Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Monday, 2 February 2009
Analysis of NME magazine
Analysing NME magazine
In order to fulfil Assessment Objectives 2 and 3 I researched Music Magazines in order to identify their generic characteristics.
The magazine is called NME, this stands for new musical express. The word ‘new’ denotes that the magazine will be about up to date music. The words new musical express connote this magazine will be about current music. It is clear this isn’t a magazine for one particular music genre. NME is targeted at a mainstream audience. The target demographic for the magazine is young people of around ages 15-25. The magazine appeals to both male and female audiences.
The main photo on the cover of the magazine is of two of the members of Kasabian. They both have a serious expression on their face and are looking directly at the camera, as though they are annoyed. This gives the impression that they want to be taken seriously. As Kasabian isn’t a very old band this tells us that the target audience is mainly a younger generation. There are a series of nine small images of musicians and singers along the top third of the cover. They are slightly overlapping each other and are not aligned. This gives denotations that the magazine is not to be taken to seriously. This also helps it to stand out from other magazines as it shows there is a lot of information inside. To the left of these photos there is an arrow shaped text box containing the words ‘ALBUMS ’09 IN THE STUDIO EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS!’ This is written in white writing on a bright red background, this makes the information stand out. The words ‘exclusive interviews’ are written on the same background but in the colour yellow. This also stands out, although not as bright as the first part of text. At the bottom of each of the nine small photos is the name of the band or singer. This is written in yellow writing on a background. I think that the colours and font for the ‘exclusive interviews’ writing and for the band/singers names are the same to show that the interviews will be of these musicians. The three main colours on the cover are red, yellow and white. The masthead of the magazine NME is written in red block text, outlined by white then black. This makes the name of the magazine stand out from the rest of the text on the cover. Across the magazine below the main photograph is a banner which reads ‘NEW ALBUMS ‘09’. The banner is unaligned like the smaller photos above. This is written in yellow across a red background. The font is smaller than the masthead but bigger than all the other text on the cover. The writing below this is part of the same banner. It reads ‘ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY RELEASE THAT MATTERS’ this is written in white. The mode of address in which it is written is teacher to pupil. It is telling the reader what they need to know in order to keep up to date with the current music of the new year. Below this is the word ‘KASABIAN’ in the same size font as the first writing on the banner. This is written in white. This text is aligned and on the background of the main photograph. The men in the photo would have be told to wear dark clothing in order for this writing to stand out from the rest. The words ‘WE’VE BEEN ON A PSYCHEDELIC TRIP’ appeal to the audience as they want to find out more about this. There is a white circle containing the words R.I.P STOOGES LEGEND’ this is the only black text on the cover excluding the price, which is in a smaller font. The colours used on the cover of the magazine are kept to a minimum as to not draw attention away from the pictures and information about the content. The photograph of the two members of Kasabian on the cover could relate to the readership as an ideal self or ideal partner depending on whom the reader is.Analysis of contents pageThe contents page is spilt into 2 columns with a large advertisement in the middle. The column on the left is the band index. There are only two colours used here, black and red. The size of the font used for the bands is the smallest on the whole page. This is because the first thing the reader should notice on the contents page is what was shown on the cover. At the bottom left section of the contents there is a black box that contains yellow and white writing advertising the magazine NME again. It is a special offer to those who choose to subscribe to the magazine. The column on the right is spilt into three parts. The first section is ‘news’ then ‘studio news’, ‘reviews’ and ‘live’. The majority of the pages in the magazines are of interviews with bands and singers. The subjects covered in the magazine are mainly about the new albums of 2009 as it is a recent issue, it also covers the popular band and singers and who is back on the scene. This is creating an ideal self for certain readers, as they aspire to be like these artists. All of the bands/singers featured in the magazine are well known straight away. This would appeal to a wide audience as all the artists here do not play the same genre of music. However in a magazine such as Kerrang, the artists featured would be specific to rock/metal genre of music. The colours used in the contents page are again kept to a minimum of four colours. Black, white and green are the main colours used. The name of the magazine NME is at the top of the contents page in red, this is to make it stand out from the other written information. In the centre of the two columns is the words’ ALBUMS OF 2009 IN THE STUDIO’ and ‘EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS YEAR’. This mode of address used in the magazine fluctuates between teacher-to-pupil, as it is telling us what we should know in order to be up to date with the current music and peer-to-peer as the way