The document analyzes the front cover, contents page, and double page spread of a pop music magazine. The front cover analysis summarizes that the main image shows a recognizable pop singer covered in blood, linking to the masthead and headline. The contents page shows medium shots of pop icons with direct eye contact. Sections are clearly labeled with curvy text. The double page spread features a main image of Nicki Minaj with direct address, while the article headline contrasts her image with the word "Gospel."

1. Music Magazine Analysis
By Ellen Tozer

2. Front Cover
Masthead ‘Q’
Red colour is
consistent
With masthead and
Blood dripping over
model
Main heading
Main picture
linking to main
heading and is
an icon
Text is scripted as looks handwritten
Subheadings/
cover lines

3. The genre of the magazine I have chosen for the front cover analysis is pop, the
genre can be identified straight away as the main picture is of a ‘pop singer’ who
is recognizable, if not recognizable then her name is scripted to give the
audience a less formal feel and as though she’s signed it for them herself.
Masthead :
An iconic sign from the front cover is the masthead the ‘q’ is a very common magazine
throughout stores and is recognized for the boldness of the colour red. This draws the
audience in as the red has connotations of love but also danger, red also catches the
eye of the audience. The typography of the Q is serif this is because it looks formal
and fancy. Just from this we can tell the magazine is more for adults and late teens
and less for the childlike and youthful age group. The preferred readers will see what
the producers want them to, being drawn in, however the oppositional readers will see
it as being bad and negative like dangerous.
Main Image :
The main image of ‘Lana Del Rey’ is a medium shot just above the waist of her
posing as a sort of
zombie/bloody prom queen. The red blood links the to mast head of the
magazine showing danger or romance in this case danger comes more clear to
the iconic signs as the reader will think of an accident. The sliver crown on her
head has connotations of being rich, have more money and having a higher
power this becomes clear to the her, however on the main image the body
language looks normal and not snobby so we get two sides to her. The lighting
is brighter and coming from the right side of the upper face, highlighting the
blood. The preferred readers will see a prom queen covered in blood which the
producers want to convey this links to the audience because they have all been
to prom and Lana Del Rey is around the target audience age. However the
oppositional reading of the image is that prom ad Lana Del Rey’s music is bad
and giving the wrong impression. audience that we have to look up to
Main headline/Story :
The main headline clearly links to the main image of
the word ‘bloody’ liking to the blood on the artists
face. Its an iconic sign to the audience as they know
it links, it’s giving a rhetorical question to the
audience as the producers don’t want it to be
answered but look through magazine (buy it) and
know it. The typography of the text is serif with no
fancy writing and seems formal to the reader. The
repetition of ‘so’ allows it to be more casual and less
structured with it, its as though they’re having a
normal conversation and wanting an answer.
However the oppositional readers may see it as
being wanting to catch the attention by repeating a
word, however want another word to be repeated as
‘So’ does not catch your attention as much as they’d
hope. The word ‘bloody’ makes you think of being
angry and uncomfortable with something around,
linking to the target audience’s age its when more
dangers come into their life and they can also relate
with Lana Del Rey’s age too.

4. Front Cover
Masthead - serif as
making it look more
formal
Anchorage
Main heading – sans serif
as doesn't’t look formal
Main image
House style is girly
and pink colours with
a female icon
Subheadings
Pug/Puff

