Comparative Analysis and Evaluation of Music Press Front Cover

The two distinct music magazine front covers I am going to compare are, Mixmag and NME.

The generic music convention codes employed by the magazine Mixmag suggest the target audience are young mainly males ages, 18 – 30, widening where necessary. There are many conventions which have suggested this and I have analysed below.

Whereas, the generic music convention codes employed by the magazine NME suggest the target audience are wider males, yet still female equality, late teens, aged 16 - 25.

Mixmag and NME have both used colours in their masthead, strap line and main image to attract their target audience. They have taken into consideration typography and orientation of letters on the issue of masthead in relation their target audience. They have both used main images with strong eye contact in a way of communicating and interacting with their audience. They both over layered their images on top of their masthead to give a controlling, powerful feel which is what their target audience like and are stereotyped with. This is adhering their target audience’s stereotype. However, there are a few differences, Mixmag have used a group main image, whereas NME have just used males. Females are visual in Mixmag which therefore is more likely to appeal to a wider target audience, whereas NME are almost limiting their audience.

Mixmag use mode of address to emphasis target audience and suggest a young, inviting and friendly feel about the magazine and its readership. Mixmag have used slang like ‘run tings’ on the front cover of their magazine which appeal to young people as they use this type of language to look ‘cool’. They will look up to the Mixmag magazine and therefore being cool, which is likely to increase sales and attract a wider target audience. Whereas, NME have not used slang, just simplistic language to suggest the young generation appeal about their magazine. This is quite a interesting point, as NME I believe have a younger target audience, yet they do not use slang. This could be because there music type is less likely to be stereotyped as using slang and being in social groups which use this form of language and therefore they are representing their own social group.

Also the difference in target audience is visual when touching the physical copy of the magazine and looking at the difference in price. Mixmag is more expensive. It is glossy and solid, with a hard spine, very unlikely to fall apart. Whereas, NME is more cheap, with no feel to the paper, appealing to younger people as there are less likely to have money to buy expensive magazines.

The layout and design (including colour and font) of Mixmag contents page reflects a mood of indie/rock with a happy feel. This rejects stereotypes of rockers being emo, with low self-esteem and misery, it recognises them as being fun, enjoying life with a smile. This is emphasised in the fonts. No font suggests sadness or gives an edgy, not caring feel, this enhances rejecting of stereotypes. The font which states 'contents' gives a young, curving feel. It almost looks like a typewriter, which then relates to target audience and studying. The way everything on the page is organised gives an exciting feel and almost imitates the page itself, as it is 'contents', showing easy navigation. Only three colours are recognisable, grey, white and pink. Grey, appealing to both sexes, white emphasing purity of the magazine and pink suggesting love for the magazine. This contents page successfully gives a eye-catching feel. They have used 3 images to give insight into the magazine in all areas. NME's layout and design (including colour and font) of the contents page reflect a mood of mystery. They have used one main image. The image gives this mood through viewpoint being distorted. They have used majority of red and black which also gives this mysterious feel, and the white which is not pure white seems ghostly.

Comparatively it is clear that both magazines have different intentions, purpose and target audience yet the use the same technique and features to appeal to those. The genre, mode of adress and layout and design of the magazine suggest a mainstream audience for both magazines.