NME MAGAZINE ANALYSIS Cover: The cover of the magazine is unusual as it pulls out to a three-page spread, this in itself

makes it interesting to look at. There is a use of the bright colours of red, blue and yellow which have connotations to the union jack of Britain, and then linking to the cover line of Young Britannia 2013 which over suggests that the magazines main article revolves around the British music of 2013. This gives the impression of pride in British music culture and gives an introduction to the new music of Britain with the smaller cover line Say hello to the future of British music. The design of the cover is very clever as it depicts many different British bands but all linked with the colour theme and the theme of fire extinguishers which gives a subliminal impression that the bands are what is hot right now. There is minimal lettering, and what lettering is used is sans serif to keep it minimal and to keep the focus on the images. The images are directly related to the main story of the new British music of this year, featuring the most up-and-coming bands and artists in Britain today. It represents the indie youth culture of 2013 and depicts each of the bands and artists as they are young and that helps to appeal to the young audience. The barcode and price is placed in a dead and uninteresting area of the cover. Their poses are varied to keep it interesting to look at and to show each of the musicians to be individual and different from the next and each have a different style, but all are linked by their British roots and their musical talents. This gives the impression that there is lots of new and varied music on the British culture scene and there is an artist to suit everyone. The title of the magazine NME is evident against the blue of the images and sits in a red background, also following the colour theme with the connotations to Britain. The magazine cover is quite unconventional, perhaps to suggest that it is going against the grain and is more modernised like the artists it is depicting. There is no puff, only pure music, giving the idea that there is no messing around, just music, which is supported by the small description on the cover which states more new music, more reviews, less guff. This cover will stand out on a shelf because of how unconventional it is and how it easily suggests to the reader (even at first glance) that the main article will relate to British music, and can easily be noticed from a distance. The language used is very laid back to also appeal to the young target audience, for example say hello and less guff is very informal and makes it more interesting to look at there is minimal text, and what text there is, is very relaxed. Overall the magazine gives a good indication of whats inside without giving away too much or being overpowered by text. It is designed well to appeal to a young indie audience and represents the audience as reckless, fun and interesting (as the poses suggest). An older audience however is not addressed as the magazine only depicts a younger generation. Contents page: The colours used in the contents page are essentially very basic, there is a lot of black and white, and what other colours are used are blue and red to go with the white, carrying on the British design. The overall design remains similar to the front cover as it remains in sans serif to keep it modern and easy to read. The most important text is in bold, capitals and some have a red or black background to make it stand out further. The text that is highlighted more suggests that the story is one of importance over the others. There is a lot more text in the contents as opposed to images. The images fit with the text well as each image relates to the feature written next to it, directly relating to the different features in the

magazine. The images represent youth culture, and abstract stories to get the attention of the curious audience, for example Which song does Lars Ulrich sing at karaoke? which relates to a picture of Ulrich next to it. There is no particular pose, style or make up as the pictures on the contents page are varied and are relating to lots of separate stories, giving the reader that there is a range of stories to read inside the magazine. The contents page suggests lots of stories that can be found inside, for example 30 New Bands to Discover features quite largely on the page, and supports the impression that was given by the front cover. It is easy to identify the contents at a glance as the top of the page reads INSIDE NME and is large on the page. The layout of the page is well-placed as it uses a grid to make things easy to read, this contents page uses 3 columns. The first column gives an overview of the stories in the magazine and highlights some of the important features inside. The second column highlights some of the more abstract/important stories well and makes them larger on the page to draw more attention to them. Finally the last third contains pure music information, including the bands mentioned on each page and other music-related features. Also a way of saving money is featured on the contents page, which will attract the younger audience as they will have less disposable income perhaps compared to an employed adult. This contents page wont stand out on a shelf particularly as it is an average contents page, however it continues the typical NME house style with the same fonts and colours, as well as the stories and people featured. The language used is very informal to appeal to the young target audience, for example who is Laura Lush and whys she been wanking in public? It uses typical youth terms that they can easily relate to and therefore gains the attention of the reader as well as keeping it. Overall the contents page does the job well as it gives an overview of what is inside the magazine, features more interesting and important stories more largely and more well-designed on the page to make them stand out. It is clear in the information it is giving and it is easy to see which stories are on which pages. The stories are also appealing to the target audience as they revolve around the kind of thing they would be looking to find out, or will otherwise find interesting to read. It also appeals to the reader in the relaxed way that it is written. However it does not address an older audience, who may be offended perhaps by some of the language and would not find any interest in any of the stories. Double-page spread: The colours of the double-page spread, much like the cover and contents pages are primarily red, white and blue, associating with the British flag and also subliminally referring to the fact that the feature is about the newest British music. It gives an impression of British music pride. There is a main central image which takes up the majority of the double-page spread and the house style is continued as the same font has been used throughout and the same kind of design has also been repeated multiple times. The lettering suggests an importance particularly around the large printed Young Britannia 2013 which takes up the majority of the second page. The images directly relate to the text, as a magazine would usually do. The most important parts of text are underlined in red and are in all-caps. Other important text included in the body text is highlighted yellow to stand out above the rest. The images used related directly to the cover page as they show the same artists but featured by themselves with more information about each of them. The artists are pictured to be the ideal British indie scene models and are an ideal for the British youth to look like, as well as providing the

music that they would ideally listen to. The images represent this style and show how it can be achieved in many forms, as well as giving information about the music revolved around the style and are directly related to the feature and the body text around it. As before each band and artist have a different pose and make-up etc, except they all follow the same style; they are all shown against a blue background (possibly to show them all to be the same genre) and are all styled in typically young indie clothing that provides the ideal for the youth of Britain to dress. This all suggests to the reader that there are many ways to be indie and that there is plenty of new music out there. Pull quotes are used and highlighted against the main body and are used to bring attention to the particular quote and to build a particular image. You can identify it as the double-page spread as it is designed in the exact same way that the cover is and features the same artists. The page uses columns to make the text easier to read and the images relate to the body text. The double-page spread greatly supports the impression that is provided to the reader as it delivers exactly what is expected of it; new British music and interviews with each of the artists. The language used remains relaxed and laid back to keep the attention of the British youth niche market, especially with the large amount of text. The language also uses phrases and ideas that are connected with a younger audience, for example Internet, growing up etc to connect with the audience further. Overall the magazine gives a good impression of what is inside as the double-page spread supports the idea that is given by the cover and the contents pages. It successfully attracts the correct target audience as it uses language, images, interests and other incentives to appeal to the young audience. It also represents the young indie audience of Britain and shows their interests successfully. The double-page spread uses all of the typical magazine conventions but still maintains the house style that NME is known for using in every magazine.