Contents page 1

This contents page from the NME magazine is very detailed as with all the other NME magazines are. The title is in a very large font and the word 'NME' follows a house style because it is the same as the front cover, therefore readers are able to familiarize with the magazine. the tagline is the date of issue so readers know they are looking at the relevant news of the time.

The contents page helps relate to the target audience because they use typical colours which boys like such as red and black. Therefore this can help boost sales if potential customers feel they are reading a magazine for them. NME have decided not to include an editor’s letter which most magazines normally have. I think they chose to do this because their target audience of boys are less likely to read it. Therefore this is an advantage for NME as it enables them to include more information about music.

They have a separate index for all the bands mentioned in the issue, this is clearly set out in a long straight list. As boys wouldn’t enjoy searching through the pages trying to find out about their favourite band, this allows them to find where they are in the magazine straight away. I think NMEs target audience would appreciate this a great deal; consequently it could help attract more customers. They have placed a very large picture of a band in the middle of the page which automatically stands out and catches the reader’s attention. The band is also well known so it is likely this will help grab the reader’s attention because they want to know about their favourite bands. The contents page is split into 5 different headings, ‘news, radar, reviews, live and features.’ By using this technique, customers are able to jump straight to the pages they want without having to search through the magazine. NME have placed a subscribing offer at the bottom of the page which is very bold. The offer would benefit NME because readers would appreciate having to pay less for the magazines, as a result they will keep buying NME.

Front Cover Analysis 3

This magazine is also specialised in  r&b. Q was first published in October 1986, founded by  Mark Ellen and David Hepworth. The Q magazine has a masthead which uses the colours red and white. The use of red helps to make the magazine more eyecatching. The main cover line is linked to the key image on the magazine which is 'red hot chilli peppers'. The reason the main cover line is big is because it attracts consumers to the magazine. The sell line underneath the 'red hot chilli peppers' has alliteration in it as well as a rhetorical question. This implies that the magazine wants the consumers to think about the question and attract us to the wierd question, which is quite sexual. Many magazines have the sell line 'world exclusive!' and this is now a typical sell line.


Looking at the main image of the four men standing with a mysterious look on their faces , you can see they look quite intense and as some people would say 'crazy'.

Front Cover Analysis 2

The magazine title vibe is also specialised in r&b and can see this from the artist shown on the front cover. Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. The masthead of the billboard is written in a big, bold font, in red which immediately attracts the readers attention. Also having the title behind the artist is better as you can see the whole key image and it helps the audience to see it, which will then attract a larger audience.

On the top of the magazine, the masthead with the other names of the artists shows that the articles about them are included in the magazine too. Even though the main image is focused on her, these mastheads also attract the audience so they can read about them too. the sell line 'New York' and 'Miami' shows us that these states are the most popular with the r&b genre in America. If you see other vibe magazines then you will notice how all of them have a number/numbers on the front cover.

the website vibe.com issimilar to a synergy website & magazine. the connotations of the colour red shows lust and it is quite a passionate colour. she looks vulnerable and seductive, this implies what modern music is all about at this point in time . Also she is trying to attempting to capture the attention of the male audience. there are downloads for people who are technologically able/savvy.

Front Cover Analysis

The magazine title billboard is speacialised in r&b and we can instantly see this from the artist shown .  The magazine was founded in 1894 by William H. Donaldson and James H. Hennegan as a publication for the billposting and advertising business, but expanded over the decades to cover amusements, motion pictures, radio, recorded music and other areas of the rapidly growing entertainment industry. The masthead of Billboard is in big bold white writing and is behind rihanna, this is conventional and represents the celebrity more.this also shows that because this is a strong brand identity, they dont have to show the entire name. Even though the audience dont see the entire name they can recognise the magazine name by the colours (Red and green ) used in Bs and Ds.


The target audience would be aimed at young people from the age of 14-18 and for girls especially they would be influenced by rihanna as she could be their idols. The background is black which makes rihannas hair and liptick stand out as its shocking red, therefore, attracts readers more effectively than other magazines which use less brighter colours on the front cover. The deep red on her can connote danger, passion or romance. This is called polysemic. Her lipstick matches the masthead which links the two together . Her dress also looks modern which suggests that the target audience is young people preferably females.


You can see that her posture is very provocative and seductive which relates to her facial expression, as  quite aggresive and this engages the readers attention by direct address. the sell lines show a summary of what would be inside the magazine. So for example the sell line "newsmakers, winners from mobile entertainment live" implies that a lot of people use mobiles and tells us about what the audience is interested in and what they want to see. In addition, the magazine uses names like pitbull who was a very modern r&b artist. Publicists are aware that the digital age is becoming increasingly strong as they prefer to read the online copy over the paper copy. Looking at the the text " the re-REinvention of rihanna" shows how she has changed a lot over the past few months in a good way and complared to motnths before she looks much better and healthy as she had a lot of problems before. It also shows how publicists kind of exaggerate and the quote 'my fans dont really know who i am' implies that readers might want to read on more about the artist.  Overall i think this magazine is aimed at young females who envy Rihanna

preliminary front cover- rihanna

The masthead of Billboard is in big bold white writing and is behind rihanna, this is conventional and represents the celebrity more.this also shows that because this is a strong brand identity, they dont have to show the entire name. Even though the audience dont see the entire name they can recognise the magazine name by the colours (Red and green ) used in Bs and Ds.

The target audience would be aimed at young people from the age of 14-18 and for girls especially they would be influenced by rihanna as she could be their idols.  It also shows how publicists kind of exaggerate and the quote 'my fans dont really know who i am' implies that readers might want to read on more about the artist.  Overall i think this magazine is aimed at young females who envy Rihanna