NME

FRONT COVER

Language- The magazine's main Masthead is featured in the top left hand corner of the front cover and clearly states- 'NME'. Not only does this allow us to identify the magazine we are reading and are in fact about to buy, it makes it incredibly easy to maybe read in a magazine stack or under a pile of other magazines or items. When this magazine was being produced, the editor will have done this deliberately so that it was easily identifiable in shops and grabbed the readers attention over others whose title featured at the bottom or in the centre etc. NME stands for 'new musical express' and if you look just under the masthead, you can in fact see that this has been written on the cover, this will have also been done specifically on purpose to make the magazine more well-known and so that the readers new what it stood for when they purchased the product. The masthead is one of the most striking language features on the front cover, as it is in huge, bold, capital letters and is coloured in white. The immediately clashes with the background of the magazine as it is in fact dark blue. These two contrasting colours work very well together and you, the reader, have no trouble trying to read the writing. For example, if the writing was in black against the same dark blue background, it would most definitely not have the same effect, and the reader would be squinting and straining their eyes to attempt to read it.

The main sell-line is also extremely easy to read and you would be able to read what it says from a long way away. The main sell line reads: "40 years of Glastonbury/ The worlds greatest festival". This is located band in the middle, centre page of the front cover, immediately being one of the first things the audience will read. This is obviously because its the most important thing in the issue and even what the magazine focuses upon through the whole article. In a way, this centre sell-line not only promotes Glastonbury and raises awareness of it, it also gives the magazine a good name as being 'in with it' and 'in the know' of possibly the biggest British festival of the decade if not century. The producers know their target audience and use this event to their advantages and strengths. So, the centre staging of the sell-line, does in fact own the front cover and grabs interest from a range of viewers. Like the masthead, it is seen in white and also orange! These colours contrast so well against each other and stand out so effectively its hard for any passer by to not be drawn in by the bold colours. The orange, as well as the white stands out an incredible amount compared to the dark blue background. There is also a green pattern placed behind this main sell-line, sort of drawing in the readers eyes to read the sell-line, if the reader didn't notice before, the green pattern ensures  the public eye to be drawn in. Again, the green colour contrasts with the dark blue background, only adding yet more on the magazine as a whole.

There is one main photograph situated on the front cover as you can see above, it is in fact Glastonbury itself. I think this is used so that if anybody happens to not know what the festival is, they can associate it with that photo. As you can see, its not taken in a  studio and it's not taken as a professional studio shot. It looks as thought maybe someone from the festival in the crowd has taken it and sent it in, bringing across that naturalness and also 'what you see is what you get'. It also makes the reader feel as though they are there in the crowd, just another spectator among thousands of others, something in which i think works really effectively as it gives a real insight into the atmosphere and goings on at Glastonbury. It looks exciting and this promotes the festival. The image also looks like it was taken on an evening, also backing up that idea of excitement, as on the whole, youths like to be involved on a night time. The photograph is taken as a long shot, representing that idea of being in the crowd and to me, looks as though the camera has been placed on the floor or a lower surface as it would be if someone is holding it. I feel as though when i loom at the image, I'm looking up at the stage as though I'm sat down and this works really well, as again, it makes you feel as though you are there yourself, even though your not.  On top of, the fact it looks up to the stage, makes the stage look dominant and great- promoting the festival and making it look spectacular and magnificent. If the image was placed on the front cover by itself, and as above, the sell line wasn't placed in the centre of the page, on top of the image, the reader wouldn't have a clue what the image was of- however, the fact it states that it is 'Glastonbury' we, the reader can immediately put a name to it straight away and doesn't waste time wondering where or what it is, we just buy the magazine: It identifies the photo.

    All text and writing on the page, is either in orange or white; there is no other colour used at all. This shows continuity throughout the cover and suggests a more professional magazine as opposed to a magazine which uses multi-coloured text. This wouldn't look very good and would come across untidy- therefore, the two extremely contrasting colours look professional and worth reading.

On the cover, i noticed there are also  items we, the reader would expect to see ob the cover of any magazine- something which we, the audience has come to just expect and assume as the years have gone on. For example, the date of the magazine being published and the week it came out for sale is visible: in this instance it can be seen in the top left hand corner just above the main masthead ("26 June 2010"). Next to this, is also a price, another language feature we just expect to see- ("£2.30").  Thirdly, in the bottom right hand corner of the cover, is a barcode- of course how we buy the magazine.