it is written is quite informal. The magazine is not more gender representative to male or female. The photographs used in the magazines could be interpreted as either an ideal partner or and ideal self. The kinds of people that appear in the magazine are the artists that are currently on trend for 2009. There are a lot more male musicians featured in the magazine than female. I think the reason for this is simply that at present there are more male artists of the alternative pop/indie genre around. These specific artists have been chosen to represent on trend music.Analysis of double page spreadMost of the pages in this magazine are interviews with the different artists or album reviews. On the left page of this double page spread is Biffy Clyro. The whole page is taken up by an action shot of the band. The bottom half of the page has a grey box of text. The information in the box is all about the new album from Biffy Clyro; it goes into detail about some of the songs on it and how they came up with them. Within the text there are quotes form Biffy Clyro. This makes the audience feel they know more about the band and album as there a direct quotes from then. Rather than the magazine having information about what they think about the album they have the bands views as well. The mode of address here is peer-to-peer. The way in which they have reviewed the album is informal and without set questions. I think the informality is a lot more appealing to audiences rather than it being too structured. Above the text box is the band name in a large font. The colours on the double page spread are kept to a minimum of green white and black. Even the photographs more or less follow these colour rules apart from the guitar and drum kit in the photo. Keeping to just a few colours stop the pages form looking to cluttered and unprofessional. The sentence above the text box reads ‘Horses, penguins and er, ‘whoreses’: it’s a menagerie of mentalism down the studio as the Scots prepare some surprises’. This sentence sums up the paragraph below it in the most exciting way possible. It makes the reader want to know what all this means and so therefore read it. There is a quote in the top right corner of the page, “Horses are dominating my thoughts every day at the moment. I just can’t put my finger on why”, this is quite a weird quote and would again make the reader stop and read what it’s all about. On the second page, on the right is a close up of Pete Doherty in black and white. His name is written in a large font across the page in green and white. Again green, white and black are the same three colours used on this page. “Even cancelled gigs, kitten-purchasing and Babyshambles knees-ups couldn’t stop the former-Libertines solo album”, this is the sentence just above the box of text. This is there to make the reader want to read the paragraph below it. The writing in the paragraph is about the album, the songs and Pete Doherty himself.
In order to fulfil Assessment Objectives 2 and 3 I researched Music Magazines in order to identify their generic characteristics.
The magazine is called NME, this stands for new musical express. The word ‘new’ denotes that the magazine will be about up to date music. The words new musical express connote this magazine will be about current music. It is clear this isn’t a magazine for one particular music genre. NME is targeted at a mainstream audience. The target demographic for the magazine is young people of around ages 15-25. The magazine appeals to both male and female audiences.
The main photo on the cover of the magazine is of two of the members of Kasabian. They both have a serious expression on their face and are looking directly at the camera, as though they are annoyed. This gives the impression that they want to be taken seriously. As Kasabian isn’t a very old band this tells us that the target audience is mainly a younger generation. There are a series of nine small images of musicians and singers along the top third of the cover. They are slightly overlapping each other and are not aligned. This gives denotations that the magazine is not to be taken to seriously. This also helps it to stand out from other magazines as it shows there is a lot of information inside. To the left of these photos there is an arrow shaped text box containing the words ‘ALBUMS ’09 IN THE STUDIO EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS!’ This is written in white writing on a bright red background, this makes the information stand out. The words ‘exclusive interviews’ are written on the same background but in the colour yellow. This also stands out, although not as bright as the first part of text. At the bottom of each of the nine small photos is the name of the band or singer. This is written in yellow writing on a background. I think that the colours and font for the ‘exclusive interviews’ writing and for the band/singers names are the same to show that the interviews will be of these musicians. The three main colours on the cover are red, yellow and white. The masthead of the magazine NME is written in red block text, outlined by white then black. This makes the name of the magazine stand out from the rest of the text on the cover. Across the magazine below the main photograph is a banner which reads ‘NEW ALBUMS ‘09’. The banner is unaligned like the smaller photos above. This is written in yellow across a red background. The font is smaller than the masthead but bigger than all the other text on the cover. The writing below this is part of the same banner. It reads ‘ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY RELEASE THAT MATTERS’ this is written in white. The mode of address in which it is written is teacher to pupil. It is telling the reader what they need to know in order to keep up to date with the current music of the new