Readership Profile of the NME

This is the most recent issue of NME  from 26th March 2011.

 Readership Profile:

They go to gigs and live events

NME readers spend
£152 on footwear per year –
Total readership spends £46m

£532 on clothes per year –
Total readership spends £189m

£1229 on audio equipment per year

Total readership spend on audio equipment £326m

52% own a digital camera
£170 on digital cameras per year
Total readership spend on digital cameras £4.6m
DVDS
Buy an average of 5 DVDs per year
–Total readership buys 1.3m DVDs per year
Spend £66 on DVDs per year
-Total readership spends of £18m on DVDs

INTERNET

94% use the Internet

76% have BroadbandSpend an average of 2.4 hours per day

That’s almost 19 hours per week!

CONSOLES AND GAMES

£197 spent on consoles in the past year

Total readership spends £45m

£108 spent on games – Total readership spends £18m

84% receive digital TV or satellite channels

NME READERS AGREE THAT:

They spend a lot of money on clothes – 45%

Its important to be well informed about things – 92%

Its worth paying for extra quality goods – 71%

They like to try new drinks – 75%

Its important to them to look well dressed – 71%

MALE 69%

FEMALE 31%

AVERAGE AGE 24

WORKING FULL TIME 52%

WORKING PART TIME 7%

STILL STUDYING 29%

CIRCULATION: 40,948

READERSHIP: 369,000

Web 1, 2 and 3

WEB 1.0
This is the first generation of the World Wide Web, which was separate static websites rather than continually-updated weblogs and social networking sites.  Web 1.0 is one-way broadcasting, meaning only the owner of the site can publish information.
Web 1.0 sites aren't interactive. Visitors can only visit these sites; they can't impact or contribute to the sites.
Web 1.0 sites are static. They contain information that might be useful, but there's no reason for a visitor to return to the site later. An example might be a personal Web page that gives information about the site's owner, but never changes.
Web 1.0 applications are proprietary. Under the Web 1.0 philosophy, companies develop software applications that users can download, but they can't see how the application works or change it.


WEB 2.0
Web 2.0 signifies a conversation between the original author of the content and all those who can comment or participate. Web 2.0 refers to people making connections with other people through the Web, as they do on these Web sites:

• Social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook
• Blogs like LiveJournal or Twitter
• Sites that allow users to contribute content like wikipedia
• Sites that let users share content like YouTube

WEB 3.0
Web 3.0 is not clearly defined but it generally says that Web 3.0 is about openness and about being available from all devices at all places.
According to some Internet experts Web 3.0 will allow the user to sit back and let the Internet do all of the work for them. Rather than having search engines gear towards your keywords, the search engines will gear towards the user. Keywords will be searched based on your culture, region, and jargon.

Empire Magazine

Magazine Presentation Template

NME Practice Questions

1. What major changes has the NME undergone? Has it shown flexibility in changing times?
NME Magazine began in the late 50s and contained information on rock and roll music and famous stars such as Elvis Presley. In the 60s when The Beatles became famous, the NME was a huge and successful market. However by the early 70s NME started to loose readers as a new genre of punk music was coming into fashion. The music scene had changed but NME had not adapted with it and was starting to fall behind. A new editor and new writers were hired and it soon became successful again, as they were now adapting with the changing music scene. Into the 80s, electro and new romantic music such as Duran Duran, The Human League and Elton John became introduced to the music industry and became more popular than punk. Once again NME adapted to this and was able to sustain their readership. As the popular genre has changed over the years, NME have now kept up and change with the music scene to keep up with the current generation. It is constantly adapting and this is why it is the oldest music magazine that is still hugely successful today.

2. By looking at a front cover of your chosen magazine, what would you say are the significant methods of attracting an audience?

 One of the methods the NME uses is the use of bold colours to attract an audience. On this cover the main picture is black and white and the masthead is in bold red or bright green. This makes it stand out amongst the rest of the magazines that would be alongside it in the shop on the shelf. At the top of the cover, there is a banner that says "Jane's Addiction reunited" in bold white capitals that stand out against the red background. This band that was popular in the late 80's and early 2000's had split up in 2004. The banner at the top then extends down the right side of the page with a picture of them and the announcement of the first NME awards in the USA, where the band are reforming. If you were a big fan of this band, when you see the name at the top you are automatically attracted to pick up the magazine to find out more about them. Also, when on the shelf, you would be able to see "NME awards 2008". The NME awards is a big event which a lot of people get involved in. This would attract people to the magazine because they might be interested in who is hosting, playing or who is nominated for an award at the event. Another big event that is advertised and sure to attract an audience is the Reading and Leeds festivals. On the cover, it says that 46 more bands that have been announced are inside the magazine on page 6. As thousands of people go to these festivals each year, most people would be interested in who's playing and would therefore want to pick up the magazine and find out more information. Another method the magazine uses is using a hugely successful and popular band on the front cover, and having that take up the majority of it.  The words "Green Day" are spread right across the front cover, in luminous green, and the rest of the headline colours any important words such as "live" and "Tracks" in the same colour. This interests the reader, especially with popular bands that most readers of the magazine will like, and persuades them to buy it.


