NME magazine targets 13 to middle-aged rock and indie music fans. It has seen significant declines in print circulation since 2008, with sales falling over 17% in 2012. However, NME earns revenue through its popular website with 1.4 million weekly users, digital editions, and live music events. Q Magazine also covers rock, indie, and mainstream pop/R&B artists. It similarly saw nearly 20% declines in print circulation in 2012. Both magazines use simple red and white masthead designs and feature band photographs on the cover. They face competition from each other as well as magazines like Kerrang and Mojo for covering similar artists.

1. RESEARCH IN TO
MUSIC MAGAZINES

2. NME

3. NME
Audience
Suited to ages between 13 and middle aged and both genders, for people who are fans of music with guitars and new rock/indie
music
Genre
Predominantly features rock and indie bands but often features more ‘pop-like’ artists.
Sales figures
NME has seen a significant fall in the sales of their magazines in recent years with 2012’s sales figures being more
than halved since 2008. According to today's magazine Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures, the NME
reported a year-on-year circulation fall of 17.6% to record an average circulation of 23,924 - a continuation of a
longstanding decline at the title. In the UK in 2012, NME sold fewer magazines than any other rock music title,
this could be because they have a detailed website that entails all of the information in the magazine. However,
NME are succeeding from advertising revenue both on their website and in the magazines The NME website gets
1.4m users per week, while the digital edition of the magazine sells 1,307 copies a week, and thousands of people attend
NME live events and concert tours, so NME seem to be in no danger financially despite the fact that their magazine sales
have plummeted
Design
NME magazine features the easily recognisable white on red masthead which reads ‘NME’ standing for ‘New Musical
Express’ This title stands out on the magazine shelves as it uses a big and bold title in a single, simple sans serif
font. NME’s design has always been simplistic which is good because it captures the readers attention. The front
cover image always features a band or a musician who will be the main article in the magazine.
Competitors
NME is a niche magazine as it only features artists from a certain genre, this gives it a unique selling point, however, other
magazines such as ‘kerrang’ ‘Mojo’ and ‘Q’ magazines feature artists that NME magazine would potentially also feature
meaning that their competition is relatively fierce.

4. Q MAGAZINE

5. Q MAGAZINE
Audience
Similar to that of ‘NME’ although it features a diverse amount of artists, from Dave Grohl to Robbie Williams to Jay Z,
this gives it a large audience because they tend to feature more mainstream bands on their front covers.
Genre
Predominantly features rock and indie artists although often features well known pop and R&B artists.
Sales figures
Bauer’s Q fell nearly 20% on the year to an average circulation of 64,596. Q magazine are also suffering from the
sales of physical magazines due to the internet and major competitor ‘Mojo’
Design
Q follows the same colour scheme as ‘NME’ in their masthead/logo of white and red, the single letter masthead looks
premium yet simple and is easily recognisable. It never features more than 4 colours or fonts however there is
often a large amount of text on the front cover. The image always features a band or musician
Competitors
Q magazine features a large range of artists which gives it a unique selling point, however it has fierce competition
with ‘Mojo’ who is the leader in Q’s market, competition also includes ‘NME’ and ‘Kerrang’

6. CIRCULATION FIGURES
This table shows the
circulation
Figures of music
magazines in
Recent years. Sales have
fallen
Due to the internet, today,
people can access all the
information in these
magazines via the internet
causing sales in physical
magazines to fall, as you
can see none of the
magazines have received
and increase in sales and
‘Q’ and ‘New Musical