Music magazine research

Music Articles!

http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/home_index.html

This website is a music magazine, online. It has a common style, so it's much easier to use. The advertisements are on the side, along with the links to other sites such a Facebook and Twitter. The banner is on top with the navigation bar underneath. This makes it seem very professional. It has a bulletin board on all the latest news, in the middle so that's the first thing you'd see. All the main headings, are in a red background, with white writing. There are a sequence of stories, which change after a few seconds. This way, you can choose the top ones. The stories have a mixture of images, juxtaposed to them which makes it easier to relate. The pictures are a bit bigger than the text, and so it grabs the reader's attention and makes them read the latest stories. I would use the way they advertise their goodies and their votes. Also, where they place different topics, so for example:

• Interviews
• Blogs
• Competitions etc.

http://www.spin.com/

I like the way that the background is simple and black. The effective colours such as red and white, stand out. The main headings are big, bold and white which shows up well against the black background. E.G: ARTIST OF THE YEAR: DEATH GRIPS. The layout is made up of very dark colours, such as:

• Red
• Black.

If I was to do a music magazine online, I would use the simple colours, the layout (nav. bar, banner, etc.), and the way everything's spread out reasonably. Also, how much they add, for example:

• The number of photos
• The concerts just taken place
• Best artists.

http://www.the-fly.co.uk/magazine/

This magazine's very unique to other music magazines. The banner's very simple- black and white. It's got it's own cover line - "Britain's#1NewMusicMonthly." This is effective, as the other two websites didn't have one and so it also makes it look professional. There are a number of options on the navigation bar, which leads to different pages of interest on the website. 'The Fly" has it's latest issue as the first storyline on the front page. This attracts the reader, and helps them keep up to date with what stories there are in the magazines. Also, there's a whole list of the previous issues, with pictures. This is smart, as the reader can, again, keep up-to-date. The latest issue consists of:

• 'Cover Story'
• 'Onestowatch'
• 'Features'
• 'Reviews'.

It even has competitions and tickets you can gain, which intrigues the reader as concerts are extremely popular in the 21st century. On the side of my magazine, I could have a 'How to Sign-Up' area which tells you how to sign up to my magazine via email etc.