Market Research 1

Metal Hammer Analysis

Metal Hammer magazine is “a monthly heavy metal magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. It features mainstream and more unusual bands from the wide spectrum of metal music. It is the largest selling metal music magazine in the UK currently outselling Kerrang! and NME and is often viewed as the more underground magazine.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Hammer)

Basic Information:

Name: Metal Hammer

Publisher: Future Media

Release: Monthly

Price: £4.25 (correct as of July 2010)

I shall be analyzing the July 2010 issue of the magazine. I shall analyse the front cover of the magazine, the contents page of the magazine (page 6), I shall also analyse a double page spread within the magazine, I think that as my double page spread will link to my cover page I should use a double page spread relevant to the cover page, hence I have chosen to analyse the double page about the death of Avenged Sevenfold’s drummer and the new album released in his memory (pages 34 and 35), these are all displayed below:

Front Cover

Contents Page

 Double Page Spread

Deconstruction of Features:

Front Cover:

The front cover of Metal Hammer is very dark, this is due to the cover being linked to the death of the featured bands drummer. The atmosphere of the image used is very dark and sad, the subjects of the photograph, who is the deceased drummers band mates are all wearing black clothes which besides being a popular colour within this particular music culture is the traditional colour worn at a funeral. I think this might have been done to create a sense of sadness and to illustrate that the band mates are trying to remember their friends death.

The image that is behind the band of their band mate imposed on the wall above and behind them with wings could suggest that he is ascending to a greater place which connotes religion.

Contents Page:

The contents page of the magazine is very densely populated, it has lots of images, and lot of text. The images are related to the contents pages listings. The use of the most dominant colour on the page, which is a bright red, is used to draw the eye to the important listings and the promotional items within the contents page.

Double Page Spread:

You can identify that the page is a double page spread by the consistency of the background in the transition of the pages, also the font and house style of the textual content is the same, this coupled with the consistency of the images used (lighting and editing is consistent. The division of the text into columns is done using a strip of images of the band. Including both studio images created specifically for this article and images of the band before the death of their drummer, these are archived images which will be bought/ royalty paid to the creator of the image, this is important because of the intellectual protection on images that is automatically granted on creation.

LIIAR Deconstruction:

• Language
• Institution
• Ideology
• Audience
• Representation

Language:

The language used within the magazine is varying, the content of the cover and the contents are similar and they use short phrases, words or short descriptors, this is because they are used to promote and inform not to give a sample of the articles within. By summarizing one page into one or two words you can advertise many pages within the contents and the cover page, this helps the magazine because there is much more of a chance of the reader picking out select articles that appeal to their individual music tastes. The language used on the double page spread is more intellectual and is written in descriptive paragraphs, this is because they have the room to explain and inform on a larger scale. Also the magazine uses quotations and imagery linked to the band and the situation of the article.

Institution:

The institution is reflected within the design and the content of the magazine, the institution is specifically designed to reflect their link to the metal and hardcore scene, it includes contemporary and up to date features, bands and fashions within the magazine, this represents the institution as being up to date and knowledgeable of the subject/ theme of the magazine.

Ideology:

The ideology of the magazine represents the belief that the metal scene is an important one and should be shown as much attention as popular culture. This is shown in the magazine because they seem to only include music and adverts linked to the metal genre, and rather than advertising popular culture it promotes the smaller or more underground products/ services linked to the metal scene. Another ideology must be that new music and musical style progression are the more important parts of music, this is because the majority of articles focus on musical progression or new music.

Audience:

The audience of Metal Hammer magazine is people that are interested in the sub genres of rock including; metal, hardcore, death metal, heavy metal and alternative. This is because the articles included are all relevant to this music scene. The audience could be described as being relatively wide because of the price and release format. The shelf price of £4.25 could be expensive but acceptable to people that don’t work, students and young people, and could be expected by graduates, highly qualified workers and older people. Due to the release type it could be described as being priced accordingly, this is because the magazine includes a lot of content and a lot of promotion. This magazine does not appeal to a particular gender or age, but seems to focus on appealing  to people that like the rock genre.

Representation:

I think the magazine represents that the publisher has a good understanding on the up to date news within the rock scene, this promotes the magazine making it a reliable source of news for many people. It also represents the magazine to be at the cutting edge of technology because of the imagery, digital art and editing used on the magazine.