Conventions of a Magazine

Masthead - this is the name of the magazine. Examples include: Vogue, Cosmopolitan etc...
Main Image - this is usually of the main feature in the magazine. Sometimes, the main image covers the masthead slightly as it is normally well-known and can be identified by whoever/whatever the main image is. Examples include: U2 on the cover of Q, Cast members of Eastenders on the cover of TV Guide etc...
Cover Lines - these are titles or teasers of articles within the magazine. Examples include: "Foo Fighter's come clean" (Q Magazine) etc...
Secondary Images - these are sometimes included. They relate to other articles inside the magazine and often are used when there are several famous people included in that issue. Examples include: Images on the cover of TV Guide showing cast members of other TV programmes, Coronation Street, Casualty, Doc Martin etc ...
Barcode - there is normally a barcode so that it can be scanned when bought in shops. It sometimes has the issue number and/or the date near it too.
Price - the price of the magazine. Examples include: Q Magazine for £3.30
Date - this helps the reader/buyer to idenitfy how old the magazine is. Some magazines are monthly, others weekly. Examples include: Cosmo which comes out monthly whilst TV Guide comes out weekly.
Tagline - these help to "sell" the magazine. Examples include: Q Magazine "Britain's Biggest Music Magazine".


Music Magazines share many of these conventions with other magazines, including sports, entertainment etc... The only difference is that everything in a music magazine is related to music. The main image is of a band or singer, the articles inside are all about music, the secondary images include more bands/singers, even most of the adverts are advertising new music albums etc ...