NME Magazine Analysis

Magazine Analysis – Charlotte Lloyd

NME Magazine

The cover:

1) The title: why is it called that? What does the title connote?

The masthead of this magazine is ‘NME.’ This stands for new music express. This is a suitable and appropriate title as the magazine is most famous for promoting upcoming and new to the market artists. The magazine is aimed at a target audience from the age of 15-30 years old and therefore masthead is cleverly aimed at them, who are most relevant to this genre of music.

2) The masthead/title logo – analyse it.

The masthead is in bold block red and white colours making it stand out from the background.  It also using the concept of only having 3 letters makes the title more rememerable. It also helps save space to put in other information as using ful words would talk up to much of the page and would no longer be a short, snappy tite. Also the 3 letters form a shape within the block making it easier to recognise.

3) Is there a strapline? Analyse it.

The strapline for this issue is ‘Young Britannia 2013’. Each word being in a separate box and being the biggest, boldest words on the cover (despite the masthead) this clearly indicates it the main feature. This strapline is very patriotic which creates a great bond with British readers and encourages the reader to discover more. I feel by using the word ‘young’ attracts to their target audience and allows them to relate to the story.  NME have clearly summed up the whole feature in just 3 words, making it short and snappy and keeps the readers interested. It fits NME’s house style of not being conventional.

4) What is the main image? Analyse the facial expression, direction of gaze, body language, clothing etc. How does this reach out toward the ideal reader identified above?

The cover of this issue is actually an out fold of 3 pages. Therefore the main image is carried across all 3 pages. Consequently there are 18 people photographed as the main image. It is a very unique image and has all 18 people playing around with fire extinguishers and jumping on each other’s backs. The images on the first page of the cover are bigger and clearer, showing that this is the main cover of the front page. It also has one artist miraculously bigger than the rest, consequently showing that he is going to be one of the main focuses of the article.  There is a clear link between the strapline and the main image. You can clearly tell that all these young people are the main feature/article inside. The background colur is a deep blue, making everything else on the page stand out a lot more, making it easily noticed and easy to understand and read, as there are no colour cashes. Also there are only 3 colours used on the front cover – red, white and blue. This creates a strong relation with the strapline of ‘Britannia’, as these 3 colours make up the British flag. Therefore there is a correlation throughout.

5) What others images appear on the front cover – why?

There are no other images used on the front cover and this is because simplicity is better. Using other images would become to confusing and would clash with the layout. Keeping it simple and easy to read would be more sensible then trying to cramp lots of images all onto one pae.

6) What content is promoted by the cover lines?

There is only one cover line on the front cover. ‘Say hello to the future of British music – “hello”.’ This promotes people to look into change and open up to the new British music industry. They want people to agree to change and give these new upcoming people a chance before judging them. They may be different but sometimes change is for the better. They are trying to promote people to read their article/feature and see what opportunities these artists bring.

7) Explain the connotations of typefaces (fonts), graphics, colours etc.

The first connotation you notice is that the colour schemes used match the British flag of red, white and blue. These are the only 3 colours used on the front cover showing a strong relation to the main feature of ‘Young Britannia 2013’. Also the typeface used is very childish and sans serif, which connotes that the issue is aimed at younger people oppose to the older generations. Lastly the graphics used such as childish arrows and rounded lines to each articles connote that the magazine is very informal and it is not a serious important  article.

8) What sort of language/ language features/ language devices/ can you identify? How does the cover ‘talk’ to the reader?

Say hello to the future of British music – “hello” – clearly indicates that it is very informal. They have used a rhetorical question to show the audience they don’t have a choice in the matter, however to stop it from being to serious and controlling they cleverly answer there own rhetorical question using sarcasm to show humour and wit within the article.

9) Does the cover look similar to other magazines? If so why? What does this magazine offer which rivals don’t (ie what is its USP)?

The cover does not look similar to other covers as it's layout is completely different. Unlike other magazines NME keep their front covers very simple, not giving away any important details but enough to hook in the audience to reading more. They keep colours very minimal to avoid any colour clashes and confusion. The typeface and writing is always very plain, clear and sans serif making it easy for the reader to understand. They offer a small quote down the side of every issue again making it very unique. Their main USP is that they offer ' THE PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE OF MUSIC' as no other magazine offer such a wide range of music.

10) Is there anything else distinctive about the cover/format? (eg size)

There is one big distinctive difference about NME's cover/format - the front cover is a 3 page out fold. Instead of just being one, it folds out three times to show more about the article and feature. This is a very distinctive format choice as no other magazines offer this, immediately giving NME an advantage above the other competitors. 

Inside:

1) How many pages are there?

There are 66 pages inside this issue of NME.

2) How many pages of adverts?

There are 11 pages of advertorials inside this issue.

3) Categorise the products advertised into types.