Along the very top of the cover, there is a huge advertisement of Glastonbury- "Glastonbury Special". I think this was also placed there so it could been from a magazine stack. This way, without picking up the magazine to actually read, the audience could immediately see what the magazine was focused upon in that issue. Underneath this is the statement- "40th Anniversary Issue": this promotes that edition and makes it sound special so the audience will want to own a special edition, they will then buy it.

Down the right hand side are four separate images, all of different artists that are actually attending Glastonbury. The read will want to find out who else is going to be playing at the festival- therefore would then read or buy the magazine in order to find out more. I see this as a kind of a teaser to the audience as it only reveals certain acts and not all of them  on the other hand something in which i would think is very powerful and boosts up alot of their sales. To back this up, above this column, there is another box which says "Preview/ who will be the stars of Glasto 2010". This alone would have made the readers want to find out more and in fact find out who the stars of 2010 are, but instead, they then insert images of only a few acts- teasing the audience, making them then want to purchase and find out more.

Down the left hand side of the cover, the reader learns that in the magazine there will be photos of the "most historic glasto sets"- as to any fan this is interesting and will again, make them want to read it and look- therefore leading to them buying the magazine.

Institution- NME may be the name of the magazine, however the actual publisher and institution of the magazine is IPC Media. IPC Media is one of the three main publishing companies/institution of this time and is extremely successful. All together, IPC produces over 85 extremely successful magazine brand names! IPC focuses on three main target audience, women men and upmarket women.

( Information researched and extracted from: http://www.ipcmedia.com/about/)

Ideology- As this i a music magazine, i think it's pretty clear that their main belief is about music being the power behind everything.  This edition imparticular, is focused around Glastonbury, therefore i think the beliefs behind this is that Glastonbury and festivals in general are the way forward, whether its to present and express your own music to crowds of thousands, or whether its to attend and experience  and watch artists sharing their worlds with you.  I also thinks its about fun and enjoyment and enjoying time with your friends, family and meeting new people- all around the music industry.  Overall, i would say magazines want you to understand the importance of music and how to be successful is through a career in music- something in which is portrayed through this music magazine.

Audience-  Obviously, the audience of this magazine is music fans! However, when breaking down which music fans would read this magazine, i would have to say I imagine a much bigger proportion of younger people to older people would purchase and read this magazine- purely because, NME is all about new music and generalizes around youth; older people tend to stick to their music and not listen to new music. I do think that maybe a few older people would still read this if their children, younger relatives or friends had this magazine lying around- however not going out to buy themselves. It appeals to both females and males, however again, if i had to choose i would say probably more boys would buy and read this magazine as opposed to girls, stereotypically, girls are generally into pop or dance music but i still definitely think alot of females would buy this magazine and are huge fans of the product. Categorising the age groups, i would have though that possibly the age range of around 17-25 year olds would buy this more than other age ranges.

Representation-  This edition of the magazine features purely on Glastonbury. This is represented by the front cover being dominated by a huge photograph, taken from a previous Glastonbury. As there is no model or artist featured on the front, representing males, females, genre's its hard to point out anything representing anything apart from the photo representing Glastonbury! However, the artists who have images on the cover such as Florence, Muse the Gorillaz or Dead Weather, these are all fairly young artists- therefore representing that the magazine is aimed at young people as opposed to old people.



CONTENTS PAGE

Language- The contents page is set upon a white background,contrasting very well with the black text in the foreground. All the text is in black, immediately creating emphasis and drawing in the audience's eye to the contents page. Aswell as being in black, the text used appears to be in bold and mainly all capital letters. This is again, contributing to the effect and making it all the more powerful.
All together, there are eight main images used in the contents page: each showing a different subject or act that will be attending Glastonbury. They are also all in colour, apart from one image, which happens to be the centre image and also the biggest on the page. The images in colour, happen to sort of ring around the black and white image- also creating effect that the centre image is the most important article to read.

"Inside this week" is spread across the top of the page in huge black capital letters. This masthead identifies to the reader that this is in fact the contents page so they're not spending ages, trying to find it. Alot of magazines just say: "Contents"- making this magazine abit different from the rest and seperate from others in similarities. As NME is a huge magazine, i think this is important they have their individual, unique appoach and maybe this is it. It also doesn't follow the trend, therefore isn't boring in the sense of being the same as every other magazine.

