magazine analysis of NME new, old and kerrang!

1. Thisis the newesteditionof NME.The mastheadiscoveredbythe photo of NicholasHoult.The
magazine issowell knownthatwe still know
whatit iseventhoughwe cannotsee the M.
We are drawn into an unusual coverof this
editionasthe mainfocuspointisof an actor
and nota musician.Thisinterregesthe reader,
we want to findoutwhyhe is featured.
The pug on the lefthandthird of the covertell
us that thiseditionisabout“musicfilmstyle”,
explainingHoult’sappearance. The date line
and the beginningof the mastheadare alsoon
the lefthandthird.
The cover isverycrisp andclear.It isn’t
clutteredwithtoomuchinformation.The grey
backgroundand slightlydarkergreysuit
contrastswiththe white writing.The use of
orange couldbe relatedto Halloweenor
autumnand thiseditionisreleasedthe day
before Halloween.Thisalsomakesthe main
article of the magazine veryfittingasitis about
the soundtrack for “KILL YOUR FRIENDS”The
fontis clearand easyto read.
Houltis tryingto breakhisimage of cute childactor and intohisnew role as a murderer(we know
thisbecause of the word “murderer”,standingoutinbrightorange andtakingup 1/5 of the page) in
hisnewfilm,criticallyacclaimedforitssoundtrack.
The typical age of readersof thismagazine is24 and 69% are male and 31% female.Thismakes
Houlta fittingmodel forthe frontcoverashe is25 and attractive.Thiswill draw the gaze of both
sexes’ menwantingtobe like himandwomenwantingtobe withhim.
One thingwe don’tfindonthe coverof thiseditionisabarcode or price.Thisis because inJune
2015 after63 years NME became a free digital magazine.Thisattractsa largeraudience as95% of
readersuse the internet.Theyhave realisedthatmediahastochange withthe times. Thismeans
that there ismore space on the front cover.

2. Thisis the firsteditionof
NME magazine.We can
see conventionshave
changedintypical
magazinessince itcame
out.It is setout muchlike
a newspaper.Withno
mainimage butlots of
smallerimages,suiting
manydifferentaudiences.
The mastheadtakesup
the whole topof the
page,it isnot coveredas
it isa new magazine and
so notknownwell enough
to be coveredas nobody
wouldknow what
magazine itis.
The color scheme isof
course blackand white
because these were the
onlycolorswhichcouldbe
used.We can see that this
makesita lotlessclear
than new magazines.The
fontis unclearandvery
small makingithard to
read.The same fontisusedon the whole coverexceptforthe date andprice whichstand outjust
underthe masthead.
There isno barcode as barcode scannersdidnot exist.Puffscannotbe foundonthispage as it
seemstofollow the layoutof anewspaperonlyalittle lessformal.Andtheywere notusedatthis
time.

3. Kerrang in the world’s
bestsellingweeklyrock
magazine.Itisso well known
the mastheadcan be obscured
and we still recognise it.Itis
coveredbythe image of the late
Kurt Cobain,thisinterregesusas
he is nota currentartist.The
line “AN ICON ASYOU’VE NEVER
SEEN HIM BEFORE”,makesus
wantto findout thisnew
informationabouthim.We
know thisisan importantarticle
as it takesusmost of the front
cover.
The lefthandthirdis mainly
coveredbythe image of Cobain
but we see a puff tellingusthat
there are postersinside.The
image of rock bandstendto be
veryimportantsothe posters
are a bigpart of thismagazine.
The fontsusedon this page and
unusual andinterestingmuch
like the bandsthismagazine represents.The colorscheme isbrightandclearusingredsandyellows.
It helpsthe mainimage of Cobainwithhisblonde hairandredpatternedshirtfitinwell withthe
background.
The barcode,price and date line can all be foundonthe bottomright-handcornertakingupa very
small part of the cover.Not takingyourattentionawayfromthe mainpointson the cover.The
average age of readersis22 and manypeople parentswouldbe buyingthisforteenage childrenor
youngadultswithlowpay.88% of readersbuyeveryweeklyeditionandwithaprice of £2.20 it
makesthisaffordable forthe targetgroup.