2. NME
Mission Statement: To Provide up to
date and new information, reviews
and listings of the best new music,
their slogan is "first for music news”.
Circulation: 23,924
Readership: 289,000
ABC1: 61%
Median Age: 23
Male: 66%
Female: 34%
Reader Profile: The audience are very
influential in their social circles and
know what is going on, they are
completely obsessed by music. They
rely on the editorial and ads to keep
them up to date with new music and
by this knowledge makes them the
authority in music in their peer group.
3. NME
DOUBLE PAGE
SPREAD
FRONT COVER CONTENTS PAGE
4. NME - COLOUR
NME’s usual colour scheme is either black,
red and white or black, white, red and yellow.
This issues colour scheme was black, white,
pink and yellow. The colours black and white
are contradicting each other, as the colour
black holds connotations of power, death
and evil where as white connotes innocence
and purity, this contrast makes the text stand
out and these colours work well together.
The use of pink and yellow suggests that
NME are trying to expand the amount of
females that buy the magazine as the reader
profile is dominated by men, by using this
colours suggest that the magazine is quite
feminine. Also yellow is the colour of
sunshine and is associated with happiness,
therefore suggesting that whoever reads this
magazine will enjoy it, and will be happier if
they read it.
5. NME – LAYOUT
& DESIGN
On the front cover, the main story is
advertised about Noel Fielding being ‘In his
weirdest interview yet’. These words fit in
with the image very well as in the image, he is
not the normal stereotypical punk as punks
normally have dark eye make up and dark
clothing where as he has brightly coloured
make up and clothes. Therefore to look at, the
image is slightly weird and not normal to look
at so, being ‘In his weirdest interview yet’
explains why he is dressed in that way. Also
featured on the front cover is a story about a
previous solo artist coming back into the
music industry, the image is of the artist
standing alone, as he is a solo artist, looking
very serious and determined. This suggests
that he means business and wants to
dominate the music industry. The head line
for the double-page spread reads ‘TAKE AIM’,
the font used links in very well with these
words as its very jagged and rough, which is
what describes and arrow.
6. NME - IMAGES
The majority of the images featured in the
magazine, are of stereotypical grunges,
dressed in black, dark make up and
black, long, scruffy hair. I think that the
images reflect upon the audience, and
suggest that the people in the images are
going to look similar to the audience.
They also show the audience who to
aspire to, and I can see the people in the
images being idols for the audience. As
there is a lot of rock music stories
featured within this magazine, the images
reflect upon this as the images are of
people with in the rock music industry,
therefore by looking at the images, an
audience would think to buy this if they
had an interest in rock music.
7. NME – FRAMING
The first picture shows an artist sitting alone, his
body language suggests that he is thinking about
something, which grabs the readers attention as
they are made to wonder what he is looking at
and what he is thinking about. It is also a mid
shot and manages to frame in the records and
pictures in the background, this something the
readers can relate to as the NME reader profile
states that their readers are obsessed with music
and would probably have records hanging in their
room or house just like this. The second picture
is mid shot and frames the artists in their natural
environment which appeals to the reader as all
the people in the picture are pulling funny faces
or laughing, so therefore the reader wants to be
involved and have a good time with them. The
third picture is manipulated to suggest to the
reader that Noel Fielding is a target and is having
knifes thrown at him, NME have done this to
promote the story line ‘Take Aim’.
8. NME – WRITTEN
CODES & LANGUAGE
All the straplines on the front cover are the right size
and would be easy to see from a reasonable
distance, the font used is plain and makes a big
impact as it’s a very blocky font, therefore it is easy
to read and again, would be visible from a distance.
The wording used, for example, ‘INVADE’, ‘WHO THE
HELL’ and ‘REBELLIOUS’ suggest to the audience
that this magazine is of the rock genre, and would
appeal to the audience as these words are quite
feisty and snappy and would easily get the audience
interested. Also a strap line that caught my eye was
the one that directly addressed me, this is a good
technique as this will instantly grab the audiences
attention because its almost as if the magazine is
speaking to you. The colours used of this strapline
are black on yellow, this is also very attention
grabbing as it relates to a bee, suggesting to the
audience that the story is going to sting you its that
amazing.
9. NME - LANGUAGE
First thing I noticed was that the double page
spread was mostly focused on the main
image and the actual story was merely a small
box at the bottom of the page, therefore, the
font size used may be too small for some
people to read with bad eye sight. However,
NME uses a series of questions to grab the
readers attention, for example, ‘What painting
would Noel Fielding live in if he could?’. I also
noticed that NME used a lot of humour to
attract the reader, for example ‘Who has the
best nose in showbiz?’.
10. NME - CONCLUSION
I found that NME’s strengths were in how they were able to relate to
their readers through images and language style. Linking to the Uses
and Gratifications theory by Blumler & Katz 1974, the readers will use
this magazine to fulfill their needs for person identity, as they will look
at all the artists and groups and relate to them through their love for
music or dress sense. A number of the images created stereotypes
(Branston and Stafford 2010) as they perceived particular groups and
people to dress and look a certain way, for example on the front cover
the image was of a stereotypical ‘punk rocker’, which suggested
straight away that people who liked to listen to punk rock and dressed
like the man on the front would enjoy this magazine and find it
interesting but excluded people who didn't like that type of music. I
think NME should have their double page spread more about the story
than the actual image as I thought the image was far too big and
covered up most of the page, so that people who wanted to know more
about Noel Fielding would be able to. I like NME’s layout and design
techniques, I like the way the front page is layed out and I can see my
magazine front cover being similar.
