Analysis of professional Mazagine Front Covers - Mixmag & DJ Mag

The cover of 'Mixmag' is typical of a dance music magazine. The masthead is displayed at the top which is just like other similar music magazines of this nature and of 'Mixmag' itself as the font style is the same every issue and is usually the same colour, which is white. This is 'Mixmag's brand identity which for their target audience is easily recognisable as being official. The font design is quite bold and simplistic. The dot of the letter 'i' in the masthead is stylised as resembling a CD. The name/title 'Mixmag' is a clever and stylistic combination of 'Mix' and the other being 'Mag', which is a common abbreviation/term for a magazine. The 'Mix' element of the title/masthead suggests and refers to DJ's who mix tracks together which is common in the world of dance music and the clubbing scene. This is confirmed/reinforced in the tagline above the masthead which states that the magazine is about dance music as it reads 'The world's biggest dance music and clubbing magazine'.

The main cover star (In this issue of 'Mixmag' the cover star is 'Chuckie') is displayed in a posed picture on the cover. The title of his name is displayed in bold and in red on the cover which is anchorage to a picture of him which lets the readers know who he is and what he looks like. He is very prominent as he takes up nearly the whole cover of the magazine and is dressed in typical trendy clothing (for example, the DJ 'Chuckie' is wearing sunglasses inside, his leather jacket, his hair is cut and groomed and he is wearing a fancy designer wristwatch.) His body language suggests he is in the music industry as it is typical of the genre as his arms are folded and his head is angled displaying a cool attitude.

The coverlines in 'Mixmag' are positioned at the side of the cover at both sides of 'Chuckie'. they are bold and clear and complement the colours of the masthead and stay true to the colour scheme of the cover.

At the bottom right corner of the front cover of 'Mixmag' there is a barcode which all magazines must have on the cover for retail use, the price, the issue date (month and year) and the official 'Mixmag' website.

Another magazine I have studied is 'DJ Mag'. The cover is also typical of a dance music magazine. The masthead is displayed at the top left which is just like other similar music magazines of this nature and of 'DJ Mag' itself as the font style is the same every issue and is usually the same colour, which is red with a black stroke. This is 'DJ Mag's brand identity which for their target audience is easily recognisable as being official. The font design is quite bold and simplistic, but differently the full name 'DJ Mag' is displayed in yellow font inside the post of the letter 'D' in the logo. The logo itself is a abbreviation of 'DJ' which stands for disc jockey, and the other being 'Mag', which is a common abbreviation/term for a magazine. This is confirmed/reinforced in the tagline is this case it is below the masthead which states that the magazine is about dance music as it reads 'Living and breathing dance music!'. This time above the logo, is details of the free CD that is included with the magazine and is attached to the front cover. also the web address, this time is just below the 'DJ Mag' logo.

The main cover star (In this issue of 'DJ Mag' the cover star is 'Rusko') is displayed in a posed picture on the cover. The title of his name is displayed in bold and in red on the cover with a thin white stroke on the outside and also is larger than the title of 'Chuckie' in 'Mixmag' and the letters in 'DJ Mag' are transparent. This title is anchorage to a picture of 'Rusko' which lets the readers know who he is and what he looks like. He is very prominent as he takes up nearly the whole cover of the magazine and is dressed in typical trendy and casual clothing (for example, he is wearing a hooded top with a cartoon style logo. His hair cut is ruffled and sort of messy and he has a short beard.) His body language and facial expression suggests he is quite silly and mischievous as he is scrunching his face and clenching his hands.

The coverlines in 'DJ Mag' are again positioned at the side of the cover at both sides of 'Rusko'. they are bold and clear and complement the colours of the masthead and are different to the 'DJ Mag' logo colours as they are white.

At the bottom right corner of the front cover of 'DJ Mag' there is a barcode which all magazines must have on the cover for retail use, the price, the issue date (month and year) and also the issue number (508). This is different to 'Mixmag' as there is no issue number.

Both magazines have free CD's which are incentives that persuade readers to buy the magazine. The CD in 'Mixmag' is of the cover star 'Chuckie' and the CD attached to 'DJ Mag' is of 'Micky Slim' who is a different artist to 'Rusko' who is the 'DJ Mag' cover star/featured artist.

'Mixmag's cover is more glossy and seems more professional than 'DJ Mag' which looks more informal. The price of 'Mixmag' is £4.20 and the price of 'DJ Mag' is £3.95. The logos, the taglines, cover stars, coverlines and the free CD's all contribute to giving the target audience an idea/impresson of what the magazine would be about (dance music) and is typical of the codes and conventions of a music magazine.