NME MAGAZINE ANALYSIS
codes & conventions /  institutions

NME (NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS) - is a British weekly music journalism publication published by IPC, This particular institution is one of the largest branded media companies in the world which reaches more than 130 million people each month through the cross media convergence that allows the products to be distributed on varies of different platforms. It's the Uk's leading consumer magazine and digital publisher. The magazine is largely associated with rock and alternative music. The product includes; music, movie, tour and album news as well as reviews, blogs and videos. The information  is effectively distributed within the online website, social networking websites such as Facebook or Twitter but also life events such as festivals. 

 

 

FRONT COVER:

 

The  masthead  of the magazine - 'NME' is the largest text  visible within the front cover. The three lettered acronym is a shortcut for the magazine's full title - 'New Musical Express'. This makes the masthead more memorable for the readers. In addition, it also allows to increase the context within the front cover as the masthead itself doesn't take much space. The heavily looking font in a bright colour makes the masthead stand out against a plain and simple white background. This allows to bring audiences attention. Additionally, the positioning of the masthead within this magazine is quite common as it's often  in other music magazines  available on the market.  As the masthead being located in the top left corner of the magazine, it makes the readers look at it straight away as we initially look at the top of magazines at the first glance. On the other hand we can see that the 'NME' acronym is slightly covered by Mark Ronson's head. This has been done on purpose as the product became a well known magazine.

 

The barcode  can be seen on the bottom right corner of the magazine. This is because the barcode is not essential to the  readers, however it is needed to be there for sale purposes. The barcode includes key information about the magazines such as its price or the date. The text around the barcode explaining these information is written in a small font to make sure it doesn't take attention of the readers from the front cover.

 

The centre of visual interest in this magazine is definitely the image of Mark Ronson. The photograph has been set up to bleed within one side of the page.  The picture is relatively large, taking up a significantly amount of the page, causes the image to speak for the magazine purposes. Mark Ronson is well known in the music industry therefore in this case he is used to represent the 'music market'. Additionally, he is posing with a  prop which is a musical instrument. This  reinforces the idea of the 'music market. On the other hand by the simple, fading background behind Ronson's silhouette, the person is brought forward as no details catch our attention making the magazine relatively clear to understand.

 

The banner of the magazine has been placed on top of the page. The banner is quite  odd-looking, as it has a solid black background. This has been deliberately used to create a contrast within the magazines background but to also draw readers attention. In the banner we can see that from left to right, there is a variety of fonts used. Bold, fuzzy or thin. This wide variety appeals to different people therefore if a person likes a particular font style it will automatically drag their attention and make them to be interested in what the banner contains. In my opinion the main purpose of the banner at the top is to play a role of the magazine advert. This is because when the magazine is placed on a news stand in a shop we can only see the top part of the magazine therefore when the reader spots that the 'advert' contains interesting content they will go for it and purchase it.

 

Throughout the magazine we come across two types of cover lines. We can easily differentiate between them and their purposes, and why they have been constructed in such a way. There are cover lines which have a bold black text. This is followed by a comment in a thinner black text, whereas the second type of the cover line has a similar bold font to the masthead and the main cover line of the magazine. The use of the same colour links the masthead and the main cover line together. The cover lines which use a similar image to the masthead talk about the content in which  Mark Ronson is included in. However the cover lines which use all black text talk about secondary information which can be found within the magazine. Additionally, at the very bottom of the magazines page we come across a cover line. This cover line contains text which presents the artists which are featured in this specific issue of the magazine. By its simplistic look, with a white bold font the cover line creates a contrast as it is easily seen against Ronson's clothing.

 

CONTENTS PAGE:

 

First of all the content page includes the same font and the colour scheme of the magazine title.  By this the corporate image is followed through the magazine, additionally making sure the reader acknowledges what magazine he is reading. The use of red colour within the magazine acronym makes it stand out even more. On the other hand we can see a link between the front cover of the magazine and the content page as on both pages we can see a black strip going across the top of the page. In my opinion the idea of the 'banner' was continued to the contents page to create the same effect which in this case is to emphasise the 'NME CONTENTS' and by having the black background it draws our attention to the text.

