Ideology in Magazines

Ideology in Magazines

Between these magazines there are differences that show the ideology in Music. The 'Kerrang!' magazine, usually associated with alternative music like rock and metal has darker colours and a more rebellious style. The masthead looks as though it's been smashed, giving it that edgy appearance. The cover model, Jared Leto, is punching his hand and looking all rough and hard which is typical of the genre. The colours are dark, usually associated with the genre and also the text is very striking with a spiked bubble at the top with the words 'MEET ALICE IN CHAINS!'. This all fits with what I have previously said about the ideology for rock music, using a rebellious and edgy style. On the pop magazine however, the colours are a lot lighter with hot pinks and teals rather than the black and red seen on 'Kerrang!'. 'Top of the Pops' features Lady GaGa on the front cover with her posed more professionally, whereas Jared Leto on the other magazine looks as if he's trying to act tough and as though he's not really 'posing' for the photo. GaGa looks more like a model posing for the camera. Her hair is all curled and a small bit of her cleavage is shown, typical of the pop genre as they often sexualise their artists a lot whereas 'Kerrang!' has Jared in heavy clothing, with his hands and head being the only visible skin. 

The pop magazine is far more innocent with cover lines such as '1D's cutest interview ever!' which when compared to the other magazines 'Jared Leto's dark side exposed!' really seems light-hearted and sweet. A cute interview with a boy band for the pops magazine, as expected, and a dark, enlightening interview with a lead singer for the alternative magazine, as expected. However, right in the middle of the pop magazine we have 'I'm not body confident'. Again, as I mentioned previously, the pop genre focuses a lot more on physical appearance and sex appeal. In the rock genre, you can get by in your career if you look like an average human being, whereas in the pop industry you must have good looks and a good body as well as a good voice, which is a lot of expectation. Pop magazines also generally have content that expose artists and present them very sexually, as demonstrated in the cover line 'Wow! Aston's private pics! More inside'. Pop music is generally a lot more about the artist these days than the actual music, and many obsessive fans will stalk their celebrity crush and don their bedroom walls with shirt-less posters. However the rock industry focuses more on the music itself and the artists lives rather than their six-packs. 

The content in the magazines is mostly similar however pop magazines generally have a lot more light-hearted pages about celebrity gossip and quizzes as well as fashion. The 'Top of the Pops' magazine has a quiz on 'are you a flirt failure?' again talking about romance and making people feel insecure. It also has content on '103 new trends', again, something unrelated to music. When we look at the 'Kerrang!' magazine, all of the cover lines are linked to music and the artists.