The document analyzes the cover page of NME (New Musical Express) magazine to understand the codes and conventions it uses. NME primarily targets an audience aged 17-30 interested in indie and rock music. The analyzed cover features 95% of the page taken up by an image of the band Foo Fighters, with their name and the phrase "Foo Fighters take over" on the left. Additional headlines promote Dave Grohl's new album and TV show in bright red and white. The simple yet edgy contemporary layout with only one large image appeals to NME's target audience.

1. As another part of my music magazine research I will be analysing a cover page and a contents page
of two different magazines. This will help me to see the codes and conventions that different
magazines use. The first magazine that I am going to analyse is called New Musical express better
known as NME magazine. The magazine aims to inform people about new bands and also other
famous bands and artists. The genre of this magazine is indie and rock. I am not into this type of
music although when I do my target audience research they may be into indie and rock music this
means I can look at the codes and conventions of this magazine and apply them to my music
magazine. The target audience of this magazine is predominantly aimed in between the age of 17 –
30. their audience are usually well educated in music and have a passion for music. This edition of
NME magazine has been published by
When I first saw this magazine the masthead immediately stood out to me as it is big and bold. I
liked how there was only one picture on the front cover that takes up over 95 per cent of the page. I
can tell from this magazine cover that it is all about indie and rock from the particular band featured
on the front cover. This will entice people who like that genre of music to immediately want to buy
it. You can tell that it is about the band the Foo Fighters as it features the people from the band on
the front cover and it also says on the left hand side of the magazine it says ‘Foo Fighters take over’.
The puff in the right hand corner that says ‘special foldout cover’ will entice people to buy the
magazine. By using the word ‘special’ it will make their readers want to buy the magazine more as
no other magazine may have this type of front cover.
In the bottom right hand corner on the barcode it says ‘the past, present & future of music’. This is
the selling line that appears in every NME magazine. Even though the writing is very small this is
their iconic selling line and their particular audience know and recognise it all over the world. The
magazine has a target audience for people in their teens to their late twenties who are well
educated with a high income. Their readers will depend on this magazine as it has a lot of
information about artists and upcoming gigs.
The style of the front cover is quite informal and edgy. As they use some foul language on the front
cover which is a quote from the feature band. It is a simple contemporary front cover which would
stand out to the target audience as NME knows that this is the type of thing that they would be into.
There is black writing over the front cover that looks as if it has written on with a marker. Then in the
main image there is a mid-shot of a man holding up a black marker to the writing which makes it
look as if he has written it on the magazine himself and this was done to anchor the image. You can
see that it is a rock band on the front cover as most of the people on the front cover main image
have long hair and beards. They are also wearing quite dark clothing which would appeal to the
audience of this magazine.
This magazine has two main colours which are red and white which are associated with peace,
passion and strength. These colours are also always represented with rock this is how they would
grab in their target audience and the colours are quite bright also they would catch people’s eye.
The colours of the magazine and the layout of it is quite edgy and contemporary so this would also
attract their target audience.

2. At the bottom of the front page there is also some other headlines. There is one promoting Dave
Grohl’s new album and new TV show. The whiting is white on a red background which makes the
headline standout. This will also entice people to buy the magazine as NME’s target audience would
want to know about these types of things. There is also another feature cover line that starts with
the symbol + which means plus. The word plus that is associated with this symbol would give their
target audience a real sense of excitement that would entice them to buy the magazine as they
would want to read through it to read all of the other articles that these artists are mentioned in.
The simple yet contemporary and edgy layout appeals to the audience that they want to be looking
at their magazines. This edgy look will also make readers to continue buying this magazine. As only
one image can be seen on the front cover and as it takes up over 95 per cent of the page it makes it
stand out to their target audience a lot more. As it is simple I can see how it would appeal to a
younger audience because it is quite informal as well. Also younger people would not want to buy a
magazine that was all dull and boring with dull headlines that don’t capture the reader’s attention.
Overall I think that this NME magazine is able to grab in the audience that they want straight away
by using the same house style that they always use. The big bold title will draw in the reader and
make them want to buy it. By using bands like the foo fighters and the rolling stones on the front
cover it means their target audience will be sure to buy the magazine.