This document analyzes the contents pages of four music magazines: NME, Q Magazine, We Love Pop, and The Fly. It finds that NME, Q Magazine, and We Love Pop follow standard conventions for music magazine contents pages, while The Fly deviates from these conventions. Key conventions included are mastheads, band indexes, images relating to main stories, issue dates, contents listings, and advertising banners. The document concludes it will model its own music magazine contents page after NME, following most conventions while also incorporating a band index sidebar for easy navigation.

1. MUSIC MAGAZINES

2. Masthead= The iconic NME masthead
is included at the top left of the
contents page to reinforce the fact its
NME‟s contents page.
Band Index= The band index is a
quick navigation system for readers
to find the bands they‟re interested
in and skip to the page they are
featured on.
Main image= The main image
relates to the main headline on the
page, which advertises one of the
main features of the magazine (not
necessarily the main feature from
the cover).
Ad Banner/Puff & plug= NME have
used an Ad banner to advertise a
subscription scheme for the
magazine. The writing is bold and
in bright yellow to draw the
readers eye to it.
This Week= A short and snappy name
for the contents page featuring the issue
date underneath in small print. It‟s in
capitals so it is bold and instantly grabs
the readers attention.
Contents= The contents that will be featured
within the magazine is displayed to the right
of the page and is separated into categories
to make it clearer and easier for the reader
to understand and navigate. It also gives
the magazine and organised structure.
Main story= In bold, black writing so to
stand out.
Buzz words= Some buzz words are featured to
grab the readers attention and draw them in to
read that specific article. In this case “kicked
off” is used to create excitement and to stand
out from the rest of the sentence. “Plus” is
another example used to make the reader think
they‟re getting extra content.

3. Q magazine has a double paged
contents page which is deviating from
the codes & conventions of most
magazines, having only one contents
page. I think this is because Q is such
a large magazine with a lot of content,
they need a larger contents.
Issue number is clear and featured at the top
of the page, so it is immediately seen.
Masthead= Iconic masthead
„Q‟ is featured so people
easily recognise it.
Regulars= The regulars
list is the parts of the
magazine that are
featured every week but
just with different artists
and films etc. This is
unusual and again
deviates away from the
codes & conventions of
most music magazines.
Features= List of features
within the magazine with
page numbers and a small
description.
Images= To display the main
features Q uses several
images randomly placed
around the pages in an
abstract fashion so to make
the contents visually
interesting and draw the
reader in . Each image has
a page number for easy
navigation.
Main image= The main
feature (that relates to
the cover) is the biggest
picture on the left page,
and is what the reader
looks at first. The page
number is beneath it,
also clear and bold.
There is a simple, coordinating colour scheme
featured throughout the magazine, and is
evident on the contents page.
Puff & Plug= This
advertises a story (in this
case a review) that will be
within the magazine and
shares a small part of it
with the reader, with the
intention that they‟ll read
on inside the magazine.

4. Puff & plug= Instantly grabs the
readers attention and tells them
what extras they are getting with
this issue.
Masthead= Featured at the top right hand
corner so it will defi9nitley be recognised by
the reader, if not at first glance, when they
turn the page instead.
Editors note= Short section always on the left
third of the contents page, explaining what the
magazines about etc. and is written by the Editor
of the magazine. Most music magazines don‟t
have an editors note/ letter, and it is more
common for gossip, celeb and fashion
magazines. I think We Love Pop has used this as
although being a music magazine, it adopts a
gossipy, celeb style to it‟s writing and features
etc. This means it is deviating from the codes &
conventions of music magazines.
Simple, coordinated & complimentary
colour scheme to make the page more
visually appealing and interesting.
Pull quote= Gives the
reader a snippet of the
article, therefore making
them want to read on. It
is usually taken out of
the main article, and this
case it has been.
Inside this month= The main bulk of the
contents including bold page numbers.
Images= There are several images on
this contents page helping to show
readers all the different content the
magazine has to offer. Some of these are
in the right third accompanied by pull
quotes, captions and page numbers, two
are used for the editors letter and the
poster banner, and the largest image
relates to the main feature (probably
Web address and actual page
Banner= The banner at
the bottom acts as a puff
& plug showing the
posters you get free (as
an extra) with this issue.

5. Issue date= Featured stretching across
the top of contents page and is bold and
coloured red and one of the first things
you read. This is unusual as the date isn‟t
one of the most important parts of a
contents page.
Contents= The title of the page is
called „Contents‟ and is very, very
small and can hardly be seen
behind the issue date. This is
deviating away from the codes &
conventions of music magazines.
Tagline= Going down the
left hand side of the page
vertically, is the
magazines tagline. This
is the slogan or
catchphrase coined by
the magazine that it‟s
readers will recognise
and associate with The
Fly.
Main image= The main image is
very large and takes up at least
two thirds down of the page. It
features a page number, and
elates to the main article and
most probably the cover image.
Compared to most music
magazines, this contents page is
very different as it contains only
one image, which is the intended
main focus and most important
feature in the magazine.
Contents= Is very limited and only
the features the important articles
that will be inside. The most
important ones are in fact
underlined to grab the readers
attention.

6. After analysing four different covers of popular music
magazines all sporting different genres, I have found
that NME, Q Mag. And We love pop, follow the codes
& conventions of music magazines whereas The Fly
completely deviates and has it‟s own unique style,
which could relate to the genre of music it is based on
(alternative and small, upcoming artists). I have
decided to that my music magazine will follow most of
the codes & conventions and I am also going to
incorporate a side panel similar to NME‟s band index
into my contents page as I feel it looks good, makes
the page interesting and is a simpler and quicker way
of navigation for the readers who perhaps want to find
things really quickly etc.