Ashley Sangu

Media Studies

Analysis of the Meta-Language of music magazine journalism

Meta-language is a language that is used when language is being observed or examined, it is a used to describe or analyse language. In meta-language certain grammar and punctuation is used such as the use of italics, quotation marks, or even writing a separate line. There are many types of meta-language, but the main types are: Embedded, ordered and nested Embedded Meta-language is a language formally, naturally and firmly fixed in an certain language. Embedded Meta-language is usually found in natural or informal languages, it also occurs in descriptors which is adjectives, adverbs, and possessive pronouns, and these constitute an object language. Ordered Meta-language is the form or order of the language being used within the subject. It is used to build up on the language then it is usually led onto another form of metalanguage if required. Nested Meta-language is quite similar to Ordered Meta-language. The part that is different to Ordered Meta-language is that Nested Meta-language talks about the genre of the language and the type of form it is in. The genre of magazine I am going to analyse is Hip Hop and R&B, as these are the genres my magazine is going to cover, the other being R&B. The magazine is called VIBE and the front cover of the magazine is the image below.

Ashley Sangu

Media Studies

As soon as we look at the front cover we see Chris Brown in the centre of the front cover and as he is a big star of the Hip-Hop industry it makes sense to use him on the front cover as it will attract more people when they go past the magazine, therefore generating more potential customers. The picture of Chris Brown goes through the logo which suggests that Vibe are sacrificing their own brand identity for the main cover boy. Also the rhetorical question on the front cover asking Is that Chris Brown?, This may suggest that there is something new and different about him, or that they are boasting that they have got him in their magazine, but by putting this rhetorical question on the front cover it makes people want to have a look in the magazine and see, therefore making more people want to buy it. Also another feature is to get more to buy the magazine, is the fact that they have put what else is on offer in the magazine on the front cover on the right hand side, creating more variety to create a wider audience. The magazine will also use Slang and informal language as it is a R&B and Hip-Hop magazine and by the looks of it, the magazine is aimed at teenagers and this is the type of language they will use and understand, an example of this is the words Virgin and Ushersexes There also isnt much words on the front cover it isnt covered in words, the magazine lets the image and sub headings around speak for themselves, but this is done intentionally as the magazine is aimed at teenagers and if they see lots of words on the front cover it may make them think that it is going to be boring, so they wont buy it, but if there are less words it will make them think otherwise and they will most likely buy it. The tone of the article is an informative tone as the magazine aims to inform the teenage audience about what is happening in the crazy world of hip-hop and R&B. The colour Scheme is consistent throughout the cover, with the magazine using light colours to keep the look of the magazine clean and fresh, you can also instantly tell that this is a Vibe magazine as the layout is the same as the other issues. This magazine would also most likely use embedded meta-language if any because embedded meta-language is usually found in informal language, and Vibe would use informal language because thats what their target audience are more used to reading and understanding, as they are teenagers. Below is the Contents page from Vibe that I am going to analyse:

Ashley Sangu

Media Studies

The first thing that hits the eye, is the blown up picture of Barack Obama on the left hand side of the page and on the right hand side we can see a list of the other contents available in this issue of Vibe. Have Barack Obama on the left hand side all blown up and smilin g indicates that there has been something special to do with Barack Obama and in this year, it was the year that Barack Obama was in the race to be The president of the United States. But however if you dont like news then there is a list of other Features in the left hand column to cater for a wider audience meaning that there is more choice and more people would buy the magazine even if they dont want to read about the article on Barack Obama. The word length of the whole contents page is short as the main picture takes up most of the space on the page and only leaves a little space for words as we can see in the picture above. The language isnt very complex as it is going to be aimed at the younger audience of teenagers, as we can tell the language is pretty straight forward, and just gets to the point. In this sense weirdly the language is very formal, but this can be because they want to keep the contents page very clear so people can navigate their way more easily. The features of the magazine explain very clearly what is going to be featured in each article, for example in

Ashley Sangu

Media Studies

the article about Barack Obama it clearly states that they will be covering Celebrity commentary on the election and a letter from Obama to the Vibe Readers. The colour scheme is pretty plain, with the background colour being White but this emphasises the picture of Obama. Also there is a massive V in the background and that is the Vibe logo, which shows the brand identity and how it is proud to have an article on Obama. There also wouldnt be any evidence of Meta-language on the contents page as there is not enough words, and that is what contains meta- language.

Below is an image of the double page spread from the magazine Vibe

Straight away from looking at this double page spread we can see that this particular article is about Rihanna and Drake and is about their new song together called Whats My Name. The article also features the different hairstyles of Rihanna.