Conventions of a Music Magazine (Mojo)

The title block for "Mojo" is probably the clearest component of the magazine to identify: it’s in large capital letters and stretches across the length of the front cover at the top of the magazine, the colour fluctuates depending on the image and genre the magazine’s covering that issue, and usually there’s a sell line in small italics however, on occasion, the sell line is left out (this happens in the case of a special issue). The readership by and large tend to know what the title block looks like and where it will be so, as in the case of  other musicmagazines like "NME", occasionally the image on the front cover overlaps or merges with the title block for either aesthetic purposes or to bring extra focus to the image on their cover.  

 The image of an artist or a band exists, obviously, to inform the readership of what they can expect to find in that issue, but also to further help translate the magazine’s identity to the reader (arguably the masthead also does this). The image varies from issue to issue since Mojo cover both contemporary and retro music, from the Beatles to the Smiths to Radiohead and beyond. The image is almost always of an established artist and is usually male, but there are plenty of exceptions to this.

 In order to build up a following, the components of the magazine are constant from issue to issue and this enables the creators of the magazine to develop and establish the magazine’s identity as well. Mojo offer reviews, interviews, articles, free material about a variety of artists usually found under the general bracket of alternative pop and rock both past and present, but they also cover established rock and pop acts. In the magazine you can also find gig dates. In terms of a target audience I’d say Mojo is aimed at men aged from about 28-55 who tend to be quite cultured and usually middle class. Being a reader of "Mojo", studying the bands covered, the type of music covered, the style of photography and the feel of the magazine on the whole, has led me to this conclusion.

 
The images on the front cover are usually pretty much typical of music magazines: crisp and clear medium close ups with the artist/artists facing the camera, but from time to time the magazine veers away from this format, opting for a cover with a change of shot size and style. These can be concept driven (the cover at this link is a good example of this: http://cover.mojo4music.com/Item.aspx?pageNo=1661&year=2001 ) and are usually ’artsy’; the reason for this change up is to bring more attention to the subject on the cover and to make the magazine stand out from competition on the shelves; the image is also usually an extension of the band’s image. I intend to discuss this particular example of cover work in more detail in due course.

The contents pages in "Mojo" go across two pages and are quite simply made. The masthead is present but smaller. White space is used effectively and photography dominates the section with a small column of text to aid the reader’s navigation, but by and large the captions with page numbers under each picture do the same job but in a more dynamic way.

There are a few very generic facts that can be said about the majority of "Mojo’s" double page spreads (the exceptions to these rules usually correlate with the issues where the front cover veers away from convention). The title is usually a good deal larger than the rest of the text, presumably to draw emphasis to it. There tends to be one large photo and then several smaller ones, but of course this changes frequently and a variety of arrangements can be seen in every issue. The central binding feature seems to be the use of white space, the fact that the font is small and black and clear, and that the set up neatly coincides with the rule of thirds.

I now have to decide, studying these conventions, what I want my magazine to be like. I currently have no idea as to an audience or a genre/subculture I want to focus on, but I want to create something that I’d want to read, something that rocks the boat these conventions are resting in, just a little.