The magazine (New Musical Express)is the most popular weekly music magazine first published in March 1952 by IPC Media. According to the ABC statistics(january-june 2009)NME sold 40,948 copies so it is a market leader.It is a mainstream magazine which is targetted at 25-40 year olds but people under 25 read it too.
Most of the magazineis laid out in a conventional way. The mastead of the NME represents brand identity and brand awareness as it is in thick bold letters. The main photograph is of the 'Manic Street Preachers'and there are hardly any sell lines on the sides of the page as they are on the bottom half of the page. The cover uses stereotypical colours of rock e.g.black,red and white. This could give masculine connotations. The band was popular in the eighties so the target audience are older people who have grown up listening to them.
The photography of the band portrays enigma. All the band members are wearing a shade of black.The member in the middle has red hair and lots of eye make up. This gives him an androgynous look and makes the reader unsure about his sexuality.He also has a Welsh flag painted on his cheek, which implies he is welsh.The tatoo also implies they are a successful band from Wales.He has 3 red heart badges on the right collar on his blazer. This could mean the love they have for their band and could symbolise how they only have 3 members left because one had mysteriously disappeared.Perhaps there is no fourth heart badge as they may have felt abandoned by the fourth member. The other badges create enigma. All the members in the band are Caucasian males and look older. Instead of the photograph being in the middle it is slightly to the side and has left a white gap to symbolises the missing band member.
The cover images are suitable as the colurs, images and fonts used suit the rock/indie genre. The readers who have knowledge about 'The Manic Street Preachers' will understand the star significance of the band which will make the magazine issue sell. The readers can identify with the band logo and with the backwards 'R'. A sell line across the masthead says it is a special issue. Under their logo it says the band" gear up for the gig of their lives" which creates drama and makes the reader want to find out more. In the photograph the band members are facing forward which shows a direct more of address to interact with the reader. It make the reader feel like he/she are a part of a musical social group.
This is good but I am sure the NME has a lot of readres under the age of 25.
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