1) How does the choice of band featured in the article suggest who the target audience will be?
One of the double page spreads in NME magazine is on ‘Empire Of The Sun’. This new band has just released their debut single and their genre is fantasy pop. The fact that this band is still obscure suggests that the magazine tends to focus more on these kinds of artists rather than more popular ones. This could mean that the target audience is one very interested in music rather than simple celebrity gossip. The target audience is also a young one, from around 12 to 25, because this band’s genre is very contemporary and modern, and therefore youthful. The magazine is not meant for older audiences because the type of music it focuses on is not suited to them like classical music would be.
The second double page spread is on the ‘White Lies’. This band is also quite obscure and its genre is ‘morbid’-rock. The fact that this genre is so different from the previous band’s shows that the magazine is aimed at people with an interest in varied genres and not one specific one, like Kerrang. This genre of music also appeals to young audience.
2) What type of language is used in the article? Give examples of words or phrases which are specific to the style of the magazine +
6) What tone is the magazine using when addressing the reader (as a close friend, a member of an 'in' crowd or an informed intelligent fan?) - provide evidence
The form of address used in the article for ‘Empire of the Sun’ is very varied. It starts off with a fantastical narrative: “Once upon a time in faraway place in the East…”. This language is slightly mystical, like the band. The form of address then changes from direct, when the writer is speaking directly to the audience: “If you’ve seen…” to indirect, when the language is more factual and informative. I find that this variety makes the read more interesting. Generally though, the type of words and language used is colloquial, especially when quoting, for example “I heard prog rock referred to as fart in a jar recently”. This type of language is specific to the magazine, which is never afraid of offending anyone and is not very serious- you will often find slang and swear words in the articles featured.
The article on the ‘White Lies’ double page spread uses mostly an indirect form of address. Being in the same magazine as the ‘Empire of the Sun’ spread the language used is very similar- it is not to serious and makes some jokes- “a fruity bass voice that a) shouldn’t really belong to a 20-year old and b)…” but it is also factual and informative. It uses quotes from the band to make the tone of the article more conversational and to give the reader a portrayal of the band, because this, along with details on the artist/s is the purpose of the double page spreads in the ‘New Noise’ section of NME.
Both articles use the same tone- the language they use is friendly as the magazine is not afraid of offending anyone. This friendly tone is created by not using too much formal language and making the language quite conversational and at times direct “When you think of White Lies…” This tone makes the mood less serious, which it needs to be because NME is a music magazine for young adults who will not want the article to be too formal. The tone also makes the writer seem like an informed fan because the articles show the artists in a positive light and also give a lot of information on them. “The band are getting 15,000-plus MySpace hits a day and are currently living the dream”.
3) How is colour used?
For the ‘Empire of the Sun’ article, the image is both a photograph and an illustration. This makes the image look more cartoon-like, and the bright colours and extravagant costumes add a feeling of fantasy to the page. This was all done to create the band’s theme, which is fantasy pop, on the page. The illustration in the background of the image is of wildlife in a reddish landscape. This is to make the picture relate to the band’s nationality which is Australia.
Other than in the main image, colour is also used in other areas such as for the slug and the drop cap. The shapes and colours are the same- they all use squares and pink, purple and black. By doing this the magazine is creating a theme colour for that page and that section of the magazine, which is ‘New Noise’. This is because the same colours and shapes are used in all the other articles of the same subject, such as the ‘White Lies’ article.
The ‘White Lies’ article does not use much other colour on the spread. The colours in the main image are very dull, quite dark and the band is dressed in black. This gloomy look is used to make the spread relevant to the band as their genre is morbid rock, quite a dark kind of music.
4) What style of text is used? Is it similar to any other pages? What does it say about the image of the magazine and the audience?
The style of text used in both the double page spreads is the same as the one used in all the other pages under the ‘New Noise’ section. Everything, including the slug, title and text is in exactly the same font as in all the other spreads. This makes the magazine easier to read as articles under the same subject are grouped in this way and are easily recognisable. However, it does not give away the genre of music of the artist featured and does not contribute to the mood of the spread. The reader has to rely on colour and images for this. Also making the spread easier to read is the serif font used for the text and the sans-serif font used for the title. This is the typical convention for a magazine as it is the clearest font layout to use. Sans-serif is also used on the pull quote which is in a larger font than the rest of the text. This font is used because it is more eye-catching on large text, and the pull quote is meant to attract the attention of the reader.
