NME Magazine Analysis

NME

This cover of NME (New Music Express) use a colourful, bold theme and house style to attract their audience. With an exciting a busy layout their target audience of young adults, late teens and adults who act like kids are aware of the magazines large content and exciting news and information from the world of music.

The header creates an immediate attractions and sets the tone for this particular edition of the magazine "16 page autumn tour special", this creates an interest for the readers greatly interested in music's and artists, and so they will want to see what tour information NME can exclusively offer.

The house style consists of red, black and white throughout the whole front cover of the magazine. These bold colours attract attention while also remaining serious enough to still grab the audiences interest. Without the use of too many colours the page still remains professional and much more fitting for its purpose as it is regarded as a serious, informative magazine exploring all aspects of music e.g. the artists and the songs. These colours are from the bright colours like bring pinks and yellows fond on normal magazines for the younger audience. Whilst they are accessible to both males and females it would be more than fair to say that the magazine colours are more directed to males than females.

The language is very much fitting for its target audience which if of a younger age with words like "man", the use of this is very masculine and it is clear the target audience is largely aimed at males rather than females.

The artists listed in the cover lines and footer of this magazine are on an Indie/Rock genre, this being loud and expressive through the use of voice similarly resemble the magazine's vibe and most likely the specific personalities and similarities of their readers.  The names of the these artists are against a white background and are visible for the audience to see separating this information from that on the main article of Dizzie Rascal being the focal point of the cover greatly links to the audience too, he is also a male and is in his early twenties. Possibly suggesting that he will be a inspiration to NME's audience.

NME is published weekly allowing its audience to be updated regularly on the music world. With a generous selling price of £2.50 it is accessible to its young target audience, whether they are earning money in a part/full time job. This is beneficial as the target audience's age range covers students, who are willing to pay £10  a month to be able to keep up with the celebrity world of music.

The contents page is straight away branded with the well-recognised NME bold, red masthead  allows the reader to associate the deep and complex content that NME provides with the brand, creating a positive association.

 The story from one of the main cover lines on the front cover is placed in  a box that looks like a case artists take on tour with them. This is associated with the story and connotes the musical theme running through the magazine. The picture of a young girl standing next to the bus with her arms spread looking happy runs parallel with the theme of the story which is the ins and outs of touring. The sketch like font makes it look grungy and cool and goes with the general theme of the magazine. The contents page is straight away branded with the well-recognised NME bold, red masthead  allows the reader to associate the deep and complex content that NME provides with the brand, creating a positive association.

Some of the content is organised under headings  on the right hand side of the page. This makes the page look well organised and tidy. By placing content under specific headings the reader can instantly pick out what they wish to read. It makes the magazine look very professional and shows their understanding of customer knowledge.

  

The image on the left hand side of the page shows a medium-long shot  of Dizzee looking over his shoulder into the distance, fits well with the theme and the story of the article. Dizzee is dressed in casual clothes and a red jacket that, associated with danger and rebellion. He is seen holding a spray can and tagging on the wall, again connecting rebellion. The bright colours connect youth and excitement, fitting with the theme and ideology on the magazine. A drop cap is used at the beginning of the article, a classic convention of a magazine. This shows that NME does follow some conventions of magazine, something older readers may like. Overall the double page spread of the magazine follows conventions of standard magazines. It has basic elements that are well known and appeal to the reader. The classic elements contrast well with the modern music it is promoting.