5. The genre of the magazine I have chosen for the front cover analysis is pop, the genre can be
identified straight away as the main picture is of a ‘pop singer’ who is recognizable, if not
recognizable then her name is scripted to give the audience a less formal feel and as though
she’s signed it for them herself. The target audience is around 15-25 due to having a more
older style layout and house style.
Masthead :
An iconic sign from the front cover is the masthead the
‘billboard’ The texts is serif and is formal and military like.
However the ‘b’ and ‘o’ and hidden by the model/singer Katy
Perry, this might suggest she has a higher power and industry
than ‘Billboard’ itself otherwise the producers would have put
the name in front of Katy Perry or move her lower down the
page. However the oppositional readers may see Katy Perry as
being too cocky and up herself a little as being in front and
bigger than the magazine name. But the preferred readers wills
see it just being normal because she doesn't’t have a say and
tits the producers layout they have chosen. There are three
colours in the middle of the masthead red, blue and yellow.
Red being more love, blue being ore calming and yellow more
energetic, so all meaning different but combined nicely
together.
Main Image :
Katy Perry is covered up apart from her arms, the drooping of the flowers give her connotations
of love, peace and kindness. The whole image dominates the page covering half of the masthead
representing she is higher than the magazine. Her facial expressions show a more innocent, shy
and childlike look as though she’s on the verge between moody and happy this can be bad as
oppositional readers will see her as being moody and preferred readers will be happy or just
hiding her feelings. By not smiling in her pose, this gives her body language a more secretive look
about her, which gives the audience the chance to think she’s hiding something which could
maybe be revealed inside the magazine. She’s holding the flowers to her chest so she wants them
there, this tells the audience she’s caring and can look after thing with the littlest meanings. They
have used a main image who is a pop artist and has fans which are around 13-18, however the
target audience age is around 15-25 giving it a more juvenile look about it.
Main Cover Story:
The main cover story line
helps the image and is like a
companion for it, it tells the
audience who the main icon is
i.e. ‘Katy Perry’. Although she
is a world famous music artist
and the target audience will
recognize her name clearly,
having her name in a big, bold
font makes her the main focus
of the magazine and will
captures the audiences
attention and bring them in.
Just the name allows the
audience to recognize her
without having a huge
anchorage below it. They call
her the ‘queen of pop’ which
has connotations of rich, high
end and royal even though the
opposing audience may see
this as mocking her because
its obvious she isn’t royalty,
however the audience may
think its honoring her in doing
something good or for how far
she’s come in life, so there are
two meanings and it depends
what way you take it yourself.

6. Contents Page
Scripted text
Medium photo shot of
main image icons
Pugg/puffs
5 sections of the magazine
The house style is
colourful and youthful
Main image of previous
Front cover page

7. The genre of the magazine I have chosen for the front cover analysis is pop, the genre
can be identified straight away as the main images and secondary images are of ‘pop
singers’ who are all recognizable, it’s a more youthful magazine as shown through the
colours and subheadings of sections, also the artist shown are for younger ages so the
target audience is about 12-17.
Image shots :
An iconic sign from the contents
page’s images are mainly medium
shots just above their waists, apart
from the repetition of the front cover
which is just above medium shot of
‘Selena Gomez’. One of the images
of one direction links to the
subheading of ‘We ‘heart’ boys’ to
show there is a meaning behind the
image. The lighting of the image in
bright and mainly on the faces on the
3 boys, this allows the audience to
know they’re important and need to
be recognized. The preferred readers
will see all images of icons as being
positive and uplifting. They have
direct eye contact to the audience to
let them feel involved.
House style :
The house style is really important especially for this magazines age group, they want to see a
continuous layout throughout because it’s easier to follow and also read. The house style of this magazine is more youthful and girly
colours, using pink, white and yellow. Pink represents being nice because it’s the sweeter side of the colour red, yellow represents
being bright, joyous and full of energy and white represents being positive and fresh. We see the repetition of the yellow and white
from the main image of their front cover. The house style on this contents page has connotations of being girly, youthful and
welcoming which the preferred reading will see which is what the producers would want them to. However the oppositional readers
may see it as being to sexist against boys and not including them therefore it’surely just a teenage girl magazine. The use of scripted
text (more handwritten) allows the reader to feel its more casual and less formal, they can relax and its how young teens would write
so they feel connected.
Sections :
Having 5 sections clearly labeled and reliable to the
audience helps them know what’s inside the
magazine but in more detail, the use of
anchorage allows more detail to be given but not too
much to bore the audience. The white background
allows any colour text to be used, the text is more
curvy than normal which gives it a relaxed feel and
less formal and military. The boldness of each
headline in the sections is easy to read as has a
more relaxed feeling using sans serif fonts, it not too
formal but easy to understand. Each section has
parts highlighted in yellow which makes it stand out
more and draws the audiences attention a lot better.
The page numbers are there just so the audience
knows where to go to. The preferred readers will get
the producers idea to make it easier for them to read
and drawing their attention and less girly,
oppositional readers may see it more as more girly
and less on the helping side.

