2. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
History of the music magazine
The first music magazine was founded in 1894, the magazine was called Billboard
and was an international newsweekly magazine devoted to the music industry.
Music magazines became really popular in the 1950’s-1960’s when magazines such
as NME and Rolling Stones were founded.
Biggest music magazine publishers
Although there are many music magazines in the world there are a few that are
popular in numerous countries, these are the 5 biggest music magazines;
• Rolling stones-The definitive source of music information and popular culture
trends, one of the most popular magazines of all time in any genre.
• NME- The new music express popularly known by the initialism NME is a music
publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952.
• Smash hits-A pop music magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults
• KERRANG-a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music, one of the longest running
music magazines.
• Billboard-You will find award winning and in depth coverage of every aspect of the
music and entertainment business worldwide.

3. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
One of the most established music magazines in the world is the
‘new music express’ more commonly known as NME. Different
magazines use different colours, layouts and mastheads to help
audience recognise their magazine straight away. On this cover they
have chose to go for quite a simple background so that the reader
focuses on the picture.
They have used a single image instead of numerous smaller ones
and have kept the writing on the cover to a minimum. The designer
of the cover basically just has the main picture the masthead and a
large brightly coloured sell line that will stand out and catch the
readers attention.
the barcode is set at the bottom in a small white box so as it can be
seen, but doesn't take any attention away from the cover, this is the
convention of most magazines.
NME uses similar colours in every issue, numerous magazines use
the convention of keeping the colour the same in every issue. The
colour scheme used in this issue is grey in the background and red
in the front so as the red and grey contrasts and the red stands
out, also the colour scheme is matching the colours of the cover
girls clothes and make up.
On the majority of magazines the masthead or name of the
magazine stays the same font, not very often but sometimes
designers change the colour/position of the masthead but never the
font. In this issue the ‘NME’ is in the typical style of the magazine
but has been changed to a brighter red to match the colour scheme
and attract the readers attention. This cover appeals to their
audience by putting someone on the front they listen to and using
common conventions of that particular magazine.

4. MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH
Smash hits is another very popular music magazine, however it
is very different to the conventions and style of NME. This issue
is an accurate representation of ‘smash hits’ style and colour
schemes, the colours used on this cover are bright, cool and
will appeal to the demographic that this magazine has as its
audience. Although they do use a large main picture, this cover
also contains numerous other smaller pictures telling the
audience what they can expect inside. Instead of solely
concentrating on the cover girl this cover contains several sell
lines that attempt to tempt the reader into buying the
magazine.
Similarly to most magazines the barcode is discreetly placed in
the bottom corner, the designer has manipulated the image
organised the model so that her head is tilted to the side
looking straight into the camera. This will give the audience the
impression that the model is looking straight at them with a
sweet, cute emotion on her face.
A convention of many magazines is to have the masthead at
the top of the magazine in large letters, this issue doesn't brake
that convention and has also put the name of the magazine at
the top in large, bold letters. The designers of the magazine
have put the main sell line in this issue in quite small
letters, mainly because they think the picture is distracting
enough to catch the readers attention.
The audience of this magazine is young girls, so the designers
appeal to their audience by using bright, feminine colours and
putting features on the cover that will interest them and appeal
to their age range.

