Research page: NME.

NME stands for New Musical Express, and is classified for being a musical journalism magazine.

The title NME is usually in red but for this cover they have changed it to white so that the rest of the magazines colour range fits and the title is not the main attraction of the magazine.

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The typical audience for NME magazine is male in the age range of 15- 25 and is in the ABC1 class group.

The image of the singer Lana Del Ray ties in with the subtitle underneath “I’m a psycho!” The image of her in a normal pose, but pulling a face with her tongue sticking out ties in with this representation that she is crazy and the photographer has used that element of her personality to highlight the image and use it on the front cover.

The image actually contrasts the type of music that Lana Del Ray produces, her music is actually slow and her voice quite deep and soulful, this might have influenced the photographer to produce a dark moody image of Lana Del Ray, however instead there is a bright and vibrant feel, showing a different style to the singer.

There is also the background to include on the image. There is another subtitle under the name of the singer that says “The true face of a modern American icon” This ties in with the flag in with the American flag in the background as a representation of a crazy American singer which is the aim of this front cover to represent.

The audience of this magazine is mainly indie, and those who listen to indie music. Lana Del Ray’s music has that type of indie feel although it’s classified as alternative rock. So this front cover of NME would specifically appeal to those who are fans of Lana Del Ray’s music.

The small stories included on the front of the magazine have their own background to contrast the main image included and also links to the fact that there is a thrown together element to the cover.

All the other artists included inside are written smaller and at the bottom to quickly highlight the fact that there isn’t just Lana Del Ray in the issue. However the “Plus” is larger to attract the reader to the other artists included inside.

Other music artists are included in a puff; on the front cover and have quotations from the artists mentioned so that the reader is enticed by the other artists included on the magazine. The main names are written in blue which not only ties in with the colour scheme but draws the reader’s attention to other music artists included in the magazine.

Colour is significant on the cover, its mainly red white and blue; although her dress is white, to show that she would be innocent and calm, except for the fact that she claims that she is crazy. Blue is one of the most prominent colours, the name of the artist is in blue, the boxes and the largest writing is also in blue to make it stand out against the image.

There is also lots of advertising promoted on the cover. There is a flash that takes up a small amount of space in the corner saying that the magazine has free posters included inside; and then the artists that there are posters of. They also include pictures of what the posters would look like so that the reader has an idea what exactly they are buying.

The layout is kind of hectic. its a lot busier tham most other conventional music magazines that I've looked at. The style of being quite cluttered suits the readership of the magazine as they are usually students who might have a hectic life themselves and therefore the magazine relates to them in that respect.

It follows the conventions with a masthead, coverlines and dp's running along the bottom and the eyes of the reader would follow accordingly from the largest things on the cover down to the smallest.

The language is in full sentences, catering for the ABC1 readership of the magazine.

Double page spread analysis:

There isn't an equal amount of text to image, as there is a smaller amount of text than there is image. This is to draw attention more to the artist photographed compared to the text and information included. This could possibly be due to the style that NME has when presenting their interviews and features, however it’s most likely due to appeal as readers don’t want pages and pages of writing. This also could be because the features could be spread out and magazines can make it look like there is more information in it.

Although the title is the largest part of the double page spread it’s in the background and in a non-descript colour. This is to draw attention to the image which is the centrepiece but to also highlight the title so that it’s one of the first things that draw the reader’s attention. The title is the introduction to the complete spread as immediately the reader knows that the article is going to be about the influence of Florence and the Machine’s music on America. It’s also a reference to one of Florence and the machines biggest songs as to tie in with the influence that Florence has over America.

There is a question included that’s larger than the rest of the article that intrigues the reader to read on and possibly if you’re flicking through to buy the magazine because there is an article with Florence in it and the reader wants to read why Florence is attacking herself. This is also to introduce the theme of the spread as this particular image spread if focusing on the troubles that she is encountering in her life.

The image is the centre piece of the double page spread as it has the most colour in it and stands out from the text and blank background. There is also a highlight colour of red as Florence’s hair and the sheet that covers the box are both red. The image matches the title as the cloth resembles the American flag and the title is “USA got the love.” The image spreads over onto the other page and there is no text covering the image, showing the significance of the image. The clothing and heels are important in this image because they are black, to make the red of her hair and paleness of her skin stand out. But also because they are quite revealing and the heels clunky giving off a fierce impression that she is strong despite the fact that the article is about the troubles that Florence is facing in her life.

The actual text of the article is small and hard to see. This is because if the reader really wanted to read the article they would look closer and get used to the small text because they are interested and wanted to read the article.

There is always a small acknowledgement of the writer and photographer in the article but it remains small as not to take away from the overall effect of the article.

The articles first letter is the largest, this is so that there is a clear start to the article and so that the reader can read through in the right order. The columns also help with this as if there was a mass of text the layout would be vastly different and wouldn't contribute to the overall effect. The page is very uncluttered and there is clear structure and thought that has gone into producing the spread. The clear and simple layout gives the reader time to take in everything that is featured on the page and also gives the reader time to decide if they want to actually read the text on the page after looking at the articles take on Florence’s life. 

Contents page analysis:

The title of the page is “NME this week.” As an introduction to the contents of the magazine this week.

There is a band index down one side so that there is a direct link to the bands featured and the articles, this is to make sure that there is quick access to the bands that the reader likes.

The image in this case is not the main attraction of the page as the contents page is there to provide information rather than for attraction value, although the image is there so that the page isn't completely covered in text.

There are arrows so that the reader can track and go to articles and features that they are interested in, instead of rifling through the magazine to find the article that they want to read.

The page numbers of the articles are in a different colour so that they are easy to pick out from the rest of the dark writing that is on the page.

A flash is included to entice the reader to subscribe to NME, and include images of the front covers that might interest the reader because they have images of music artists that they are interested in.