LIIAR: Oasis NME Contents

Language: The cover uses two main images of Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher show that even though this is a much older issue they are still very much the prominent figures even now and then. On the left you can see a band index, showing that NME used to put the music as most important not so long ago, however this has now disappeared. This was there so that you could pick up a copy and then see whether the band that you like is in there and it also helps to show the huge wealth of music in the magazine, and how important this is the magazines ethos. The masthead is also on this page because it is only the first page and makes the contents reemit the NME feel, and makes it proud to be NME. Next to this is the title ‘This Week’ rather than just a contents page because this makes it seem more like the highlights from the magazine than just your average contents which simple lists all the articles. The central feature is longer because it is outlining the main article; also it is about one of the biggest bands around at the time so therefore has to have a larger place because of this. The right hand side contents list has article omitted to make it briefer and lists all of the features, with page numbers next to the few of these articles featured. This makes it seem like there is more in the magazine than there probably is. At the bottom there is a subscription advert, this is conventional for most magazines because the contents is the first page that you see and also because it will usually have a little space left over for things like this. The colour scheme continues the traditional NME colours, black, white and red and uses yellow on the subscription advert because it stands out very well against the other colours used because it is bright and different, and very abstracted from the other colourings. The entire font is clear and easy to read which is conventional for all contents pages because it makes it easier to find articles and features that you are looking for in the magazine and also makes it look a lot more professional.

Institution: NME is created by IPC media which creates a magazine for every audience, the other magazine most closely related to NME is UNCUT which focuses on older music like classic rock, therefore NME has a specific, yet large wealth of artists/bands who are new to cover.

Ideology: The idea behind this magazine is to create a magazine which explores and highlights good new music and this is displayed on the contents because of the bands index which lists them no matter how obscure they may be, therefore continuing the trend of new music. It does however have to cover older bands too, who may not be as obscure because these are the cover bands who get people to buy the magazine. Although the magazine contents have to be very bold in order to attract attention, however it cannot diverge from the conventional smartness of the magazine and the element of refinement in the magazine.

Audience: NME is aimed at 16 – 25 year old male and female, even though the bands included are most probably more masculine therefore aimed at men more. NME covers quite non-specific genres because it has a lot of other genres as well as rock/indie for example it does look at hip hop/ rap very briefly in a few issues. They have to do this in order to fit in with the New music brief that they have, and with it being new music, it has to look at a wider range of genres, which are all new.  

Representation: The contents page has to represent the magazine well and also in a just way rather than being completely abstracted from the rest of the magazine, because if it did then none of the magazine would look like it fitted and the whole magazine would then look like a shoddy publication, resulting in a lot less people reading the magazine. The contents represents the rest of the magazine because it continues the use of the same colour scheme, which means that it sits well, which results in the magazine looking a lot more professional and makes it work better. As well as this though the contents has to represent the audience, so therefore needs to look fresh and new, like a lot of NME readers are. This is done by using colours like white and red because they are fresher and then the black helps to refine this and give the page some maturity and definition rather than it be a mass of different overwhelming colours which have no relevance to the rest of the magazine and this page.    

LIIAR: Liam Gallagher NME Double Page Spread

Language:  By using bold serif capitals  writing as a masthead for the left page of the double page spread it ensures that you see it and also that it still retains it formal and refined roots from the start of the magazine. The colour scheme words well for this part too because it is using NME’s trademark colourings and also it keeps it from looking tacky while not letting it be dull. The main image spread across the whole of the right page works well because Liam Gallagher is an instantly recognisable character, especially because of his leery look with Beatles-ish glasses and Paul Weller hair, which only a true fame monger can pull off. There is a short paragraph or so tagline below this masthead which tells you about the article and him before you begin to read the whole lengthy article (around 3 pages of writing) also this serves as an introduction to the piece. The writing is organised into columns which are arranged in thirds of the page, this is quite unique to NME as most other music magazines conventionally use wider columns which take up more of the page. Unconventionally NME use this in order to give it more of the feel of a newspaper article and it could be connoted from this; the feel of it being more serious news which must be read, rather than just being a music magazine. Liam appears here promoting his new band ‘Beady Eye’ and it could be argued that the use of circles in the piece supports this, for example the article begins with a large O and also a quote from his is seen inside a circle which I think could be a subconscious reference to the name of the band, and you could even go as far as to say that his sunglasses also support this theory.

Institution: NME is controlled by IPC media, an expansive company which controls magazines which are all aimed at specific audiences which can be seen here because it is aimed at people who are older (younger people don’t need so much refinement in a magazine) and also because I think that this issue is also aimed at consumer who are not weekly readers because it has him on the cover, which will be aimed at an older generation or at least people who grew up listening to his music.

Ideology: The ideology of the magazine is to provide a good, refined interview with Liam Gallagher which reflects the age and maturity of his new band, while making it look good, clean and like a fresh interview, rather than ‘just another’ Liam Gallagher interview. This interview has to attract both young and old audiences because he is a figure who is sort of in the ‘twilight’ if you will because he is in-between both age ranges / generations. The language of the interview is kept very informal, which is conventional for all music magazines, however NME seems to deviate from music a lot more than other magazines; for example Q magazine highlights all bands when mentioned whereas at least on this page not one other band is mentioned, showing that NME is more obsessed with celebrity and almost ‘gossip’ than magazines like Q. However, this could be put down to it being aimed at a younger audience whom want to know more about their idols personally, strengths, weaknesses and opinions. The main image portrays Liam in a classic pose, fairly leery or at least imposing with classic hands in pockets and leaning forwards.  The clothes are over the top, but this is to show and emphasize his own clothing brand and because he has always been quite a controversial dresser.

Audience:  I think that this piece is aimed at both the weekly NME readers who read for other features and also at Oasis/Beady Eye fans because NME’s typical readership are young people aged around 16 -25 however a lot of Oasis fans are older than this, therefore Liam’s interview being so big means that it could probably have been used in order to pull in other readers more interested in him than the rest of the magazine. Because of this, NME has to fine tune a balance which caters for both types of readers. They have done this by using a formal styles coupled with simplistic and minimalist styles for younger readers as to appeal to the too.

Representation: The pages represent Liam and the magazine similarly, in a very informal, yet matured and refined style. It does this to Liam because of the topics chosen and the photos which are used for him, and it does this for the magazine by using serif typestyles which even when work emboldened very well and look very refined. The white pages works very well because they are quite formal yet look clean and fresh, which is how they are trying to portray a renewed Liam Gallagher and his band.