The above shows a list of the aspects of a front cover for a pop music magazine that should be adhered to when creating one. I have created a table that compares two music magazine front covers, one of them being a standard front cover by "Billboard" magazine and the other being the front cover for my music magazine, "Orthodox".

 

Firstly, heavy makeup is a key feature of pop music magazines nowadays (for women), as the model on the front cover has her photo taken to try and look beautiful as well as to show off their unique side. Heavy make-up consists of lipstick, mascara, foundation, contouring, eye shadow, and eyebrow pencils. These all are used to make the model look beautiful and to express their features. When it came to taking the picture for my front cover, I ensured that my model was wearing makeup so that her best features were exemplified.

 

"Looking at the reader" helps the reader connect with the model on the front of the magazine; this is because it helps to draw the reader in. Looking at the reader is a key convention not just of pop music magazines, but of all magazines in general, as the model on the front is having his or her picture taken, to try and advocate the magazine's genre, whether that's a lifestyle, sport or music magazine. So for my music magazine I made sure that my model was looking directly at the camera to achieve this.

 

Most models on magazine front covers have relaxed facial expressions, even if they are posing, with the exception of some rock and sport magazines. This is because the model is posing, trying to look natural as well as exhibit their best features to the audience who will be reading the magazine. My music magazine displays my model on the front cover with a relaxed facial expression, as this is indicative of most music magazines, which is why I wanted to adhere to this convention.

 

Music magazines present the model on the front cover with bright eyes, as this helps to make the model look prominent on the front cover. If the model doesn't have naturally bright eyes, the editors of the magazine will enhance the colour of the model's eyes so that they are more noticeable. For my music magazine, the model I used didn't have very bright eyes in the lighting the picture was taken, this meant that when it came to editing the photo, I made sure that my model's eyes were made a bit brighter to achieve this effect.

 

Most music magazines have models on the front cover with majestic yet messy hair; this is because messy hair is quite common with a lot of people nowadays, especially musicians, such as Lily Allen shown above and Ed Sheeran. However, with my music magazine, I want it to come across as sophisticated which is why when I took the photo for the front cover of my music magazine, I made sure that my model's hair was brushed and looked appropriate for a studio type of shot.

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Clothing is key to music these days, as clothing can put forward to the reader what genre the magazine is linked with. Casual clothing is linked with pop music, which is the genre of my music magazine, and it helps the reader to recognise what genre the magazine is about without the reader opening up the magazine. For my front cover shot, I clothed my model in fashionable and casual clothes so that my target audience would know what my music magazine’s genre was at a glance.

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Minimal jewellery is a key feature in pop music magazines, as the front cover photo is about accentuating the model, not the jewellery they are wearing at the time. Jewellery is mainly a convention of rock magazines, as it is used to express someone's individuality and it popular with rock artists. For my magazine I made sure that my model wasn't wearing any noticeable jewellery, so that the reader won't be distracted when looking at the front cover of my music magazine.

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An important part of a front cover model's appearance on a music magazine is their lip colour, which can be changed when using lip stick. A lot of music magazines with women on the front feature them wearing lipstick, to catch the target audiences eye and so that the model is noticeable on the page. This is why the model on the front cover of my music magazine is wearing lipstick, as the vibrant colours will make her more prominent on the page, which could in turn draw more people in to want to read the magazine. Some editors of music magazines will edit the colour of the model's lips, so that they are brighter on the front cover than they were in the original photo. This is why I edited the model's lips so that were a brighter shade on the magazine front cover, this in turn should help to attract the attention of more people to read the magazine.

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A model on the front cover of a music magazine has to be an artist that is relevant to the time period of music, excluding when magazines release special editions. This means that for the most part, the model on the front cover of the music magazine is young and is successful in the music industry. A young model isn't essential, as some artist’s peak at a later age than others, but for music magazines, the industry itself has meant that some of the most popular music artists are young and are producing music relevant to the time period. This is why the model on my front cover is young, and she has released an album that has been successful.

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As we have previously talked about, make-up is of importance on a music magazine front cover that features a female artist, and in recent times a popular way for women to do their make-up is to put emphasis on their eyebrows. This is why the model on my front cover has thick eyebrows that are obvious on the page, she has done this as they are one of her best features and she clearly wants to express this to the target audience of my pop music magazine.

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In most music magazines, the artists hair can be crucial to an effective shot, which is why the artist on the front cover of the magazine has his or her hair out of their face. With the front cover on the left with Lilly Allen, this convention is tested, but her hair is still out of her face as her eyes aren't blocked from view, which helps the audience engage with the image on the front cover. However, some artist’s hair style means that they block some of their face with their hair. Overall, I evaluated both sides, and made sure that the model on my front cover had her hair out of her face, so that her features could be accentuated to catch the reader’s eye when looking at the front cover of my pop music magazine.

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Lastly, Lighitng is a key aspect of a photo, as it can help to make different features of the model become more prominent. On the front cover of "Billboard" magazine seen above, the shot of Lily Allen is made brighter by artificial lighting to help make the oicture brighter and to show off her key features more. Whereas with my front cover, the lighting is poor as is doesn't really highlight my models key features. To alter this slightly, when I edited the picture on the front cover, I increased the brightness and contrast so that the model would seem to have better lighting than in the original picture. This is done by a lot of magazine editors so that they can have the perfect photo for the front cover of their magazine.