Music Magazine Textual Analysis

Rolling Stone is a United States-based music magazine that is published every two weeks. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967. Throughout the 1970s the magazine became known for its political coverage but later changed its format in the 90s to appeal to younger readers. This meant that it often focused on young television or film actors and pop music and it was therefore criticised for emphasizing style over substance. In recent years, the magazine has resumed its traditional mix of content, including in-depth political stories, as well as television stars. However it continues to focus on these features over music as represented in a recent issue which features the young stars of American reality TV show, The Hills, on the cover, rather than a recording artist.

The cover features Britney Spears who headlines with the main title "Britney Returns". The image used represents this as it is not provocative and reminds the audience of the way Britney used to be in terms of innocence and youth. This gives a positive media image which is enhanced by the simple concealing clothing she wears. In contrast, she is pulling down her jeans slightly to reveal a tattoo which hints at her recent lifestyle and the way she was represented in the press. Her new image is presented boldly on this cover and the simple clothing and innocence is reinforced by her smiley expression, which contrasts greatly with recent press coverage of the singer which featured her drunk, knicker-less and bald. 

The cover is employs a conventional layout through listing featured articles at one side of the page. The use of alternating colours helps to separate each headline and make it stand out and is also conventional of magazines. Another convention used on the cover is the location of the bar code to the far right bottom corner. A magazine's bar code is conventionally placed in this position because it is the least significant feature for the reader and is therefore not required to be in a prominent position, noting that magazines are read from top right to bottom left. Again, the magazine has followed conventions in allowing the cover model's head to hide a part of the title. The magazine is prominent enough in the music industry that it is easily recogniseable without the title needing to be fully visible.

The magazine also uses colour-coordination to enhance the overall image of the cover highlight its quality. For example, the yellow font co-ordinates with Britney's hair and luminous skin whilst her t-shirt is co-ordinated with the background colour and the shadow colour chosen for this issue's title. The title is also shiny and silver which highlights the glossy feel of the issue and topic of "Britney's Return". The wording "The Hot Issue" is also colour co-ordinated with the yellow text but is encompassed in a red box. This pillar-box-red is typical of Rolling Stone, whose logo is this colour, and often the title on the cover. The use of it as a box around this text is to dramatize and amplify the use of "hot".

The text outlining the articles uses imperatives which means that only essential words are used. This maintains reader interest and relays the most important information in the most efficient way possible.  The magazine's contemporary use of language is also represented on the cover with the use of the adjective 'skanky', which is a word likely to be used by the core demographic and therefore very relevant and well targeted at the audience.