For my double page spread I need to write an article on a band or solo artist. I decided to write about Amy Winehouse and create a narrative on her and her ex partner Blake getting back together. I chose Amy Winehouse because she would be one of the artists my reader's are interested in and would want to read and purchase my magazine. As this was going to be my main story, I needed to have her as the main image on my front cover. So I needed to think early on about who I could use as a model. What could they wear? And how should they look?

Masthead Design Ideas.

As I want to create an NME style magazine I need to decide what design I could have to use as my masthead. The plain black design (above) was my first basic font. I chose this because I thought it suited my target audience and genre of magazine. It has a slight edgy feel and relates to the type of artists that will appear in my magazine. For example, Amy Winehouse and Florence and the Machine, as they portray a wild and rebellious reputation and music genre. My specific target audience will be for females aged 14 - 19 so I thought the colour pink would be convenient as it is the stereotypical colour which represents the female gender. The design below is my finished masthead design. I believe this design is the most advisable design as it is bold, it stands out and it relates to my target audience.

NME

For my magazine I have decided to take a risk and go in the completely opposite direction of the type of genre I like and create a magazine similar to NME. I decided to try and research some relevant information on NME which maybe useful in developing my own music magazine. And this is what I discovered.


NME (New Music Express) was first launched in 1996, with the target audience averaging between late teens to mid twenties. Some figures on wanting to advertise in the magazine are shown below.

Classified Rates 2008 (Colour) 

Full Page   £ 3,920 

Half Page   £ 1,960 

Quarter Page (4 columns) £ 1,120  

Quarter Page (3 columns) £    845 

SCC rate  £ 28.00 

(Minimum of 3 cm X 1 column box)  

New & Unsigned 

Full Page                £ 950        220 mm X 140 mm 

Half Page               £ 500       101 mm X 140 mm 

Quarter page        £ 275        101 mm X 75 mm 

Sixth page              £ 175        60 mm X 75 mm 

Twelfth page          £ 95          30 mm X 75 mm 

Free colour is offered on all adverts 

Key Facts 

 Page Impressions per Month  21,983,377 

(Total number of pages viewed per month) 

Unique Users per Month   3,326,979 

(Number of individual people who visit a 

website) 

Visits per Month   5,223,502 

(Total number of times anyone visited a 

website) 

Weekly Newsletter sent to 33,000 

(Every Tuesday) 

Rate per Month   £ 750 

Page Impressions per Month  21,983,377 

(Total number of pages viewed per month) 

Music Magazine Analysis three and four.

(Double page spread analysishttp://www.flickr.com/photos/49556281@N02/4551625399/)

NME music magazine falls in to the category of teenagers to early twenties. Looking at the front cover of this magazine, the reader can infer that the main article or story is going to be about “Pete Doherty”, we know this because Pete Doherty is the main, central image and his name is the largest font which stands out on the front cover. There are several puffs surrounding the central image, stating that there are going to be information or stories about popular artists featured in this magazine for a specified genre. The puffs also suggest that there is a chance to “WIN VIP FESTIVAL TICKETS” inside, which makes the reader feel as if they have the chance to receive something in which they are interested in, as they are reading the magazine, which include their interests.

NME is aimed at late teenagers to early twenties, preferably males. The editor has successfully chosen an artist that they expect the audience to relate to. Pete Doherty has a reputation of being rebellious. Young males generally feel pressured to act “cool”, for example in front of their friends at school. This is why Pete Doherty has been chosen as he is always getting in to trouble with drugs, for example, as drugs are often experimented by young males. Some young males who like him, maybe aspire to be like him, and act in a similar manner.

The main image of Pete Doherty is quite plain as he is just looking straight in to the camera, and in to the audiences eyes with an “I’m not bothered” look. This connects with his behaviour, and reputation. By using a popular artist on the front cover of a magazine encourages the reader to either buy the magazine or continue reading the next one. The anchorage text is in line with the image of Pete Doherty. However, the text below of what the article is about which reads “I’ll say sorry to every single person from the depths of my heart” is ironic as his facial expressions in the photograph imply that he doesn’t really means what he says, as he looks as if he doesn’t care. Overall, the artist is looking directly at the reader, although he is topless, his pale skin contrasts against the dark background.

The masthead is short and in big, bold capital letters so it is easily identified. The editor has cleverly made the long name of “New Musical Express” in to a shortened title so the name doesn’t have to disappear behind the main image of the artists head so it is clearly seen. It is also red which contrasts against the dark background.  

Music Magazine Analysis two.

Music Magazine Analysis one.

            

Mood board

To get a general idea of what magazines from different genre's look like I created a collage of magazine front covers, as to be totally honest, I have never fully read a music magazine before. At this stage I am not one hundred percent sure on what genre I would like to produce my magazine for and what specific target audience. However, looking at my mood board makes me think of different ideas of what I could do and hopefully doing some front cover magazine analysis will help me discover what I would like to do.