8. Contents Page
Subheadings
Main image
has a more
opened up
body language
and direct eye
contact (direct
address)
Block quote
Section of magazine making
the layout look more
appropriate for my target
audience
Masthead repeated
from front cover
Subheading linked
to main image
Anchorage under
each subheading
Medium shot
of icon

9. Body Language:
Having a famous artist not only draws in the audience but allows
the audience to know what genre the magazine is. The shot of
Duffy is a medium shot from the waist up with her facial
expressions having connotations of being happy, excited and joyful.
Being covered up apart from arms lets her be comfortable and not
just people buying the magazine for the model but for the content
inside. Her facial expressions too show a loud feel like she's
shouting at you to buy the magazine and get all the hot gossip, but
also her arm moved to the front is like a stop sign maybe because
we have to look at this specific contents page or its about allowing
down and enjoying it while its hear however that goes against her
fiery and upbeat body language
The genre of the magazine I have chosen for the contents page analysis is ‘pop’, the
genre can be identified straight away as the main picture is of a ‘pop singer’ who is
recognizable, if the target audience don’t recognize the artist her name is printed on the
first main story which gives the readers more details on her. Also her names Is under the
‘features’ category so is making her seem special and common, the target audience for
this piece would be more older teenagers who are into more ‘Pop/rock’
Layout:
The layout of this pop contents page from a music magazine
is one where it looks chaotic and messy when really its not
very busy and actually quite minimal and bare this is good to
most readers (preferred readers) his type of layout has a
more relaxed feeling to it, with the different sections but also
headlines it allows it to be easy to get around an you can pick
and chose where to go but also it gives a loud effect. The
darker colours chosen do have a gloomier feeling to it and
doesn’t have that ‘spark’ of brightness and joyfulness which
most people tend to want to see. Having bolder subheadings
makes it more easier to see and to navigate to and from
throughout the whole magazine as one. The blue page
numbers break up a little bit of the dull colours and has a
happier touch to it, also on the same context the small pink
guitar gives it a little more girly colour also along with the
female model.
Masthead:
The use of a masthead on the contents page makes the magazine flow more and keeps it
recognizable to all of the audiences. The red box which the name is in is brighter than the
whole colour scheme and has connotations of love, hearts and romance which is all things
positive and to do with relationships. The typography of the masthead is serif because its
more formal than sans serif because they want to keep it more grown up/adult like instead
of going all childish. The name ‘spin’ has connotations of dj’s, music and records, this has
an old fashioned touch to it and doesn’t feel as modern and CD’s or Ipods. The masthead is
important to make that certain magazine stand out from all the others.

