Magazine Analysis (Primary Research Etc)

8/2/2019 Magazine Analysis (Primary Research Etc)

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Masthead:

NME is written in big, bold, red capitals. It is also

recognised as the NME original writing. The Red could

associate with anger, or even an Acronym for ENEMY.

Main sell-line & image:The main image/sell-line on this cover is of crystal castles

the electronic band from Canada. The sell-line says, were

using sounds that no-one else can get this intrigues the

reader, and makes them pick the magazine up and think,

what sounds, and it also promotes there music as people

will want to hear these sounds not just read about them.

The image is split , the artist standing side by side but only

half there faces on the page, as the photo is close up. There

facial expression are not smiling, but almost as if Alice Glass(female on the left) has been told to pull a face as if she was

upset but show some teeth so the magazine doesnt look

miserable, and Ethan Kath (male on the right) look

miserable but serious at the same time, saying that they are

using sounds that no one else can get and he means it. It

then has the sell-line in between them.

Sell-lines:

Other sell-lines that attract the eye of a customer would be,

THE FUTURE 50 the bands, artists and innovators driving

music forwardthis would attract them as it says the future

and no matter what anyone says people are always

interested in the future. It also helps that it is written slap

bang in the middle of the front cover.

The cover also has a plug which reads, WIN! Tickets to

every festival inside!this would also draw peoples

attention and make people buy this magazine.

The magazine also has a PLUS! Section where it tells you

what other top stories are in the magazine, for example

MUSE LIVE Without the laser.

Similar Product Research:

NME Front Cover Analysis 2


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NME Contents Page Analysis

A magazine like NMEneeds a contents page, but a magazine like Smash hits does

not as it is simple enough to look through. But as NME is a larger magazine you

need a contents page so that the reader can navigate easily through it.

Plug: The imperative statement

subscribe today orders the reader to do it, and by adding save

over 45, the reader now has an incentive. This is aimed at

regular readers of the magazine, as they are the ones that wouldwant to subscribe. Using yellow attracts attention, and the

symmetry created with the white text is aesthetically pleasing.

Colours: By using red, white and black, the magazine looks

fluent, because these colours feature on every front cover, in

the masthead of the magazine. White text on a black

background is bold yet simple, and counteracts the busy nature

of the contents page, so its not overwhelming or confusing.

Main Image: The colours purple and red that are emphasised in

the photo reflect the romantic feel and the dcor make it obviousthat they are in a church. The heads in the foreground make it

seem as if you are there in the crowd, which draws you in.

Band Index: The band index is mostly just for convenience, as

the reader can easily access information about their favourite

band. However, before buying the magazine, readers can check

the index for bands they like, to see if it is worth buying it, as

opposed to flicking through the pages.

Sections: These help readers find what they are looking for in

the magazine, and by having regular sections, frequent readers

can find their way around the magazine easily, e.g. they know

that reviews will always be at the back of the magazine.


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Q Contents Page Analysis

Colours: By using red, white and black, the magazine looks

fluent as the colours stay with the magazine throughout this

issue. The black bold writing on the white background is simple

but yet effective, and counteracts the busier nature of the

contents page, so its not overwhelming or confusing.

Sections: this magazine doesnt have many sections as it hasnt

got lots of different stories it just has a few but a lot written on

the story. But the section most readers would read is the actual

contents where is shows/tells what the magazine contains.

Main Image: the main image is of Linkin Parks Chester

Bennington. He is wearing a white vest with black jeans. Thiscontributes to the black and white simple effect. Chester is

shouting into a mega-phone which could mean the image has a

meaning, as if to say he is shouting out so listen.

Plug: The plug in this contents page I would say would have to be

the little version of the magazine in the bottom left hand corner. It

has the masthead saying 50 Gigs you must see this decade the

way this plug says, you must orders the reader that they mustsee these gigs. This plug is aimed at all reader new and constant as

it could make people buy the magazine as they are interested in

going to some new gigs, or the constant readers might just want

to know about them.

Features: the features part of this contents is the main

contents, as where to find the main stories/info in the

magazine. Under each heading there is a brief synopsis of each

story which will give the reader some snippets of the story but

not all of it and this will entice the reader to purchase themagazine.


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NME Double Page Spread Analysis 1

Colours: The masthead includes of two colours blue and white.

The colours of the article are blue, white and black, simple yeteffective. This colour scheme runs throughout the article. The

men in the image also are wearing blue shirts to match the

colour scheme.

