2. Age range and gender of audience
• The median age of NME readers is 25 and these readers
are catered for by the modern music releases that are
covered in every magazine. Similarly, NME is able to
appeal to their older audience as they tend to write
about bands from older generations, too, especially in
their special editions.
• The colours used in the magazine, and their general
house style is fitting for the contemporary readers,
too.
• According to an NME reader profile, 63% of readers are
male, and 37% are female which can be indicated by the
genres of music that are usually covered in the
magazine, which are stereotypically male orientated.
3. Genres of music
The typical genres of music they will be most
interested in listening to are:
Rock: alternative/indie/garage/psychedelic/punk
Folk/guitar/acoustic
Reggae/ska
4. Examples of favourite bands/artists
As aforementioned, the genres of
music listened to by NME readers are
stereotypically associated with
males. These are just some of the
bands and singers covered in NME,
which are a part of the magazine’s
typical genres. Evidently, many of
these musicians are male, and this
will appeal to the male readers, as
they will want to aspire to be like
them. Figures such as Jake Bugg and
Paul Weller are highly successful,
and readers want to be able to find
out more about them, and style their
lives to be more like them. This
relates to Carl Roger’s and Jacques
Lacan’s theories about consumers
wanting to be similar to what they
see.
5. Types of clothes
they wear
I can visualise NME readers
wearing clothes similar
those types of clothing
(right), as they prefer to
be smart-casually dressed.
26% of readers are
students, so they tend to
dress casually, and the
majority of readers do not
have enough disposable
income in order to buy
clothes from designer
labels, hence brands such
as Fred Perry and Converse
are within their budget.
6. Types of jobs they might have
• Just under half (47%) of readers are with the ABC1
band of the general registrar scale, which
indicates that NME appeals to almost anyone,
regardless of their income.
• In this case, jobs will range from managers to
plumbers, and teachers to unskilled workers such as
leaflet distributors.
7. Hobbies/interests
• NME readers will often attend gigs and concerts, and will
enjoy going to festivals with groups of friends.
• They will also go out to pubs or clubs, sometimes with work
colleagues and friends and are generally rather sociable.
• They will certainly enjoy listening to music, and buying it,
too. A third download music at least once a week (and that’s
53% for 16-24 year olds). 58% of readers say that adverts
for bands/new music releases influence how they discover new
music (again, rising to 68% among 16-24 year olds).
• They may also enjoy light, contemporary reading and
interested in some forms of art
• Lastly, many NME readers will enjoy making music themselves,
and are possibly in a band, and read NME for further
inspiration and guidance for success.
