Weekly Magazine Analysis - NME

The most eye-catching part of the magazine at a first glance is its title, NME its red, bold font with a white and black border also contributes to this factor. This preset of colours run throughout the page, including its main image. Which hints that these colours regularly associate with NME and therefore part of its trademark look? With some of the fonts being bold this could suggest that the nature of this magazine is to be loud, to be noticed and to make a statement.

Coming away from the title you see that at the very top of the page a before anything and also at the very bottom of the page you have the names of 4 artists/bands and separators between them, this you could presume means that these artists/bands are featured in the magazine, they too are bold and are in white which contrasts with the background colour at that point.

After the title which I have already mentioned you have the selling line. NME's selling line is what NME stands for (New Musical Express) which explains that the magazine is one in which talks about new/recent and current music, artists and bands. After a separator it labels its price which is £2.30 which for a weekly magazine in my opinion is a reasonable price. The font size is small in contrast to the title but is still big enough to be noticeable.

Along the left hand side continuing down the page are the cover lines which include articles about what is featured in the magazine itself. These include: ticket scans, The Strokes comeback, the main headline about The Courteeners and lastly an awards announcement. As well as being displayed to see what’s inside the magazine these cover lines are also uses of advertising. For example you may see a band name and remember that you want to purchase their newest song. The headings for these are in red with the body of the text being white, the font for the cover line and its body are different, the cover lines are bold whereas the body is slightly more sinister and not bold. With these being on the left hand side there are noticed if layered on a shelf in a newsagent as just an example.

The main headline is signified hugely by the jump in font size, it begins with a quote in a white coloured font from who you discover is the front man of the band which are the main headline, after the quote the font changes to block capitals and red to the band's name 'The Courteeners' and then on the third line returns to the same as the quote with the line 'Britains biggest cult band break out'. To me this suggests that they are trying to make themselves more aware of than they already are or after the quote mentioning critics, trying to overcome them. This headline is linked up by the main image, and is the only cover line to overlap the main image to some extent without affecting the proportions.

The main image as mentioned is linked to the main headline, and is of the lead singer of the band featured, his facial expression is a serious one which could interlink with the quote of ignoring the critics. This could also show he is a serious man and is serious and dedicated to his music, along with his dress (a black leather jacket and red top, which could also have been worn to go with the theme of NME, along with jewellery) and with a hair style which is relaxed could show another side to him.

I believe judging by the bands featured on the cover, the main headline and image and the overall image that the genre of this magazine is one of rock/indie. The bands featured are mostly bands that write and play their own music and tends to be rock or indie, they live performances are referred to as 'gigs' instead of 'concerts' and mostly have the same objective, if they were a band for years before they became more widely known it could be a massive massive achievement.

Audience profile

I believe that the typical audience of NME will be male, aged 16-25 and either at sixth form or university, his interests would include music, playing an instrument such as guitar, acoustic guitar or drums or may have an interest for singing, along with fashion and possible photography. He may have a part time job to fund his interests and hobby and would be the type to either have a partner, or hoping to find one to have the typical band life style. He may be in a band that are interested and have high ambitions in making it into mainstream music and would be the type to have 'band practise' several times a week. Where style is concerned and money permitted, he would shop in places such as Topman to create an indie, up-to-date yet individual look.

Where the magazine is involved this type of person would buy this as it features new and upcoming bands in which tell how they got into the industry and could be used as guidance for that person(s), its up-to-date, they can keep in touch with the bands they like and it isn't too steep price-wise but if the target audience were that passionate money for things such as this.