Music Magazine Analysis NME

I am going to analyse the way in which an Indie band is portrayed in the MNE music magazine and then apply this to my own magazine target at my bands audience.

‘NME’ is a music magazine that has been published weekly since 1952. Although its sales have been in decline since 2003, NME has a cult following and is known to promote new bands that might not be interviewed or celebrated anywhere else.Generally the covers of NME feature a group of men, as their main interviews are usually with prominent male-fronted bands. Indie bands tend to be photographed together or just their lead singer on their own, these images can be in either colour or black and white depending on the design of that spread.

This cover features Liam Gallagher, formerly of Oasis. There are many teasers and plugs along the left and right of the cover, recalling the way NME looked several years ago in a look that younger rather than older readers would prefer. However, it is still sophisticated: the colour scheme is a classical black, white following the indie bands conventions and red standing out and making words pop. The font is plain and easy to read similar to Indie bands album covers. The NME Tour, which is known throughout the country, is discussed on the right side of the cover, which would attract an audience of potential concert-goers something my target audience are.

Basic Analysis

Albums that show full bands like this Arctic Monkeys cover show the leads singer at the front of the album, the band stand in the layout they would on a stage when performing as Indie bands always want to relate back to their music. Unlike the other cover this one is in colour however the band still wear very plain causal clothing relating back to their genre. The righting similar to the other cover is in white and red making text stand out against the background. The sign at the top mentions another indie band ‘blur’ that will feature in the next addition.

Detailed analysis

The title of the magazine ‘MNE’ is written in block capitals, is the biggest writing on the page and is bright red making it stand out to the audience. It is positioned in the left corner and is on every addition making it recognizable. The ‘E’ in the title is covered by the subjects head possible stating that the magazine is so known that it doesn’t have to be on full view. (As this is a more modern magazine it could be aimed towards collectors and the magazine is now a cult classic) The subject is lead singer of Indie Band ‘Arctic Monkeys’. The eye contact of the model will attract the female gaze as Arctic Monkeys have many female and male fans. The shot only shows the top half of the member making it more intimate to its audience, he wears smart casual black clothing linking in with his genre, and the record he holds matches the colour scheme of the cover. The writing on the album cover – the main headline is ‘The record that changed my life’ showing in white different font to the rest of the album making it stand out. The writing underneath this address the audience directly making them want to read on. As this addition is targeted at fans of Indie Rock other indie rock bands like ‘The Cribs’ are mentioned on the album. The use of white, reds and blues in text show an idea of continuation throughout. The header of the magazine states exclusive interviews with hip hop artist inside, because this magazine is based at all music lovers and not just indie bands the magazine includes things from other genres attracting a bigger audience. The colours of the magazine will mainly attract a male audience however the eye contact from the subject and red colours could also attract a female as these are linked with sexual attraction.