Detailed class analysis of music magazine on NME

The masthead for the magazine says NME in red, with white and black outlining and will stay this way on every issue so the target audience can identify the magazine easily even though the main image will change. The mast head follows the convention of a colour scheme to create the branding so the audience knows this colour scheme belongs to NME. However, the placing of the masthead is very unconventional because it is placed on the far left, instead of covering the whole of the top portion of the cover. This makes the magazine more distinguishable over others and therefore will leave a positive mark on how the audience thinks of what the magazine looks like and will look out for this unique way of placement.

The bottom strip displays different types of artists that produce different genres of music. Paramore is known for rock music and jay-Z produces rap music. Therefore, NME doesn’t attract a niche market because it advertises different kinds of music on their cover which will obviously attract different types of people that have these specific music tastes. NME does this to widen their audience, making the magazine available for a lot more people so it increases their sales. I believe this implies NME to cover different genres like alternative and rock music

This main cover line of a pull quote denotes a positive representation of Dizzy Rascal as the quote connotes him being a very positive person and anchorages the main image which is of a large image of him looking extremely happy. The direct address is straight at the camera which implies to the audience how much he means he quote and gives off positive energy. The mode of address from the man coverline is quite informal as it uses slang ‘man!’ to suggest the target audience.

The whole magazine follows the convention of using colour scheme throughout the whole of the magazine (red, white and black). These colours are very neutral in terms of gender stereotyping, which connotes the target audience of how this magazine is made for any gender and doesn’t specifically target a type of audience through colour scheme.

The cover doesn't include a strapline so the front cover challenges the codes and conventions of a front cover. However I don’t think the audience looses out because NME has converted themselves into a brand so everyone knows what NME is all about and therefore a strapline giving extra information about NME isn't necessary. Its suggesting that NME is so successful that they don’t need to follow the rules anymore and we can also see this approach to the masthead placement too.

I believe the target audience for the magazine based on the front cover would be from 16-30 of any gender. I think this age range because the celebrity creates music of hip hop that this audience enjoys in particular. I predict the younger target audience because the cover looks very lively and upbeat due to the main coverline pull quote which anchorages the main image well to perceive a laid back vibe. Specifically this cover, I feel like young black males would be particularly drawn as Dizzy Rascal represents them in a positive way and he is also a successful back male so they can relate and aspire to him more. The level of education I expect the target audience to have or to still be in education whether that is A Level/Btec, university, or have steady careers. For the older side of the age range I predicted some people may be married with kids but I would expect a lot of the age range to not be parents or married.

Dizzy Rascals face on a rule of thirds grid is over a hotspot; meaning that the audiences attention will immediately linger to his face. Because of this, his face pops out at you and not only is this because of the hotspot, but because of his extreme expression of happiness. This creates meaning for the audience because if he is happy, it implies the audience will be too if they read the magazine. His expression is a positive representation of the hip hop genre that is stereotyped to be a bad influence and therefore he subverts the stereotype and creates a positive representation for NME magazine too.

The icon for the front cover is Dizzy Rascal as he is a positive representative for the cover because he is well known for his hip hop music. This is significant because it determines the target audience of being hip hop lovers too. NME is a magazine for the hybrid genre of alternative music so having Dizzy Rascal on the cover connotes that the sub genre of the issue and what it’s main article is based around is hip-hop.

In the main image, the background setting is set up in a studio and uses graffiti, black and white tiled floor and a red sofa to set the scene as a lively hip-hop atmosphere. This tells us about the genre of music that Dizzy Rascal makes, which is hip hop as the graffiti definitely represents the vibe hip hop portrays. The clothes he is wearing includes a chain around his neck, white vest top, baggy jeans and high top shoes. This again represents the genre of hip hop because this is the type of clothes that stereotypically artists of this genre where's and what is displayed in their music videos. This then overall connotes that the magazine genre for this issue is based around hip hop.

The image is a medium long shot to capture everything going on in the image. The setting has been set up to portray an atmosphere of hip hop music and the shot helps the hip hop atmosphere for the audience as you can see more of the hip hop styled clothes and graffiti background.

The barcode is placed in the bottom right hand corner out of the way of the main features as even though it’s important, it’s not a main feature and doesn’t represent the genre or convey any meaning to the audience. It’s also easily accessible to scan when in the corner and shows NME has thought about the layout in detail to make it perfect for the audience.

This cover line stands out because the font is white block capital letters and the background is red. These colours contrast and make the white appear brighter. “Rifling through Coxon’s record collection” is underneath the cover line and represents the genre of alternative music because its quite urban and so are records.

