Case study analysis of NME.

Ellie Swan 12.8

Masthead

Cover lines Main Image

Bottom Strip

Main cover line

Left third Free merchandise

Barcode, date, price and website

Codes and conventions of a magazine front cover.

Title using known logo so magazine becomes

familiar.

Essential articles of the magazine. In the case of this

cover they’ve used quite uplifting and impressive lines

such as “Just like God”, “It’s time for a revolution” and “A

modern American icon”.

Article used to potentially attract

and sell to the target audience.

Also know as “Keylight”.

Usually involving a popular artist within the genre that the music magazine promotes, in relation to the main article. However, sometimes NME won’t always stay within their normal genre and like to take risks with other kinds of artists such as Lana Del Rey, Rihanna and Tyler the Creator.

More information of the articles inside the magazine. NME tend to just list the main

bands that are featured in the issue, this helps the consumer to know whether they would be

interested in this issue.

Mainly information for retailer and buyer but also promotes the website.

Increases sales with eye catching freebies, also provides entertainment for the younger audiences. The posters are all popular bands and artists which draws attention to readers who may not be familiar or like Lana Del Rey.

Tag“Icon” -Compliments from the magazine to aid popularity of the artist.

Main stories in case full magazine cover is not shown in shops. So this initially

tries to sell the magazine.

Old and new NME contents page comparison and deconstruction.

A basic list of the bands included in the issue.

A small contents of all the regular pages in the magazine.

Advertisement for an NME subscription, contents page is an ideal spot for this kind of advertisement as it is almost guaranteed that the consumers of the magazine will see this

page.

Subscription advertisement.

Larger image placed in the

centre for the exclusive/main

article.

Smaller pictures used to represent the other cover lines/features.

The older contents page used to focus mainly on making sure people know what bands will be featured within the magazine (showed on the left third of the page) and only uses one main image. It also used to include as many of the articles if not all within the contents slot.

Includes a small article which doesn’t fit into the theme of any other usual pages.

Contents splits information into regular

sections used in every issue.

The new contents page looks more like organised mess, however it fits in more with the “messy” lifestyle of a musician. They’ve put images of all the main features of the magazine which is clever as if someone is looking through it in a shop it’ll instantly sell whether they’d be interested in that issue or not.

Quotes from the main

articles, these quotes are

used to humour people

and give away what kind of conversation

the articles include.

The colour scheme stays the same as it was on the front cover. NME does this with the main cover features because it adds a sense of continuity and provides a theme for the article.

NME always uses the same font on a main feature. In some ways it provides comfort for the reader as it gives consistency and gives the magazine it’s own “house” style.

NME don’t normally add in such methods as a timeline, however it helps the reader to get to know the artist involved and how they came to be where they are in the music world. This is a clever technique as it adds a somewhat risk to the article.

NME regularly uses the stuck on picture effect in their articles, it relates to the students and how

their walls at home are probably covered with band posters.

Another common feature to NME

articles would be the use of the 3

columns on each page.

Another key feature of NME is the way they always use both new and old (from when the artist first began) pictures. This is another technique used to help the readers get to know the artists.

NME like to stick to specific features when writing their articles, the main articles especially will always stay in a comfort zone which is something that helps regular readers to become almost a part of it…

Target audience.

• Age: NME tends to be aimed at young adults and students as they focus mainly on up and coming Indie bands, which are most commonly listened to by a teenager or older. However, NME has been around for 60 years and people who used to read it may be interested as it also includes older bands and artists such as The Beatles, David Bowie, The Smiths and The Stone Roses.

• Genre: The main focus of NME is Indie Rock music, however they also feature Folk, Punk, Reggae/Ska and Hip-Hop/Grime.

• Gender: There is no particular aim of gender for NME, however it could be seen as a magazine for men as the genre is mainly associated with the male gender.

• Sales Figures: Sales have fallen continuously since 2003. 2003 showed figures of 72,442 whereas the second half of 2011 showed a 66% drop to 23,924.

“Tone” of the magazine.• NME talks to their audience with a punchy,

informal, immature and humorous tone of voice. This is mainly attractive to the young adult audience as it makes the magazine a more laid-back piece of reading.

• The entire magazine is relatively immature and likes to make sure they can definitely interact with their audience.

• The writers like to use “irreverent” humour, meaning that they like to take the mickey out of everyone, even (and somewhat especially) when they have a great deal of respect for them.

