotates that she is a sexual symbol which will appeal the male readers into buying this magazine, the fact that her head is covering the a bit of the masthead suggests that this magazine is well known. There is no setting as there is no background, only one created using a computer (this enabled the photographer and designers to choose an appropriate colour to compliment the layout of both Ciara and the text).

Throughout the whole text there is a continuous use of capital letters on each word enforcing the magazine. Another reason why I think this magazine cover is aimed at a male target is that the celebrity names mentioned for example “Young Jeezy (a rapper) and Tar P. Henson (RnB singer)” are both popular black icons.

Above the masthead there is a statement about the succession of Young Jeezy at the UGK Reunited which is an abbreviation of “the underground kings”. Which is also known for their rapping abilities, the term underground is something hidden for example “a crime mob” like written in the text on the bottom left hand side of Clara’s leg. The use of the words “Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me” makes Clara seem like a really over confident woman this is also a well known song lyric from the Pussycat Dolls.“Hot like Me?” makes the audience believe that she is questioning herself as this question is in bright yellow whereas the rest of the statement is in light blue creating a contrast within itself due to the colours used being.

“Why the Native Tongues Fell Apart” I believe this statement is talking about how the English language is gradually dying due to the huge amount of young people opting for the easier use of slang abbreviations. This I found interesting as this was the smallest text used, yet it still appealed the target audience. Whether it is due to it’s unique colour that is making it more eye-catching or the fact that it was the only text in green.

When analysing this music magazine cover I discovered that there was a rule of thirds (one third of the cover is placed exactly on her left eye). Although it does not have any symmetrical or an asymmetrical composition as the celebrity is not facing forward in the middle of the cover this connotates a sense of imbalance, as there is nothing symmetrical (both horizontally or vertically). Also the anchorage indicates that the font used is in a sans serif font creating a modern effect.

New Music, New body, No Bow wow shows that her life has changed for the better that she is healthier and is available. Just below the masthead on the right hand-side there is a subheading telling the audience that there is “31 ways to ball in Miami” this is a slogan that plays on the use of slang terminology and numbers to get the target audiences attention. For example 31 are in a white bold font to grab the consumer’s attention to the following sentence, it is surrounded by a dark blue circle to standout.

In my opinion I believe that the commercialisation of celebrities changes people’s perceptions of the celebrity. An example is the way in which Ciara is dressed that may appeal the younger female audience to follow her and dress in that manner this would be a provocation of the age boundaries of style in that age group. Also the use of more hip hop artists would appeal more readers.