Metal Hammer Magazine Analysis

1.  Publisher: TeamRock
2.  Published: monthly
3.  Editor: Alexander Milas
4.  Circulation: 35,259
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6. A music magazine discussing bands and artists performing in the heavy metal industry. This is given away in the magazine title, as well as after the editors’ note- “Stay Metal”.  It includes many interviews with artists/bands, posters, comic strips, Q&A’s with readers, adverts and a free CD. This makes readers want to buy this magazine as it has their favourite bands, their own words that they’ve sent in which makes them feel excited, new bands to try and a free CD is fun as you don’t have to spend money on trying out new music, even though people download music a lot more commonly nowadays. Word based- lots of reading. Some people like this sort of magazine, others may prefer more visual features.  Masculine feel due to colours of red, black, grey and white, maybe suggesting violence, dirt, blood etc. The fonts are also very wide and basic/similar throughout making the colours, quality of writing and photographs the main thing that catches the readers eye the most in this magazine.
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8.  Pages have a messy and scratched effect giving off a dangerous, dirty or rebellious feel to the magazine reflecting the stereotype of this genre of music.
9. There is an editor’s note in the contents, but we don’t get personal, as there is no photo, no opinions- just suggestions and what’s inside the mag. (Contents page is very long- about three pages worth. Set out easily to read- equal amount of words and photos.)  The language is very professional throughout, but the odd swear word will come into it. Not suitable for children!  This magazine is suited for teenagers +, but there is a comic strip which gives a younger feel to the magazine. I don’t feel like many parents would want their children to read this magazine, as the magazine gives off a rebellious feel due to the fonts, scratches, language and photos. I think this magazine is suited for teenagers due to the rebellious content and rough language used, as some teenagers are stereotyped to act like this sometimes. 
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11. There are many images relating to the texts, as the majority of the articles in this magazine are reviews/interviews with certain bands. There are many images of the artist’s album covers as well as photo shoot images. I think that there are album covers to push sales as there are always new bands trying to get their content out there. There’s also some artwork throughout the magazine, eg. at the start there’s an image of a man with spikes on his arms standing outside a mansion screaming, as well as a drawing of a skeleton holding a cigarette with a halo behind it as if it’s a god. This gives a rebellious feel to the magazine as it’s heavy and intense as well as making us readers aware of the genre this magazine is talking about.

1. Front cover is simple- black background, a celebrity mid shot in the centre of the page who is looking angrily straight at the camera with his arms in a cross shape with his fists clenched. This makes him look tough and rough, giving the impression that this music genre or magazine is also violent. There is anchoring text mentioning the band’s newest album and what they’ve been up to recently. This is linked to the image because he is the front man of the band mentioned. There are also small amounts of cover lines only on the left hand side of the cover. I think this magazine cover is simple because it is obvious what genre of music this is due to the colour scheme, name and artist on the front, and this magazine’s name “Metal Hammer” is partly covered by the band member, suggesting that this magazine is well-known. What draws readers in is the text saying things like “Free posters and CD” as people are getting value for money. It also has little text which makes the readers actually read what’s on the front. It also uses band names which might make a reader pick this up as they may like that particular artist/band. It also says “New albums” which is good if people want to see what’s new out there and if they like it or not.
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4. There is a Bar code at bottom left as well as displaying price of magazine at £4.75 which I feel is expensive for a magazine. I think it’s set at this price because of the high quality of paper and the amount of pages (over 110). However, there are about six or seven adverts which are more than I’d think for the price of this magazine, but that’s not many ads in comparison to other magazines. Readers send in questions to an “expert” which makes readers buy the next issue to see if their question has been answered because it’s exciting to see your writing in a magazine, as it feels you’ve been picked and that it’s a special/interesting question. People also might think that the answers to their questions will be helpful or amusing to them in some way. Readers send in rants about a band/genre that they hate or love and the editors pick certain rants to put in the next issue. This creates comedy to the magazine and makes readers more passionate about this magazine/music genre knowing that others feel the same way as them. This makes readers want to buy the next issue again, as it’s seeing their own words in text again, or they find it amusing or helpful.

1. In my opinion, this magazine makes it out that it’s a very masculine thing to enjoy heavy metal music which isn’t true. Recently there have been more female band members which I think has helped this stereotype of a masculine music genre. Also, the magazine talks a lot about sex, drugs, parties and violence. The musicians and bands very often have tattoos, piercings, wear a certain type of clothing or have lots of facial hair. In my opinion, not every person who enjoys heavy metal will wear a certain type of clothing or enjoys everything this magazine mentions. I think that this magazine has created a stereotype due to seeing groupies and fans at concerts, or that they are copying the styles of some band members who go full out, which could make people feel that all band members in this genre should look like. I think this magazine has gone to the most extreme heavy metal fan because people who buy this magazine are meant to be REALLY into this genre. It also creates a style to the magazine, and I think if there was a more subtle and tasteful magazine out there, people who are really into this genre would think that it’s really awful. The title of the magazine relates to the magazine by being rough, strong, tense and dangerous.

Front cover

Contents pages

CD

Article

Comic strip

Illustrations