Research and Planning: Comparison of two magazines

NME

Brief History

• was first published in the March of 1952
• it became the first newspaper to publish a singles chart
• it was initially published in a non-glossy tabloid style

Typical Content

• music charts
• music reviews
• concert dates
• music news
• upcoming bands/artists
• albums and reviews
• movies

Typical Reader

The typical reader of NME magazine is, through analysing data found on NRS (national readership survey), is a male between the ages of 15 and 44 within the socio economic group ABC1. The readership is largely male.

Housestyle
NME magazine has a ypical housestyle which they follow each issue. The front page layout always consists of a large NME in red lettering in the top left corner, which makes it instantly recogniseable. The typical style of the front cover also consists of a one main image of a band or artist with a large headline over the bottom or middle of the image. Taglines are placed all throughout the main page but are mostly placed on the left of the page with then just a few on the right hand side of the page, which can mainly consist of the introducing new acts or competitions.
Inside the magazine the main double page spread that can be seen is a large one side image of the band, artist or depicting the topic, the ight hand side page will then have the article, usually an interview or story about the topic.

Social Groups represented in NME

NME has a very much male following however 26% of the readers are female. Each reader is normally of about 23 years old and are normally huge music fans, they tend to be loyal fans of the magazine and the bands that are normally discussed in it. The readers also seem to be influential people that follow trends or are part of the small groups that influence others.

The general reader of NME got to gigs and live events, and according to a NME reader profile they are huge money spenders; spending £684 on clothing and shoes and £541 on gaming and other items of technology.

Kerrang!

Brief History

• was first published in June 1981
• it was initially a supplement for "sounds" newspaper
• AC/DC was the first image on the cover of the first issue
• United Newspapers sold Kerrang! to EMAP in 1991

Typical Content

• interviews
• new releases
• gigs
• competitions
• music charts
• bands personal views
• fans letters

Typical Reader

The typical reader is a male between the ages of 15 and 44 within the socio economic group ABC1. The readership is largely male.

Housestyle

On the front cover of Kerrang! there is usually just the once large images and the title of just one article, possibly suggesting that they feel no need for more than one main article. There is also just a few tag lines.

The inside pages of the magazine usually have one large image and then the article spread around the page on the left and right hand side of the pages.

Social Groups represented in Kerrang!

The Kerrang! readers are proud of their individuality and typical of modern youth culture they are avid games, music and movies consumers. The average age that reads Kerrang is nineteen.

I managed to obtain the information for this task through using the internet. The readership figures I found were from the national readership survey website (www.nrs.co.uk). Other information was found from ISSUU.com, this website allowed me to see a double page spread explaining and giving details of what NME feels their readers are like; one problem with this is that it is fairly stereotypical.