Research - NME

The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition. The magazine's commercial heyday was during the 1970s when it became the best-selling British music magazine. During the period 1972 to 1976 it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism, then became closely associated with punk rock through the writing of Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME

This issue of NME looks more like a tabloid than the other music magazines I have looked at. Rolling Stone and MOJO both had much less cover-lines and puffs on their covers. NME has many cover-lines, puffs and pictures other than the cover star. The cover photo is also very different from Rolling Stone and MOJO who both used a medium close up photo with a plain background, however NME has used a picture of Lily Allen with her outside. This relates to the theme of the issue which is about festivals. This again makes NME look more like a tabloid which often use candid photos of celebrities, rather than photos from a professional photo-shoot. The puff is used a lure, which makes the reader think they have a chance of winning something and that it was worth paying the money for the magazine. NME also uses the masthead across the top which advertises another feature of the issue. Many Music magazines regularly feature lists/guides, 10 ten artists of 2009, 50 best albums ever, festival guide etc. Again with NME we can see lots of use of the colour red, which is meant to be eye catching and make it stand out, however when every magazine on the shelf is using red and orange it doesn't really work as well as it should.