Throughout the contents page, the colour scheme of red white and black is present. This makes the contents and front cover match and keep within the theme and brand of NME. The contents page uses the colour scheme

The title on the contents page is ‘NME’ in red capital letters and white outlining with ‘CONTENTS’ next to in in white capital letters. The two have been separated by colours so the audience can clearly see this is the contents page NME is always in red. The colours used fit with the colour scheme used throughout the magazine to keep within the NME branding and keep the audience familiar with NME.

The masthead follows the convention of placement because having it at the top clearly states what the page is about without the audience having to look around the page for what it is. If the institution NME did challenge this, I feel it would make the audience uncomfortable and confused as to why it was placed different and think the magazine wasn't legit.

When applying rule of thirds to the contents, one of the hotspots hits the women's face in the image. This has been done so the image is one of the first things the audience will notice about the page. The image itself represents a lot about what is said in the contents page about gigs and therefore gives the audience a heads up before reading. The shot type of the main image is a medium shot and it is like this so the audience can clearly see other things present in the image like the bus. This type of shot makes sure the audience can see other elements in the image that matter and what are relevant and important to get the genre across. (the bus signifies the type of music that NME represents which is alternative)

The main image displays a young women pointing towards a bus. From my knowledge of the music industry, these types of buses are used by artists and bands to travel when touring from country to country. The main image and main coverline conveys music events , festivals and concerts. These types of events normally are geared towards alternative and indie music which is the genre of NME. I believe the main image will attract audience that love alternative music, but also young females like the model in the image. The genre of alternative music and rock can sometimes be stereotyped to be a male dominated genre. Having a young female promote this type of music breaks the convention and encourages and attracts more female audience.

This picture links with the article mentioned just below the image ‘touring special’. It links because as I have mentioned, this image conveys the touring from the bus and the article talks about how gigs and festivals coming up for the audience and mentions artists that are attending these specific events. This is also an example of anchorage as the contents page uses this cover line for the article to perfectly refer to the main image too.

The main image has a border around the image which is thin and white which is slanted with the image too. The border makes the image look like it could be anything; a frame, a postcard, a polaroid.

This whole column has been bordered with what has been made to look like metal bolts. These metal bolts on each corner of this column look like they are holding the section down and looks very handmade. The metal makes the contents page look edgier much like the alternative genre NME advertises and therefore attracts music lovers that are more edgier.

The layout of the contents looks messy and almost like the magazine slammed it on the page with the main image being slanted. Its been presented this way to the audience to give off a laid back vibe. Even though it looks messy, it looks effortless and cool which is a look that the younger generations are gravitated towards rather than older audience.

After the page titles, there are page numbers which gives the audience a reference for the magazine so they can quickly flick to a page that interests them the most. This convention was followed by NME because this feature is extremely necessary on a contents page and essentially makes it an official contents page. Without this feature, the audience would have a hard time finding specific pages that interests them the most and wouldn’t a successful or effective contents page.

The sub headings are in white block capital letters with a black strip behind them. This is done so that the headings have more significance over the writing underneath and to make in very clear and obvious that it cuts off previous information and moves onto a different topic. Most magazine contents pages do this and NME follows this technique because it makes the contents very clear for the audience to read and understand the sections of the magazine and what exactly is inside. They actually read ‘news, radar, reviews, live!, feature’ which tells the audience how exactly NME will Talk about alternative and indie music.

The date is displayed on the contents page below the masthead and shows the audience when the issue was released. This specific issue was released more than 7 years ago which shows the reader how long NME has been running for and therefore showing the success of the institution and how well it’s going. Therefore, this is a positive representation of NME and the brand that has been going on consistently for some time now.

The font used for the title and all the headlines of the magazine are block capitals and NME has done this because its very clear and gets the message across very quickly and easily. Having a clear font make sure everyone can read what it says within a quick glance too.

The mode of address towards the audience is relaxed and seems like you are talking to a friend rather than reading a successful magazine. “Thank god the sun has disappeared, eh?”. This opens up the big chunk of writing under the main image and is very informal. This tells us that the target audience is towards the younger generation of 16-30 because it’s the same type of communication used; chatty and informal. This opening sentence also depicts the genre of music because hip hop music and alternative tend to use more slang words and are a lot more relaxed with the language of their lyrics.

