NME Magazine Analysis
Front Cover 
NME is an indie rock music magazine, in the style of a newspaper instead of the usual glossy magazine. This is because NME magazines are released more frequently, so their content is now as big also, it is an effective way of making the magazine stand out. The target audience would again be young adults and teenagers because of the modern take on the music, the acts and the magazines image. However, because of how masculine the music genre is, most of the readers would be male, although some females would be interested. They will generally be people of the ‘indie’ social group, who dress and behave similarly to the artists themselves when off stage, and of course must be interested in indie rock music. The central image is of Liam Gallagher’s new band ‘Beady Eye’ which is the key signifier for this front cover. All four of the band members are using direct mode of address, which relates to them being a new, as this article will be an introduction to their band. This suggests that they will be looking for an honest relationship with the reader, but exciting as well, so the interest in the band increases. The image is a close mid-shot, which means people can see their faces and clothing style together. This makes their faces more recognisable as well as providing the ability to recognise their bands genre, if people are not already aware. The anchorage text says; ‘World Exclusive’ and ‘Liam’s Second Coming BEADY EYE’. The words ‘BEADY EYE’ are in big, bold white letters, bigger than the title block in order to put out the band’s name. This increases their awareness as people will recognise the name, which is needed as they’re a new band. The ‘world exclusive’ part entices the readers to read the magazine, as it makes the information included seem to be something they need to know. The ‘Liam’s second coming’ is simply informing the readers that former ‘Oasis’ member Liam Gallagher is part of this band, this may attract ‘Oasis’ fans too as their appearance is similar. All this together implies that the band is going to be very successful and the readers should follow them. On this magazine, the buzz words are; ‘FREE MASSIVE 2011 CALENDAR’ with small pictures of two music acts included. This is displayed near the title block and away from the anchorage text to balance out the cover’s attention. It is in the same front and colour as the anchorage text, so it is one of the next aspects to gain focus. This buzz word is advertising a free gift, which would be a factor that would attract more readers to the magazine. More buzz words, is ‘world exclusive’ which are linked to the anchorage text to increase the interest in the magazine and the feature article. The title block suggests that it is an indie rock magazine, and because it is slightly obstructed by the central image tells the readers this magazine is very successful and well recognised, especially as it has been published since 1952. The text is the same font, but this time glittery red with snow on the top, to set the scene of the Christmas period. The boldness of the font suggests power and importance. The colour red shows passion, which could reflect the passion the target audience have for this music genre. The aspects this title block connotes, such as the power, importance and passion, all reflect the target audience. Which suggest the relationship between the magazine and the reader is strong and honest, as the magazine represents them. The stylish appearance of the cover portrays the magazine as fashionable and creative. There isn’t a secondary lead, however there are around twenty puffs. The puffs are inside baubles on the page, this is an effective way of gaining them and the magazine focus, whilst giving the cover a more seasonal image. The amount of puffs suggests there will be a lot of different information in the magazine, but because of this in comparison to its size, it comes across that the information will not be very detailed. This could portray the audience to be busy people, who prefer information to be conveyed briefly and more like a news paper. The slogan ‘new musical express’ is not very visible on this front cover, but because the magazine is well known most people are aware of it anyway, also the font is different so it stands out a little more. The word ‘new’ portrays the information to be very updated, which links with the weekly distribution of the magazine, the word ‘musical’ conveys that the magazine focuses mainly on music, which suggests the information is important and the word ‘express’ indicates the information has been delivered to the readers very fast. The headline along the top of the page says ‘giant xmas double issue’ which entices readers to buy this magazine, because the word ‘giant’ indicates you get more and ‘double issue’ tells them they will get another nme magazine included in the price. The banner along the bottom of the page says ‘new year’s eye party guide’ and ‘monster music quiz and crossword’ which again are more aspects that attract the target audience to buy the magazine. A ‘+’ icon is situated just before the banner, in the same colour and font as the title block to ensure the banner itself is noticed. The colours used are red, black and white which are the usual colours for the covers of music magazines. This is because they are bold and contrasting colours, which look good together, so they attract positive attention. As well, the red and white are effective because they associate well with the Christmas style of this particular magazine. So the overall colours of the magazine suit its general appearance. The baubles, which include the puffs, are either; red, yellow or green, which links in well with the Christmas theme. The font remains the same through the cover, apart from the title of the anchorage text and buzz word which is linked to it, is put into a more fancy font so it stands out from the rest. The whole appearance of the magazine and its Christmas theme makes the magazine more appealing, as well as the way the white text stands out against the background image, as this makes it more visible.
