NME

CONTENTSANALYSIS

NME’S STYLE

NME as a brand views itself as the broadsheet

newspaper of the music industry and is held

in high regard by rock music faithful. Despite

wanting to appeal to a younger generation

NME has set itself up to be more of a

newspaper, which the paper type, size and

layout connoting this. Their brand image

works because they are viewed by many as

the newspaper of the youth. Those that want

to feel disconnected from society, purposely

seeking individualism are the key to NME’s

success. By aiming their brand towards youth

and individuals as well as the music faithful

NME has become one of the most successful

music magazines. Their contents page is

perhaps the most like a broadsheet news

paper and is made up mainly of an image wall

with a few editorial pillars. Consequently it

connotes this upmarket theme that they

desire.

TIT

LE

The title on this TOC is incredibly similar to what

you would expect on the front cover of a

broadsheet news paper. However it is slightly

dumbed down and geared towards it’s owns

readership. The title is simple but yet easily

recognizable. It means the contents stand out in

the magazine. This title is also very easy to scan

quickly and consequently it needs little around it.

EDITORIAL

PILLARS

Editorial pillars are the

features and sections that are

consistent throughout all of

the issues. The most

noticeable thing about the

NME editorial pillars is that

they are often one word, or

no more than two. This is key

because it shows their

relationship with their

audience. As an institution

they have noted that their

readers do not want to read

long titles , they want to

quickly be able to zone in on

the appropriate content. The

language used for these is

also simple and related to the

rock genre.

FEATURES AND

PICTURE WALL

The features in the TOC page all have pictures and pull quotes to accompany them. Using pull quotes in the contents page is becoming increasingly common but is still borderline unconventional. NME is one of the few institutions that have this style. The images have large page numbers, the idea being that readers can identify the band and skim to their article. This is again to reduce to effort of the reader and make the magazine more generic and suitable for all audiences.

The NME contents style is very blocky

and regimented. The articles are all

formed to fit in individual boxes. They

are as symmetrical as possible and

they designate the major articles. The

lager pictures draw the eye to the set

articles. The faces of larger artists are

used as almost selling points for the

magazine. For example, The Rolling

Stones’ Mick Jagger, is an icon

amongst modern music and so his

story is placed in the center. This spot

is often graced with rock icons such

as Noel Gallagher. The idea of this is

to highlight the feature article, but

keep it linked with all of the

surrounding stories. The smaller

artists have wider shots and the more

prestigious the more close the shots

are.

LAYOUT ANALYSIS

WHAT I LIKE

I particularly like the alternating shot styles. I think

that the different colours are important because they

give a different dynamic to the contents. The close

up shots of important artists are also equally good. I

particularly like the strong bold page numbers. They

stand out and are clear, meaning readers can

identify the artist they want to read about and find

the page number, all whist not needing to spend a

great deal of time reading the explanatories. The pull

quotes and different fonts are also a nice touch. The

NME contents fits with the style of the rest of tha

magazine and particularly the headline-making

nature of rock stars. Hence why the news paper

style is particularly fitting.