3. How are some magazines more than just magazines and more like brands?
NME started as the New Musical Express magazine in 1952. The first NME awards show was held in 1953. Since then it has grown and become a brand of its own. In 1996 the website NME.com was started up, where free mp3's of singles were given out. In 2007 NME.com was launched in the USA where the site now provides news, photos, video, blogs, reviews, gig listings and videos as well as featuring downloads, merchandising and message boards. In 2010 NME.COM launched NME Breakthrough, a new music community for artists, bands and fans. In 2002 the NME started publishing a series of themed magazines reprinting vintage articles, interviews and reviews from the NME archives. The magazine special editions were called NME Originals. Notable issues so far have featured Radiohead, The Beatles, Punk rock, Gothic rock, Britpop, The Rolling Stones and Mod.
 

Now! Magazine: Online

When you go onto the Now magazine website, the first thing you see at the top of the page is "Now Video". Providing interactive ways to get the information contained in the glossy magazines. Underneath the videos, is an interactive picture slide show that contains five different news stories such as: "Celebrity fashion disasters" or "Celebrity hair - New Styles". Other things that are on the 'front cover' of the Now website are:


-Polls: "Do you think Katie Price should marry Leandro Penna?"
-A slider with 12 stories that fit different types of news: Eg- Celebrity News, TV News and Teen News
-There is a "Top Story" section with 4 different stories that include: "Stars with no makeup" and "Victoria and David Beckham- A Love Story In Pictures"
-There is also and article on Prince William called "The big photo story"
-Competitions
-An advert for Herbal Essences shampoo (Which on a print version would therefore waste printing space for stories)
-An option to subscribe to a free online newsletter- In the middle of the page, there are banners saying "Get Now magazine on your mobile", although it's only available on Apple, Android and Blackberry phones, and a "Twitter" and "Facebook" logo to follow them on. This shows that the magazine is now becoming more available to everyone on other devices, meaning more readers of their magazine.


-There are adverts down the side, advertising their own new brand of magazine called "Now Mum and Baby", as well as "brand advice" for shopping and adverts for Imperial Leather body wash.
-Now magazine also has a shopping section, with 336 pages of shoes. When people click on the item they like, it links them directly to the store's website to buy them online.
-At the very bottom of the page, the latest issue of their magazine is advertised, with an option to subscribe to it online.
-There is also another news story called "Celebrity files" about Cheryl Cole.
-Finally at the bottom of the page there is a site map, which acts as a contents page of the website magazine.

The Banner of the website shows all the options that you have on the homepage. News, Photos, Videos, Style, Celebrity Files, Horoscopes, Shop, Win and Blogs each contain 1000's of pieces of information.
On the "News" page, it takes you to a page of 10 stories with large pictures to accompany them, which then link onto the stories themselves. At the bottom of the page, there are 2794 pages of stories to look at. With online magazines, it is easier to find past stories because everything is archived and it isn't needed to hunt through earlier issues to find what you want. Down the side, there is an advert for Rimmel London Eyeshadow which moves down the page and follows you as you scroll.
Interestingly, in the middle of these 10 stories, there is a section for NME magazine, with some headlines from their website.which take you directly to the NME website when you click on them.


I had a break between the lesson writing the above and now. Since coming back, the Now website has updated and new stories have appeared on the homepage with new pictures. Online, news can be updated immediately whereas once something has been printed in a magazine it's official.


On the banner, on photos, it has galleries and archives dating from the latest to the oldest photos. The names of the galleries are: Celebrity Spy, Gallery Specials, Red Carpet, Star Style and Funnies.


Now also has a Video section which means that you can watch the latest celebrity gossip and not just read it. It contains videos from Britain's Got Talent to The Oscars. There are also videos on how to do a certain style of hair or makeup, which is providing a visual aid for the reader so they don't just have to read it.
Now magazine offers readers videos and links to shop websites in the style section. It has many pages and links that let you follow celebrity style, see what is in fashion, shop online and get hundreds of beauty secrets and tips, whereas a magazine could only offer one or two of these.
In a magazine, information about only a few certain celebrities is already printed. Online, under the "Celebrity Files" section, there is a list of hundreds of celebrities names listed in alphabetical order. This way, if you only want to read about a certain celebrity, it's easy to find their name and any stories relating to them. 


With the horoscopes on the website, You have the option of choosing whether you want a daily, weekly, monthly or even a video version of your horoscope. It also lets you view many celebrity horoscopes.

TV Drama - Doctor Who Exam Question Analysis

After reading through Candidate A, B and C's answers i think that:
Candidate A is a B grade
Candidate B is an A grade
and Candidate C is a C grade.
All of the candidates explain and argue points that are relevant to the question. Candidate A explains points and uses media terminology, but some of the points aren't linked and some paragraphs don't flow properly and begin to sound like waffle. There are some very good points made in A's answer but not enough analysis on each of them. Candidate B however, uses very good terminology and the points are all backed up with evidence from the clip. B also includes all 4 aspects of TV dramas, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and camera shots and angles, within their answer and provides a full analysis of each. Finally, candidate C, although backing up their evidence with some good points, doesn't analyse each point fully. C also doesn't include all 4 aspects like B does and focuses on minor points on sound and editing. When C does make points, they didn't relate them back to the question either. C didn't link many points back to their question, wheras A and B did. However i think that Candidate B stole the A grade for their use of analysis and relation back to the question using all 4 aspects.

