Textual Analysis of a Magazine cover

The Masthead is at the top of the front cover which is sticking to convention and is in a bright white font which makes it eye-catching against the dark background. The “u” in music is in italic and could refer to “you” as in the reader, making the experience of reading the magazine much more personalised. The rest of the word “music” is in a relaxed but classical font which links to the classical genre of the magazine overall.

The Splash takes up most of the page which is also a convention, however the musicians name is in a different font style and size to the description of the story, grabbing your attention as it has quite a rustic, worn down effect, giving the impression that this is how the musician plays or is perceived by his audiences.

The main image that relates to the splash of the musician is a Close up camera shot that really emphasises the musician physical features. The image also effectively uses light and dark to create a dark shadow on one side of the musicians face which could signify he is a dark, mysterious man. This links to Halls theory about representation as he is being depicted as this character through various signs such as the positioning of his face, the colour theme of the front cover and how he is staring directly into the, camera which is also a convention. 

He is using a guitar as a prop through Mise-en-scene which emphasises that he plays the instrument, however it is not what most people would consider classical music, and therefore may interest the reader to listen to his music to see if it is more classical sounding than you would imagine.

In the short description of the Splash underneath the musicians’ name positive language is used such as “hero”. This implies that he is a well praised musician, and perhaps well known. Also, around the description of the Splash the words “classical” and “guitar” are repeated twice. This reinforces the theme of classical music being involved with guitars and could be interpreted as the magazines way of highlighting the change of instruments that are usually features as normally the instrument features are violins or brass such as a trumpet, not guitars.

Underneath the splash there is no by-line and no indication of who wrote the article, however this is usually a convention of newspapers and is not so common to be seen in magazines.  This depicts that the writer is not acting as a unique selling point, and is very much not important in this story, instead all the focus is on the musician and his aura.

Throughout the magazine front cover six other Musicians names are featured in subheadings. This may be to interest fans of those musicians and make them also want to buy and read the magazine. It could also be used to boast the reputation of the magazine, as it seems quite a high end magazine if they can feature this many famous musicians in one issue.

Towards the bottom of the page is an image of a bright orange flower. This quickly brings your attention to this section of the magazine towards the fact that a free CD is contained within the magazine. This could also be a way to attract more people to buy the magazine as they will also get a CD out of it, for a good price, showing the magazine is good value for money.

The colour theme of black, grey white and red is a visual code as overall it is very dark, intense and dramatic which is how the musician is portrayed. The colours used portray the audience aim of the magazine is towards male readers, as an overall masculine atmosphere is created. This magazine is targeted at a niche audience of upper class older men, which is made clear by the price; it is more expensive than regular magazines, which upper class people are more willing to pay.

The off lead is highlighted in a different colour to the splash and the background of the cover which may be to differentiate it from other stories close to it. It is also given a considerable amount of space when compared to the other subheadings on the cover, again making it clear that it is the second most important story.

The BBC produces a wide variety of media such as magazines, television programmes and radio stations. This has allowed them to become a widely recognised brand that people trust. The BBC logo in the corner notifies the reader of who owns the company and could persuade people to buy the magazine if they have not done so before, as the BBC is a well-known brand, making people more eager to buy it than if it was owned by a company who they had not heard of before. 


Curran and Seatons theory that "newspapers and magazines respond to reader concerns to stay in business" can be applied here. The readers of this magazine may be concerned that classical music only features the stereotypical stringed instruments for this genre, such as violins and cellos. Therefore to keep the readers interested, the BBC may think it is a good idea to show how guitars still hold a key place within classical music and are still considered an important instrument with this traditional music style.