NME case study

First published March, 1952 it started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. NME stands for “New Musical Express”. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper.• An online version of NME, NME.COM, was launched in 1996. It is now the worlds biggest standalone music site, with over 7 million users per month.

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  NME was a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s
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  NME in July 1980 As with today’s NME, the colour scheme is dark, with red and black featuring strongly.
• BACKGROUND DETAILS The name of the magazines is an acronym ‘NME’ suggests a more modern and no- nonsense take on a national institution. The magazine has achieved variable success over the years with sales rising and falling. It has tended to adapt to accommodate new sounds on the rock/metal scene. This has helped to increase sales in dark times. However, it has received criticism for this. NME! TODAY Issued weekly.Costs £2.20 per issue.Consists of approximately 73 A4 pages, produced on glossy, full colour paper.• Follows a standard magazine layout, combining full colour images with bite- size snippets of text on some pages and full colour articles that combine image and text on others.NME Has its own website, TV channel and radio channel.
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  Inside NMEFull colour articles that combine image with text for a more visually appealing look. Some interview will see full length images of artists or seeing them performing.
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  TARGET AUDIENCE• 16- 24 years old.• 80% male, 20% female. Active music enthusiast and purchaser.• Interested in computer games, film and TV, tattoos.Loyal to their friends and favourite bands, passionate about music, an individual who refuses to follow the crowd, youthful and fun. Sees NME as an authority on rock music and an educator.
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  Content is entirely devoted to music with music/band news and articles, album reviews, gig information and gig guides. Quizzes and Letter pages are present too. Bands that commonly feature are: Green Day, Oasis, Kasabian, The Killers, The Kaiser Cheifs and many more.The magazine offers free posters, reflecting the largely youth readership.
• NME features a lot of iconography associated with indie/rock and the scene that surrounds it, e.g. tattoos, amps, dark make- up, electronic guitars.The magazine is visual, some image-heavy and some text heavy.The magazine features a lot of uppercase text in a distressed font. Red and black feature mostly in the magazine. Black and red feature strongly as they linked together nicely to grab the attention of the audience.Content is related to metal/rock music and bands like the word‘INSANE’ how it been written and the bright red colour. The.The magazine is visual and image-heavy with two skull ring, one on each hand.
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  Casual, featuring informal words and phrases that the TA might use.The tone of expression used by a young fan of indie/rock is established.• Friendly and down-to-earth, suggesting a good, friend-to-friend relationship between reader and magazine.Mode of adress is friendly, informal  Exclamatory phrases to create a sense of excitement that the audience can share in. Abbreviated words to create a more casual, relaxed, snappy tone to attract the audience.Examples of mode of address: ‘The return of Kasabian, inside their Insane new album’.• ‘One thump or two’‘Rock’s Messiest Bust-ups’‘Can Brandon find the plot in time for Reading & Leeds?’ 
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  Owned by IPC Media ‘LOOK’ ‘NUTS’ ‘NOW’ ‘LIVING’ are owned and distributed by IPC Media.• The company also owns and distributes a number of magazines aimed at audiences with niche interests, e.g. car enthusiasts and those into fishing or photography. They engage with 26 million UK adults - almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men.• It draws on NMEs heritage as a music authority to delight users with a mix of news, opinion and artist interviews. NME.COM is where the most passionate music fans on the planet come together.
  
• Ownership Being owned by IPC Media is a good idea for NME for some reasons: the company is successful and experienced and knows which strategies to employ to increase sales. IPC owns a number of niche magazines, so understands audiences with specific tastes and interests.With Cycling Fitness and Rugby World amongst its repertoire, it knows how to successfully manage sport magazines and other magazine for other target audience.