Analysis of NME Music Magazine: Dizzee Rascal Edition (2009)

• Front Cover

• How The Front Cover Attracts The Target Audience.

• Contents Page

• Double Page Spread

• Analysis Of Written Article

• Information About NME.

Analysis of magazine pages: Front Page NME Sept 2009 - Dizzee Rascal Edition

Main image: Featured artist is Dizzee Rascal, a long shot is used to express his full positive body language and show to the reader his facial expressions, which are cheerful and happy, welcoming the reader. He presents himself well, his clothing looks clean cut, wearing gold jewellery, this and also the graffiti is representative of his genre and background of being an urban artist.

Masthead: the masthead instantly grabs the readers attention, placed in the top left third of the cover using a big bold font and generic colours like red, white and black. NME shows importance and readers genuinely read the left third first. NME also sets the colour scheme for the front cover, the colours red white and black being displayed in various ways such as his red, white and black trainers.

Flash: this adds something extra and more appealing for the target audience, the word ‘news’ connotes to the information inside the magazine being brand new.

Coverline: the main cover line ‘DIZZEE RASCAL’ links to the main image of the featured artists, being made to look 3D with a shadow effect creates the feel of it popping out of the cover engaging the reader. The text is off centre reflecting the artists personality, not following the conventions of normal magazine kind of like breaking the rules. A simple colour scheme is used relating to the mastheads colours, the text is mainly son serif and uppercase with the colour white having connotations of being new. The language shows informality words such as ‘man’ and sensationalising the magazine through words ‘wowee and zowee’.

Date/barcode/price: normal conventions of a magazine.

Rule of thirds: the rule of thirds is used effectively on this cover, placing important coverlines down the left third following the traditional ‘C’ reading curve that most readers do subconsciously. The masthead placed in the top thirds The main image is the biggest convention, so they have spread it across the three thirds. Pull quote: “I'm spreading joy around the world, man” this pull quote will attract the attention of NME target audience, the use of informal language appealing to their stated TA. It may trigger the thought of ‘what is inside the magazine’ or ‘how is he spreading joy’ which will bring the reader closer to purchasing the magazine.

Header: as the masthead does not take up the whole top third, the header acts as a extension of this. ‘starring’ is usually used for movie stars names and music, so this implies that the guests ‘starring’ in this issue are of an interesting good quality.

Footer: gives the reader an insight into who is featuring in this magazine ‘Jay-Z, Paramore.’

Sell lines: used to interest the reader into buying the magazine.

Analysis of magazine pages: How it attracts the Target Audience?NME Sept 2009 - Dizzee Rascal Edition

How does it attract its target audience?NME proposes an interesting variety through conventions on the front cover, such as; coverlines, header and the main image. The artist is possibly a role model to some, the artists arms are spread wide and almost coming out of the page inviting the reader to take a wider interest in the magazine. Followed by the coverline that links to the main image, ‘I'm spreading joy around the world, man!’ the use of informal language and the layout of text challenges the conventions of magazines, this method is quite common amongst music magazine.

So who are NMEs target audience?After research and a small discussion I discovered that NMEs target audience are; Males between the ages of 15-34 but it mainly attracts those aged between 16- 25. So they are mature teens/young adults who will share similar interests. They will be lovers of music and share similar interests such as Indie and Rock n Roll, but serious fans so the quality of information they are receiving will still have to be of a good quality. We discussed the social class of majority of readers and come to the conclusion that they may be working class students, but with disposable income from part time jobs.

Analysis of magazine pages: ContentsNME Sept 2009 - Dizzee Rascal Edition Masthead: the masthead on the contents page is the

same as the front cover, the layout looking simple but at the same time professional. This time the page title ‘contents’ is used as an extension of the masthead across the top third of the page.

Date: lets the reader know what date the issue was published. Also found on the front covert

Subscription Box this will keep a subscriber up to date with future editions published by NME, possibly competition as well. It is show with details of the website, a phone number. It just allows the magazine to interact more with its fans.

Subheadings/Brief Summary: the subheading is blackout with the text left white, the bold capitalised font stands out clearly against a black background, making it easier to read for the reader. A brief summary of the content and a page number also in red, once again going back to the colour scheme set by the masthead of red, white and black.

