NME

NME

A case study on NME magazine.

Representation

The stars on the covers of NME tend to be alternative music artists, typically the cover artist is someone who has been making a big impression in the music press in recent weeks or months.

A more specific analysis of a cover of NME is a recent one that was released on the 17th November 2012. The cover artist is a male, who has made a very huge impression on the music press with his recent album, and his name is Jake Bugg. On the cover, Jake has a very serious facial expression, which establishes that he means business with his music. He has a small introduction on his character on the cover, which introduces Jake just enough to attract an audience to want to read the magazine. The introduction includes a highlighted name of a popular artist, Jake being associated with this artist would therefore catch the attention of this artists fans, resorting to them wanting to read the article, drawing an audience in for the magazine. From the cover, you can see that Jake is shown to be an object of reality, he isn't trying to be anyone different, the readers would love to read about a famous people who has similarities to them!

Audience

The magazine NME has an average age of 24. It has a ratio of 69% male readers and 31% female readers, this shows that it is mainly read by a male audience. 52% of 'NME's readers are working full time, 7% working part time and 29% are still studying. Most of their readership come under A,B and C1 with a percentage of 65% which shows that their readers will be willing to spend money on NME as the social classes ABC1 are usually wealthy. NME have a readership of 369,000 and a circulation of 40,948.

By looking at this particular front cover of NME magazine, i would assume that the readership of the magazine would be interested and attend alot of the gigs and live events that are advertsied in the magazine. i would also assume that the audience would be highly interested in how they look, for example dress and style, as looking good is an important part of the music industry. also the majority of the readers of NME are young, and most young people like to look stylish therefore look at the bands and artists on the cover of the magzine as idols.

Male: 66%

Female: 34%

Median Age: 23

Student: 35%

ABC1: 61%

Circulation: 23,924

Readership: 289,000

Key Stats

- The NME audeince have a strong relationship with NME and completely trust the brand:

"I can trust it"

"Its full of facts that we should all know but dont BUT we do now thanks to NME"

"Honest, no-holds, barred reviews"

-NME auedience feels a real affinity with the journalists "The writers seem to really understand what is important to me" (index 159)

Influental & In The Know

The NME audience are very influential in their social circles and are twice as likely as the average to be the first amongst their friends to know what is going on.

A history of the magazine

The New Music Express 'NME', is a music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It began as a music newspaper, and eventually became a magazine during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the 14 November 1952 edition. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. During the period 1972 to 1976 it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism, then became closely associated with punk rock through the writing of Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill.

Front Cover Analysis

The name of the magazine, 'NME' is written in the top left hand corner of the front cover. The letters are capitalized to make it iconic, and font colour is bright yellow to make it stand out.

There is a plug along the side of the front cover to allow readers to see what will be inside the magazine. This will attract readers and make them want to open the magazine/buy it and read more. If the reader is attracted to band/artist then they might be drawn in by a band or artist in the plug which may lead them into buying the magazine.

The alliteration in the

blue circle saying 'Fan Frenzy' will be eye catching

mainly for NME fans/collectors. They would be the fans who write in questions and would like to see if their questions have been asked.

The colour scheme is yellow, white and blue, which is suitable as the target audience is both boys and girls and therefore helps make the magazine appeal for both genders.

The main headline is written in

capital letters using bright yellow font.

This is eye catching and will attract 'Two Door' fans.

The word 'Win' is written in bold

capital letters which emphasise the fact

that there is a competition which is being

held. This will attract readers as many people

love winning/taking part in competitions.

The freebies are advertised at the top of the magazine to draw the readers attention. Freebies are a useful way to help sell a magazine.

General Information

Launch Date: 1952

Frequency: Weekly

Cover Price: £2.40

Audience: 66% male, 34% female aged 15-34

Median age: 24

Advertisements

NME contains 31 advertisements in an average magazine. It has become a truly unique multi-platform media proposition. Across the magazine, www.nme.com, NMETV, NME Radio and the brand's live events and awards, NME reaches over one million music fans every week. IPC advertises NME magazine. Throughout a typical NME magazine, there are advertisements which advertise brands such as Loreal, Orange, Canon, Motorola and Intel.

Web Page

The online version of NME magazine was launched in 1996. It is the worlds biggest standalone music website, and it has over 7 million users per month. The colours of the webpage are very plain colours (red, white and black), they're plain because the audience and sub-audience of this magazine are very different. The colour scheme is kept simple to keep the attention on all the stories and articles advertised on the website itself. The home page is full of different stories which capture the audiences attention immediately. There is a little taster of things like reviews, film and tv articles, news etc on the homepage which make the audience want to click each tab and find out more. The audience are encouraged to interact by the use of a blog. This blog allows NME fans to blog their opinions on certain things, and helps them communicate their thoughts and ideas to one another. The NME webpage contains videos of new music, photos of artists and concerts, music reviews, blogs, gig tickets and gig information and many more things. The webpage is useful as it keeps the audience up to date with whats going on in the music world. An aspect of what makes the online version of NME better than a printed version, is the fact that is is more virtual and you can actually watch videos and interviews unlike on a paper copy.

Content

Codes and Conventions

of the Magazine

Many of the articles in the magazine are interviews, reviews and recent music news. At the back there a 4-5 pages dedicated to 'gig guides'

The average issue of NME contains 66-82 pages. 31 of these were advertisement, including adverts for cds, gigs and technology such as phones.

Inside NME there are also posters, in the issue I have analyzed there are 6 posters!

Another interesting feature NME is that in the contents there is a band index of bands that are mentioned.

This is a link to an e-zine of NME

http://issuu.com/nmemagazine/docs/24th-nov/2

::P