NME magazine analysis- Audience and Institutions

FRONT COVERMastheadThe NME masthead is red, white and black and is a bold. The white and black is used as a sort of outline to make the masthead stand out more which connotes importance on the page. It also takes up half the width of the page to give it more depth and dominance on the front cover. The colour scheme of the masthead is generic so that the magazine is easily recognisable.

Cover ImageThe main cover image is a long shot in order to see the body language of the artist. The position of the photo makes use of his hand to cover up white space at the top right of the page, the angle also makes it seem as though he is coming out of the page which connotes importance. White space is also covered with the background as it’s quite busy which contrasts to the simplicity of the front cover. The Mise-en scene of the cover image including his clothes and facial expressions captures the stereotypical personality of the hip-hop fans. His trainers express a loud personality and also match the colour scheme which anchors the image to the masthead.

Main cover lineThe main cover line ‘Dizzee Rascal’ followed by a pull quote from the magazine shows that he is the main feature of this issue which also has anchorage to the main cover image. The language used in the pull quote also supports the fact that it’s an interview with Dizzee as the word ‘man’ is the stereotypical way that people in his genre of music speak. The use of a pull quote is also a way to appeal to the audience as a sneak preview of what will be inside of the magazine.

HeaderThe header can also be seen as the selling point and the fact that it’s at the very top of the page implies that is a main aspect of this issue. The words ‘Autumn tour special’ are in bold to promote the article. The use of a header and footer also give the feel that the magazine has got more inside it that is worth reading.

Cover linesThis cover line looks as though it is an extension of the masthead because it is in line with it and also uses the colour scheme. Magazines usually uses the word ‘featuring’ but NME uses ‘starring’ which gives a more sophisticated feel to the magazine as it’s normally associated with films. NME also used a san serif font to give the cover lines a bolder look to stand out. It also gives the connotation that the music they feature is ‘loud and bold’ as opposed to classical music.

Use of flashThe use of a flash offers something new and different to the target audience. It also uses colloquial language ‘wowee zowee’ to be more relatable to the younger target audience. It also states that it is ‘news’ which suggests that there is different areas covered in the magazine.

Date, Barcode and PriceThe date and price of the magazine is smaller by the barcode. It’s smaller because in NME it doesn’t take priority. As it’s a well known magazine the audience will more than likely already know the price. The price is £2.30 which is reasonable as the magazine is released monthly.

FRONT COVER

Rule of Thirds The magazine uses the rule of thirds to layout the page. However, the masthead uses the page being split into two rather than three which shows that it is more important. The way the image of Dizzee Rascal is positioned breaks the rule of thirds as he is off centre. However, this contrasts the fact that the main cover line is offset and anchors the ‘Dizzee’ idea. The front cover also takes in consideration the ‘C’ effect where you read the page from the masthead round to the left third and finally the right side of the page. Therefore, the main cover line along with the pull line immediately attracts the audience’s eye and makes the magazine appealing to buy. The header and footer of the page also creates a ‘finished’ feel to the magazine and implies that the magazine is full from start to finish.

CONTENTS PAGEThe masthead is repeated on the front cover to clearly state the name of the magazine. It has been pushed over to the right compared to the cover which implies that this isn’t the main focus on the contents page.

The date of the issue is bigger on the contents page than on the front and is quite noticeable being under the title.

As this part of the contents is bigger than the section on the right shows that the magazine focus’ on articles about different bands. The band and artists names are in red with the page numbers in red which connotes that these are the most important sections of the magazine. This contrasts to the black page titles and red page numbers on the other side of the page.

The main image on the cover anchors to the cover line on the front cover and the introduction to the article underneath it. The photo has more of a ‘holiday snap’ feel to it rather than a staged photo shoot. This supports the laid back feel to the article ‘touring special’. The image and introduction is also positioned on top of the outline of a suitcase which again supports the title ‘touring special’ as you a suitcase is associated with going away.

The subheading are in black that connotes less important than the red but it still clearly stands out to show the different sections that the magazine is split into.

Advertising themselves not only to take up white space but to promote their subscription service. The yellow of the title also contrasts to the black, red and white colour scheme that is continued throughout the contents page. This also makes the magazine familiar to the regular audience.

There is a brief summary of the articles under the page titles which catchy captions such as ‘Jigga man recruits the electro-fantastics.’ to appeal the readers and give an insight to what the article is going to be about.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREADThe main image uses the same background as on the contents page. The mise-en scene of the image has a graffiti wall behind him which not only supports the stereotype of people interested in hip hop but also links in to the title of the article ‘From tags to riches’.The busy background also connotes Dizzee’s personality as being loud and vibrant.

The main image is of Dizzee Rascal and takes up the whole page. This makes the article a lot more image based than word based which is appropriate as the target audience is for the younger generation. The clothes that Dizzee is wearing is stereotypical to his genre of music which will appeal to the audience that are also interested in that genre of music.

The page number, title of magazine and date is at the bottom wich follows the house style NME has.

FRONT COVERMain headingThe title of the article is ‘from tags to riches’ which plays on the phrase ‘from rags to riches’. The phrase means when you came from a bad background and ‘tags’ connotes that his bad background was graffiti. The title also takes up half of the page which again shows that the magazine is not very word based as the actual article is quite small.

Sub headingThe sub heading introduces the article with the ‘Dizzee Rascal’ in bold to show that he is the focus of the article. It also name drops as a way to catch the readers attention within the first sentence of the article.

Drop capThere is a drop cap used that cover 6 lines to begin the article. This makes the beginning word stand out.

CaptionThe top right hand corner has a caption of ‘Dizzee’ so when the reader is flicking through the magazine, it is easy to tell what each article will be about.

Second imageThe second image is of alcohol bottles which connotes the kind of lifestyle Dizzee Rascal had. It is then placed next to a stereo which portrays what his lifestyle is now – music. The anchorage of the photo with the title make the article look more appealing to read.

By line

CopyThe copy takes up 4 columns at about 75-100 words each so the article in total is only roughly 300-400 words long. The language used in the article is informal in places with ‘loads more’ instead of a more formal ‘more than usual’. It also has a narrative tone to it, as if the person who photographed and interviewed him is writing the details of the day and the effect that Dizzee had on people. The text also wraps around the second images which gives the page a much fuller look and doesn’t have as much white space.

NME

• NME was first published on the 7th March 1952 as a music newspaper which then moved towards a music magazine in the 1980’s. During 1972 to 1976, NME became associated with Gonzo journalism which then became closely linked to punk rock. However, since then it has become a hip-hop/rock magazine and has become less intellectually written.

• NME is edited by Mike Williams and published by IPC Media and has a circulation of 23, 924.

• The main target audience for NME is men around the age of 23 which is the median age. The magazine has 66% male. NME also aim their magazine at the people who are more likely to be the first in their social group to know what’s going on. It is also aimed at people who rely on the magazine to keep them up to date with new music by looking at the ads and the editorial.

HOUSE STYLE AND APPEALING