History of Music Magazines (Kerrang!)

History
Kerrang! commenced publication on June 6, 1981 and was edited by Geoff Barton, initially as a one-time supplement in the Sounds newspaper, which focused on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal phenomenon and on the rise of other hard rock acts. Angus Young of AC/DC appeared on Kerrang!'s first cover. Launched as a monthly magazine, Kerrang!began to appear on a fortnightly basis later, and in 1987 it went weekly. The original owner was United Newspapers who then sold it to EMAP in 1991. 
During the 1980s and early 1990s the magazine placed many thrash and glam metal acts on the cover (like Mötley Crüe, Slayer, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Poison, and Venom) but later discarded them when grunge acts such as Nirvana rose to fame. Readers often criticise the magazine for repeating this process every time a new musical trend becomes popular. 
With the emergence of emo and metalcore, Kerrang! began to heavily feature this musical trend. However, the revamp was not welcomed by all readers and many complaints were received about Kerrang!'s sudden emphasis on emo and metalcore music. Brannigan took the magazine into its most commercially successful period with a record ever ABC for the title of 80,186 copies.
In 2008, EMAP sold its consumer magazine to current owner Bauer Media Group. Brannigan left Kerrang! in 2009 and Nichola Browne was appointed editor. She later stepped down in April 2011. Former NME features editor and GamesMaster deputy editor James McMahon was appointed as editor on 6 June 2011.

Typical Content

Kerrang! usually contains things such as festival/concert dates, new up and coming bands, current bands, feedback, news, icons and concert and album reviews. 

Typical Reader

The typical reader of this magazine is either gender that are interested in musical genres including punk, metal and rock. It is usually read by people that dress in alternative ways and are very musical (play instruments such as guitar or drums). These people are often very social and attend festivals and concerts that play music in these genres with these instruments. 

What is the magazines house style?

The magazine typically uses dark colours - mainly black. It also uses very obscure fonts, mainly sans serif. The font covers are usually very busy, have lots of sell lines and always have a banner. The magazine usually advertises a artist on the cover and their name is printed in the middle of the page in a large font. The artists picture of the artist very rarely shows them smiling and they always have a direct mode of address.

Production and Distrubution 

Bauer Media Group

How are social groups represented in the magazine?
This links to the typical reader and the social group represented, are young adults, interested in rock and punk music. These people are often seen as rebellious and out of control. The images on the front of the magazine are usually of artists with a direct mode of address, but not smiling. This could present them as unfriendly.

Is there anything interesting about the observations?  
The layout for each issue is quite different, but a 3 colour scheme is aways kept.