5. The use of the ‘NME’ logo in big bold red text gives it a centre
piece in the page. The gives the reader constant reminders of
the name of the magazine and the resource to research the
company on the internet or buy more NME merchandise. The
font, colours and house style are all the same type which gives
the magazine a bold, but effective way of presenting their
pieces. The layout is also very similar which gives the
magazine structure and the reader’s a clear understanding of
where to find what article or piece. The contents pages the
majority of the time in this magazine are simple and precise.
The images used on the contents page feature two big stars
making the magazine an even greater prospect as the
audience will feel more engaged and want to read the
magazine more with music bands like Oasis on the
contents, this will lure the reader into buying the magazine.
The audience targeted for this magazine is very clear and
obviously doesn’t relate to social groups who like bird
watching or race cars for example. It has specifically targeted
people who enjoy rock and indie music through the use of an
Oasis member and features on bands, such as, Arctic
Monkeys. Also the colours and fonts used on the contents
page aren't going to appeal to young children, they purposely
choose them colours. The basic magazine structure consists of
a ‘taster article’ on the contents page giving prospective
buyers an insight into the content on the magazine. The
pronounced use of ‘subscribe today’ is a sly way of persuading
and easily showing people how you can get the magazine on a
regular occasion. The sub-headings are clear and precise and
show you very easily where you can access that content in the
magazine. The band index gives the reader and precise
showing of what bands will be in the magazine. This may give
the readers more purpose to buy the magazine as maybe there
could be a feature on their favourite band. The layout on this
content page is the convention usually used in NME.

6. This magazine contents page is taken from the pop
magazine ‘Smash Hits’, similarly to the NME contents page
the contents of the magazine is set out in a confined
column and shows the reader clearly what to expect in this
issue. The contents page is set out in two columns, there is
a banner running across the bottom with details about
writers and photographers for the magazine. On the right
hand side of the page their are pictures of pop artists with
captions and a letter to the reader from the magazine
editor, the pictures are the main feature on the page. The
magazine has done this because the age range who read
this magazine would prefer pictures of their favorite pop
stars writing about music. The target audience for this
magazine is teenage girls this is apparent because the
main colour used on this page is pink, and we associate the
colour pink with femininity. Also we can tell the target
audience is young, teenage girls from the bands featured in
the magazine, ‘Mcfly’ and ‘Blue’ are bands that have a large
following of young girls so therefore putting them in the
magazine will persuade girls of a certain age range to buy it.
In contrast to NME’s contents page it doesn't have an
advertisement for subscription, suggesting the people who
buy ‘Smash Hits’ don’t have as much disposable income as
people buying NME. Also there is a considerable lot less
writing, added emphasis on the pictures and the captions
which are highlighted to attract the readers attention.

7. For this double page spread half of the page has been used for a picture. The picture
includes all the members of the band, however the lead singer is slightly further
forward highlighting his position in the band. The picture is set behind a quotation in
bold capital letters, the quote is very arrogant which will make people want to read on
and the font just emphasises this more. Another picture is set in the middle of the text
to break it up so that people don't get bored of reading because a lot of reading can
become dreary. The introduction from the interviewer at the top of the right hand side
is written in a different font so that it stands out and the reader can establish the
difference. The writer has picked out certain quotes from the interview that he thinks
would be appealing to the reader, these quotes has been highlighted in orange so they
stand out from the rest of the text. The colours used are a common convention in
NME, black white and then a bright colour to make certain things stand out is a style
this particular magazine use a lot. All of these factors contribute to producing the
magazine in a way that this particular magazines target audience will approve of.

8. The title for this double page spread is clear and gives out a very alarming but clear
message, as it would make the reader question how she is such a shy girl but can then
instantly turn to being wild in front of thousands of people, this would encourage
people to buy the magazine. The writing on the left hand side of the double page
spread appears to be in an interview format, and it is clear from the question to the
answer. I feel that having interviews within a magazine is key, as it gives an artists
perspective and input from their own, It also gives a personal input within the
magazine instead of the magazine continuing to constantly make their own stories. I
personally like this idea within a magazine and think more people would buy
magazines if they had this aspect. If a reader didn’t know who the artist was It isn’t
particularly clear, yes her name is on a subtitle at first glace it isn't obvious. The main
picture is very feminine and girly , the beautiful person on the front catches peoples
attention which will get them interested. This double page spread continues with the
conventional style the whole way through, and is exceptionally easy to recognize
because of the bright and bold colors within it. The picture is the main feature on the
page and there isn’t much writing, this appeals to the target audience and therefore
ensures the magazine will be bought.