NME front cover

For my music magazine which I will eventually make, I have chosen a indie rock/pop genre which is based on my two research magazines. indie rock is independant and alternative music which may also move onto major labels.

Many music mags with this genre are very popular such as NME and Kerrang, so these are the magazines I am going to use for my research as they both follow out the typical conventions of indie music magazines.

The name NME stands for "new musical express" which tells us that the magazine is fast and gives us lots of new infomation about popular and new music. This name comes from the 50's when it first started and they have kept the title but modernised it. They do this because if they still called it that, it would be far too long and so they have named it in the abbreviation form "NME" as it is a short and catchy title. It is a polysemic sign with other meanings attatched to it, such as when you read it, it sounds like the word enemy. This could signify that when you read the magazine you are tough and are other peoples enemy's which is anchored by the red colour. The colour also helps it establish it's brand. The use of font is quite modern which enhances the message of modern music. All the writing is bold, even if it's not a heading, this forces it to stand out as it becomes more in your face. The sans serif font style also adds to the modern theme and improves the legibility.

Although "Glasvegas" is the main heading on the cover, there are also other bands mentioned to ensure the reader will be interested in one of them. A quote is used from the Strokes which makes the reader want to read on. An unanswered question is asked about the band Oasis, this makes you want to know the answer and you can find out quickly as it gives you the page number.

They use the colour red throughout the page to enhance the title so that it can establish its own brand. The colours used are quite bright and stand out and there is alot of black, the connotations of this could be "cool", darkness and also indie. The band Glasvegas wear black clothes with dark hair and NME have continued the colour on other parts if the page. Their expressions are sinsere and the lead singer wears sunglasses which appears quite threatening.

The use of language is informal and assumes knowlege about indie music by using different band's names. Alliteration and punctuation is used to make the text stand out to the reader.

By the barcoad there are prices form other nationalities, so the magazine is sold in the United States, Canada and Europe. I have looked on ipcmedia.com, who are the publishers for NME, and i have downloaded an audience reader profile. This tells me what the readers of this magazine are like, including quantative and qualitative data. Such as 69% of readers are male, their average age is 24 and 65% are in the ABC1 catagory.