Codes and Conventions in Indie Music Magazine Articles

Now that we've explored the codes and conventions of  an indie music magazine cover page, it's time to look into what the actual magazine itself contains; the articles. Article styles and what type of articles change with every genre and this proves to be true for indie music magazines. 

Let's have a closer look at these codes and conventions.

Article Types

Articles in indie music magazines are usually artist profiles, interviews or coverage of a recent festival or event. Other editorial pages like tour dates and album/song recommendations are present.

Technical Codes

Camera Work

Conventionally, the anchoring image is a medium shot or a medium long shot, where the subject is centrally positioned.

As exemplified above, the angle is usually eye-level with a front view. However indie music magazines don't shy away from employing high and low angles when they want to add to the fierceness. The low angle is employed as shown below to portray the underdog image of the Marmozets.

Indie music magazine also often use candid pictures for the anchoring image as well as secondary images, to enhance the realism and portray them in their rawest form; while on stage.

Lighting

The previously mentioned candid photographs usually make use of coloured lights, naturally provided by the concert lights. If the picture is posed for, there are conventionally no coloured lights.

Anchoring images in indie magazine articles are likely to use high key lighting especially in profiles. However low key lighting is not as rare as one would think, frequented especially in secondary images. This is done so the artist can best stand out while retaining their sensual image.

The direction of the lighting is usually from the front on anchoring images, to give a clear image so surfers can easily recognize the artist they are looking for. Secondary images however get interesting, being mostly candid photos or utilising various lighting angles to play with the shadows to either project their genre better or to appear more sensual.

Structure

The anchoring image is likely to be spread over one entire page, usually a picture of the artist being discussed so they are easily recognised. This not only aids fans of the artist but also helps consumers navigate the magazine at large.

Editing

While the anchoring images are usually not edited, if they ever are, they're turned monochrome for a vintage effect which compliments indie music.

Symbolic Codes

Background

Indie music magazines use bold and bright colours (usually white) as their background so the text of the body copy stands out. The background can also often reflect the natural habitat or music of the artist or even the concept behind a specific album.

Dress Codes

The subject of the pictures used in the images in the articles are dressed as they usually would be or to reflect the genre of music they play, in this instance sub-genre (indie pop, indie rock,etc). This is done so consumers can easily recognise their favoured artist and to showcase the indviduality of the artist, a key element of indie.

The dress code, however, can also be according to the concept of their latest albums to promote their latest album. This convention is usually less preferred in the face of the one mentioned above.

Props

A mic or acoustic instruments used as props are a long time convention. It helps audiences recognise that the magazine or even the article (for magazines who cover indie as an umbrella rather than specifically music) has something to do with music.

Colour

The articles don't usually have a combination of more than three colours to keep the article looking messy and visually displeasing. The colour itself is often matched with the genre of the music or a specific look of an artist.

Facial Expressions/Body Language/Pose

The pose is often reflective of the genre of music they play and the artist's approach to it and possibly their trademark quirks. 

As seen above, the facial expressions too are made to match their preexisting image and genre. Sometimes this and their body language is exaggerated for it to be easily projected. Conventionally indie artists always seem serious and not bothered and this is exactly how they arrange their facial expressions. You will rarely see an artist beaming. 

Written Codes

Title

The title often uses the artist's name to instantly catch the attention of magazine surfers and help them easily locate the article if they're flipping through the magazine and to create enigma for new comers, essentially peaking their curiosity enough for them to read or want to read the article after which they would naturally seek out the magazine. For this same purpose the title is in the largest font on the page, conventionally either on the top of the page or in the middle. The font style is also different from the body copy to set it apart and ensure it's the first thing the reader's eyes drag to.

Standfirst

Indie music magazines usually don't have stand firsts but if they do the stand first is short and to the point as a swift path to the article itself. This doesn't mean it has to be simply phrased. These often witty lines are in the same font colour as the title and situated underneath the title to create a more cohesive look. The stand first is typically, larger in font size than the body copy but smaller than the title.

By-line 

The by-line is often situated under the title of the article is present, smaller in size than the stand first.

Body Copy

Structurally, an article in an indie music magazine has 3-4 columns at an average as to not appear too crowded and to aid in showcasing more showy elements like secondary images which are a big factor in selling any music magazine.

A content box, which are conventionally numerous in indie music magazines are usually situated within these columns and use either an inversion of the colour scheme or a colour completely opposing the colour palette as to stand out amongst the rest of the body copy.

Drop caps are conventionally used in these articles to guide the reader as to where from they should start reading as sometimes it's hard to navigate amongst the body copy and the large number of secondary images (even situated between columns) which is conventional for an indie music magazine. 

Quotes

Quotes are increasingly used in indie music magazines since the consumers often want to know the thoughts of their idols. Quotes are highly likely to be used near the anchoring image, as a hook; if the quote is interesting it peaks the curiosity of the audience.

The quotes have a larger font size than the body copy and are often in bold and follow an inversion of the colour scheme as to stand out from the body copy. Quotes are situated between two columns or in the space of two or more columns for this purpose.