Main image:the people in the

image are a band (not to sure

which one) there facial expression

are serious as they are in a lab and

conducting an experiment, twoare pouring, and two are standing

by there sides watching the

experiment. All there focus are on

the test tube.

Smaller images: By having theseimages on the page it makes the

page look slightly more

interesting.

Title: The ripped edges and paperclip gives us the idea that it is a cut-out

of another paper. This then gives us the impression that this article is aninvestigatory sort of style article, it also refers to the word media in the

title. The title is also a quote and sums up what the article is about. The

masthead of this article


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NME Double Page Spread Analysis 2

Colours: the simple black and white on this article is very

effective as it gives the article an old school serious look. The

article doesnt use bright text as the focus is all about the textnot the overall style of the double page spread. Red is used to

link with the rest of the magazine, as red, white and black are

the colours of the masthead.

Main image: the people in the

main image are stood in

aggressive poses and also look

almost like detectives, leading

back to the investigatory stylearticle. The clothes they are

wearing also accentuates there

music and they are easily

recognisable to fans of the band,

even if their name is not in the

title of the article.

Smaller images: By having theseimages outlined in white and

placed at slight angles, they look

like photos spread on the page.

This again reflects the

investigatory-style article, which

links with the style of the title.

Title: The ripped edges and paperclip gives us the idea that it is a cut-out

of another paper. This then gives us the impression that this article is aninvestigatory sort of style article, it also refers to the word media in the

title. The title is also a quote and sums up what the article is about.


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Quantitative & Qualitative

Quantitative Research is information based around figures, digits, things that can

be measured and anything numeric. For example The suitable audience for

KERRANG! Magazine I think would be both male, and the female gender, around

the ages 13+.

Whether Qualitative research is more based on writing format, for example

reviews, so more opinionated.


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Key Concepts:

Audience & Audience demographics

The suitable audience for KERRANG! Magazine I think would be both male, and the female gender, around the ages 13+. Thereason I do not have an age limit, is that I think that if you are into a certain music when you are young, you will still have an interest in

that music for the rest of your life. I think this as KERRANG! Although a music magazine based on the heavier genre of music, still has

some interesting stories about bands, and gigs etc. Also as the years have gone by, KERRANG! Magazine and the whole KERRANG!

Labelled products have lightened up, Like the magazine now consists of not just heavymetal bands but artists like New found Glory.

KERRANG! Magazine uses techniques to entice the consumer/audience to buy or just look at the magazine that most magazine

producers use, for example, they have the name of the magazine in BIG, bold writing. Also they have the main sell line which then sellsthe magazine some more, it teases the audience into buying the magazine by giving you the tiniest amount of detail about the story

then saying something like see more on page 23. The use of colours can also sell the magazine, for example, KERRANG! Is normally in

big bold black writing, but black goes with anything, they then have outrageous colours to attract the attention of the audience more.

For example they use a bright red colour. KERRANG! Also has a cover model/models (if a band) this would then attract fans of this band

or artist to buy the magazine.

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In a normal music magazine, the front cover should always have a number of

main things. Firstly, on every magazine, there should be a masthead, that

belongs to that magazine. The masthead normally stretches across the whole

top of the page, for example KERRANG! But that is not always the case as NME

is just in the top left hand corner. Secondly, the magazine should always have a

main image on the front, this image should be an image which will sell themagazine, it should stand out from all other magazines. Sometimes magazines

can have one main image but then have leftover space, so they fill the spaces

with other relevant images that relate to the stories within the magazine. Also

relating to the main image there should be a main story that corresponds to the

main image. For example if the main story was, A Day To Remember On Tour!

it would then have a picture of A Day To Remember in the background.

Normally there should/will be a barcode, website and price in the bottom

corner somewhere out of the way so it does not take any room of the frontcover up. The date and issue number are normally placed under the masthead

or the top corners. Also underneath the masthead the magazine producer may

decide to put the price of the magazine to show how cheap it is or is they are

doing a deal etc. these all can be re-arranged at the producers will. Next we

have the contents page which is generally split into sections so that the reader

finds it easier to locate what they wish from the magazine a lot easier. The

contents page of a music magazine normally consists of, Reviews, News,Features, Live/Gigs, The main sell line (the front cover story) and other things

too. On the contents page there may be a smaller printed version of the

masthead again. The contents page will also contain some smaller images about

some of the stories, or band pictures etc. The contents page usually follows a

colour coded form. For example if the main image in the contents page had a lot

of the colour red, the sub-headings would be the same shade of red.

Codes and Conventions

Magazine Analysis (Primary Research Etc)

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