Magazine case study

There are many things that you can say about a magazine and its history. How it has developed, how it uses technology, the relation to the audience, the advertisers and the funding. The music magazine that I am analysing is called Kerrang.

History

Kerrang was first published on the 6^th June 1981. At first it focused on the new British Heavy Metal movement but later broadened out to other types of metal and rock. It rose in popularity in the early 2000’s and became a best selling music magazine.

The rights were sold in 2009 to the Bauer Media Group who overlook the publication of the magazine.

Content

Kerrang features articles about bands and events, usually in the metal or rock genre. There are a few articles about bands in each issue, upcoming gigs and news about what is happening. The feature article is always shown on the front of the magazine and will be the most recognisable from far away. The feature articles are usually a double page spread but sometimes they can span over 4 pages.

There are also other smaller articles included in the magazine; some of these will be advertised on the cover, but not all due to not enough space. Other sections include letters sent in by readers, gig reviews and what is featured next week.

Demographic

The magazine is mainly marketed towards teenagers of both genders. The market is more niche than other music magazines due to the type of music inside isn’t listened to by the majority of people. The writing style fits in with the demographic of the magazine.