Iconic masthead covering the womans hair. Audience already know magazine. It is well known anyway.

Stands for new musical express. Has history of covering music. NME sounds like enemy. Fits with rebellious image of magazine.

Theme everything else links to. Special is a buzz word.

Exclusive means that this is only available in this magazine. Make up meant to look space age / abit like shes an alien. Audience might wonder if this is a male or female which makes them curious.

Serif font looks old fashioned, classical to suggest importance and seriousness. Quote from the artist, grabs attention.

Strange hair interests audience!

Background looks science fiction, fits in with theme. Futuristic. Bleedline relates to the theme. 50 is a large number so magazine is offering a lot of content.

Conventions: Price /Barcode Website usually appears below masthead but covered by sticker. Other bands featured many are from the past (doesnt fit in with theme!)

Mainly serious dark colours, makes theme seem important. La Roux not smiling could also suggest that this is important and readers need to know about it.

Yellow stands out from metallic background .

Direct address is used to engage audience

NME magazine (2009) front cover The target audience are people who are serious about music and want to find out about new bands. They are likely to be young, white, possibly students (past, present or future). All of the bands and artists mentioned are white so the audience are more likely to identify with them. The readers will be informed about new bands, concerts, etc. This will give them something to talk about with friends who like the same sort of music so they will socially interact. At the same time reading about music and listening to music could be a form of escapism helping them to forget about problems like work or money! (Blumler & Katz Uses & Gratifications theory)