The magazines:
NME is a music magazine that focuses on genres such as rock, indie and alternative whereas Classic FM magazine focuses on the genre of classical music. This means that Classic FM magazine has a much more niche audience as it is focused solely on one genre of music, whereas NME has a wider appeal because it provides a crossover of different, albeit similar, genres of music. NME is published by IPC Media which is part of Time Warner – a global publishing corporation – and Classic FM is published by Haymarket Media, which is also a global media company. In this respect both magazines have a global audience and a large readership, although NME has a wider appeal. The balance of editorial copy to imagery in both magazines is around 60/40%. NME magazine features a few sections in every issue, but for the most part the contents of each issue is different. In contrast, Classic FM features particular sections in every issue – “Upbeat”, “Features”, “Reviews”, “What’s On”and “Regulars”. The lack of structure in this sense aids NME’s anarchistic image; they don’t conform to conventions like most magazines by printing the same features each week. Classic FM, on the other hand, is clearly structured and layed out with the same sections appearing in every issue. This says a lot about Classic FM’s readership; they obviously prefer structure and sense as opposed to the uncontrolled, anarchistic style that NME uses.
Advertising in the magazines:
Unlike NME, Classic FM magazine uses inserts. There are four inserts in this issue of the magazine; two of these are coupons for free magazines, one of the inserts is a small information booklet for Saga Holidays and the fourth is a coupon for 32% off of magazine subscriptions. These inserts tell me that the readers of Classic FM like to spend their money wisely; Classic FM magazine costs £4.85 in the UK, which is quite expensive compared to the price of NME, but the readers know that for this amount of money they are getting a free CD and coupons for two free magazines which focus on the same aspects of music as Classic FM. The advertising in both magazines relate to the audience well. NME features advertisements for gigs, new music releases, DVDs and technology whereas the adverts in Classic FM are for new classical music releases, upcoming classical concerts, insurance, music technology and art exhibitions. The advertisements in Classic FM seem to be targeted at a much higher class of people than the advertisements in NME; they are also targeted at an older age group. You can tell a lot about the target audience of a magazine by looking at the advertisements that are printed throughout, and there is no better example than NME and Classic FM whose advertising targets their audience perfectly. There are 68 pages in NME and 26 of these pages are used for advertisement, therefore 18% of the magazine is used for advertising and unlike Classic FM, there are no inserts in the magazine. The lack of advertisements in NME affects production value, so they use matt paper as opposed to glossy paper. This is because it is cheaper to produce a magazine with matt/newspaper paper than it is to produce a magazine that uses glossy paper. In contrast, Classic FM is printed on high quality glossy paper which suggests that they have more money to spend on production. Classic FM has 100 pages including front and back covers. 30 of these pages are used for advertising which means that 30% of the magazine is made up of advertisements. This means that Classic FM feature over 10% more advertising than NME which, in turn, means that they have more money to produce their magazine. On their website Haymarket Media boast that they publish only the highest quality magazines “combining the best in content, design, production and customer services.” Because both NME and Classic FM are published by global media companies there several different cover prices. NME has four cover prices: £2.40 in the UK, $6.70 in the US, $7.99 in Canada and €3.70 in Spain. Classic FM costs £4.85 in the UK, £5.30 overseas and $9.99 in the USA. This clearly shows that Classic FM need a lot of money to keep up their high quality publishing; not only do they use more advertisements than NME but their cover price is much higher. NME, on the other hand, sell their magazine for a relatively low price as they have a lower production value and use less advertising.
The magazines’ style:
NME and Classic FM have very different styles. NME ignores typical conventions of layout and design to boost their anarchistic image, whereas Classic FM follow these conventions to create a structured, mature, classic magazine. For instance, Classic FM use the same fonts, sizes and colours throughout. They use red, orange, black and blue and a set of fonts that work together to create a similar theme throughout the magazine. Although NME tend to go against typical layout and design conventions, they do use similar themes throughout the magazine. Most issues of the magazine ignore the rule of thirds on cover; they feature unjustified lines and there is a strong similarity in layout and design of covers. Pink and black text is used with the same fonts appearing throughout and sections are broken down using bright colours like pink and blue. They use these fonts and colours to create a unity throughout the magazine so that it becomes recognisable to it’s audience.
