This document analyzes the front cover of the music magazine NME. It summarizes that the bright red masthead matches magazine conventions and stands out to attract the target audience. The main image of Dizzee Rascal uses direct address to engage fans and attract black ethnicities. The headline and quote from Dizzee Rascal create intrigue and relate to the main article. The contents inside are suggested to be jam-packed with articles for readers. The magazine follows conventions like the barcode, price, and issue number while breaking others like smaller page numbers on the contents page.

1. Analysis of Music Magazine NME
The Masthead is in the top left which is where
people look first naturally and this matches the
codes and conventions of a magazine. It attracts
the target audience because its bright red so
therefore stands out. The magazine is well
known and well branded the masthead is
recognised so it doesn’t matter that part of it is
being covered by the main image.
The main image uses direct mode of address so
this will attract the target audience as it engages
them and makes them feel involved. The main
image would attract dizzy rascal fans because it is
dizzy rascal and they would know what he looks
like and because he is happy it’ll make the
audience want to know why he is happy (enigma
theory). His left eye is on one of the Hot spots (rule
of thirds) so this will draw the reader’s attention to
the main image. The main image would attract
black ethnicities to the magazine as they would
associate with the artist on the cover.
The main cover line, is
also anchorage text,
relates to the image as
it talks about who is in
the image “Dizzy
Rascal” the grab quote
“I’m spreading joy
around the world,
man!” is also part of
the main cover line and
would grab the buyers
attention because it
creates enigmas – how
is he bringing joy? It
joins the main image to
the main article of the
magazine and this
would make the buyer
want to read on. Fans
of Dizzee Rascal would
especially be attracted
by the main cover line
because they would
see his name and also
see a quote from him
so would want to know
more and therefore
want to read the
article.
The R of rascal is on
one of the hotspots
(Rule of thirds) so the
reader will be drawn
there naturally.
The colour scheme of the
magazine is red and white (and a
little black). These two colours,
red and white, contrast and
stand out on one another. The
masthead is red and this stands
out boldly on the white
background. The colour scheme
is simple yet affective. However,
personally I don’t think that the
grab quote stands out as it is on a
partially white background so I
think this makes it hard to read.
The magazine has all the main codes and conventions including
having a bar code, price and issue number. It is important for
the magazine to have a barcode because it is a legal
requirement for magazines. It is also where the buyer would
expect it to be (bottom right corner). The issue number is
important as it means the reader can check they have the right
edition or they can make sure that they read them in order if
they get behind. It is important to state the price on the
magazine as this does affect who buys it. The target audience
for this magazine would not want to pay more than £4 so the
price of the magazine (£2.30) is an appropriate price for the
buyer.
The footer at the bottom lists more
bands and artists that will feature in the
magazine. The use of the “+” sign is
saying “plus more” and this suggests that
there will be loads going on inside the
magazine.
This top line tells the audience
which bands are the main
focuses of this issue. They fit
the genre of the magazine and
would therefore the target
audience would find this
appealing and would want to
read this article
The magazine front cover looks very busy and clustered; this
could suggest that the magazine is going to be jam packed with
articles and other stuff that will interest the buyer.
The red puff stands out on
the white background. It
will attract the audience
because a “reunion” would
excite them as this could
mean a tour or a new album
something that they would
want to happen.
NME does not appear to have a sell line
which is a usual code and convention of a
music magazine.
NME has one coverline talking about blur which is not very
many. However the top line and footer bar have a lot of detail
in them so this suggests that lots of cover lines are not
needed on this front cover.
The target audience for NME is males
aged 17-30 from a high social class-
working class.

2. The mast head is on the contents page exactly the same as it is
on the front cover but this time it is smaller in size. This reminds
the target audience of the name of the magazine and therefore
builds on the branding of the magazine.
The title of the page (code and convention) tells the reader
what the page is set to do – tell the reader what is in this
edition of the magazine.
Reader can quickly find out
what bands are mentioned in
the magazine and find out
quickly which page they are
on. It allows the reader to
find the bands they are most
interested in and skip straight
to articles relating to them.
NME have broken the
codes and conventions of
magazines because in
most magazines the page
numbers are bigger than
the text on the contents
page but in NME this is
not the case. It is the
same size as the article
title but they are smaller
than the header of the
group of articles.
However the page
numbers are in a
different colour (red) so
this makes them stand
out next to the article
names.
Advert promotes there
magazine so helps with
their branding and also it is
a suitable advert because if
the reader is reading this
magazine then they would
probably be interested in
getting a subscription as it
would be cheaper and also
get delivered straight to
their house instead of them
having to go the shop. It
also means that they would
never miss an edition.
The contents page is laid
out in the way most
magazine’s are. It has
used three columns and
put the content on the
page into these three
columns. It has used the
same colour scheme as
the front colour so this
makes the front cover
and contents page link.
The “PLUS” makes it sound like the
magazine is packing extra content
into the magazine which would
make the buyer feel that they were
getting more than their money’s
worth which would be appealing to
the buyer.
The contents page gives
more information about
articles in the magazine than
the cover lines and gives the
page number that the whole
article is on. This will attract
the reader to the main
articles in the magazine
rather than to the smaller
articles.
The date of the edition allows the audience to make
sure they are staying up to date with the magazine
editions and are reading the editions in order if
they’ve gotten behind. It also allows them to find
the specific magazine if they want to refer to a
specific article at a later date in time.
The features are
grouped under
headers; this allows the
magazine to have
regular articles which
builds routine into the
audience’s reading.
The middle column
gives a few more page
numbers and more
features in a little bit
more depth. It allows
the audience to get a
bit more detail on a
few of the articles.
The contents page has not used that
many images. It uses one in the middle
column which relates to the text below
it and there is an image relating to the
advert.
NME does not include an editor’s
message which means it kind of loses
some of its personal touch. It also does
not include any social media links which
stops the magazine being able to reach
out to their online audience.

3. The headline of the article is the largest text on the page and is
bold to draw the reader’s attention to the article. It also gives a
clue to the reader what the article is going to be about.
The image takes up the left hand page of the double page
spread (code and convention) and adds a visual appeal to the
image. It breaks up the amount of text on the page as the
image taking up so much space actually encourages the
audience to read the article. The in-direct mode of address
causes enigmas - suggests that Dizzee Rascal may be shy and
that the article is talking about his personal life, or that he is
looking back over his shoulder because the article is talking
about his past.
There is a stand
first underneath
the title of the
article and this
gives a small
introduction to the
main article, this
helps to engage
the reader in the
article before
they’ve even read
it.
The text of the article is split into columns
because this makes it easier to read because it
visually looks like there is less to read whereas if
it was all in one big paragraph the reader would
not want to read it as it would look like it would
take ages to read. The columns make the text
look more appealing to the reader.
The smaller images at the bottom of the right
hand page are related the article and add a visual
message to the audience about Dizzee Rascals
article. The bottles are beer bottles which have
connotations of a party this could suggest to the
reader that his life has been a party; it also has
connotations of a male drink. The “have a nice
day” sticker suggests that Dizzee Rascal wants
people to have a good day this would show that
he is a nice caring person.
The drop capital
visually indicates to
the reader that the
main article has
begun. It also makes
the text look more
interesting.
The page number at the
bottom of the page connects
the article to the contents page
and allows the magazine to
flow. The reader can find the
article again easily if they put it
down as they will know what
page to find.
NME have not included any large visible quotes
in this article which is a common code and
convention of a double page spread.
A code and convention of magazine is to
give credit to the person who wrote the
article and to the person who has taken
the photos for the article.