-Upcoming music/Concerts

-Drink

-Gadgets

4) Make a list of the features/articles topics in the magazine.

-The music industry

-Life related issues as a young person

-Celebrities and there lifestyles

-What’s popular right now

5) Categorises the features/articles into types.

-Interviews (e.g. There are interviews with famous and new musicians and the experiences they are/have faced.)

-Reviews (e.g. there are reviws on recent gigs, concerts, songs and albums.)

-Research artices (e.g. there are research articles into issues affecting a yng perons life, for example drugs.)

-Reports (e.g. they report on previous concerts, arenas and areas conerts have been held and what there is to watch out for next time.)

6) How many double page spreads are there? What are they about?

There are 11 double page spreads. The first one is about the 20 essential nw tracks you should be listening to. The second is about drugs found at festivals and what the affects are. The third is about a reviws on a newly released album ‘How to stop your brain in an accident – Future Of The Left.’ The forth is about the gig of the week – ‘Fat White Family.’ The fifth is another review but this time about ‘Jay Z live’ – what was good and what was bad. The sixth and seventh are about upcoming concerts that they recommend you buy tickets for. The eighth is the main feature of the issue – ‘Young Britannia 2013’ about the new young artists of the future of Britain’s music. The ninth and tenth is this article carried on. The eleventh is a scene report on what the police are cracking down on and what to watch out for.

7) Are there any ‘advertorials’ where it is not clear if something is an article or an advert, or a mixture of both?

There are no advertorials that look similar to any articles or features in the magazine as the brand identity and house style of NME has been cleverly thought out that nothing will look similar to it. They do this by using their own unique layout and colour schemes and graphical elements so no confusion is caused.

8) How does the magazine achieve a unified ‘house style’? Think about language and mode of address, colour schemes, graphical elements, etc.

The magazine does achieve a unified house style as they keep the same colours and layout concept throughout. They have the same mode of address and graphical elements such as lines under every title, putting all main text on a block of bold colour and using miniature arrows as indents.

9) Why is this house style appropriate to the target audience? What assumptions does it imply about the TA?

The house style is very modern and up to date implying that their target audience would be of the younger age. They would be attracting to the 15-30-age bracket. They have kept the magazine style trending to its era and therefore keep in fashion. They aim to create their house style young by using bright colours and lots of images, all mainly staring young people.

Research Mind map

Magazine Analysis of Mixmag

Magazine Analysis

Mixmag Magazine

THE COVER:

1) The title: why is it called that? What does the title connote?

The masthead is Mixmag. It is called that to demonstrate the mixture of music within the magazine. It connotes that it can suit several people and music types and if a different magazine to what is currently out there on sale.

2) The masthead/title logo – analyse it.

The title logo is simple and clear. It is big enough to read but not to over powering to the page. It is also clear white on a dark grey background, making it easy to read and avoids clashes of colours. It is all in lower case so keeps uniformity throughout and is easily recognisable. Also by creating it all in lower case creates more informality.

3) Is there a strapline? Analyse it.

‘You wanna talk about the music..? Nina Kraviz. Let’s talk about the music.’ The strapline informs you of what the main purpose of the magazine is, what the main is going to be based on and what to expect. It tells you that you will be discussing music with Nina and this is portrayed very clearly in the strapline. It is straight to the point and simply tells the reader what the content is about. Using the word ‘wanna’ is very informal and chatty. I feel this works well as again it allows a stronger connection with the audience and creates more of a personal link.

4) What is the main image? Analyse the facial expression, direction of gaze, body language, 

clothing etc. How does this reach out toward the ideal reader identified above?

The main image is of Nina Kraviz. It is a medium shot, from her waist upwards. Her facial expression is very intriguing and alluring. It is serious yet cheeky at the same time. Her direction of gaze is directly straight down the camera, drawing in the reader, giving them a chance to connect with the magazine and feeling that it is aimed at them. Her body language is very strong and demanding. By saluting it portrays her as very commanding and serious. Her clothing is very different and unusual, consisting of a purple ruffle dress meaning that readers are intrigued by what she is wearing, however it still relates to the genre of music and therefore fits within the magazine and house style. The colours mix well with the background and strapline and everything is still clearly visible.

5) What others images appear on the front cover – why?

There are no other images on the front cover, which I feel was a good idea, so the attention was not drawn away from the main image and keeps it simple.

6) What content is promoted by the cover lines?

‘The best underground student nights’ – This clearly promotes what the best underground student nights are and lures in the students to read the magazine. By picking the best ‘underground student nights’ interests the audience more as it is s unusual and would create more of a reaction then just picking the best nights out.

‘Leaf festival hits London’ – This promotes people to look into the leaf festival and brings them aware of the opportunities they can encounter. By using the world ‘hits’ helps promote the story as hits is such a strong word. It empthasises the festival coming to town and makes it sound as you should not miss it.