The images on the contents page, all have page references in the bottom right hand corner, again in big, bold letters. Like the "Inside this week"- the page numbers in fact doesn't have a list of articles them pair with: "page-", like alot of magazines do, they rely on the fact they know that the audience will have the knowledge to automatically assume the numbers are the page numbers. This also demonstrates continuity: building up more effect.

Three of the images, are shot as medium close-ups- allowing us to identify the artist more and study his appearance, who it actually is, and their style for maybe our own influence. It also feels more personal and the reader feels more involved-as though they are stood opposite the person, even having a casual conversation with them. Underneath every image, is a quotation from the artist, based on what they have recently said. This also contributes to that feeling of it being more personal and directed at the reader. Aswell as feeling like you are stood opposite them, you then feel as though they are maybe talking to you, making the reader feel even more involved. The centre image talks about just Glastonbury as a whole, whilst the other images are focused on individual artists.

Funnily enough, even though this is a music magazine, only two of these images actually features a musical instrument.
Lastly,"Plus" lists some more contents within the magazine and tells them where to look with the page numbers.

Ideology- The beliefs of the contents page are pretty much the same as the front cover. Again, the belief that music is a pure passion and the best way to have fun is through music is portrayed through the many photographs of music related images. Glastonbury is also strongly conveyed again, representing the fact that festivals in general are fun and worth the money- trying to get people to attend.

Representation- Music is represented through the eight images of music related photos. Also, Glastonbury is represented again through the many image used, each showing different parts of Glastonbury, making it look and feel exciting. The front cover didn't really portray a particular age range, but the contents does a little bit more. The photographs are based around young people, representing that the magazine is mainly aimed at youth and the younger generations-as compared to older age ranges. The majority of the images at 6 to 2, are men while only one photograph actually has a woman in it. This could maybe be representing the fact the magazine is more aimed at males than females, but the fact there is one woman: Florence, opens up that appeal to females too.



DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

Language-  Immediately, the entire left side of the double page spread is taken up by one main image- subsequently of a singer at a previous Glastonbury festival. The image is in colour and works well at drawing in the readers eye. The crowds in the background, appear to a little bit blurred, therefore adding emphasis onto to singer- the main focus of the double page spread. Also on the left page, is the headline/masthead saying- "Upfront" in huge, block capital letter and also appears in a striking white colour. All these factors, allow the human eye to fully understand what the writing is saying: as compared to whether if it was in black, was small and not in bold, meaning people would have huge problems trying to read the words. On top of this, the general background tone on the image is a dark, deep colour- again contributing to the huge effect the bold white writing  has.
On the right hand side of the double page spread, the reader see's there are two individual images that are featured. Again, they are both featured around Glastonbury and look as though they have been taken from a previous concert/festival. When the images are compared to one another, i noticed that they both clash and contrast in the main colours they appear in. For instance, the top image is mainly a red colour, whereas the below image is mainly a blue colour. This may not represent anything important however, they do create an exciting and interesting vibe to the reader, and sort of 'big up' Glastonbury alot- making it seem exciting, of course attracting people to attend the event. The text on the right hand side is actually quite small and maybe difficult for some readers to read. However, the text is written in black, against a white background, making it easier and of course making it stand out too. There is a single strip of text that is in pink, definitely standing out to the rest of the text. This could have been done for a number of reasons, for example: a) could be an important section of text that is a 'must read' - b) could overview the whole article briefly - c) could tell the reader what the article focuses around, saving them from reading the whole, article - d) could be a quote from a particular artist - etc! There are many reason why this could be! The pinkish colour, is also repeated at the top of the right hand side, this show continuity and also adding emphasis. Connotations of pink are additionally a friendly and welcoming approach, therefore representing that Glastonbury is a friendly and positive place to be. Also, as i mentioned earlier the feeling that its an event for only men or a magazine for mainly men, this pink colour being repeated, opens up the appeal to a female audience and invites a wider range of people to become interested.

Ideology-   Again, the belief of festivals is represented by more photographs of Glastonbury- the biggest music festival around. Also, the idea of music being 'the way forward' is again represented by photographs of musis artists singing and playing instruments.