TV DRAMA Analysing Ethnicity - Spooks

Spooks EndingHow is ethnicity represented in this episode?

In this clip there are different techniques that are used to make the audience feel different emotions towards different characters. For example, when Fiona and Danny are being kept hostage and Danny begins to provoke Ahmed to kill him instead, the music stops when Danny makes a stand against him. As he winds Ahmed up further and further the music begins to build up again getting louder and more ‘heroic’ until he gets shot and the music dies down again.

In scene 42, when Adam is trying to dissuade Khatera from acting, the camera shots are positioned to suggest that Adam is the dominant character. For example, the  character that they want us to see as dominant, Adam, is higher up in the shot and focused, when it cuts to over the shoulder, Khatera becomes out of focus and appears smaller because the camera angle is pointing upwards towards his face. In shots of Khatera, Adam is still seen at the side of the shot, seeming to tower over her even though he is not in focus or the main part of the shot.

In this shot above, you can see which character dominates the shot. Adam takes up 3/4 of the frame, and all of him is visible. Khatera is squashed almost into the remaining space and isnt fully visible. Showing the dominance of the character that the audience recognise.

Within this episode there are several different "binary oppositions". For example, Adam has to choose whether he wants Fiona or Danny, the two that were being held as hostages, to be murdered. Within the room there are two binary opposites. A black unmarried male and a white married female with a child. As Adam can't make the decision, Danny provokes Ahmed (the one holding them hostage) into killing him. Here this builds tension, because you dont know which one is going to die. As Danny is young and unmarried, it is a shame for him to die so young and we feel that it is unfair. However, as Fiona is married and has a child, it is unfair to take her away from her family in such an awful way. This makes the audience not know how the storyline is going to go, and provides shock when Ahmed finally chooses one to kill.

Another example of binary opposition in this episode is between Adam and Khatera. When they are stood in the venue hall, they are stood oppostie eachother and the conflict of interests are clear. Adam's priorities are to protect his wife and do his job as a secret service agent by saving the Prime Minister and preventing a terrorist attack. Khatera's interests are taking the tough choice of being a  suicide bomber and having bombs sewn into her stomach to avenge her family. Both of their interests are in saving their familes, but in different and completley contrasting ways. 

Magazine History Research

NME Magazine began in the late 50s and contained information on rock and roll music and famous stars such as Elvis Presley. In the 60s when The Beatles became famous, the NME was a huge and successful market. However by the early 70s NME started to loose readers as a new genre of punk music was coming into fashion. The music scene had changed but NME had not adapted with it and was starting to fall behind. A new editor and new writers were hired and it soon became successful again, as they were now adapting with the changing music scene. Into the 80s, electro and new romantic music such as Duran Duran, The Human League and Elton John became introduced to the music industry and became more popular than punk. Once again NME adapted to this and was able to sustain their readership. As the popular genre has changed over the years, NME have now kept up and change with the music scene to keep up with the current generation. It is constantly adapting and this is why it is the oldest music magazine that is still hugely successful today.


During the 70s, other music magazines around only talked about single and album reviews. NME went behind the scenes to offer something different to the reader and had interviews with popular stars, backstage information, albums and singles, new music and interesting articles. This magazine was offering so much more than any other magazine for sale and so it reeled in readers. In the 80s, NME had decided to go one step further and start producing articles based on serious issues such as politics. One issue included the topic of 'Youth Suicide'. The final straw came during a political election however when the magazine went too far with a front cover and ended up having 2 writers sacked. After this NME had a new editor and became all about the music again.  In the late 70s/ early 80s, it used famous star Morrissey from 'The Smiths' on many of their magazine covers, who was a really popular artist and fan of the magazine himself. On one occasion, Morrissey fell out with NME and did not speak to them for 12 years. After some time NME was losing readership again and Morrissey needed a career boost, and so they invited him back for another cover. This proved really successful and soon NME had a huge circulation again.


In the 70s, the writers were very bold and to the point. They made fun of artists, calling them names and being 100% honest and not being afraid to tell the truth and say if a gig was bad. They wrote about serious issues in the 80s, involving suicide and politics to make the NME be more than just a music magazine and stand out from the rest. Instead of just being about album reviews and upcoming concerts, they talked about life in their articles and related to their audience through them. Any of the articles from the 70s especially would not pbe published today in the magazine.

Music Magazine Evaluation

My Music Magazine

This is my final music magazine. It includes a front cover, contents page and double page spread. I tried to include as many magazine conventions in my magazine as possible. For example, the front cover masthead, contents 'regulars' and 'features' section and the quote boxes on the double page. I kept to one house style throughout also, using yellow, black and white and keeping to 3 different fonts. I used digital cameras and filter son the lights to make sure i took some professional looking photos and also learnt how to use photoshop so that i could make the most of the different techniques that were available on there.