NME magazine analysis

1. Class Analysis of Music Magazine
1- NME
NME DIZZEE RASCAL EDITION, SEPT
2009

2. Audience
• The audience of NME are males from 17-30 years old, all
with an educated understanding of new music and bands
and they are people who have a passion for reading about
music and fashion. The majority of the readers are in
education or work and most are in the ABC1 social grade.
Their audience are people who spend the majority of their
disposable income on music.
• The NME attracts their target audience by writing about
current artists and affairs to do with music that is full of
depth and information that their audience will find
interesting. They use bands and artists with great
reputation in the music industry and advertise those artists
albums and music so that they show that the magazine is
up to date with popular music.

3. Elements that connect the 3 parts of
the magazine
• All of the pages seem to use the same colours-
each has some form of red on it whether it is
the text or Dizzee’s clothing.
• The front cover and contents page contain the
NME logo on the left hand side of the page.
• All of the text on the three pages is written
quite informally, the language is quite relaxed
and it is as if the writers are talking to the
audience like they are friends.

4. History of NME
• NME was launched in 1952 and is now known as
one of the most influential music magazines of
this time. NME (New Musical Express) was
created to give informative information on new
and upcoming music and artists. They are
responsible for breaking some of the biggest
artists of this time. NME was first written as a
newspaper, hence the informative nature of the
text, however in 2000 it transferred to being
printed as a magazine.

5. Front Cover
The masthead has been placed in the top left
corner so that when it is presented on the
shelves we can easily see it as it takes up ½ of
the width of the page. It is typed in a bright red
font as it links to the idea of this being an
informative music magazine as news papers
have mastheads in a red font. The red indicates
that this is a vibrant, energetic music magazine
that is new and in fashion. The masthead is
placed in the main C of the image, where all of
the important information is placed.
Masthead
This has been used to emphasise the ‘News’ and
it almost appears as if it has been stamped on the
page. It is bright red as it fits in with the colour
scheme of the magazine, and the red also makes
it stand out and appear as if it is important.
Flash
Main Image
This main image of Dizzee Rascal takes over the
majority of the page. His arms are stretched
out, almost as if he is welcoming people to read
the magazine and it also emphasises the cover
line as he is holding his hands out to the world.
He has a massive grin on his face which suggests
that this magazine is fun and is full of personality.
His clothing is also quite simple which shows that
this magazine is quite laid back. The background
is of graffiti which further emphasises that the
magazine is laid back and fun but it also links to
his background and his type of music.
The left third of the image contains the majority of the text, it has all
of the important text: masthead, cover line, anchor, flash and even
Dizzee’s face is in the left third of the image because it is important to
the magazine.
Left Third
This footer uses a + sign which suggests that
this magazine is packed full of information.
Not only does it contain the articles shown
on the cover line and flash as well as the
header it also contains a long list of other
information that it has within it to show
that this is the magazine with masses of
information.
Footer
This text has been placed at the top of the
cover because it is one of the pieces of
information that will draw people in to picking
this magazine up off of the shelf. The word
‘special’ suggests that you can only get this
information in this specific magazine, as if you
will miss out by not buying this magazine
because you won’t be able to read this special
article.
The main cover line for the image is one of the
largest pieces of text on the cover because it is
the artist that will draw in his fans to read this
particular magazine.
Header
Main Cover Line
Pull Quote
Date/ Barcode
This Barcode is tiny in comparison to everything
else on the page which suggests that customers
will purchase the magazine in spite of the cost. It
is also not in the left side of the magazine which
shows that it isn’t important to the customers as
it isn’t in the main C of the image either.
The pull quote on this magazine “I’m spreading
joy around the world, man!” Seems to fit in with
the general relaxed feeling to the magazine. The
language was relaxed and fits with Dizzee’s
personality. His facial expression is obviously
excited and his body posture is suggesting like
he is opening his arms to the world and
spreading the joy which he feels.

6. Contents Page
This Masthead has been placed to show
that it is apart of the NME magazine by
using the magazine’s title. ‘Content’ is the
largest text on the page so that is stands
out around the rest and it is clear what is
on the page.
Contents Headings/ Subheadings
All of the titles for the content is written
in capitol letters to make sure that it
stands out. The page numbers are in red
so that it is obvious where you can find
each article throughout the magazine.
The information about the articles is all
written in lower case letters so that it
doesn’t draw more attention compared
to the headings of the content pages.
The subscription box is different to the
rest because it is the first place which
uses yellow text and this is to make it
stand out compared to the black, white
and red that is used throughout the rest
of the magazine. The text is small but
because of the yellow it draws your
attention and this is the perfect way to
make money for the magazine.
The band index takes up the entire length
of the page and this shows us that they
are well educated in all different bands
that exist, and that they have information
on so many bands that it has to take up
one side of the page.
The main image and Editorial has been
placed in the shape of an one the side case
which links to the Main Image of an artists
standing by a tour bus. The artists is dressed
in alternative clothing and links to the indie
genre of the magazine. Drop Cap
The Drop Cap is simply a large letter at the
start of an article. In this case the letter is
speckled and seems to fit in with the
relaxed feeling of the magazine, as well as
the indie genre. The Drop Cap in this image
is 4 lines deep.
The Editoral is the informative part of the
contents page as it tells everyone what the
magazine will be talking about in a short
paragraph. The start of this editorial ‘Thank
God’ captures the informal nature of the
magazine in only 2 words and suggests that
they writers are talking to friends.

7. Double Page Spread
Main Image
The image on this double page
spread takes up ½ of the page so
that our attention is immediately
drawn to the artist to make sure
that he is the focus of the article.
It makes it very clear what the
article will be on as well.
The background of graffiti links
to the header- it is suggesting
that Dizzee went from being on
the streets and crime to wearing
leather jackets and designer
jeans because of his music.
Along the bottom there are beer
bottles and a music player which
suggests something about the
type of music that Dizzee creates-
possibly rap since it is quite
relaxed and often linked to things
like having fun. The radio tells us
that a lot of Dizzee’s life has
music in all shapes and forms and
that he always carries music with
him wherever he goes, even a
photoshoot.
Header
The header for this image is the
large of all the text we have seen
before, it draws attention to it
immediately. The words used are
also quite informal, like the rest of
the magazine. ‘Tags’ and ‘Riches’
are more relaxed ways of saying
from poor to rich and they’re
words that people who listen to
Dizzee’s type of music will know
the meaning of, so it helps
connect with the target audience
and Dizzee’s fans.
By Line
The by line is the piece of text that
tells you who wrote the article and
who took the images, in this case it
is just above the Header so that
some attention is given to it and it
is easily spotted, however the text
is rather small as it isn’t too
important.Drop Cap
In this case the drop cap is
black, and is also speckled like
the one on the contents page
as this font fits in with the
indie theme of the magazine
and is quite relaxed.
Structure
This magazine fits the
common elements of a
magazine by using 4 columns
for the text. A magazine often
uses either 3 or 4 columns in
an article.