The content of this page includes artists like Jay-Z, Paramore, Coldplay, Dizzy Rascal, Empire For The Sun. These are all artists from different genres like rock, indie, hip hop and electronic which implies NME to be for alternative music because these genres are different. These mentions of big artists determines the audience because the fan bases that see the advertisements of these artists will want to buy the magazine for them. This means the target audience will be alternative music lovers. Also the contents page states things like ‘indies indiest godfathers are back” “Jigga man recruits the electro-fantasists” “how Mr Mills became our first rap megastar” which all emphasise music genres present in the magazine for the audience.

My overall impression of the double page spread is that its very urban looking and gives off a lot of hip hop vibes. From the background of the main image (which is graffiti) and the masthead (from tags to riches) I get the impression that Dizzy Rascal if an icon of success and achievement as he's come from the bottom to the top. Additionally, he comes across as very relatable and approachable because he knows what it’s like to be a normal person and knows about hardship which only interests the audience more to know that he is like them. For me, this conveys hip-hop because it’s a very laid back ‘cool’ genre which essentially, everyday people tend to look. All of the different colours gives me the impression that NME is very light hearted and generally an entertaining magazine to read. Dizzy rascal in the main image is looking off camera and therefore gives the impression he’s looking at someone. Graffiti is known for being a ‘rebellious’ thing to do and as he is looking off Camera it implies he is being caught. This gives me the impression that the magazine isn't meant to be correct or formal and is meant to relate to everyday people that like to have fun. Therefore, I believe the target audience for the magazine is teens/ to young adult as this act is something this age range would to do.

The double page has 4 columns of writing composed on the right hand page towards the lower half of the page rather than the top to make room for the big font used for the main title. The columns take up the right pages width entirely but aren't very lengthy. It’s presented this way so the main image isn’t covered up as the props used in the image aren't covered by text. This implies to audience the importance of the props used to represent the model.

There is only one caption for the four columns below which not only sums up Dizzy Rascals career at it’s peak, but also mentioning his previous years in the industry. “ 2009 has been Dizzy Rascals year”, “but then the last six haven’t been bad either This further implies him being extremely successful and entices the audience to see how he has achieved more. The caption highlights his best moments like a ‘Mercury Prize’ and also includes a love interest of ‘Kate Moss. The caption includes other celebrities to attract fans of Kate Moss.

The title of the article has the words slanted and angled differently and gives the impression to the audience that the article is very laid back and the mode of address through the styling of the words are very informal and laid back. ‘From tag to riches’ implies Dizzy Rascal to have worked his way to the top. The font is extremely big and rounded which again gives off informal vibes as the soft edges aren’t hard-hitting and look more fun-like meaning the article will entail this too. All of this can also connote the genre of the magazine also being informal. The big rounded font and gossip like captions tell the audience that the genre definitely isn't classical music and is for music that is laid back and casual.

The main image and masthead integrate together well because the low class act of graffiti shows the singer to be represented negatively to give off the impression that he is not perfect and has maybe come from a rough poor background, fitting with the genre of hip hop as the stereotype of these artists follow that they come from low class backgrounds. This ideology is presented in the masthead when portraying the contrast from his life to now ‘tags to riches’. The image contrasts drastically with the ‘riches’ that he lives up to now.

The page number is on the side to guide the audience through the magazine and follows the convention as most magazines have this.

How are the front page, contents page and double page spread connected?

• All these elements of the magazine use the same colour scheme of red white and black which connects them all because it shows how they all belong to NME. NME has created a colour scheme and has stuck to it to convey themselves as a brand. This makes the target audience aware these colours belong to NME’s business.

• They all give off alternative vibes and NME does this through the use of props and costumes in their images. This then sets the genre for the magazine (alternative) and the target audience (18-30). In the front cover in the main image, there is graffiti in the background and Dizzy Rascal is wearing hip-hop clothes. On the contents page, the women in the image is next to a bus and wearing fashionable clothes and on the double page spread Dizzy Rascal is shown next to graffiti again with urban looking bottles and a radio player. All of these props and costumes set the overall target audience to be young because it promotes actions and idea that they do; listening to hip hop music, going to gigs and festivals , drinking and being rebellious. Therefore they are all connected through mise en scene.

• Another way they are all connected is through the mode of address. The mode of address is very informal on all the pages; “wowee zowee it’s on!”, “Thank god the sun has disappeared, eh?” and “From the Mercury prize to Kate Moss”. These quotes show how NME uses everyday terms ‘eh’ and funny slang ‘wowzee’ to talk in a chatty style to the audience. ‘From the Mercury Prize to Kate Moss’ shows how the magazine talks about the important parts but also the gossip too- which shows the chatty side of the magazine again.