Pop magazine front cover analysis

1. Danielle Molyneux

2. • Published monthly by BBC Magazines priced at £2.10
• It features chart information, quizzes, song lyrics, posters and is seen as a
supplementary magazine for the TV show ‘ Top of the Pops’
• It was launched in February 1995 and is famous for giving the girl group
‘ The Spice Girls ‘ their nicknames
• It was originally marketed as the missing link between Smash
Hits and NME but it’s format was gradually changed, with less music
content and a demographic shift to young girls between the ages of 11-14
• Despite the TV show being cancelled the magazine is still published today
• The magazine has had several editors over the years including, Peter
Lorraine, Corinna Schaffer and Rosalie Snaith and contributing editors
including Adam Tanswell , it’s curent editor is Peter Hartmagazine
• More information can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_the_Pops_(magazine)

3. Bold masthead, use
of black shadow
makes it stand out
more attracting the
reader.
Header: Mentioning of a
free gift inside attracts the
target audience, the fact they
are cinema tickets suggests
this magazine is for a younger
audience the word ‘free’ is
written in yellow in order to
stand out and ‘cinema tickets’
is also written in a different
colour to grab the readers
attention and against the pink
background this works really
well.
Use of flasher: attracts
readers attention the
word ‘new’ is written in
yellow in order to stand
out and against the pink
background it works well
House style/colour scheme is pink yellow
white and blue, bright colours which stand out
these are typically girly colours so this suggests
the magazine is targeted at young girls
Main image is of a well known
boy pop band, this suggests
that is aimed at younger aged
people into pop music and
more likely to be females.
Coverlines: ‘soap boys’ written
in bubbly white font to grab
the readers attention and the
use of yellow font for ‘stripped’
helps to draw the reader in
more, the use of cheesy
language again suggests this
magazine is for a young
audience and as it is on about
boys ‘stripping’ it would be fair
to say this magazine is targe
-ted more at females
Pull quote- written in white
bubbly font in order to stand out,
Footer: number 7 is yellow in
again helps us to realise this mag
order to stand out along with
is targeted at a younger age group
the white bubbly text against
as language is informal/direct and
pink background makes it
cheesy more eye-catching
Barcode/date/issue no.
Logo

4. This magazine is targeted at girls aged 11-14,
with a strong interest in pop music, male and
female celebrities, gossip, TV shows, films and
make-up etc we know this because..
Main cover line: use of language
here is cheesy and informal so
therefore suggests it is aimed at
younger people, the topic being
discussed being cringes and kissing
would lead us further to believe
that it is aimed at females, we can
also see this through the choice of
colour being girly pinks/whites.
Images: main image is of a well known boy band
associated with pop and on the front cover pop
artists are featured e.g. Kelly Clarkson and girls
aloud these artists/bands are from the pop genre
Layout: is simple and easy to
follow, with the rule of thirds
being used. The simplicity of the
layout again suggests it is for a
younger target audience
Coverlines: ‘314’ is written in
Footer: mentions posters which suggests again that it is for a younger
audience, pictures of the posters which are featured inside ,
attract the target audience. And the bright coloured childlike bubbly
outstanding white attracts them
Sell line: ‘bursting with backstage
gossip’ this suggests it is for a young
female audience as they are more
likely to be interested in gossip
Use of bright eye catching feminine
colours attract the target audience
too and therefore suggests
someone interested in pop music
would read this magazine as it is
clearly from the pop genre. And
the use of well known
artists/bands being on the front
would attract them
Language used: ‘you’ll look like a
star’ this attracts the reader
making them believe that by
buying this magazine it will help
them to achieve a ‘star like’ look.
This also reinforces the idea that
the reader of this magazine would
be interested in fashion
yellow in order to stand out and the ‘and’ symbol is too, this is done to Grab the
readers attention emphasise that there is even more prizes to be won etc
and this attracts the target audience. This again suggests it is aimed at a
younger audience and as it mentions ‘party outfit's we know it is targeted
more at females

5. We love Pop is a new monthly music magazine which launched in September 2011. Each issue contains 68 pages and its target audience is
teenage girls aged between 13-15 years old. Egmont saw a gap in the market after another pop music magazine ended called Smash hits in 2006.
Smash Hits had a similar target audience to the now audience of We Love Pop and therefore when they closed there was a gap to fill for the
benefit of this age group. The reason the magazine stopped was due to social media and websites gaining in popularity. But ironically it was
social media at their disposal that helped to launch successfully We Love Pop and similarly they have Facebook and Twitter pages as well as a
website in order to provide access all areas to the latest music. We Love Pop is published by Egmont UK and has circulation figures of around
115,000.
The typical content of a We Love Pop issue are articles on artists/bands, interviews, features on film, fashion, technology, and beauty and
advertisements from companies also aiming at the teen audience such as Universal Music, Boohoo and So Fragrances.
For more information about We Love Pop visit http://www.welovepopmag.co.uk/

6. Price/barcode/ issue number/
link to webiste/ name of
publsiher
The masthead looks bold, bright and
quirky as it is slanted and the black and
orange are strong colours that stand out.
Black normally has quite negative
connotations however here it could
simply be used to make the masthead
literally “pop”. Similarly the neon orange
has connotations of happiness and
energy which sparks from the colours
used to make it (red and yellow). This
could be a representation of the young
teen audience. Orange also has
connotations of heat which could link to
how the young female audience find the
cover male “hot”.
Flasher in the black and orange creates a house style and
attracts the target audience to the fact its a new magazine. It
being new can perhaps make the audience feel they are getting
not only the latest gossip but the newest magazine, hot off the
press.
Medium Close up of a male looking flirtatious
and suggestive but in a “watershed” way due
to the audience only being 13-15 years old.
There is a direct eye contact which pierces
through to the reader and create a real
intimate feel as its like he is looking at the
reader.
He is part of a very popular band (One
Direction) extremely popular with teenage
girls so having him on the cover can attract
the core audience as well as passers by. What
is interesting is how the magazine only has
one member as opposed to the whole band,
however they actually have produced five
different front covers including this one with
each member and his story on. They are
encouraging their target audience to buy
them all or as they call it “collect”. This can
show the magazine going the extra mile to
satisfy their target audience. Also it may have
been that having a long shot of the band
would mean that the female audience
wouldn’t be able to have a proper look at
their idols. Therefore the solution is doing separate
copies!
Main Coverline
Footer explaining some of the
content which are free posters of
stars (mostly males for the female
audience). Its sort of like a
covermount.
Cover lines, including features on fashion, beauty
and also about boys, dealing with bullies and the X
Factor, all of which are very key elements in the
target audiences lives.
There are supplementary images
used which are crucial for this
age group as they are attracted
to an image led magazine.
The pop of yellow in the flasher and in the “poster
perfection” lexis adds variety, links to the happiness
the audience feel when they see the magazine and
its content and draws the readers eye to what the
magazine are selling this month. Including that its a
“The Boy Band Issue” which suits the young female
audience.
Rule of thirds used creating a smart and
modern layout which can reflect the
content and the audience
Liam, on the cover looks quite casual and can create a
relaxed feel to the magazine that appeals to the
audience who want a fun and informative magazine that
entertains and is not too serious even though its about
music which is a discipline. Similarly the background is
simple making the cover star , the supplementary
images and the copy stand out.
The yellow arrow can link to the band
(One Direction) as an arrow can
denote direction.