year. Below this is the word ‘KASABIAN’ in the same size font as the first writing on the banner. This is written in white. This text is aligned and on the background of the main photograph. The men in the photo would have be told to wear dark clothing in order for this writing to stand out from the rest. The words ‘WE’VE BEEN ON A PSYCHEDELIC TRIP’ appeal to the audience as they want to find out more about this. There is a white circle containing the words R.I.P STOOGES LEGEND’ this is the only black text on the cover excluding the price, which is in a smaller font. The colours used on the cover of the magazine are kept to a minimum as to not draw attention away from the pictures and information about the content. The photograph of the two members of Kasabian on the cover could relate to the readership as an ideal self or ideal partner depending on whom the reader is.Analysis of contents pageThe contents page is spilt into 2 columns with a large advertisement in the middle. The column on the left is the band index. There are only two colours used here, black and red. The size of the font used for the bands is the smallest on the whole page. This is because the first thing the reader should notice on the contents page is what was shown on the cover. At the bottom left section of the contents there is a black box that contains yellow and white writing advertising the magazine NME again. It is a special offer to those who choose to subscribe to the magazine. The column on the right is spilt into three parts. The first section is ‘news’ then ‘studio news’, ‘reviews’ and ‘live’. The majority of the pages in the magazines are of interviews with bands and singers. The subjects covered in the magazine are mainly about the new albums of 2009 as it is a recent issue, it also covers the popular band and singers and who is back on the scene. This is creating an ideal self for certain readers, as they aspire to be like these artists. All of the bands/singers featured in the magazine are well known straight away. This would appeal to a wide audience as all the artists here do not play the same genre of music. However in a magazine such as Kerrang, the artists featured would be specific to rock/metal genre of music. The colours used in the contents page are again kept to a minimum of four colours. Black, white and green are the main colours used. The name of the magazine NME is at the top of the contents page in red, this is to make it stand out from the other written information. In the centre of the two columns is the words’ ALBUMS OF 2009 IN THE STUDIO’ and ‘EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS YEAR’. This mode of address used in the magazine fluctuates between teacher-to-pupil, as it is telling us what we should know in order to be up to date with the current music and peer-to-peer as the way it is written is quite informal. The magazine is not more gender representative to male or female. The photographs used in the magazines could be interpreted as either an ideal partner or and ideal self. The kinds of people that appear in the magazine are the artists that are currently on trend for 2009. There are a lot more male musicians featured in the magazine than female. I think the reason for this is simply that at present there are more male artists of the alternative pop/indie genre around. These specific artists have been chosen to represent on trend music.Analysis of double page spreadMost of the pages in this magazine are interviews with the different artists or album reviews. On the left page of this double page spread is Biffy Clyro. The whole page is taken up by an action shot of the band. The bottom half of the page has a grey box of text. The information in the box is all about the new album from Biffy Clyro; it goes into detail about some of the songs on it and how they came up with them. Within the text there are quotes form Biffy Clyro. This makes the audience feel they know more about the band and album as there a direct quotes from then. Rather than the magazine having information about what they think about the album they have the bands views as well. The mode of address here is peer-to-peer. The way in which they have reviewed the album is informal and without set questions. I think the informality is a lot more appealing to audiences rather than it being too structured. Above the text box is the band name in a large font. The colours on the double page spread are kept to a minimum of green white and black. Even the photographs more or less follow these colour rules apart from the guitar and drum kit in the photo. Keeping to just a few colours stop the pages form looking to cluttered and unprofessional. The sentence above the text box reads ‘Horses, penguins and er, ‘whoreses’: it’s a menagerie of mentalism down the studio as the Scots prepare some surprises’. This sentence sums up the paragraph below it in the most exciting way possible. It makes the reader want to know what all this means and so therefore read it. There is a quote in the top right corner of the page, “Horses are dominating my thoughts every day at the moment. I just can’t put my finger on why”, this is quite a weird quote and would again make the reader stop and read what it’s all about. On the second page, on the right is a close up of Pete Doherty in black and white. His name is written in a large font across the page in green and white. Again green, white and black are the same three colours used on this page. “Even cancelled gigs, kitten-purchasing and Babyshambles knees-ups couldn’t stop the former-Libertines solo album”, this is the sentence just above the box of text. This is there to make the reader want to read the paragraph below it. The writing in the paragraph is about the album, the songs and Pete Doherty himself.
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