Rolling stone is a magazine based in
New York and based on music, liberal politics and popular culture. Although
its’ main category is as a music magazine.
It is produced bi-weekly and published
and edited by Jann Wenner with the company Wenner media LLC. Jann Wenner was
also the founder in 1967 with music critic Ralph J Gleason.
In the 1970s the magazine was known
widely for political coverage although the format was changed in the 90s to
appeal to younger readers as music based magazine. It now focuses on young,
pop, television and film stars. So today the magazines content consists of
music and fame alongside political stories. It now has expanded to have
financial issues coverage.
As a result the magazine has seen
circulation increase due to such a wide range of content. Total circulation for
2012 is 1,464,943!
The magazine obtained some criticism
that the magazine was focusing on style over substance. Since then the magazine
has levelled out to become music based magazine however still containing
important news of today and with an informative style however still attracting
the younger readers. Today the magazine “rolling stone” is known as a music
magazine but only gradually has it made a new target audience and altered its
content to drive more sales.
Each issue contains a popular celebrity
positioned on the front cover, which appeals to the younger target audience
with quirky styled text and phrases. The red text stands out on the background
and ahs become a well known logo, depending on how popular the issue is, the
cover is then blown up and sold on as a “pin up” and sold in various places
like HMV, the posters are a great way to promote the magazine and was done so
with popular artists and actors like this example, Zac Efron and Justin Bieber.
Who
is on the cover all depends on what is most up and coming and popular at the
time for example Taylor Lautner was issued on the front cover of rolling stone
magazine around the time of the release of the twilight saga new moon; this
issue contained a cover with a popular image of him and the words “teen wolf’
the producers know that `at that moment in time twilight would be very on trend
and topic of young persons conversation so he was a perfect model for the cover
to drive sales and promote the new movie. So the style of production is very
popular and very on trend.
The content of the magazine on the
other hand is much more sophisticated yet still “on trend” this particular
issue featured the nirvana drummer Dave Grohl of which his image and style is
very different to young actor Taylor Lautner. The wide range of content means
that this magazine has a very large total circulation. The music-based side of
the magazine attracts a whole range of young people as musicians featured on
the cover range from Justin Bieber to Billie Joe Armstrong and Jimmi Hendrix. Both
musicians have a completely different style but who is featured on the cover
depends who is most current and most popular. Justin Bieber was so popular as
the “pin up boy” of the magazine that Tshirts were printed of the issue. This
was a popular issue as he is a teen pop sensation. The magazines are very
visual and the best content is advertised on the cover to attract more and new
readers. The wide range of content means that the target audience almost
depends on whatever is featured in the issue. The text is very much so targeted
at young people using words such as “hot new actor” to tempt young girls into
reading more into this particular article. The very on trend style means it’s a
popular magazine as its main contents is informing the reader of what is going
on currently in the music industry.
The visual outlook on the magazine
determines who the target audience is although the target audience of the
magazine is purely music enthusiasts; people who enjoy music and mainly rock
music as the magazine has an alternative and punk twist to it featuring mainly
rock artists. So usually the style of
production targets young people into rock and punk music that are interested in
what is current in the world. The type of audience tends to be intelligent as
the type of articles and style of writing is very informative.
The website features some of the content
and it is very factual and features stories which apply to music enthusiasts
and artists which are very on trend. This appeals to the target audience of
young people.
The website displays content which
targets to both genders with ‘hot girls who “rock” ‘ and “ heart throb zac
efron confesses all”. The magazine isn’t targeted to a gender just young people
who are interested in current music industry yet the magazine contains a
political side widening the audience.
lifestyle: Nigel comes home from work and sits in his room-which is still in his parents house-playing on one of his many games consoles. Nigel isn't interested in girls or fashion, he has confidence issues and cannot make contact with any girls. He commonly wears tracksuits and comfortable items which are as cheap as he can get as his wages are spent on new games and points pack , accessories for his consoles and gaming merchandise such as T shirts and posters.
lifestyle: Nigel comes home from work and sits in his room-which is still in his parents house-playing on one of his many games consoles. Nigel isn't interested in girls or fashion, he has confidence issues and cannot make contact with any girls. He commonly wears tracksuits and comfortable items which are as cheap as he can get as his wages are spent on new games and points pack , accessories for his consoles and gaming merchandise such as T shirts and posters. 
