Initial Magazine Research

Before i start to create my magazine, i need a basic understanding of magazines, the genres that they are for as well as the generic conventions. I have looked at a few magazines and found that they all have this in common:

• Magazines always have the issue number on them, this is always around the top by the masthead for the reader.
• Magazines are normally priced between £2.00 and £4.50. This makes them mostly affordable for their readers so they don't spend a lot of money on them, the more expensive magazines are normally released less often to justify the price of them. This means the reader doesn't have to pay £4.50 a week for the magazine.
• Magazines cover a wide genre of music. There is a magazine for almost every genre which means there is a mass audience for magazines to appeal to.
• They are normally released to the public every week, although some are every other week or every month. This means that they can get the best information and articles for their audience.
• Magazines are normally sold in a stand, so the mastheads are normally the thing that catches the audience's eye. This means that the magazine normally has a large masthead which is colourful and spans the majority of the top 3rd of the magazine.
• There is normally a 3 colour rule for the colour pallette in a magazine. This makes them look professional and appealing for the audience. The colours are normally complimentary with one contrasting colour.
• Magazines always have the barcode on the front. This is to make it easy to scan.