Textual Analysis NME

Front Cover: The target audience for the magazine is probably teenagers because the bands on the cover are fairly new artists. The type of music for this magazine is mostly indie rock so it will appeal to the people who listen to that sort of music. The 2 men in the picture are promoting their new band 'the last shadow' but this will appeal to people who are fans of 'the arctic monkeys' and 'the rascals' as Alex Turner and Miles Kane were members of one of these bands. The cover is also dragging in slightly different genres of music by using artists such as panic at the disco, Amy Winehouse and the rolling stones but all the artists are still based around the genre of rock. The majority of the magazine is red white and black. The biggest headlines are in red because it contrasts from black and white so it stands our more.

The dominant image has been edited to make their skin look more pale and their hair darker so that it sticks to the colour scheme of red white and black and makes the cover look much more formal. The angle of the image is a low angle so they look dominant so it makes the audience feel like they are probably the front men of the new band they are promoting. It could also make the younger males who are reading the magazine to want to grow and aspire to be like them, and also it could do the same for new indie style bands. They are wearing big black coats on the image which makes them look quite mysterious which could emphasise on the mystery of their new band ' the last shaddow puppets' and push the audience to check them out or at least buy the magazine.

The Masthead has an outline around it so it doesnt clash with the red border at the top and its the boldest piece of writing on the page clearly showing the audience what the magazine is which is automaticaly promoting and selling the magazine. The name of the magazine "New Musical Express" appeals to people who are looking for new bands, this is also how we can guess the target audiences age, because it is new music.

In conclusion, the cover of this magazine is an advertisment to the people who are consuming it who are fans of the indie/rock genre. Therefore, when planning and making my magazine cover i will use the following techniques, use bold colours to help sell the actual magazine, design the title so there is at least a little idea of what kind of consumers i am aiming my magazine at, use a specific colour scheme and use titles that makes the target audience want to read more.

Contents Page: Firstly the Head title of the page is "THIS WEEK" which shows the readers that the magazine is fairly recent. The title on the contents page is "Oasis Kicked off their world tour" , they have used a band that is probably one of the biggest bands in the world as there main title, and then started a paragraph which draws the reader further into the magazine, influencing them to buy it. Also, because it says "the moment that.." makes the reader/consumer believe that NME were the first to hit that story, so they buy the magazine to simple be the first people to know about it. On the left hand side, there is a red and white section called "Band Index" and then a huge list of bands. This shows to the reader the variaty of Bands the magazine withholds.

The editor has used advertisments that are aimed for the key audience, so they are advertising things that their readers will want to buy to get money off the companys that sell those things.

Double Page Spread: This is a double page spread of a NME magazine. The main image is an image of the band 'the teenagers'. The main image is typical of the name of the band, for instance on the wall there are pictures of women and its quite messy which just makes it look like they are typical teenage boys hanging out in a typical teenage room. The boys clothings are quite indie looking which makes the reader presume what style of music they make. This appeals to a younger audience probably aged 15-20. The image is medium to long shot to show their appearance and surroundings, it could connote that they are a much more laid back than a band which would of gone for a more formal shoot.

The title is big and bold, this is because they are a new band so it sticks in the readers head. The colour scheme is blue which contrasts with any colour on the picture, this could make the writing in the blue box the more interesting that the article writing to draw the reader in. The fact that the majority of the spread sheet is pictures makes it easier for a younger person to read and makes it more entertaining.
The fact that above the name of the band it says, 'NME loves' shows the magazine likes them alot, therefore the people who buy the magazine will take more of an interest to the band.
There are also other new bands advertised on the side. They are shown by smaller photographs of the band to draw the reader to them and it uses bands that are simelar to make the target audience.