10. Double Page
Main Image
Block quote
Columns
Headline
Sub Headings
House style
Is girly and
pink

11. The genre of the magazine I have chosen for the double page spread
analysis is pop, the genre can be identified straight away as the main
images of a pop/rap artist who is clearly recognizable, it’s a more
young adult magazine as shown through the main image and article
heading, also the artist shown is for teenage/ young adult around the
ages of 15-27
Image shots :
An iconic sign from the double page spread
is mainly the image of a medium shot of
Nicki Minaj who is an idol to some people.
The shot is took just above the waist line
with her body language in a certain position.
She has direct address making contact with
the audience drawing them in to also feel a
connection, however the look on her face is
shock and surprised, this lets the preferred
readers know they’ll be like this after reading
the magazine because they didn’t expect it,
however the oppositional readers would see
it as a negative and then they’ll be
distraught by what they’ve read. Her bright
clothes give connotations of loud, expressive
and bright these bring a more uplifting article
to the readers instead of just an everyday
normal article. This is opposite to the main
heading of ‘Gospel’ which means even
though they're the same person and same
feelings its contrasting and from the first eye
glance looks not right. This could be bad and
give the oppositional readers to think they’re
not linked very well (article and image) and
just be liked by her name.
Main Headline:
The main headline linking to the main
image of ‘Nicki Minaj’. The main colour is a
darker pink than the background which
may not stand out but it does very well n
this case by having a dimmer bright light
behind it making it dominant to the whole
page. The phrase ‘Gospel’ has
connotations to church, prayers and
hymns however when the target audience
thinks of Nicki its all about raps and up
beat, fast tempo songs blasting music. The
boldness of the main headline come
across as loud, big and explosive. If we
didn’t see her name it wouldn’t make the
page seem as chaotic or loud which ‘is’
Nicki and it is her personality
House Style :
The house style is fairly clear to any
audience whether it’s the target
audience or regular and it is bright,
expressive and very pink. Pink clearly
has something connected to Nicki
because there's not one thing which
doesn’t have pink on it or around it.
The pink has a girly touch to it and
makes the feminine side come out.
The preferred audience would see it
now as a more girly, fun and young
magazine however the oppositional
audience may sometimes see it as
being a bit sexist incase boys like Nicki
as an idol and may see it as being
rude to them for some apparent
reason.

12. Double Page
Main Image
Subheading
Body language of the model looks more sexual
and too much for my target audience
Layout is simple and
effective

13. The genre of the magazine I have chosen for the double page spread
analysis is pop, the genre can be identified straight away as the main
images of a pop artist who has been an iconic figure and is clearly
recognizable, it’s got a more older adult meaning s shown through the
main image and body language but also the artist shown is for young adult
around the ages of 15-27.
Image shots :
Half of the double page spread as actually been taken up by an image,
however the oppositional readers may see it as being there's not a lot to
say about her and has to get her personality across through and image not
words. On the other hand the proffered readers may see it as a positive
and agree she has more to offer on her image than words because she’s
got ‘the look’. The black and white image has a more old fashioned feel to
it even though lady gaga isn’t old fashions and yet a modern performer. It’s
more a close up shot because its above the waist but can see chest area
and is very open, this tells the audience that she really isn’t afraid to hide
her body and doesn’t worry about being to sexual for a simple music
magazine. Oppositional readers may see it as hem wanting to attract more
males then females from this as its more sexual however the preferred may
see it as drawing female or just both genders in for not being sexist.
Body Language:
The body language of Lady Gaga is very controversial as in some may agree and
some may not. For example she isn’t making a huge effort to cover up the chest
area and instead is just hovering her hands over. Some people may find this as a
way o draw more men in then women in which case she could be seen as an
object and not a human, however in preferred readers cases the producers want
it to show women that they shouldn't be ashamed or shy of they're body. Her
body is fairly slouched over and does not an upright center posture this not only
makes this page have a relaxed feel to it but keeps it calmer and not all in an
orderly fashion nor have a correct position she should be in.
Layout:
The layout of the page is very simple, minimal
and bare however makes it easy to read but
also reliable to read, and by having a large red
‘L’ in the center of the text makes you think of
Lady Gaga and being Loud. This to some
people could be positive and show lad gaga
has a voice inside of her to yell or just to sing,
others may see it as being too much and
she's overshadowing herself through this
chosen layout. The colour white has
connotations of being pure, fresh and clean
where as blending it with black to give a duller
harsher colour makes it have more negative
connotations like dim, dull and gloomy. But
bringing the colour red in allows it to pop and
come to life more as red has connotations of
love, romance and hearts this gives us a
completely different positive feel on the whole
article.