5) How is the double page spread laid out? RULE OF THIRDS How much of the pages are taken up by images and how much by text? How does this reflect the audience? What do they value?
For both double page spreads, the picture takes up a whole page and part of the second page. The large image makes the spread more appealing and eye-catching. This shows that the audience is very interested in the image of the band and of the magazine. They want to know how they dress, perhaps what objects / instruments they use / like and the way they portray themselves. Their genre, or the mood of their music, can usually be easily determined just by looking at the image (for example, for ‘Empire of the Sun’ it is quite clear that their music is some kind of colourful / fantastical pop because of all the colour, eccentric clothing and illustrations) which means that this is something the readers care about knowing. This could mean that the target audience is quite superficial- the text is in very small font so the reader will mostly judge whether or not they want to read the article by the image on the spread. The pages are very structured and look neat and attractive, meaning that they do not confuse or repel the reader.
For the ‘White Lies’ photo, the rule of thirds is used very clearly. Since the band is made up of three people they all fit into one third and are kept in the centre of the page. This makes them look quite powerful and interesting and puts the focus on the band members rather than anything else that might appear in the photo. The person in the centre takes up the most space and is more in the foreground, showing that he is the leader of the band. The lead of ‘Empire of the Sun’ is also more in the foreground. This technique is used a lot as it makes the status of each band member more obvious and makes everything clearer to the reader. For ‘Empire of the Sun’’s image, the rule of thirds is also used to make the photo more interesting, but since there are only two members of this band, both the men’s faces are put exactly on the two crosses on the grid. This makes their faces, which are full of expression, the main focus of the picture.
Both spreads have quite an unconventional layout- the picture is quite a lot bigger than usual and there is usually some text wrapping, while here the article and the image are clearly separated. By going against conventions NME is making its pages more interesting, and this could show that the audience likes originality and new ideas. However, eye flow is still created on both spreads. The ‘Empire of the Sun’ spread creates a C-line, meaning that when you look at the spread the eye tends to move from the top right corner of the right page to the centre of the left page and finally to the exit in the bottom right corner of the right page. The ‘White Lies’ also creates a C-line from the slug on the right page to the faces on the left page to the exit point on the right page. By creating C-lines, the magazine is facilitating eye-flow on the pages, making reading easier. If the pages were too busy and unstructured the reader might be less inclined to read the spread because it was too confusing.
7) How is the artist/band presented to the audience through the images? You may wish to carry out a textual analysis.
On the ‘Empire of the Sun’ spread the image presents the band as very out of the ordinary. This is because of the clothes they are wearing, the colours and the illustration. The magazine’s aim is to portray the band in their unique style so that the reader has a clear image of the band’s values and genre. For this reason the image of ‘Empire of the Sun’ is very colourful, like their fantastical pop genre, and their eccentric clothes reflect their eccentric music. The illustration and unusual props (a photo frame guitar) add to the sense of unrealism surrounding the band.
The ‘White Lies’ are presented in a very different way from ‘Empire of the Sun’ because their genres are very different from each other. The ‘White Lies’’s genre is morbid rock, quite a dark type of rock. For this reason the image on their spread is very dark and the band members are all wearing black in contrast to the bright multicoloured clothes of ‘Empire of the Sun’. These gloomy colours, along with people in the image’s serious expression and pose, present the ‘White Lies’’s genre to the audience very well.
The different genres presented in NME will attract a variety of different audiences with different tastes in music / values which is likely to increase the magazine’s readership.
8) How does the style of the article match the style of the front cover?
Both spreads only vaguely match the style of the front cover. The similarities are that the titles on both pages seem to be almost exactly the same font of the masthead ‘NME’, and the serif font used for the banner is similar to the one used in the article. Other than this there are no more similarities- the front page’s layout is very busy and loose while the spreads are structured and neat and the house colours used on the front cover are not used on the spreads.
9) Does the article demand any prior knowledge? Give examples.
These two particular articles do not require any prior knowledge because their purpose is to inform the reader on the bands. The bands are in the section ‘New Noise’, which means that they are new and therefore not many people know about them. The article is there inform the reader, so the reader does not need to know anything about the artists beforehand – “If you’ve seen Empire of the Sun’s video you might have an idea of what’s going on; if you haven’t, maybe we should explain.”
