XXL & Billboard Magazine Comparison

1. XXL Vs Billboard

2. Masthead
Background
Other Coverlines
Feature Image
Main Coverlines
Barcode

3. •
XXL Magazine is published by Harris
Publications, a publisher based in New York,
USA. They publish over 75 different titles of
magazines: Automotive, Business, Celebrity &
Lifestyle, Comics, Firearms & Weaponry,
Music, Quilting, Sports & Health and Misc.
•
Harris Publications only publish XXl
Magazine in the US, although alternative
companies export the magazine into other
countries and distribute them to other firms
which sell them.
•
Only being published in the US may be a
reason why the magazine may not have
content to do with London or countries
outside the UK, unlike a magazine such as
NME which is from the UK but also published
in the US therefore there may be some
themes that shouts out USA, and not just UK.
PUBLISHER

4. • The age range of XXl Magazine is about 16
– 29 years old.
• The majority of readers are male and are
within the US.
• Its main area of content is to do with Hip
Hop.
• It has about 106 pages and has a price of
£3.95.
•
• XXL Magazine produces 6 issues a
year.
The pages of the magazine are matt
coated and the front and back covers are
glossy coated which may be the reason the
price of the magazine is quite high, even
though they have a lot of advertising which
could enable them to keep selling price
low.
• Has not got double page spreads, however
it has articles running across 3-4 pages.

5. MASTHEAD
The masthead is quite
big and simple, the
colours used to
design the masthead
is a very common
colour, also used for
the masthead of Q
Magazine, its made
up of 2 layers with a
white on red order.
The red could be
symbolic as it could
refer to danger.
Drake (the feature
image) is slightly
covering up the
Masthead, which
could connote
how XXl is well
known and that
people would still
recognize the
magazine, even if
its partly hidden
or not showing.
The font of the masthead text is quite bold and in uppercase
letters, this emphasizes the simplicity of the masthead.

6. • The featured image is an iconic image of a
famous rapper Drake, this could underline
how XXl’s main focus is the Hip Hop genre.
• Drake is looking away from the camera. The
cover line “Watch The Throne” (which is in a
goldish colour, defining the colour of a
throne), may be directing where Drakes eyes
are looking towards. This may be indexical as
he may be telling the audience that he’s
going to become number 1 as “taking the
throne” is a phrase used in Hip Hop which
conveys becoming the best/ number 1.
•
Drake is known to be a “Ladies Man’ as his
biggest fan base is females, this could signal
that XXL is aiming for more female readers
than males on this issue.
• However the colours of his clothing and the
background, that being of white and black
may be showing that they’re trying to attract
both genders.
FEATURE IMAGE

7. Date & Website
Masthead
Feature Image
Main Cover
Barcode

8. • Published by Prometheus Global
Media, based in New York City (similar to
XXL’s Publishers who are also based in NYC.)§
• Published only in the US, however like
XXl, other companies export the magazine
from the US and import them to other
distributers in other countries, worldwide.
• Billboards main focus within the magazine is
linked with the USA. This means that most
advertising, content and images are US
related as their main audience is people in
America.
• Publishers publish overall 4
magazines, (Billboard, Hollywood
Reporter, Adweek, Backstage)
• CEO – Richard D. Beckman (former publisher
of magazine GQ and Vogue).
PUBLISHER

9. • Billboard magazine has about 64 pages and
costs about £5.50.
• The front and back are thick glossy and the
inside pages are also quite glossy but thinner
paper than the others.
• Like XXl, the price of their magazine may be
high to pay for cost of producing the pages.
• Billboard covers a majority of pop music.
• Its main audience are Americans.
• For example, the advert on the back cover
has New York City on it, this may not be
relevant to people in the UK, therefore this
highlight who their main focus is.
• Billboard publish issues every week.
• 60% of readers receive their copy at
home – this could be why its hard to find the
magazine at the shops in UK
• The audiences are as
follows:
• 68% College Graduates
• 25% Post-Graduates
• 49% Senior/Upper
Management Title
• And a Total Readership
of 48k

10. • The masthead is made up
of 2 layers, the text itself
and a little effect
(shadow/glow) to make it
blend in with the
background.
• The masthead blends in
with the whole of the
front cover, this could
imply that this is a special
issue and that its bringing
a change to the whole
magazine in one issue
which catches peoples
eyes and persuade them
to open the magazine.
• The masthead
for this issue is
quite different
to the usual one
used for most
other Billboard
magazines. This
connotes that
the masthead is
well known and
people would
still recognise it
even if it’s a
different font,
size and colour.

11. Contents Pages
• The contents page is on the 3rd
page of the Billboard
magazine, however in XXL the
contents page is after about 9
pages of advertisements.
• This could imply that XXL mainly
publish advertisements in their
magazines, to promote themselves
or other companies, as they have a
majority of their pages full of
adverts.

12. Double Page
Spread
XXL
Billboard

13. The language used is
mainly aimed at people from
ages of about 17 to 27, as it
does contain some vocabulary
that is mainly used by these
social groups, and also the
interview with Drake which is
written out, contains vocabs
which relate to these age
groups.
XXL magazines, overall hardly have double page
spreads, even in this issue, there aren’t any double page
spreads, but there are articles that cross 3 to 4 pages.
There’s one image on each of the pages, however there is
more text than there is of images overall, and also on the
last page of the crossing article the writer is credited and
also the company that have sponsored Drake for the
clothing he is wearing in the magazine.
The crossing article not
only promotes the artist but
also the clothing and brands
that are being promoted by
him wearing them.

14. Billboard - Double
Page Spread
Billboard magazine has many double
spread pages. Similar to XXL, some articles
cross pages but as double pages, so they still
would count as double spreads. The layouts of
the page are very simple but eye catchy which
is very important when attracting audiences.
Unlike XXL, Billboard have a lot of
different information that links with the main
article. Whereas in XXL, the articles are mostly
about one thing but in much detail.
This magazine has a different kind
of language used compared to XXL, the
age group is a little higher, instead of 17
to 27 its about 18 to 30+, as it contains a
lot of business information because
Samsung have sponsored Jay Z for his
new album, also there’s a lot of statistics
that would relate to those who are into
business or who may be older.
However there are some language used
for younger social groups as Jay Z is an
iconic rapper and has a varied fan base
age range.