Clash Magazine Research

Clash music publishes the magazine so unlike Q, smash hits and Kerrang it is a single magazine within the company unlike Bauer who have many. Clash also have other media interests that are competing in the festival industry and having a website with up do date news and videos, which can be located around the world. This is done because costs are low and as technology develops more people are using the Internet. The Scottish government gave Clash a grant of £230,000 to develop their online presence. They have used this to their advantage by advertising free downloads on their front page. The magazines total circulation is around 40,000, which is reasonably high for a magazine, which established in 2004.

Clash magazine is a monthly-published magazine in the UK. First published in 2004, Clash’s editor Simon Harper targets the magazine at a teenage and young adult market that is interested in indie music and very much up to date with soft rock. Like ‘Q’ magazine it is one that is monthly published however it is not a hybrid. It concentrates on soft rock and indie music, which is very popular with men and older females. Clash is for people who buy music and want to read about music. In-depth and exquisitely written, Clash is dedicated to music and fashion, this means the magazine is a hybrid.

The magazine is targeted at teenagers and young adults both male and female who enjoy indie and soft rock music. This is shown by the variety of artists who are in the magazine. For example this magazine includes James Blake as well as Adele and Chases and Status. All three are very different artists however they all sing the same sort of music.  The magazine interacts with the reader by showing all of these varieties of artists and especially in the strapline, which tells the reader what to do. By telling them to watch out for fifteen artists. Including popular well-known artists shows the reader that the magazine is up to date and includes all the new news and trivia about indie music.

The Front cover only contains one image unlike ‘Smash hits’ and ‘Kerrang’ magazine, the picture is a close mid shot of James Blake who is the main headline and he is staring right into the camera. However he looks serious and determined, unlike the other magazines where they are all smiling or doing something.  He is wearing a checked shirt with the top button up, which is growing in style with the longer hair scraped across the face. As you can see his skin is perfect, this is because he has been Photoshopped to look clean and new. This connotes with him being a new artist, his name is in big serif letters in yellow to match the background because as he is a new artist, people need to know his brand identity unlike established artists such as Rihanna.

The masthead is in its conventional place at the top of the page however is in front of the images head unlike Smash hits, Kerrang and Q which are partly covered by the images. This may be because ‘Clash’ isn’t as well known so the brand identity is not strong enough just yet or Clash decide that they want to advertise their magazine more because of the popular content it has to increase their brand identity and increase sales and circulation.  The magazine cover also contains many cover lines, which give information about what else is inside to increase their selling points to increase sales. The magazine cover contains many other artists, which shows that the magazine has huge variation and a lot of information. Above the masthead it shows that free music is also offered inside the magazine, this gives another incentive for the magazine to be bought, this does show that Clash are up to date with technology as they are following a trend of online downloading. This is also good for the music economy as it stops people from downloading illegally so it is favoring the music industry.

All typefaces are serif because of the informal, relaxed content it has inside. Unlike Classic or Contemporary music it is not formal, serious and intense so the text is bold and clear and not posh and old. This symbolizes the intent of the music and how it is played as well as the lifestyles the artists live.  The background is a gradient with a darker yellow brightening downwards to show that James Blake is a hot new prospect because it is the colour of the sun. The yellow is a heated colour that is bright and connotes new things.

2010

2011

Many Clash magazines have this sort of layout and look very similar because it is effective and bright. Clash is a new, young magazine compared to others, which have been around for a lot longer time.  As you can see the Clash masthead has changed over 2010 to 2011 and this is interesting as Jay Z’s mast head is very new and young however the new 2011 masthead is much more simple and bold. Both pictures contain a close mid shot. And both have a big banner headline going across the page.  Both pictures are Photoshopped and simple. However these two magazine covers contain older well-known stars that have made their name already. At the turn of 2011, Clash took on an entirely new look, ditching the previous glossy feel and music led design, for an altogether more led approach. In 2013 Clash launched a Smartphone channel which went on to win 'Best Music Magazine' at the Digital Magazine Awards for their IOS Apple Magazine App. In February 2014 it expanded onto Android Handsets.

The publication is based around the larger Clash brand, which extends to live events around the country and festival partnerships/parties (such as RockNess, Snowbombing, SXSW), and the website, ClashMusic.com. 2011 saw Clash partner Levi's and Spotify to bring Primal Scream to London's Electric Brixton for one of their final shows with the former Stone Roses member, Mani.

The Clash Live brand's London activity used to incorporate a once-monthly club night at The Lexington, based around their tastemaking Ones To Watch section, which has played host to acts including Swimming, Three Trapped Tigers, Alpines and Wild Palms. More recently this activity re-branded to be called 'Next Wave' in order to reflect internal changes in the magazine and now enjoys a residency at Hackney's new Oslo venue.

This indicates that the target audience is very unique and versatile in the music they listen too. Paul McCartney and Jay-Z are binary oppositions in music genres and in style. However they have big audiences and huge fan bases. This shows that the magazine is not focused on a specific genre.

The magazine’s presentation is very simple and clear. It can easily be read, which is good because aiming at young adults and teenagers who are known to be lazy readers because of the increase in technology. I believe this is a good strategy. Another advantage is that the front covers aren’t loaded with too much information, which can put readers off because they don’t want to know too much before they are about to read into it. Like many other magazines Clash follows the convention of having exclusivity because the reader will not look for an alternative if it can only be found in one magazine. This is a unique selling point and increases sales and profit throughout ‘Clash’. The magazine looks classy and expensive however it is a good price around £2.50 because it is aiming at people who don’t have great amounts of spare money so they have to limit their cost. However only producing magazines every month it means they have more time for production and people may be willing to pay a little more if it is monthly not weekly. It compares with other magazine like NME and Q who also contain different artists because of the information however Clash isn’t as big and doesn’t have as much funding because it is a singly owned magazine unlike magazines which come from Bauer.

The mode of address for all of Clash’s magazines are the images and how the artists stare right into the eyes of the reader this creates a personal and friendly interaction. By having simplicity it also keeps the magazine fresh and new. It is a trendy cool product and really interacts with its target audience. It features articles about well known popular artists and how they live their lives. Many contain the normality of the artists, which is liked by the reader because they believe there isn’t much difference between them. 

Clash Double Page Spreads: 

I like the simplistic geometric feel to these pages and how they focus completely on the artists. The text and images and put together in almost a collage formal that is gives clinical yet stylish look.