One of the double page spreads in NME magazine is on ‘Empire Of The Sun’. This new band has just released their debut single and their genre is fantasy pop. The fact that this band is still obscure suggests that the magazine tends to focus more on these kinds of artists rather than more popular ones. This could mean that the target audience is one very interested in music rather than simple celebrity gossip. The target audience is also a young one, from around 12 to 25, because this band’s genre is very contemporary and modern, and therefore youthful. The magazine is not meant for older audiences because the type of music it focuses on is not suited to them like classical music would be.
The second double page spread is on the ‘White Lies’. This band is also quite obscure and its genre is ‘morbid’-rock. The fact that this genre is so different from the previous band’s shows that the magazine is aimed at people with an interest in varied genres and not one specific one, like Kerrang. This genre of music also appeals to young audience.
2) What type of language is used in the article? Give examples of words or phrases which are specific to the style of the magazine +
6) What tone is the magazine using when addressing the reader (as a close friend, a member of an 'in' crowd or an informed intelligent fan?) - provide evidence
The form of address used in the article for ‘Empire of the Sun’ is very varied. It starts off with a fantastical narrative: “Once upon a time in faraway place in the East…”. This language is slightly mystical, like the band. The form of address then changes from direct, when the writer is speaking directly to the audience: “If you’ve seen…” to indirect, when the language is more factual and informative. I find that this variety makes the read more interesting. Generally though, the type of words and language used is colloquial, especially when quoting, for example “I heard prog rock referred to as fart in a jar recently”. This type of language is specific to the magazine, which is never afraid of offending anyone and is not very serious- you will often find slang and swear words in the articles featured.
The article on the ‘White Lies’ double page spread uses mostly an indirect form of address. Being in the same magazine as the ‘Empire of the Sun’ spread the language used is very similar- it is not to serious and makes some jokes- “a fruity bass voice that a) shouldn’t really belong to a 20-year old and b)…” but it is also factual and informative. It uses quotes from the band to make the tone of the article more conversational and to give the reader a portrayal of the band, because this, along with details on the artist/s is the purpose of the double page spreads in the ‘New Noise’ section of NME.
Both articles use the same tone- the language they use is friendly as the magazine is not afraid of offending anyone. This friendly tone is created by not using too much formal language and making the language quite conversational and at times direct “When you think of White Lies…” This tone makes the mood less serious, which it needs to be because NME is a music magazine for young adults who will not want the article to be too formal. The tone also makes the writer seem like an informed fan because the articles show the artists in a positive light and also give a lot of information on them. “The band are getting 15,000-plus MySpace hits a day and are currently living the dream”.
3) How is colour used?
For the ‘Empire of the Sun’ article, the image is both a photograph and an illustration. This makes the image look more cartoon-like, and the bright colours and extravagant costumes add a feeling of fantasy to the page. This was all done to create the band’s theme, which is fantasy pop, on the page. The illustration in the background of the image is of wildlife in a reddish landscape. This is to make the picture relate to the band’s nationality which is Australia.
Other than in the main image, colour is also used in other areas such as for the slug and the drop cap. The shapes and colours are the same- they all use squares and pink, purple and black. By doing this the magazine is creating a theme colour for that page and that section of the magazine, which is ‘New Noise’. This is because the same colours and shapes are used in all the other articles of the same subject, such as the ‘White Lies’ article.
The ‘White Lies’ article does not use much other colour on the spread. The colours in the main image are very dull, quite dark and the band is dressed in black. This gloomy look is used to make the spread relevant to the band as their genre is morbid rock, quite a dark kind of music.
4) What style of text is used? Is it similar to any other pages? What does it say about the image of the magazine and the audience?
The style of text used in both the double page spreads is the same as the one used in all the other pages under the ‘New Noise’ section. Everything, including the slug, title and text is in exactly the same font as in all the other spreads. This makes the magazine easier to read as articles under the same subject are grouped in this way and are easily recognisable. However, it does not give away the genre of music of the artist featured and does not contribute to the mood of the spread. The reader has to rely on colour and images for this. Also making the spread easier to read is the serif font used for the text and the sans-serif font used for the title. This is the typical convention for a magazine as it is the clearest font layout to use. Sans-serif is also used on the pull quote which is in a larger font than the rest of the text. This font is used because it is more eye-catching on large text, and the pull quote is meant to attract the attention of the reader.