 The small article which is positioned below the main image explains to us what is happening in the image above. This is rarely seen on magazines however it is a useful technique to introduce the reader to the topic and get him to read it. I can consider this article to be a buried lead and a kicker, as even by its explanation we as an audience do not fully understand what happened, therefore we are even more willing to find out the details. This means that  the main point of the story is being covered up in the moment we are keen to read on.

 

Right beneath the image and the article, we can see an internal advert of the magazine. This advertisement presents to the readers the subscription rate and the method to subscribe  the magazine. In this advert NME has used a black background which creates contrast in the same way as the banner does, however they have additionally used yellow text which is not used throughout the front cover or the double page spread, making the information stand out. For example; if a white background was used for the advert it would not be as effective as it is with the black background. They have included a special offer for the readers as we can see that the advert says "SAVE OVER £45". This can be  seen by the audience as a 'bargain' therefore the readers are more likely to subscribe the product. 

 

On the right hand side of the content page we can see that the overall information in the magazine has been sorted into various sections beginning from 'NEWS' to 'FEATURES'. This benefits the readers as they can easily spot the section which interests them.  It is a simple yet effective way of presenting information. To even make the information clearer for the audience, NME has placed special arrows to point out the content which was mentioned on the front cover. As a result, when the reader spots the cover line on the front cover, skips onto the content page and looks for what he/she is interested in. It allows the reader to easily find the information on what page number the exact content is mentioned.

The main image which is visible on the content page represents what looks like a rock band performing on the stage. The image looks  cropped as we can only see the main singer and the main guitarist. I can tell this as from my research I have found that the band "Kasabian" has 4 members. This cropping has been done by purpose as the magazine editor wanted to make it fit the page. On the other hand, by only showing the two main members of the band the people who know them will recognise them immediately as we consider these people as the pin-up members of the band. Furthermore, the image has been taken from the perspective of audience. This might engage the reader while looking at the image as they might feel as if they were at the concert.  

 

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD:

 

The first thing we see while looking at the double page spread of the NME magazine is the image of the female sitting down on an object which is covered in a flag of United States. The image is relatively large, covering a single page of the double page spread which introduces us to the article. Due to the large image we can acknowledge that the article is about this particular character.  Additionally, the image size presents the importance of the person, in comparison to other articles which include small sized images. This also shows to the readers that the person is a famous and recognisable artist. This reflects how prestigious the magazine is as they feature people who are on a celebrity level. Although the image continues over both pages, we pay more attention to the left page as it contains the silhouette of the person. This creates a suitable background for the article on the second page. I consider this image to be a picture boost as it promotes the feature to the readers which in this case is an article.

 

On both pages of the double page spread we can find a variety of fonts used to present different purposes. The text which mainly grabs our attention is the text which is presented behind the females silhouette  saying "USA got the love". The word "USA" has been written in a tough, heavy looking font which presents the power of the country. On the other hand the phrase "got the love" has been written in a more freehand-looking, delicate font as this is what we associate with love. The clever use of fonts, makes the readers form an opinion associated with the female. All elements mentioned about make the artist being portrayed as a person who loves USA. This can be supported through the use of fonts as well as the props.

 

Moving onto the article on the second page we can see few types of fonts used. The first is the  same as  the phrase "got the love" and it's used to create a drop cap. This is very effective as it shows the connection between the phrase and the drop cap. Furthermore, above the article we can find a puff piece which depicts secondary information about the female in the image, making the information stand out of the context. This puff piece has been written in the same font style as the article. Overall the article is sorted into three columns with suitable column gutter to match the puff piece. By the use of column gutter the text in the columns is more spread out making it easier to read as the columns do not merge with each other.