Band Index: The page numbers are listed in black and the various artists names are listed in red, the colour scheme looks tidy and professional, also the colours matching that of the tour bus in the main image.

Main image/Copy: this is of a women inviting readers to start touring, the image has been manipulated appropriately suiting the topic . Editing it to look like a photographs compliments the feel of a tour well, looking like a kind of holiday snap. The copy under the image is the editors introduction telling the reader the contents of magazine. The box around this resembles a kind of chest that instruments can be carried in emphasis of the ‘touring special.’

Analysis of magazine pages: Analysis of contents layout/design features.NME Sept 2009 - Dizzee Rascal Edition

Analysis of magazine pages: Double Page SpreadNME Sept 2009 - Dizzee Rascal Edition

Main Image/ Mise en Scene: Main image shows the feature artist with a spray can looking as if he is about to Graffiti. The background plays a role in emphasising Dizzee Rascals image. The background relating to his past but also his successful career producing music like, rap, garage and hip hop creating an urban image for himself. The background image also linking to the headline on the other page ‘From Tags To Riches.’ He is once again very well dressed and clean cut which creates a sense of wealth and success. In the image his body language is quite suspicious, as if he knows graffiti could get him into trouble which adds to his rebellious individual image of where he has come from to where he is now. The colour of clothing he is wearing is red and white, which continues on from the masthead’s colours linking all pages to one another.

Copy: The written article under the headline is introduced using ‘Drop Caps’ approximately 6 lines long. Drop Caps are a popular way of starting a article within a music magazine. The article was wrote in 4 columns and when looking at the layout we see how the columns size is small and the text wraps around the image.

Byline: this shows acknowledgement of the writer and the photographer.

Caption: The artists name, conventional of NME, allows the reader to know who the information is about.

Headline/Subheading: the words ‘from tags to riches’ similar to the more popular phrase of ‘from rags to riches.’ The headline is dramatic, already proposing the idea of where Dizzee was before (tags) and where he is now (riches). The words have been manipulated to suit the target audience. The headline is the biggest text on the page, completely overpowering the textual page, the headline stands out enhancing the main image. The subheading uses chatty language to inform the reader of Dizzee’s successful year.

Date/Title/Page Number: A normal convention of magazine pages found across a wide range of magazines.

Smaller image: the small image of empty beer bottles and radio allows the reader to create a sense of the lifestyle that Dizzee Rascal lives/lived. How he enjoys himself and likes to have a good time, small portrayals like these give an insight into what the article may be about before even reading it.

Analysis of magazine pages: Analysis of written ArticleNME Sept 2009 - Dizzee Rascal Edition

The article is about how Dizzee Rascal has turned his life around, NME referring to Dizzee as ‘Britain's Biggest Pop Star 2009.’ The main headline sums up what is written underneath how Dizzee has literally gone from an average artists who used to graffiti to one of the biggest stars in the country.

The headline is the biggest textual thing on the page, the capitalised bold black font makes it stand out against the smaller sized font catching the readers attention, similar to that of Dizzee Rascal. The words ‘from tags to riches’ are quite cheesy but work due to the target audience of young adults.

Text like “as Dizzee Jumps around the place he owns it” and “Kids are congregating trying to peer in” really shows to the reader the impact he is having in the UK right now. Adding the kids to the article gives us an insight into the Target audience that Dizzee attracts.

The article is wrote in 4 short columns with each column containing approximately 75-100 words each. The style of the article is quite chatty and very informal. A clear example of the informality of the article is at the begging of the second paragraph in the first column.

NME.

Launched in 1952, the New Musical Express is the worlds greatest and more influential weekly music magazine, known globally as the NME.They are the ones responsible for creating the first UK singles chart and breaking through many individual acts themselves such as Jimi Hendrix, The Stone Roses, Blur, Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys. The information a reader will find within the magazine will be funny at times, but be very critical and truth telling so the readers get the information they really want to know about, kind of journalistic.

http://www.nme.com/

NME was is currently published weekly by IPC media with their wide range of readers being between 15 – 34, but there marketed audience are males between the age of 16-25.

Readership: 289,000 (Jul 11 – Jun 12) Male: 66% Female: 34% Sale Figures: In 2011 weekly sale figures decreased and fell below 30,000 sales per week. Price: £2.40