Contents Page
This magazine uses several image linked with their content heading, and arranged around the page. They are square or rectangular shaped image, situated next to their heading with the page number in the bottom corner of each image. The layout of the contents page supports my idea that this magazine is styled like a newspaper. This continues on my interpretation of the audience, that they will be busy people who prefer their information brief because they are still passionate about this music genre. There are six images of artists, along with smaller images of previous front covers with a promotional offer. The colours are the same as that on the front page, so we can see a house style is being developed. The fonts are the same; the contents title is the font used for the slogan, and the contents list uses the two fonts used for the anchorage text and puffs. This layout is very confusing, as it doesn’t show the pages in chronological order. Instead, the main article are featured in different places on the page, and there is a small box listing the rest of the pages. No subheadings are used, and the headings in the smaller box don’t have a tag line associated with them so there is no indication to what they are about. However, this does follow my idea that the style of NME magazines is meant to be different from other magazines, in order for it to stand out more. Also, this adds to my idea about the target audience, as the layout is very modernized so it seems to be allocated toward younger people. Again, it links to the layout of newspapers, as some of them don’t include subheadings etc. to organise the contents list. There is a large promotional feature in the bottom, left corner. The subscription to NME for just £74.99 a year is being advertised, small photos of previous front covers, a different coloured background and larger, white font. This is just liked the pages introduction placed in the centre, so because these two sections have different colour schemes to the rest of the text, they stand out more on the page. The logo isn’t place on this placed, and can only be seen on the small photos of the front covers. The reason for this could be that the magazine has been distributed since 1952 and is a weekly magazine, so it will already be well known and doesn’t necessarily need to include the logo. The brands other franchises are not featured on the contents page.
Feature Article
The band used suggests the readers are going to be very passionate followers of indie rock music, because this is a new band. However, it might be targeted at slightly older readers because Liam Gallagher the lead singer of the band ‘Beady Eye’ was one of the lead singers in the band ‘Oasis’, which was a band followed by older people as well as the magazines usual young target audience. The language used is informal and informative. ‘After the fights, the fashion and a year of ifs and maybes,’ the way the article is written is informal and it comes across there is a familiarity with the readers. The vocabulary used makes the readers feel they are on the same level as the magazine, and not inferior to it which is appealing to the audience because it would interest their nature more. However, the article is still informative which is what the readers want. The tone used, associates with the language, because it makes the reader feel they are more involved. Therefore, the idea is portrayed that NME address their readers as part of an in crowd. “Merry Fookin’ Christmas” is evidence towards this; because it is informal and uses a friendly, familiar tone. Although, the readers need to be aware of the band ‘Oasis’ because the article uses a lot of references to this, so the readers do need prior information. The article title, introduction, quotes and the photo tag lines all use the same text as the second part of the anchorage text and the article heading on the contents page. The rest of the text is the same as the first part of the anchorage text from the front cover, this means that a house style has been developed throughout the magazine. The text is laid out in columns, three on the double page spread and three on the last page. The article itself is a report, created from an interview with the band as various quotes are used throughout. Entry points are used to indicate the start of a new section, they are bigger letters in the same font and colour as the quotes. The first double page spread is a large image of the band, similar to the one on the front cover. All artists are using direct mode of address, but Liam Gallagher is looking down at the camera, where as the others are looking straight on. This portrays that Liam is the lead of the band, and already has fame and power. Snowflakes and snow have been added to this picture, to continue the style used on the front cover and contents page, to again indicate the Christmas period. The next double page spread consists of three large columns of test, and one large image of Liam Gallagher situated in the centre of the page, but more to the right. This again is a technique used to show his already standing importance. The entry points, quotes and background of a little section on their opinions of things such as ‘student riots’ are all a greeny-mustard colour, which suits the bands outfits. The last page is just a single one, again consisting of three columns. Along the top, there is three close mid-shot images of the three other band members, and one more of Liam Gallagher. This presents the members through their facial expressions and body posture, so the audience can see them as individuals. The caption used is ‘Haven’t we seen you somewhere before? Liam’s three wise men Andy, gem and Chris’ this links the members to their previous career, so the readers can associate who they were to who they are now. The overall style of the article is similar to the front cover, font wise. However, the colour scheme is slightly different because it uses black, white and a greeny-mustard colour instead of red, black and white.
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