Reflection Point: What Have I Learned About Independent Music Magazine Front Covers?

From my premlinary research on independent music magazines, specifically RnR and The Wire, I have learnt that each magazine has a house style across all of their editions. The only time the style changes is if they upgrade the designs of the front covers permenantly like The Wire did at the beginning of 2023. 

In general music magazine's front cover conventions are consistent and they are repeated in each new edition. This creates a sense of familiartity with the audience which makes them more comfortable with the brand. The stability of the magazines appeals to the audience and increases the chance of a reader buying another future copy if they like the contents of the magazine; this would lead to the magazine receiving a more steady stream of revenue in a magazine print crisis which they need to keep publishing. 

Each masthead on the front covers is the same design and size but The Wire often changes its colour to fit the colour palette of each edition whereas RnR's masthead is consistently identical. The positioning of the masthead on the front cover is the same as well; it's always across the top of the page where it is most visible to audiences. Furthermore, the typography matches all through the editions because it is always sans-serif font which implies to the reader that the music is modern and new, just like the readers are wanting.

The main images used on the front covers are always of one or multiple people who are artists featuring in the magazine; this follows the magazine's ideology of promoting new artists and giving the reader easy access to underground, non-mainstream music. 

The Wire and RnR both use contrasts of colour frequently used on their front covers to make them vibrant and appealing to the audience. It also serves to attract potential buyers from long distances away and, when surrounded by many other magazines on a news stand, makes them stand out to passers-by. It also draws the audience's attention to specific page furniture, for example, the puffs on RnR promote the free CD that is attached which appeals to readers more because, compared to other competitors, they are getting more for their money. Overall, music magazines uses colour tactically to make the best parts of the magazine, which are designed to attract and appeal to readers, stand out.