NME contents page analysis

This is a contents page for the NME magazine, it is a conventional magazine for many reasons. First of all it is informative which is the purpose of a contents page. The is only two images of band members of oasis, one image is slightly bigger than the other (image on the right). This image I would consider the main image, as it is of a member of Oasis we can say that this is a conventional feature of Rock magazines as Oasis are commonly used in Rock magazines. There fame and success attracts audiences who are fans of rock music, which it can be argued is NME's target audience. The image has the band members wearing stereotypical rock clothing, this is possibly done so that audiences can identify the magazine as rock magazine. Also the artist are holding the props a guitar and microphone which also associate the magazine to the rock genre. As the main images are not consuming most of the space on the contents page this contents page is more textual than visual. This makes it a more conventional magazine contents page but as in this case the contents page is very textual so I would say that this makes the contents page attract a slightly older audience as it is assumed that this age group is not pleased or ammused by images as opposed to texts. But I would not say that this magazine is targetting a very old audience of professionals as there is no sign of sophistication. Also the age of the artists in the main images is quite old making it more appealing to a older audience.

The masthead is also presented in the contents page which is promoting the magazines brand identity. Also I believe that this unconventional as the actual masthead is more commonly only used in the front cover in most magazines. The typography of the masthead is bold and strong connoting the success of the company and adding to the magazines brand identity. The colour red used in the masthead makes the contents page seem more attractive and eyecatching which is key as NME normally attract a younger audience. 

There is a lot of text in this magazines contents page making it seem as though the magazine has a lot of contents and is therefore worth purchasing to consumers. The text used to present the features and page numbers is quite basic and does not connote much. It is however, slightly fresh and youthful making it more appealing to a younger audience. Most of the text is either presented in black or white so the magazine's contents page is being consistent in its choice of colours which is conventional presentational device used in most contents pages to make the contents page seem more professional and attractive to consumers. 

The colour red is used quite a lot to present other features like puffs and band index. The red makes he contents page seem more attractive and visual which it seems to lack as it based mostly around texts, which is conventional of most magazine contents page as there purpose is not to attract consumers but to inform. 

There is also a offer or discount advert at the bottom of the contents page which gives consumers a oppurtinuity to save money and order a subscription. This has been a conventional aspect of music magazines in recent uears due to the proliferation of the internet. The proliferation of the internet has meant that music magazines of all genres have suffered in terms of profit so have had to add tie-ins to their magazines. These tie-ins also help to attract the consumers to purchase the magazine again as they believe they will save money.

Overall, this music magazines contents page is a conventional example. It carries out the function of a contents page which is to inform, this is visible in the layout as there is a lot of text throughtout the contents page. Although this particle magazine lacks images it still looks professional. However, this contents page seems to attract a older audience which is unusual as NME magazine normally target a younger audience who are fans of rock music.