Roy Shuker said “Music press…plays a major part in the process of selling music as an economic commodity…investing it with cultural significance.” Uncut magazine is aimed at an Indie Rock male audience, who are interested in the music and the associated life-style.
The article “ALBUM REVIEW: PAVEMENT - QUARANTINE THE PAST: THE BEST OF Pavement Domino”
(http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/pavement/reviews/14036) is written in a heavily stylized way. The band are referred to as “smartass slackers…burrowing into the footnotes of rock history via a series of cryptic, elliptical EPs that felt like in-jokes”. The article is written in a knowledgeable but patronizing fashion with the journalist well-versed on the bands history and ensuring the reader knows just how clever he is. The language is intelligent which also suggests that the reader is smart. It mocks pop culture drawing on the age-old rockers opinion that rock music is better than pop music.
The front cover is iconic with its red, white and black colour scheme. The main focus is a picture of Liam Gallagher and headline “The Rolling Stones” - gods to people who like Indie Rock. Overall the effect is cluttered with lots of information on it, because the audience who buys this magazine are rock fans and therefore want this detail of information.
As music has become more popular, music magazines have grown, this could be just a more focused advertising strategy for the bands.
This is a pretty decent review, but what would you say is the average age of the target readership?
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