Looking at this contents page, it is denoted that NME is all about new music, bands and gigs. The index is called a ‘Band Index’ so it is clear what the main focus should be, but looking at the pictures we get the impression that the magazine is more about showing how to have a good time. The captions for each image sounds more like a joke.
Gender is represented as being equal, the styles of the men and women on this contents page do not appear to be very different from each other; the only image that really signifies the different roles of men and women is of Kate Nash and Regina Spektor. They are both holding a cup of tea, it could be that they are having a tea party, stereotypically this is classed as a female, and childish, habit.
NME represents different subcultures by the way they sing, dress and act, I suppose, their style of music has to be unique in some way or another to make it into the magazine. Indie is a dress sense which has become more and more popular through NME and the bands they feature in their magazines. People are beginning to dress with skinny jeans and shirts, keeping their hair long and messy or otherwise, in the female’s case, they would wear dresses with leggings. Girls appear to be more doll-like with their flowing dresses or various colours, long or short messy hair with little hair clips, and also facial make-up of bright colours. Indie has made comeback with leather jackets and a ‘cool rockstar’ look too. These representations relate to readership by providing the ideal partner for girls, and ideal self for boys, especially boys in bands.
There is a limited range of representations for men and women in this magazine, clearly from the clothing and actions, men and women who appear in this magazine must have a certain quality or just have a habit of doing random silly stuff to get NME’s attention. The girls cannot be dressed in Barbie pink and wear frilly dresses. They have a different way to girls which would appear in fashion magazines. Its more about uniqueness and simplicity, Kate Nash’s appears to be wearing a simple dress with nothing to show off.
The kinds of bands, musicians and celebrities who feature in this magazine are always the ones who will give inspiration to young adults and teenagers alike. Sid will have featured in NME because of his role in Skins, teenagers will have adored him and thought he was cool. It would be another reason to pick the magazine up off the shelves.