Conventions of the magazine genre

All magazines, whether music, fashion or lifestyle, all follow the same rules, they can either be monthly 'glossies' or cheaper weekly magazines. They have an image, colour scheme and name that all fit the content and the target audience. Most magazines use direct adress (when the person on the cover looks straight out of the magazine) not many magazines use indirect address as it is less conventional. Most writing in magazines is friendly and informal. Magazines normally include celebrities or starts that are admired and aspirational, the main aim of this is to sell the magazine.
The main advertisement of the magazine is the front cover, because this represents the whole of the magazine, they should be bright, interesting and eye catching, the colours used should reflect the genre of music and the target audience. Normally on magazine front covers a varitey of fonts are used to make the cover aesthetically interesting. 

Most magazines have a title and and a slogan, these create a brand image which will make the magazine instantly recognisable for the audience. There is normally one main cover star either in a close up or medium shot. The leading caption dominates the page and usually links to the article about the cover star.

Contents pages should be bright and colourful to entice the reader, on these pages image dominates text so images are used with page numbers to direct the reader. 

Feature articles in magazines are normally a double page spread (if not more). They include headlines and subheadings to explain the story, many of these are usually witty and pun based on the star. Most artists will not appear in a magazine unless they have something to sell, be it a single, album or tour. There is normally one large image with several others spread out across the pages, these are normally taken in different locations. Some music magazines use slang and swear words as these may be relevant to the music genre and may appeal to the target audience. Many articles use text grabs (quotes from the article that are made bigger to break up the columns) these are usually controversial, funny or rude. 

The magazines cover price doesnt pay for the magazine to be published, the majority of the money that make the make the magazine possible comes from advertising revenue. Therefore the magazine has to appeal to its audience and sell well to make profit, the magazine can then charge for advertising space and encourage companies to advertise within the magazine.