What generic conventions are there in NME?

  • The barcode tends to be placed at the bottom right corner
  • The Title is always at the top of page
  • The format is always really identical ie the central image and title etc.
  • Text is always over the central image however rarely on the models face

How is audience loyalty maintained? The NME magazine always provides ‘regulars’ and ‘features’ in the contents page which keeps customers loyal to NME as they feel they can easily connect with the magazine and feel comfortable reading it. Another way the loyalty is maintained is through the magazines target market. NME is not directed to satisfy all customers which is what makes them so different and special in some readers minds. For example a Christmas Edition of NME was in a way mocking Christmas by having vicious and aggressive  elves as well as Santa Claus On fire in the back ground which emphasises is difference with a typical Christmas Edition magazine.

NME does not price their magazine too high and NME always have a habit of having unusual and strange central biggest images. A perfect example would be the magazine displayed. It’s not a normal and typical person would expect on a magazine due to no Good looking models. This would keep particular audiences loyal.

What stereotypes are maintained/reinforced? A stereotype is a typical or mass-produced image repeated so many times, that it seems to have established a pattern. NME is not very stereotypical as of the models they use for there new issues. A normal magazine would be stereotypical and normally show young, good-looking female or men models. However NME is different and show all variety of ages.

Even though the NME image shown above, there is no sexual attraction that would be displayed as it says ‘Kiss My Ass’ which shows attitude. This also reflects to NME being stereotypical or not as normally females models on magazine pages tend to be looking sexual and for the male audience. However, NME does not see women portrayed as a ‘sex figure’ as nudity is not normally used unless it is mocking or creating a humorous atmosphere.

I will be using this to when designing my magazine. My magazine is a Asian magazine so showing a lot of nudity and seeing females as a ‘sex figure’ would most likely offend a lot of the Asian culture. So I decided to minus the nudity so I could reach a more range of audiences i.e. mature people etc.

Music Magazine Questionnaire And Results

The genre I am basing my music magazine on is a Asian based genre which is not too Desi and can say to the Asian community of Britain. It is also designed to suit different audiences from young teenagers to the mature Asians. I also believe that there is a gap in the market for this type of magazine so believe it should be a great success.

In order to make the most out of my research, I decided to use the internet to look at some existing music magazines .

1st Magazine – The magazines use similar conventions such as the central main image covers the title of the magazine. This is to connote importance as well as what the readers to see first as they may try to identify the magazine through its title.

The magazines style is simple and easy to understand and read.

In both magazines, the central image has text on top of it telling readers the ‘models’ names. They both offer viewers a chance to ‘Win’ and both have texts at the bottom of the page.  The magazines are actually quite similar. This has helped me to create my magazine as now I know the basics of a music magazine and will use them in my production. For example the model overlapping the title as well as simplicity and the text displaying without causing readers to find it difficult.

WhSmith Research

I went to my local shop and checked how the Asian magazines are displayed and how they are targeting their audience. WHSmith decided to create a section that is particularly  for Asian magazines. Special deals are also displayed to attract customers. The conventions are actually quite easy to read and do not need too much information. the fonts are also simple and similar which is what i have taken into account for when creating my magazine.

Questionaire Results:

How Old Are you? The majority of the people who filled out my questionnaire were between the age of 18 – 21 years of age. however it was a close distance between the ages as there was more 18 – 21 years of age by 1 count. This shows that there is a lot of different age groups.  

What type of music do you prefer?

The results showed a positive response to my genre as the majority of people who took this questionnaire preferred As there was one more overall vote for the Asian group

How much are you willing to spend on your music magazine?

=The results on my right show that the majority of people would prefer to pay a most of 3.00 for there magazine. I will take this into account for when choosing my price for my magazine.

What is your genre?

The results shown are not too towards one gender meaning my magazine will have to satisfy both genders.

Are You Environmentally Friendly?

This question is important to me as it is important to know whether the production of my magazine should be produced with recycled paper. Therefore I decided to use this and gather the following information. Nearly 3/4 of the people who answered the questionnaire were not fussed with being environmentally friendly. This means that I will not have to worry about being environmentally friendly too much.

What type of films suit you best?

The results were that ‘Comedy’ and ‘Horror’ were the main chosen ones which has helped me a lot for when producing my magazine. This is that I know now I should include jokes and make my magazine not too serious. The other main option chosen was ‘Other’ which wouldn’t be much use to me.

Would you like your magazine to contain vouchers and gifts?

The majority said that yes they would like a gift in their magazine therefore i have decided to include one within my magazine to satisfy the audience so it will sell.

What would you like to see on a music magazine front cover?

 This question was useful however the results meant that I must pretty much include all the options were provided  as each category has the same number of votes. I am going to be including a variety of pictures, advertisements, events, prices and website details and a color scheme in my music magazine.

I will be using these results to create my music magazine as I now have more knowledge about what the audience ant so I can easily satisfy and please viewers.