The covers:
There are two layers on the cover of Classic FM and the masthead stretches across the entire width of the magazine, as opposed to being in a box or on the left hand side (e.g. NME’s masthead). Classic FM’s masthead is printed in simple, black, captial letters with the ‘f’ in ‘FM’ printed a bold, lowercase, red font. The masthead for Classic FM has been designed this way to show that the magazine is for a higher class of people; the layout and design of the masthead is mature and sophisticated as opposed to the ‘working class’ NME masthead which is big, bold and bright. I think that NME’s masthead has been designed this way because it represents the readership of the magazine well. NME readers are typically anarchistic, rebellious and young. The central image on the cover of NME has been layed over the masthead, which indicates that the readers of this magazine recognise the layout and design and would be able to identify the magazine even without seeing the masthead in full. However, Classic FM’s central image is layed under the masthead which suggests that readers of Classic FM prefer substance over style; they like to be able to see the magazine’s name in full. They are used to this particular convention of laying the masthead over the central image, and it’s what they expect to see on the supermarket shelf. The central image on the cover of NME is of Nirvana; a heavy rock band. The men in the picture have long hair and their clothing indicates a lack of conformity. The man in the middle of the image is holding a lighter whilst the man on his left is smoking a ciggarette which indicates that they are rebellious and anarchistic. The image itself is black and white which is unusual for the central image of a magazine cover. This suggests that the readers of NME are attracted to unique things and that they enjoy rebelling against conventions. In stark contrast to this, Classic FM’s central image is of an older man in his 50s/60s who is dress in a light pink shirt with cufflinks; he is well groomed and looks respectable and sophisticated. He is holding his finger to his mouth and mouthing ‘shhh’ which creates a serene, calm, quiet feeling; the kind of feeling that listening to classical music can create in people. From this central image I can conclude that readers of Classic FM Magazine are mature and are way past the anarchistic, rebellious stage of their lives. They enjoy a peaceful, quiet, calm life and they like listening to music that creates these feelings in them. There are only three articles signposted on the cover of NME, and only one of those is accomponied by a page number and there are four articles signposted on the cover of Classic FM, of which none are signposted with page numbers. The predominant colour on the front cover of NME is yellow, accompanied by black and white. In contrast to the bright colour used on the cover of NME, more subtle colours such as red and black are used on the cover of Classic FM. There is no covermount of the cover of NME, but there is one on Classic FM’s cover. Classic FM offer two CDs in one box on the cover of this issue; I think this is because Classic FM readers like to get a lot for their money. The cover price for the magazine is quite high and so it is important to have the free CD to draw the audience in.
The contents page:
The contents page in NME is always situated one page into the magazine on the right face and it takes up one page, whereas the contents page in Classic FM takes up two pages and is three pages in to the magazine after a double page advertisement. There are 7 images on the contents page of NME and the balance of imagery to copy is around 70% imagery and 30% copy. The images are accompanied by captions and corresponding page numbers and the contents is presented numerically with important articles being highlighted. There are 15 images on the contents pages of Classic FM as it is spread over two pages and has more room for imagery. 7 of these images are signposted with page numbers and have a small caption printed next to them. the contents of Classic FM is presented in particular sections which are then broken down numerically with page numbers. There is only one advertisement on the contents page of NME and this is for a subscription to NME. Three fonts are used on the contents page in about five different sizes and two colours (black and white). In contrast, there are no advertisements on the contents pages of Classic FM and three fonts used in four different colours and four different sizes.
Double page spreads:
There are nine double page spreads in Classic FM Magazine and only two in NME. The double page spreads in NME share one similarity in the fact that they both feature at least one small image with a white border. Aside from this, they are quite different. The first article spreads all photographs and text over the double page, whereas the second article features a full bleed photograph on the left face and text with on the right face. The balance of imagery to text is similar in both articles; around 60% imagery and 40% text. Both articles use a standfirst to give the reader a brief summary of the article but only one of the articles uses pull quotes from the text. In both articles the writer and photographer has been credited. The language used in both of these double page spreads is similar; it is quite formal and no colloquialisms are used. This is the type of language that NME readers are used to – correct punctuation is always used and the articles use a wide vocabulary rather than sticking to plain and simple language that you might expect to see in a magazine aimed at a younger demographic. The immediate difference in double page spreads in Classic FM and NME is the number of them; Classic FM feature far more double page spreads than NME which is important to the magazine’s structure and composition. We know that readers of NME like to go against conventions and so most of the articles in their magazine runs to three or four pages as opposed to the classic double page spread. In contrast to NME readers, Classic FM readers enjoy stability and structure; they like rules and conformity when it comes to layout and design because it makes the magazine much more comprehensive and easy to read. The double page spreads in Classic FM all feature very similar design conventions; all of the double page articles use the same fonts, sizes and colours. Black and orange are used throughout the double page features to create a unity in the magazine. The double page spreads use around 60% imagery and 40% editorial copy. The main point is that Classic FM follow much more strict rules when it comes to design, layout and conventions in magazine publishing whereas NME intentionally go against these conventions to create a product that appeals to a young, rebellious audience.
AS Media Studies 