NME is a magazine that has celebrated and promoted indie rock music since 1952. It began as a weekly tabloid newspaper and has undergone various changes to its design and format over the decades. Currently owned by IPC media, NME targets males aged 24 and some teenagers, who are passionate about music and consider it an important part of their lives. The magazine uses a simple layout with large images and focuses its editorial content on articles, interviews, and information about new releases, concerts, festivals, album reviews and indie rock news to engage its dedicated readership.

1. NME is a magazine that celebrates and promotes indie rock music. It was first published in 1952 as a
weekly paper, at first the magazine was in an A3 format and looked like a tabloid newspaper. It
originally used the full title of ‘THE NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS’ as its masthead, then it was changed to
NME when the publication was given a makeover. In the 1950s and 1970s, the magazine started to
look a bit out dated alongside newer music magazines, this led to a new editor being drafted in 1972
to give the magazine its first new design. It wasn’t until 2000 that NME enhanced its magazine
appearance, glossy cover, colour pages etc. NME is currently owned by IPC media; it costs £2.40 and
is Issued Weekly.
NME is aimed at males of average ages of 24 and some readers in their mid to late teens. 72% work
and the rest are in full time education. The target audience would regularly update their music
library, attend live gigs and enjoy going to festivals for the music and the atmosphere. Majority of
the readers would be interested in a musical instrument and may even be in a band or consider
themselves as an upcoming artist. They would see music as a very large important part of their life
and be interested in the journey of other artists. The traits of these readers would consist of being
laid back, friendly, independent thinker, and a hipster.
NMA has a specific style/ Layout/ Mode of Address. NME uses a simple magazine layout when the
main image takes up most of the page and it is then accompanied by featured article photographs
and a collection of sell lines. These sell lines on the front cover tend to refer to gigs, festivals and are
related to competitions; this attracts the majority of the audience. Free posters and CDs are
occasionally featured in the magazine, the posters indicate the youthfulness of the audience, and
while the CDs introduce the readership to new bands and tracks (this reflects the readership’s
interest in new music). Free CDs and posters catches the audience’s attention as they are free gifts
and it can also make the known circulation of these artists being advertised bigger because people
will start to recognise them more easily. The magazines modes of address uses slang and swear
words throughout. NME also uses specific terms used specifically in the genre of Indie Rock scene.
The magazine uses quite a structured layout with text heavy articles. This demonstrates how the
audience is serious about music.
The editorial content in NME devotes the majority of its content to articles, interviews, information
about new releases, tour/ festival/ gig information, album/ single reviews and general news related
to indie rock music. NME has supported certain bands since early days in their career these consist
of THE VACCINES, GREEN DAY, ARTIC MONKEYS, MORRISSEY, and TWO DOOR CINMEA CLUB. NME
focuses on current artists that are moderately known and have a big circulation. This magazine has
weekly gig diaries and extensive advertising of tour dates reflects how the target audience is a
regular gig-goer.