Research and Planning: Analysis of a music magazine double page spread

Here I am going to analyse a double page spread from indie/rock music magazine, Q. The magazine article is about Shakira.

Target Audience

Gender
This double page spread would appeal to both male and females.

Age
The magazine is fairly sophisticated and uses more mature and sophisticated vocabulary, such as 'predatory' and 'collaborators', so is aimed at older readers, possible between the ages of 16 and 28.

Lifestyle & Interests
The people reading this magazine will be people earning their own money, or studying in higher education. They may enjoy going to gigs and may spend a lot of their free time listening to music and some reading music magazines, like this one.

Magazine

Layout
The layout of this double page spread contains a large picture at the top. The picture takes up most of the page and is the first thing that the reader looks at, drawing them in and encouraging them to read the article. Underneath this is the actual article, which is laid out in columns, and includes an enlarged quote which would further encourage the reader. The colours in the image are linked to the colour of the backgrounds, shapes and texts in the article.

Genre
The genre of this piece is indie, and is an appropriate link to the rest of the magazine.

Image
At the top of the page is a large image of Shakira, leaning on a recording desk. She looks confident, and this is reflected in the article, which is about how much she is enjoying making her new album. It is very important that the image and how models are portrayed matches the story that comes with it.