By Steven Knowles

ANALYSIS OF NME MAGAZINE

ABOUT NME• Started as the “Accordion Times” and then was purchased by Maurice Kinn. Re-launched

as NME. Originally printed in newsprint.

• First released in 1952.

• Went from newsprint to magazine in 1998.

• Currently published by IPC media.

• Circulation figure of 23,924.

• Target audience is late teens to early twenties.

COVER PAGE - MAIN IMAGE• The main image is of Dizzie Rascal, who is

famous and a very well known music artist. It is a wide shot and shows him and the background around him.

• The body language in his photo is open and welcoming to the audience. His expression is happy like he is really excited.

• The clothes that Dizzie Rascal is wearing matches the stereotype of his music – Hip Hop. His shoes also match the house style of the magazine – White, Red and Black.

• The image is also ‘in your face’ as it appears to come out of the magazine and overlaps the masthead. The image shows dominance as it is the biggest item on the page.

• Dizzie Rascal is a typical stereotype of a hip-hop artist.

• Dizzie is also passed on as an urban artist as it is shown with graffiti in the background.

• The masthead of this magazine is big, bold and red – All together it makes it very eye-catching to the audience.

• The masthead takes up only half of the width of the magazine. This links with the starring section which acts as the rest of the masthead and a quick preview of the top things are inside. Starring is mainly only used on films or TV, a magazine is normally featuring. This shows that the magazine isn’t following the original conventions of a magazine.

• The masthead is also an acronym. NME stands for New Musical Express.

• The magazine is mainly focused on indie and rock.

COVER PAGE - MASTHEAD

• The coverlines on this magazine are arranged in a ‘C’ pattern.

• The main coverline is much bigger than the other coverlines and links with main image and shows importance and dominance. It is a quote from Dizzie Rascal, “I’M SPREADING JOY AROUND THE WORLD, MAN!”. The quote uses urban language and is colloquial, informal and is pulled out of the magazine. The main coverline is also slanted and shows it doesn’t follow the conventions and also breaks up the rule of thirds.

• White coverlines give them a feel that they are brand new and should be read. The colours of the coverlines also stick with the house colour of the masthead.

• The coverlines are sans serif.

COVER PAGE – COVERLINES

CONTENTS PAGE

• NME masthead is used again and follows same colour scheme.

• Main image is a preview of touring bands which connotes what is going to happen.

• Bands are listed in red and black which again follows colour scheme.

• Image is edited to be like a holiday snap.

• Introduction to contents page.

• Box is like a band case.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• Main image shows urban lifestyle – graffiti. Magazine is on urban music.

• Second image contains radio and beer which matches the genre

• Page number, title, date and main heading is big.

• Copy begins with a drop cap ‘Y’. By-line to editor and photographer.

• Copy wraps around image. Caption at top right of double page spread which says ‘Dizzie’.

• Sub-heading.