L - This front cover features conventional elements such as a Skyline, Masthead, Main Image, Main Feature: Headline, Subtitle, Splash and the dateline, price and Issue No. All of the features, but one, are black and white in colour - this creates a bold image. The Masthead is in a contrasting yellow which will make it stand out more on the newsstands. Rolling Stone is written in a sans-serif font which is typical for headlines, whereas the smaller features and subtitle are more of a serif font which is more conventional for body text. This photo of Madonna is a medium-close up and she looks directly at the camera, engaging with the audience.
I - Rolling Stone is published by Wenner Media LLC. An American publishing company co-founded by Jann Wenner (still the editor, owner and publisher of the magazine) and Ralph J. Gleason in 1967, San Francisco although they have now moved office to New York City. Wenner Media LLC also publishes Men's Journal and Us Weekly. The total circulation of Rolling Stone in December 2010 was 1,453,158. This magazine goes international and is available in Britain. There are also 20 other versions of the magazine published all over the world, there currently isn’t a British version but many state NME as being just as influential in this country.
I - Rolling Stone is a political and music biweekly. Rolling Stone magazine expresses vintage values. The magazine has typical conventions of a magazine such as a dateline, price, issue number, main feature: headline and image. Some typical features are missing such as: left third. It aims to be more controversial than mainstream it describes it self as being "the pulse of youth culture." It has political associations on the front cover there is a splash mentioning “Obama vs. the General.” They pride themselves over this story as it gave them 9.5 million page views on Rollingstone.com within 48 hours of them posting the story online. Their political views give them a point if view to talk from and could potentially gain consumers. Gracing the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine has long been a prestigious honour among music artists.I believe that Rolling Stone magazine represents itself as being a rather prestigious magazine, they don’t have to put a lot on the their front cover in order for people to buy it, which is a bold statement. They don’t need to tease there audience too much as they are already well-known through their risqué photo shoots in the past. They must rely on word of mouth and advertising for people to know more about them. By using Madonna on their front they represent themselves as only having the best on their front cover. They have used a very popular, established artist on purpose as they know that her fan base will buy the magazine, which means a vast amount of people.
A - The audience of this magazine is predominantly Americans of the ages 18 - 49. 57% Men and 43% Women. The magazine also has political associations, which would suggest that it isn’t for anyone much younger than 18 and is aimed more at adults. The average age of their audience is 32. Rolling Stone mainly cover mainstream artists that have extremely successful and they don’t normally feature up and coming artists on their front cover. Actors and other famous personalities feature as well, not just music artists. An issue of Rolling Stone usually costs around £4 and has an issue out twice a month which explains why a majority of their readers are employed (69%) and suggests it is more for the A-C of socio-economic groups.
R – They have used a black and white photo to create a retro look this links in with the Main Feature Headline: Madonna Looks Back. This cover is quite bare and stripped back, which gives the main picture more dominance. It also connotes the idea that she will “bare all” in the interview, as it doesn’t have a subtitle for the Main Feature Headline it just says the “Rolling Stone interview.” The shot of Madonna is over-the-shoulder and also a Dutch tilt, this makes her look more vulnerable and exaggerates the shot making it look as though she is in a vulnerable, uneasy position and the interviewer and we as readers have the power over her. The front cover doesn’t contain many features compared with other magazines this suggests that they rely on their name “Rolling Stone” to sell itself. They use yellow for the Masthead which is quite a commonly used colour for this convention, but makes it stand out from the rest of the front cover. Everything else on the front cover is black and white, which is bold in itself, but the splash of one colour makes it stand out even more.
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