‘The second coming of DJ EZ’ – This promotes people to read more about DJ EZ and his return to music. Using he words ‘second coming’ insinuate that his is the second time round but a lot bigger and better than last.

‘DJ ETIQUETTE how not to start a beef in the booth’ – This promotes DJ’s and allows people to indulge into the life of being DJ and being in the booth themselves. Also using the word ‘etiquette’ is very contrasting to the rest of the language used throughout the magazine. Eg. ‘beef in the booth.’

‘How disco beat the EDL’ – This promotes people to read up on how music has changed and what is the best current genre to listen to. Also the use of the word ‘beat’ is very strong and draws in the audience. Using the word beat, makes it sound as if there was some sort of fight involved. The strong b sound, works a lot better then simply saying ‘disco is better than EDL.’ The audience are more intrigued in who and how they won the fight, so automatically want to read on.

7) Explain the connotations of typefaces (fonts), graphics, colours etc.

The cover includes a lot of pink as one of the colour scheme colours, this may be regarded and connoted as being a girls colour, and therefore this article is focused at the female market oppose to the male. Also the use of font connotes like musical notes. This automatically creates a link to the reader that it is about music before even reading the content. The graphics allow the audience to relate the magazine to music before even reading it.

8) What sort of language/ language features/ language devices/ can you identify? How does the cover ‘talk’ to the reader?

In the main headline, it uses rhetorical questions to help connect with the reader. ‘You wanna talk about music?’ This allows the reader to feel directly involved with the question and as if the question was written for them. They also use alliteration ‘beef in the booth.’ This adds humour to the article title meaning it can become comical and connect to the reader through laugh. They also use words such as 'hits' and 'beats' to intensify the articles. This makes the stories gain importance and makes the reader more likely to read the articles.

9) Does the cover look similar to other magazines? If so why? What does this magazine offer which rivals don’t (ie what is its USP)?

I do not think the cover looks the same as others as it very distinctive and memorable. It has a great brand identity, making it easily unique and individual. The colour scheme is different to other magazines in this genre. The layout is completely different to other magazines and this magazine has a catchy slogan which other magazines do not – ‘The worlds biggest dance music and clubbing magazine.’ This helps the magazines its own USP and puts it above other magazines.

10) Is there anything else distinctive about the cover/format? (eg size)

The headline is very bold and distinctive on the page, due to the colour contrast to the background and the fact it is of a very large size, meaning consequently it is the first thing you see when looking at the magazine cover. Also all text is written on blocks of colour meaning it stands out more and is more distinctive and clearer to read.

THE INSIDE:

1) How many pages are there?

In total there are 60 pages inside magazine.

2) How many pages of adverts?

There are 25 pages of advertorials inside.

3) Categorise the products advertised into types.

-Music/Concerts

-Drink

-Music related products

-Fashion

4) Make a list of the features/articles topics in the magazine..

-Music

-Fashion

-Life

-Young People

-The dance and clubbing industry

5) Categorises the features/articles into types.

-Interviews (For example they have an interview with Nina Kraviz, Sub Focus, Betoko and Mat Zo)

-Product reviews (There are many product reviews on musical related products such as new speakers, DJ mixing tables and brand new headphones, all recently been released onto the market. They also review several fashion related issues also. These include reviews on new released high end fashion shoes to fashion events (eg. catwalks of new released ranges.)

-Research articles (there are many research articles on upcoming music events.)
All the above being editorials (written by a journalist.)

6) How many double page spreads are there? What are they about?

There are 35 double page spreads. The first one is about interviewing young people, and their favourites place to hang out. The second one is about the best places to party in the last month. The third is about an interview with Matt Zo. The forth to the eighth are about an interview with Nina Kraviz. The ninth is about becoming a DJ. The tenth is another interview with Black Magic. There are also interviews for the next 3. The fourteenth is a student survival guide. The fifteenth is another interview. The sixteenth through to nineteenth are about fashion. The twentieth through to the twenty-seventh are based about current music. The twenty-eighth is about the best festivals across the Uk. Lastly the last seventh are a directory for the UK.

7) Are there any ‘advertorials’ where it is not clear if something is an article or an advert, or a mixture of both?

There is one advertorial that looks like an article due to the fact they both consist of the same colour scheme and have the same layout making it confusing. They both also have the same content making it more confusing.

8) How does the magazine achieve a unified ‘house style’? Think about language and mode of address, colour schemes, graphical elements, etc.

The magazine does achieve an unified house style as the dark colour schemes are kept throughout. They also keep the same font style and graphical elements like underlining of titles and circles around the i. The layout 

9) Why is this house style appropriate to the target audience? What assumptions does it imply about the TA?

The house style is very modern and up to date implying that their target audience would be of the younger age. They would be attracting to the 18-30-age bracket. They have kept the magazine style trending to its era and therefore keep in fashion.