Analysis of existing magazine titles

I will start by analysing the magazine which has the most influence upon my choice of deciding to design an R&B music magazine.

VIBE Magazine:
Vibe is a music magazine that focusses predominantly on the R&B genre of music. From my research I have learnt that the origins of R&B started with a Jazz influence based on heavy beats. Vibe could refer to the types of emotions and feelings that this type of heavy beat brings to those listening R&B music which is relevant to the content of my magazine. Vibe usually has positive connotations associated with it, for example people will often refer to getting a 'good vibe' from the music they are listening to. The dictionary definition of the word vibe 'is a person's emotional state or the atmosphere of a place as communicated to and felt by others.' It can also be used in verb form, E.G to vibe to music. Therefore the title vibe could refer to the atmosphere and psychological emotions R&B music brings to oneself.The word itself to me personally has goo connotations. I almost think that it sounds like something enjoyable and relaxing. It is something that sparks emotion within someone. I therefore think that this title is effective for this genre of magazine as it links with the contents and overall general feel of the magazine.







Billboard Magazine:
Billboard magazine is an American Music Magazine that mainly covers chart music, popular music and all new and upcoming music. I researched the definition of billboard to try and get some understanding of what the title could mean. The definition that i found stated: 'a large outdoor board for displaying advertisements; a hoarding.' This links to the general contents found inside this magazine. For example billboards contents page is quite interesting. It shows a copy/ table of the charts in each one of its editions. In a sense this is like a billboard, something which is displaying information to us. This title is effective because in reality, a billboard is something which gives us information. Therefore we can infer from this magazine that there s going to information given to use in plentiful supply about the latest and upcoming music which will attract readers to buy the magazine. The title 'Billboard' also uses alliteration, which also creates appeal in terms of phonology of the text which attracts and entices readers or those considering buying the magazine.









NME Magazine: NME stands for New Musical Express and is a music magazine which is largely associated with rock, indie and alternative genres. This takes a more practical approach with its name than the other magazines I have looked at and uses initialism in its title. The title expresses that the magazine is based around 'new' music so it can be easily understood what kind of music we will be seeing in the magazine, new and upcoming. It also takes a similar style to a newspaper, as NME was originally published in a newspaper style and layout before changing into the conventional music magazine, we can see this through the use of the word 'express' in the title, EG: similar to the Daily Express ETC. However the initialism also has a ring to it and is easy to say. The initialism almost sounds like the word 'Enemy' and is therefore a memorable title for those who read the magazine.






From analysing these magazine titles i have decided that I want to have a name title like VIBE. This will be something that has similar connotations and pragmatic meaning which will link with the style and genre of music that my magazine is going to be based on.