5) How is the double page spread laid out? RULE OF THIRDS How much of the pages are taken up by images and how much by text? How does this reflect the audience? What do they value?
For both double page spreads, the picture takes up a whole page and part of the second page. The large image makes the spread more appealing and eye-catching. This shows that the audience is very interested in the image of the band and of the magazine. They want to know how they dress, perhaps what objects / instruments they use / like and the way they portray themselves. Their genre, or the mood of their music, can usually be easily determined just by looking at the image (for example, for ‘Empire of the Sun’ it is quite clear that their music is some kind of colourful / fantastical pop because of all the colour, eccentric clothing and illustrations) which means that this is something the readers care about knowing. This could mean that the target audience is quite superficial- the text is in very small font so the reader will mostly judge whether or not they want to read the article by the image on the spread. The pages are very structured and look neat and attractive, meaning that they do not confuse or repel the reader.
For the ‘White Lies’ photo, the rule of thirds is used very clearly. Since the band is made up of three people they all fit into one third and are kept in the centre of the page. This makes them look quite powerful and interesting and puts the focus on the band members rather than anything else that might appear in the photo. The person in the centre takes up the most space and is more in the foreground, showing that he is the leader of the band. The lead of ‘Empire of the Sun’ is also more in the foreground. This technique is used a lot as it makes the status of each band member more obvious and makes everything clearer to the reader. For ‘Empire of the Sun’’s image, the rule of thirds is also used to make the photo more interesting, but since there are only two members of this band, both the men’s faces are put exactly on the two crosses on the grid. This makes their faces, which are full of expression, the main focus of the picture.
Both spreads have quite an unconventional layout- the picture is quite a lot bigger than usual and there is usually some text wrapping, while here the article and the image are clearly separated. By going against conventions NME is making its pages more interesting, and this could show that the audience likes originality and new ideas. However, eye flow is still created on both spreads. The ‘Empire of the Sun’ spread creates a C-line, meaning that when you look at the spread the eye tends to move from the top right corner of the right page to the centre of the left page and finally to the exit in the bottom right corner of the right page. The ‘White Lies’ also creates a C-line from the slug on the right page to the faces on the left page to the exit point on the right page. By creating C-lines, the magazine is facilitating eye-flow on the pages, making reading easier. If the pages were too busy and unstructured the reader might be less inclined to read the spread because it was too confusing.
7) How is the artist/band presented to the audience through the images? You may wish to carry out a textual analysis.
On the ‘Empire of the Sun’ spread the image presents the band as very out of the ordinary. This is because of the clothes they are wearing, the colours and the illustration. The magazine’s aim is to portray the band in their unique style so that the reader has a clear image of the band’s values and genre. For this reason the image of ‘Empire of the Sun’ is very colourful, like their fantastical pop genre, and their eccentric clothes reflect their eccentric music. The illustration and unusual props (a photo frame guitar) add to the sense of unrealism surrounding the band.
The ‘White Lies’ are presented in a very different way from ‘Empire of the Sun’ because their genres are very different from each other. The ‘White Lies’’s genre is morbid rock, quite a dark type of rock. For this reason the image on their spread is very dark and the band members are all wearing black in contrast to the bright multicoloured clothes of ‘Empire of the Sun’. These gloomy colours, along with people in the image’s serious expression and pose, present the ‘White Lies’’s genre to the audience very well.
The different genres presented in NME will attract a variety of different audiences with different tastes in music / values which is likely to increase the magazine’s readership.
8) How does the style of the article match the style of the front cover?
Both spreads only vaguely match the style of the front cover. The similarities are that the titles on both pages seem to be almost exactly the same font of the masthead ‘NME’, and the serif font used for the banner is similar to the one used in the article. Other than this there are no more similarities- the front page’s layout is very busy and loose while the spreads are structured and neat and the house colours used on the front cover are not used on the spreads.
9) Does the article demand any prior knowledge? Give examples.
These two particular articles do not require any prior knowledge because their purpose is to inform the reader on the bands. The bands are in the section ‘New Noise’, which means that they are new and therefore not many people know about them. The article is there inform the reader, so the reader does not need to know anything about the artists beforehand – “If you’ve seen Empire of the Sun’s video you might have an idea of what’s going on; if you haven’t, maybe we should explain.”
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