LIIAR: Liam Gallagher NME contents page

Language: The contents page of NME is conventional for music magazine because it uses a lot of images in a spread out way which makes it very accessible because it is so open and more inter active. It does however have a small list which shows the main, regular features of the magazine, this is conventional because all music magazines have a list containing the main features of the magazine. Quotes from artists interviewed are anchored just below the image, these are generally the most rude or controversial comment for the article, because it is still aimed at young people. Also because it is a music magazine these parts of interviews help us to see another side of those who are being interviewed, rather than being on the pedestals we place them on. It is in a simple black and white colour scheme to keep it simple and easily read because it does not need a lot of colour or excitement, this would detract from the articles stated. Although it is still a mixture, NME now uses more Serif fonts than it used to, which is because it has started to look more refined because now it has the age to support the legendary status of the magazine. This is becoming quite the trend for music magazine, Q although always being refined, has become a lot smarter and more professionally designed than it used to be. On the bottom right NME utilises the space to put in an advert for subscription over Christmas, this will be conventional in most magazines at this time of year (November) as they want to use any free space in order to plug their own product so that they do have a definite readership for the coming year.

Institution: IPC media is the publishing house which produces NME and rather than having it all published by the same people all their magazines are ran separately in separate offices so therefore this magazine will not look the same as UNCUT for example ( another IPC product).

Ideology: The ideology on the cover is continued on the contents page, the more famous on the page (Liam Gallagher and Tom Meighan) are placed at the top of the page and centrally in order to be seen and read, the lesser articles are spread around them. This placement shows how the magazine focuses on the more famous musicians but uses them in order to introduce other artists, because you would not buy the magazine if there was no one you knew in it. However it does keep a lot of unheard of acts in the contents as these are all featured musicians with article about them or interviews with them.  The layout makes it look more formal and well designed by being quite simplistic and spacious, whilst the pictures keep it easy to read and not overbearing, just as a contents should be.

Audience: NME is aimed at 16 – 19 year old men who have a keen interest in music. This contents represents this because it uses acts who are either not much older than their target audience (20’s ) so therefore more of the targeted audience are likely to buy it because they see people alike to themselves.

Representation:  NME as of late has started to represent itself in a much more formal, professional way which is reflected here by the serif fonts and minimalistic spacious designs. However it does keep its youth appeal by still using bold sans serif fonts so that it does not look ‘boring’ like it may if the font/ design looked too old.