Music publication through what was relevant in society

Dear Miss Bethany Sharp,

I have done extensive research into the following magazines in order to conclude their success as a music publication through what was relevant in society.

NME

1950’s

What was Society like?

It was the end of wartime rationing from World War 2 and there was now a consumer society. Teenagers had now been given spending power but no means of entertainment but magazines. Rock ‘n roll hit the scene with a new audience, the emerging youth culture had now taken the music scene and Rock was now dismissed by older generations. This type of music was popular mostly with teenagers who were trying to break out of the mainstream idea of the middle class. Also, The US had now created their own Hot 100 Music Charts

– NME responded to the change in Society so because teenagers wanted to break out of the idea of middle class that Editors decided to publish adds in the magazines content ‘wanted: hip young gun slingers’. NME did this so that they could get new, fresh writers who represented part of the audience; therefore they were part of the music scene and would have a more informal mode of address, therefore relate as well as appeal to them, creating success for the magazine.

– NME responded to the change in Society that the US had now created a music chart, so NME they decided to introduce the first British Pop charts. It appealed to the audience and created success as it was the best selling singles chart in the UK and in a sense influenced the audience in what to listen to and what was part of the music scene.

1960’s

What was Society like?

London spent much of its time swinging and dancing as much of the music scene. The nation became more obsessed with political and cultural events. The British invasion of rock and roll, beat and pop performers now appeared by performers such as The Beatles.

– NME responded to the change in Society to embraced the new British groups emerging at the time; The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were arguably the two most renowned groups to emerge during this 60’s and they were frequently featured on the front cover.

– NME responded to the change in Society because it was between January and June 1964, NME’s sales peaked to 306,881 that as the Beatles and the rolling stones were taking on the music scene, NME was left to track the new rock music.

2000’s

What was Society like?

Society has now become multi-platform and fast paced because of all the new mediums and the use of synergy – technology has now become a necessity to everyday life

– NME responded to the change in Society as technology was becoming more used in everyday life, i.e. the internet, NME felt that it might lose sales as factors such as piracy and easy accessible information can come about, so NME absorbs part sister/rival publication melody maker in 2000.

– NME responded to the change in Society because technology was becoming more widespread that NME decided to feature on radio and television coverage in order to become more multi-platform and thus making it more successful

– It appealed to the audience because NME had coverage on NME awards and weekly NME chart show on MTV2. NME had taken further steps than being just a magazine.

– NME responded to the change in Society so the NME magazine as the music scene was becoming younger, NME introduced Club NME nights across Britain and to the US.

Smash Hits

Late 1970’s/1980’s

What was Society like?

Society was now full of mass unemployment and there were now a social unrest- people where now angry at the government and there were now anti-rebellion teens. Punk was introduced and the idea of being rebellious, bands like the sex pistols started to make the music scene.

– NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine As the new music scene was young socialites and looking good was important, Smash Hits was a new glossy magazine for younger audiences . It used niches which appealed to younger audiences because it focused around “trivia” (What is your favourite colour? etc.) they used this informal mode of address to create success

– It appeals to the audience to create success because it talks about lives and gossip, something the audience was looking for.

– NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine as the magazine was talking to a new audience it created a new mode of address; it was now informal and colloquial – chatty because it had to represent the audience in order to create success.

1980’s

What was Society like?

Cable and MTV were introduced; it had an enormous impact on the music and young people. The CD revolutionized the music industry. Music such as Pop, Rock, new wave, Punk, country, Rap and Hip-hop became popular.

– NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine It was because the music scene had became widespread and there were much more genres that Smash hits went on to hire many respected journalists

2000’s

What was Society like?

Society has now become multi-platform and fast paced because of all the new mediums and the use of synergy – technology has now become a necessity to everyday life

– NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine a whole new range of platforms including Television, the internet, mobile and so on were introduced, the magazine became multi-platform as the audience became more industrialised to create success

– It appealed to the audience because Today’s teens wanted faster, deeper information about music at a faster rate of accessing information, they were now able to do so.

– NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazines started to notice that the group allegiances to pop and rock had changed, magazine realised it had to change so became more multi-platform

– Magazines became more synergised, using television, radio, websites etc. This was because technology was growing and so was the young audience.

– NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine Because the audience and the music scene were changing, the magazine had to change. Smash hits decided to keep the genre the same although it became multi-platform.

– It didn’t appeal to the audience and the audience moved on, however it managed to continue using different mediums such as television, digital radio and website services

Sniffin’ Glue

Late 1970’s/1980’s

What was Society like?

Society was now full of mass unemployment and there were now a social unrest- people where now angry at the government and there were now anti-rebellion teens. Punk was introduced and the idea of being rebellious, bands like the sex pistols started to make the music scene.

– NME responded to the change in Society so the Sniffin’ Glue magazine Young socialites wanted to be part of the music scene, so they wanted to belong to a group, The Sniffin’ Glue publication is one that is a fanzine

– It appealed to the audience because this means it is exclusively made by fans for fans for a specific genre – Punk Zine, this meant the audience could relate to Gigs and so on. It also appealed to the audience because it meant that it could remain very Punk and shocking through the mode of address such as the aggressive and vulgar language but managed to remain very political toward the audience through the points it made.

– NME responded to the change in Society so the Sniffin’ Glue magazine It was because the audience wanted to be heard that the publisher Perry encourages reader to make their own fanzines so sniffin’ glue had less circulation

– It appealed to the audience because it Introduced the British punk culture and DIY Punk ethic so fans created their own fanzines. By doing this they kept the audiences demands and met theirs, overall creating success

– It appealed to the audience as the mode of address was very opinionated, they were able to say what they wanted a it was a non-profit fanzine

– They appealed to the audience as they represented them through the cover as it very punk and shocking almost making a political statement