• When interviewing the musicians, NME like use an informal tone of voice as if they’re just having a chat with the musician, and not as if they’re doing boring and serious interview. This friendly tone of voice makes the article inclusive and inviting to the reader.

• Although the magazine is mainly aimed at a younger audience, the humour (especially about the older bands and musicians) stays relatively in tact with the humour of the older generations, and they sometimes even make jokes or references that are more likely to be understood by older than younger people. “Old dogs, new tricks” article.

Institutions: who owns magazines?Time Inc:

• Time Inc. is a subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner, the company formed by the 1990 merger of the original Time Inc. and Warner Communications.

• Based in the United States.

• Time Inc publish over 130 magazines, most well known of all being Time Magazine.

• Other well known magazines include Sports Illustrated, Southern Living and Life.

• Owns IPC Media.

IPC Media:

• A consumer magazine and Digital Publisher in the UK.

• They have owned over 85 iconic brands (including; Now, Country Life, Nuts, Marie Claire and Livingetc) selling over 350 million copies.

• They engage with over 26 million adults in the UK (two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men).

• They have 3 publishing divisions;

– IPC connect: Mass Market Women’s (e.g. Now) and TV entertainment brands (e.g. TVTimes).

– IPC Inspire: Men’s Leasure (e.g. NME) and Men’s Lifestyle (e.g. Nuts).

– IPC Southbank: Upmarket Women’s (e.g. Marie Claire) and Home interest brands (e.g. Livingetc).

• Also ran the Paralympic Games.

The Website.The NME websites has many different sections to it;

– News: updates you with the latest music, films and TV news. Provides information on new music videos, MP3 downloads, Gig reviews, movie trailers and more.

– Videos: includes free music videos, video interviews, music video news, live sessions and clips.

– Tickets: helps you to find tickets to gigs, festivals, comedy shows, tours and other events.

– New Music: promotions such as reviews and music videos of new or unsigned bands.

– Reviews: latest reviews from new album, tracks and gigs.

– Photos: galleries of music photography, band images and live photos.

– Blog posts from various NME magazine writers.

– Film and TV: Latest movie trailers, films and TV reviews.

– Festivals guide: new, reviews, line-ups, photos, videos and other information.

– Lists: Best albums/tracks of the year, best album of the decade, best new artists etc.

– Artists: photos, lyrics, pictures, biography, videos, best songs, audio, related news, reviews, gigs, vital stats, commentary, and cool facts.

– Shop: Music t-shirts/jumpers, and other merchandise.

Adverts – what brands do you see? NME is a small magazine and therefore don’t include many adverts. However, the adverts they do include are mainly for new albums coming out of artists within the genre of the magazine.

Examples of other brands seen in the magazine:

Phone brands (e.g. HTC) and companies (e.g. Three).

Hair products for men (e.g. L’Oreal).

Shoe brands (Converse have been a reoccurring advert).

Music products (SONOS Wifi system has become a regular).

Most of the brands that have been advertised are aimed at men as the magazine has a larger male demographic.

Also, NME use a lot of pages to advertise Subscription and limited edition music magazines made (and to be bought) seperatley such as The NME’s - 60 most important album of NME’s lifetime. Which are normally dedicated to older bands such as The Jam, this is to help reach out to the older readers of the magazine.

NME also include gig listings over 2 (or sometimes 3) double page spreads. This is because the young adults that are likely to be reading these magazines are the main kind of audience you would see in an indie rock gig, it also allows the readers to keep up to date with music they enjoy. It also helps promote new bands and gives them a good image as NME are a trustworthy magazine.

They also list festival line-up when the season in the Summer arrives, which helps people to follow information on the bands that they would be seeing as NME would only write up the sure-fire bands that’ll be there and not just rumours that are heard to trust on the internet.

The Web slinging section

takes readers best responses

to short articles on the NME website.

Regular conventions on the Fanmail page.

This section is no longer called The Big Issue, it is now “Letter of the week”. In which the writers choose their favourite letter sent in and use the main image to represent their letter.

Another advertisement

for and NME subscription,

they repeat the advert

throughout the magazine to

guarantee themselves that

people will see the ads.

Information on the different ways that readers can send in their fan mail.

The fan mail page always includes letter sent in by readers who have had a picture taken with an artist that they bumped into and have humorously named

it “Stalker”.

Section placed in a circle here with information on free merchandise you could

win online. Could get the readers to become more interested in NME’s website

if they weren’t before.

Writers replies to fan mail has been put in a different colour, which makes the page more

organised and understandable.