NME Improvements

I have looked at who the magazine is aimed at and its purpose, so am now looking at who the brand doesn't cater for and ways that they could adjust and make improvements.


Task:
To look at NME magazine and suggest ways they could increase their circulation/revenue

·Make it more unisex by making the magazine appeal to more females. This could be achieved by having a more neutral colour scheme and by interviewing more bands/artists that girls can relate to.

·As well as including smaller, upcoming bands, perhaps include some more well known ones, so people that arn't necessarily music 'experts' also feel that they can buy a copy of the magazine.

·Could maybe have themed issues each month.

NME - Audience profile pack

Having looked at the magazine myself and predicted who I think it is aimed at, here are the actual true facts;


KEY STATS

Male: 74% 

Female: 26% 

Median age: 23 

Student: 42% 

ABC1: 68% 

Circulation: 33,875 

Readership:  325,000

ABCe Unique Users: 5,342,246

Readers have a strong relationship with NME and completely trust the brand:

- “I can trust it” “Its full of facts that we should all

   know but don’t BUT we do now thanks to NME”

- “Honest no-holds barred reviews”.

MOBILES

• NME readers are influential's when it comes to mobile phones.

• They are over twice as likely to convince friends and family about what mobiles to buy.

MUSIC

Not surprisingly NME readers are completely obsessed by music. Reader research has demonstrated that they rely on the editorial and the ads to keep them up to date with new music. This knowledge then makes them the authority in music in their peer group.

FILMS

NME readers enjoy watching films, both in the cinema and at home. They tend to buy a new DVD every month (higher than the national average)

Studying NME magazine

1. Who does the magazine think you are?
The magazine thinks we're male and between the ages of 15-30, i.e. a teenager or a young adult, who processes a key interest in music. Most likely wanting to know about the latest gigs available, newest albums released and what upcoming artists have been up to. - As these three features are a big portion of what the magazie offers.

2. How do you know?
We know this is because a large amount of the pictures and artists the publishers of the magazine have interviewd are males. The colours and the overall look of the magazine is stylish and more complistic, containig colour such as dark red and silver, not necessarily the common colours you would see on a magazine aimed at females. The type of text used is also bolder and rather plain and ordinary (nothing fancy that could be compared to fonts that girls may use.) We know the readers of the magazine are going to be fairly young as all the adverts contained in the published atricle are all those that can be related more to people of a younger age, than those who are of a older generation. Such as advertisements for an ipad, a social network site and for spot cream. Another point is that language in the magazine is relaxed and informal, something that you would not often see in text that was aimed for people who are older. Lastly, we know it is aimed at people who have a key intested in music as its main focus throughout is the latest artists out and what they have been up to, as well as new albums and gigs coming up.

NME History

1960s
The paper's first issue was published on 7 March 1952. It was initially published in a non-glossy tabloid format on standard newsprint. During the 1960s the paper championed the new British groups emerging at the time. The paper became engaged in a sometimes tense rivalry with its fellow weekly music paper Melody Maker; however, NME sales were healthy with the paper selling as many as 200,000 issues per week, making it one of the UK's biggest sellers.

1970s
By the early 1970s NME had lost ground to the Melody Maker as its coverage of music had failed to keep pace with the development of rock music, particularly during the early years of psychedelia and progressive rock. In early 1972 the paper found itself on the verge of closure by its owners IPC. Alan Smith was made editor and was given a short period of time by IPC to turn things around quickly or face closure. As a result the paper's coverage changed radically from an uncritical and rather reverential showbiz-oriented paper to something intended to be smarter, hipper, more cynical and funnier than any mainstream British music paper had previously been.
In mid-1973, the paper was selling nearly 300,000 copies per week and was outstripping its other weekly rivals, Melody Maker, Disc, Record Mirror and Sounds.

1980s
However sales were dropping, and by the mid 1980s NME had hit a rough patch and was in danger of closing. During this period (now under the editorship of Ian Pye, who replaced Neil Spencer in 1985), they were split between those who wanted to write about hip hop, a genre that was relatively new to the UK, and those who wanted to stick to rock music.

1990s
The start of 1990 saw the paper in the thick of the "Madchester" scene, and covering the new British indie bands and shoegazers.

2000s
From the issue of 21 March 1998 onwards, the paper has no longer been printed on newsprint, and more recently it has shifted to tabloid size: it has full, glossy, colour covers. 2000 saw the closure of the Melody Maker (which officially merged with the NME) and many speculated the NME would be next as the weekly music magazine market was shrinking.

In May 2008 the magazine received a redesign, aimed at an older readership with a less poppy, more authoritative tone. The first issue of the redesign featured a free seven-inch Coldplay vinyl single. Circulation of the magazine has fallen continuously since 2003. In the second half of 2009, the magazine's circulation was 38,486, 47% down on a 2003 figure of 72,442. In 2010, NME partnered with
MetroLyrics to provide lyrics snippets on its web site nme.com, with full
 lyrics exposure at metrolyrics.com.

-  Information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME#History

What does the NME website offer its audience?

The NME website offers its audience a number of different opportunities. Firstly it allows them to buy tickets to gigs they may be interested in, including ones that are said to have been sold out, ensuring that they do not miss out on hearing their favourite bands. It enables them to listen to new music and the latest songs out, plus gives them the chance to write their own feedback and comment about new music and relevant topics and they can give their opinion on. As well as this, they hear about the latest news regarding music stars and gigs and they can see up to date photos of what has been going on in the media amongst the music scene. Even though fans can buy their latest bands/solo artists music the website also has its own shop online where they can buy merchandise such as t-shirts. Including all this, the website gives reviews on the most recent albums that have been released, plus the chance for fans to vote for who they think is the best British band, best international band, best solo artist, best new band, best live band and who they think deserves to win best album.

How does the NME website address its audience?

First of all you look at the appearance of the NME website, it is bright and colourful and appeals to the correct audience (probably people between the ages of 15-30). It appears very current and recent which keeps up with today’s trends. The text used on the website it kept very simple, short and straight to the point – there are no long pieces of text. This is good as people of the age category they are aimed at often don’t want to read long bits of writing. As well as this, the range of different things it has to offer, such as new music, new photos and the chance to vote bands for awards, it is very unlikely that there is nothing on the website that will appeal to a music fan, seeing as the website covers a vast range of topics and idea’s for music lovers. In conclusion, the website addresses its audience in a very relaxed yet informative manner. It manages to keep things simple, however still gives the reader the information they need/may like to know.

- Information taken from:  http://www.nme.com/