There are several eminent music magazines in heavy rotation throughout the United Kingdom, with those which are most prominent reaching circulation heights of approximately thirty to fifty thousand copies per issue. Despite the existence of an endless stream of musical genres and sub-genres, and several music magazines devoted to them, the codes and conventions of music magazines do not vary greatly, and generally persist with a similar generic formula for each publication.
Some of these codes and conventions include:
- The masthead of a magazine (title) in a clear, bold font at the top of the page, some well known publications such as 'Q' magazine may choose to show simply a logo as the masthead, as upon viewing this logo one is immediately aware of the publication to which it belongs due to the established nature of the magazine.
- A main image, generally of an artist or band, with some exceptions for instrument based magazines such as 'Guitar'. The artist is customarily well-established with a firmly rooted fan base in order to generate higher rotation for the publication. However, magazines which actively seek innovation within the music industry such as 'NME' often select up and coming artists, due to the fact that this is what the target audience of the product seeks.
- A price/barcode or, if the magazine is a free one such as 'The Fly', a clear badge/text stating that this is the case.
- Month/issue number.
- Sub titles: bands/artists featured within, in order to draw one's attention to the product.
- A description of the magazine itself, ie: "New Musical Express" (NME), "Britain's Biggest Music Magazine" (Q).
- Lists of bands/artists featured.
- Badges "Free CD!" in order to catch the attention of the reader.
- Thumbnail images to give the potential reader an idea of what is featured within the magazine.
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