1. Question 3.
“What kind of media
institution might
distribute your media
“
products and why?

2. I have compared my magazine to
NME throughout most of this
analysis to show the
similarities and differences
between the two magazines in
relation to
language, institution, ideolog
y and audience.
LIIAR ANALYSIS
COMPARISON OF NME MAGAZINE
AND MY MAGAZINE, UNPLUGGED

3. Front Cover LIIAR Analysis
Language: The colours I have used throughout my magazine are
red, blue/purple, and black and white. I have used these colours not only
because they complement each other, but they are bright, bold colours that
stand out to the audience. The main image on the cover is a medium close up of
„Shan‟. This is conventional of a magazine front cover. Shan is looking directly
at the camera, making eye contact with the audience, drawing them in and
connecting with them, in an attempt to make them buy the magazine. On the
contents page, the images I have used are all looking directly at the
camera, again, trying to draw the audience in, almost saying “come and read
our article”. The image used on the double page spread is a mid-shot of Shan.
This is conventional of a double page spread, usually either a mid-shot or a
long-shot is used. She is looking directly at the audience again, also in an
attempt to draw the audience in, making them want to read the article. The
masthead on the cover spreads across the whole of the page. It is very large and
eye catching. Since the magazine is called Unplugged, I used a font that
represents the prongs of a plug. This would make it an easily recognisable
masthead and something that would stand out on a magazine rack in a shop.
The magazine is informal so would attract an adolescent audience rather than
an older audience. This is because an older audience would be more interested
in the content of the magazine rather than what it looks like. My magazine has
a lot of conventional elements such as a barcode, masthead, date, price, strap
lines, a puff, main image and features down the left hand side (the left third). A
lot of the text is in capital letters. This adds a sense of urgency and makes it
noticeable and easy to read from far away, grabbing the attention of the
audience. The cover is quite simple, only the most important things in the
magazine are featured on the cover. This adds a sense of mystery and will make
the audience want to buy the magazine so they can find out more about what‟s
inside.

4. Contents LIIAR Analysis
Language: There is a large masthead at the
top of the contents page, spreading across the
page, so that readers can clearly see that this
page is the contents page. The features are
down the left hand side of the page and each
feature has a page number so that readers
can easily navigate themselves around the
magazine.. The plug from the cover is
continued onto the contents page so that
readers know what page the details of the
competition is on. There is a subscription part
on the contents so that readers who
constantly buy every issue of the magazine
have an easier way to buy it, that way the
magazine comes to them. It also offers a
cheaper way to buy the magazine. All images
on the contents page have artists looking
directly at the readers, to draw the audience
in, and make them read the articles. The date
and issue number is also on the contents
page so that readers know if the issue they
are reading is the most up to date one.

5. Double Page Spread LIIAR Analysis
Language: On the double page
spread, there is a large image of
Shan, the featured artist, covering
almost the entire left hand side of
the page. It stands out and is the
most dominant part of the
page, letting you know exactly who
the article will be about. It is eye
catching and is useful because if a
reader is flicking through the
magazine, they don‟t need to read
the whole article to find out who
the article is about, the picture lets
them know who it‟s about. The
colours from the cover of the
magazine is continued on the
double page spread to create
continuity.

6. ‘NME is currently published by IPC Media, the UK’s leading
publisher of consumer magazines and websites. Over 26 million
adults read an IPC Media magazine and over 350 million copies
are sold each year.’ (http://alevelmediastudies09-11.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/magazine-
research.html)
Because IPC media is such a huge and global company, they
publish many magazines, everything from Look magazine to
Nuts. They appeal to a huge target audience, because they own
almost every genre of magazine. NME also own their own awards
show, sponsored by Shock Waves hair gel. There is also a NME
music channel, an NME radio station and an NME website. This
proves how huge the NME institution is.
I think my magazine would be published by a similar
institution as NME because I have based my magazine
on NME. IPC also publishes a lot of other types of
magazines, everything from music magazine to fashion
magazines so almost every genre of magazine could be
published by them. They are also a huge, global
company so magazine that a published by them would
be published on a huge scale and they would be sold
world wide. NME are not just a magazine either, they
are a brand. There is a NME music channel, NME radio
station, NME website, NME awards show, that is
sponsored by Shock Waves hair gel, among other
things. It is a huge institution and I would like my
magazine to be part of a huge institution too, so that

7. NME promotes new indie music which is produced by mostly white male guitar
bands or solo artists. It tries to be one step ahead of mainstream music by
featuring artists that are yet to be considered commercially successful. NME often
features artists whose lifestyle differ from the norm, who are known and loved for
their musical talent and rebellious nature despite also being known for things such
as drug abuse. NME’s audience is 74% male and 26% female and just under half of
readers are students. This means the magazine must appeal to this
audience, featuring artists they will like, doing articles and interviews about topics
they are interested in. NME has a rebellious feel. They don’t like to be mainstream
which is why they swear a lot in the magazine and they feature new, almost
unknown bands rather than mainstream artists that make popular chart music.
However, NME do also feature iconic bands/artists such as the Beatles and Oasis
for obvious reasons. Although NME don’t like to be mainstream, they have also
made themselves more commercially aware by having a well know TV channel, an
awards ceremony, a radio station and it associates itself with Shockwave hair gel.
It’s made itself into a brand that most people know.
I think my magazine would have a similar ideology as NME because I
have based my magazine on NME. My magazine, Unplugged, would be
a more 50% female and 50% male audience so that it appeals to
everyone. It also has a cheap price so that it is affordable and anyone
can buy it. My magazine has a rebellious feel to it which is why I have
used the colours black and red a lot. It also features some swearing in
some of the articles and, in some of the articles, it talks about some
taboo subjects. Unplugged would feature mostly indie artists with
some mainstream artists occasionally and some that are indie but
borderline mainstream. As my magazine is called Unplugged it would
feature artists that do a lot of acoustic sets and that are very open
about things in their lives, they don’t hide behind anything, they are
unplugged. Unplugged is all about the music and the artists and bands
behind the music. It tries to deliver the stories that readers want to
read, information that the readers want to know about the artists. My
magazine promotes the artists and believes in the artists that it
features in the magazine.

8. NME is a indie/rock magazine and so appeals to people who like indie/rock
music. The target audience is teenagers aged between 16-24. This is because
these are the type of people who are more likely to go to gigs and festivals so
they want to read up on the bands or artists that they are going to see.
Also, that age range are more likely to recognise the artist/bands featured in
the magazine than older people. Since a lot of the readers are young, student
types, and the magazine is a weekly magazine, the price would have to be
quite low for the target audience to be able to afford it
because, stereotypically, the readers may not have jobs or may just have
minimum wage jobs and NME must be aware of this when deciding the price
for the magazine.
I think my magazine would appeal to a similar audience as
NME as they are similar magazines. It features artists of a
similar musical genre and targets an audience of a similar
age. This audience is likely to go to gigs and festivals and the
artists featured will play gigs and festivals. The majority of
the audience would be students, and may stereotypically not
have a job, and so would not be able to afford an expensive
magazine which is why mine only costs £2 and is a monthly
magazine so the readers are very likely to be able to afford it.
I had to consider this when creating my magazine. I chose to
target this audience because I wanted to appeal to an
audience similar to myself and similar to the type of people
who read NME. I thought it may be easier to appeal to this
audience as all I’d have to do is feature things in my
magazine that I would personally read myself and feature
things that appeal to me such as the competition to win gig
tickets and articles on bands that I like.