Magazine analysis: NME

by Amy's Media

‘NME’ is a music magazine that has been published weekly since 1952. Although its sales have been in decline since 2003, NME has a cult following and is known to promote new bands that might not be interviewed or celebrated anywhere else. The current editor of NME is Krissi Murison, who has worked with the magazine as a columnist for several years.

Generally the covers of NME feature a group of men, as their main interviews are usually with prominant male-fronted bands. However, I wanted to analyse covers with single people on the front, as my cover will not be featuring a band. The covers I chose feature Lily Allen, Florence Welch, Tyler The Creator and Liam Gallagher. This is so I can compare the way the women are shown to the men’s representations in a more direct manner.

The Lily Allen cover uses a scrapbook-style technique to create a grungy, slapdash look. There is a colour scheme of black, white and red and the distinctive NME logo is prominently displayed above Lily Allen’s head. The obviousness of the logo would make regular readers see the magazine instantly, and grab the attention of potential buyers who would want to know why the logo is so clear and uncovered. There is a red bar running across the bottom of the cover with band names in small white capital letters: the combination of the red colour, the ‘loud’ text and the names of the bands themselves tells the reader this is essentially a rock magazine. Circular puffs advertise features along the right-hand side of the cover. They feature page numbers, which is unusual in a magazine – usually the page number is only shown in the contents page, which makes for a cleaner design. There is a small black-and-white picture of David Bowie in the top right corner, and a photograph of Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys above the NME logo. The Bowie photo is in black and white to represent his status as a pop/rock legend, a singer with an illustrious history who readers want to know more about. The Arctic Monkeys are a band featured in NME very frequently, so having a picture of the lead singer would create continuity between issues and also pull in a regular audience.

The second cover, which features Florence Welch, uses a much more classical design. It was published at the time of Krissi Murison’s takeover and has the strapline ‘Introducing the new NME’ next to the logo – which, instead of the classic red with the white outline, is just plain white. All of the text of the front cover is also white, creating a parred-down and elegant feel which is more aesthetically-pleasing than the Lily Allen cover – all of the text apart from Florence’s name, which is in black capital letters at the bottom of the cover. This issue looks much more mature thanks to the colour scheme, the fonts used, and the layout, which does not overlap text and pictures, and features just one central imagine.

The NME with Tyler, The Creator on the front features a gold border with the words ‘God save us from Wills and Kate’ at the top. This signifies that this issue was published at the time of the Royal Wedding, in response to the mass press coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Again we see that this was after the time of Murison’s takeover, with the more streamlined logo, mature fonts and calmer colour scheme used. There is an advertisement for a festival guide inside, creating a selling point for the issue, and an anti-establishment theme, seen in the quote from the cover star: “I don’t give a sh*t about the Royal Wedding”. The use of taboo language, combined with a feature on bands that “take on the establishment”, creates an atmosphere of rebelliousness that would appeal to the magazine’s younger readers.

The fourth and final cover features Liam Gallagher, formerly of Oasis. There are many teasers and plugs along the left and right of the cover, recalling the way NME looked several years ago in a look that younger rather than older readers would prefer. However, it is still sophisticated: the colour scheme is a classical black, white and red, and in a plain, unobtrusive font. Words that emphasise the uniqueness of the magazine are used: “First UK show”, “Unveil their new album”, “Summer 2012 plans revealed”. The NME Tour, which is known throughout the country, is discussed on the right side of the cover, which would attract an audience of potential concert-goers. A variety of music genres are seen in the band names – from heavy metal (‘Slipknot’) to pop (‘Wu Lyf’). This inclusion of many types of music appeals to a big cross-section of the public.

What I wanted to examine in NME was the way the women were represented compared to the men. Although the magazine is generally rather liberal and left-leaning and actually has a female editor, we can see differences in the representations of the female stars here compared to the male. Firstly, both Lily Allen and Florence Welch are in the same pose: heads tilted, eyes wide, mouth open. They are both shot slightly from above, so the audience are looking down on them a little. They are both wearing make-up and have had their skin airbrushed. (We can see this very clearly if we compare either of the skin to Liam Gallagher’s, which has not been touched at all – his flaws are very obvious.) The quotes next to both ladies hint at vulnerability: Lily’s ‘I can’t go on living like this’ and Florence’s ‘I would never have got through the X-Factor auditions’ suggest that the women are incapable in some small way. Although these quotes were likely chosen to create a more human angle, it is important to notice the disparity between their front-page quotes and those of Liam and Tyler, The Creator. The women’s focus on internal issues, whereas Tyler and Liam’s focus on external events.

Apart from these issues, the representation of women in NME is fairly good. Female artists are acknowledged and not sexualised. They are free to express their own style in photoshoots rather than being dressed up in clothes they would not normally wear. The interviews give a good sense of their personality. Overall, I enjoyed looking at NME, and would like to use certain features of their cover for my own magazine,