Textual Analysis - UNCUT : FRONT COVER

The target audience for UNCUT magazine tends to be centered around those that place 'classic rock' as current in their music collection, appose to actual current music itself. Whilst a strong percentage of the musicians featured in this publication are still together, alive, or performing, it is evident that it is their past that steals the limelight. This is brought to attention by the fact that at least fifteen band names appear on the cover and not one has originated from the noughties decade of music. The colour scheme UNCUT has opted to go with of red,blue, and white suggests a sixties nature,a melting pot of music, now commonly regarded as 'classic rock', fittingly then that The Who are the main feature. The use of a pristine white background connotes to youth and the feeling of something new, the cover photograph originates from the sixties, which is now fifty years ago, this is perhaps suggesting that although now viewed by many as old, music by The Who is seen as timeless and is still enjoyed by the youth of today.

Consumers are instantly drawn towards Pete Townshend (left of the magazine) as space management has made him the easiest accessable to the eyes. His dress code is very working class, a casual shirt, tie and jacket strung open, this makes it very easy for the majority of the target audience to relate to him and therefore the band and publication, the fact that he is one of two out of the four that is actually giving eye contact, emphasises this. The mise-en-scene dress code of Pete Townshend could further be elaborated that in his world music is work as well as play. As for the layout of the cover there is quite a lot going on, but not so much so that it becomes congested, all the sell lines are tilted slightly, this perhaps connotes that the band are not very straight edged and in turn very rock and roll and compicated in their attitude. UNCUT are possibly presupposing that their consumers will also lead a rock and roll lifestyle and not linger middle of the road. The masthead is in a bold type, that gets blocked out by the photograph, denoting that the music or band is more important than the publication itself, the bevel on the masthead continues to connote style and sophistication, showing that this also should be a major part of a glossy music magazine.

The language used by UNCUT is interesting, their method of selling the magazine appears to be based on the exclusivity of information and objects, there is an extensive use of exclamations in the grammar denoting that they are the best publication for having this much to offer their consumers. They combine this with almost cliff hanger like introductions 'The Who their 30 greatest tracks' would be an example of giving the audience information to read on, absentmindedly consumers need to know what is number one in the list. There is then the second part directly underneath the first, 'by Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey', this adds excusivity, and almost creates a unique selling point that other publications fail to offer. With regards to this article they finally go on to use 'and many more ace faces...', here the publication is playing around with language of a different time period, an ace face was something The Who were constantly associated with, in their music and out of it, the use of elipses just adds to the effect creating a further sense of mystery. The centre type is experimenting with iconography, The Who have a famous logo in which the 'o' has an arrow pointing downwards, in order to avoid cost implications, UNCUT have cleverly switched the arrow to point upwards from the 'H', making it varied enough while still remaining recognisable, this is a trait publications will often use for such endeavors. The use of arrow continues as a recurring theme in the straplines to help establish it. 'The definitive review!', the use of this quote amplifies the bursting confidence at the seams, partcularly so when you consider that the topic in conversation is The Beatles, therefore by saying you have the definitive review of The Beatles remasters, you cannot afford to go out half cocked, however UNCUT know they are not, and this is why it works.

In conclusion, with the front cover being the main selling tool, it is interesting to discover UNCUTS strong approach to sell the cover with the use of exclusivity, through exclamations appose to any other type of sentence form. Therefore when planning my publication it will be of great importance for me to incorporate this technique into my own deisgn, along with findings from other textual research.