Music Magazine research- Uncut

Uncut magazine is a monthly music magazine based in London that mainly focuses on genres such as Americana, rock and alternative country. They mix having old and new bands/ artists on the cover to bring in a younger audience. This is Uncut’s ideology as it varies as to what artists are featured in the magazine although usually both old and new artists are featured every month.

The main image of the magazine is The Beatles. The image is a play on The Beatles’ classic album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. On the cover of the album are various pictures of famous people from when it was made in 1967 so features such famous faces as Fred Astaire, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe and Laurel & Hardy. However in this version, Jay Z, Eminem, Freddie Mercury, Jimi Hendrix, Thom Yorke and Morrissey are included to show the diverse change in music in 2009 compared to 1967. It is effective because it is one of the most recognisable album covers ever so customers will know what it will be about. It also includes a free CD that includes artists that inspired The Beatles.

Near the top left hand corner the coverline “All you need is… The Beatles” is a play on their own song “All You Need Is Love”. By using this, it instantly tells the reader who is on the cover without them having to look down to see the main image as it is one of their most well-known songs.

The other coverlines about all-new interviews and reviews include typical Uncut bands, in other words well-known and classic bands, such as Pearl Jam, Rolling Stones and The Stone Roses. This fits in with the ideology of the magazine of the rock genre as well as representation of its audience.

The masthead is in white to stand out over the colourful front cover. However, it is only partly covered so the reader can understand the name of the magazine. This may be because Uncut is not as widely available as other music magazines.

The dateline and price are across the top of the magazine, above the masthead, and has always been like this. The barcode is right in the far bottom right hand corner so it is not in the way of the main image.

Uncut’s target audience is middle-aged men from 25-45. This is portrayed in the representation because of the bands featured which tend to be older guitar bands, as well as some newer ones.

The institution of Uncut is IPC Media who also publish such magazines as In Style, NME and Now. Again, it produces a variety of magazines as well as specialist magazines. Their purpose is to make money as it is commercial. This means that it contains adverts and the content mostly concentrates on music and movies.