This document analyzes signs and signifiers found in various pop music magazines. It discusses conventions of the pop genre including colorful outfits and high energy performances that attract younger audiences. Different magazines are examined, including Billboard, Blender, Vibe, and Q. Specific images and articles featuring artists like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Zooey Deschanel, Ciara, Lady Gaga, and Nicki Minaj are analyzed for their symbolic signs, indexical signs, iconic signs, color schemes, typography, and how they target and position different audiences. Preferred and oppositional readings of the images and magazines are also considered.

1. Signs and Signifiers.
Bethan Glover
The genre of the magazines that I have chosen is ‘pop’. Some
conventions of pop are that the music artists are always
dressed colourfully and normally set their audience to the
younger generation. Within the genre, the artists of pop are
full of high energy, with constant dance movements or jumping
around on the stage. Some pop artists are seen as ‘cheesy’
with their facial expressions whereas, others are seen as more
mature, like the artists featured in the magazine ‘billboard’
which attracts the older audience of teenagers and young
adults instead of children.

2. Analysing music magazines.
We have been set the task to create our own music
magazine, therefore, we were set the beginning task to
find signs and signifiers in already existing music
magazines. When looking for these it makes it easier for
us to know what to include in our own magazine when
finally creating it. Due to we will know what specific
things attract what audience, so we will know what to
include and what not to include to attract our target
audience,

3. The font used throughout the
front cover of this particular
magazine from Billboard is in
sans serif. This portrays that the
magazine is less formal than
others, meaning that the
audience can feel more
connected to the audience and
feel as though it is actually the
words from the artists as it is not
formal and more of a friendly
conversation.
The colour scheme of purple is
symbolic due to it is associated
with lavender, and calm things
whereas, this opposes with what
Miley Cyrus is wearing due to she
is dressed in all black leather.

4. Miley Cyrus is evidentially portrayed as the
indexical image on this front cover, due to
wearing all black leather she follows the genre
style of ‘rock’ which opposes her actual genre of
pop. Furthermore, people who dress regularly
in leather are associated with sex and lust which
is the oppositional reading for a pop genre
magazine due to their target audience is the
younger generation.
The iconic sign is the large ‘M’ that Miley is
holding, representing her name. The preferred
audience reading for this is that due to Miley is
rebelling against the usual pop genre by wearing
black leather they respect her for it as they
believe she is being herself and standing out
from the crowd.

5. The colour scheme for this particular
front cover from the magazine Blender is
more basic, neutral colours, portraying
that the magazine has no set gender
target audience; the colour scheme is the
symbolic sign. Whereas, the front cover of
Miley Cyrus on Billboard seems to be
aimed towards the more female gender
even though her provocative image may
attract more of the male gender.
Furthermore, the typography used is
evidentially sans serif, meaning the
contents of the magazine is less formal
and more personal to the audience,
which is the same affect Billboard has
with Miley Cyrus.

6. Also, the masthead, Blender has a slice through it, conveying the
impression that it has been tampered with so it may come off as
risky to the normal pop genre audience. Supporting this is the
clothes that Taylor is wearing due to people may see it as a more
rock, or punk costume and not pop. Taylor Swift is evidentially the
indexical sign for this front cover. Due to her pose, the oppositional
reading maybe that she is being too sexual, and as she is still young
herself and is attracting a young teenage audience, the younger
generation may look up to her in the sense that they need to be
more sexual to get far in life like her, just the same as the
oppositional reading for the Billboard magazine cover of Miley. The
iconic sign within this front cover is the clothes, which Taylor Swift
is wearing due to the black and white colours, are plain and
modern to what the teenagers now where. The preferred reading
would be how Taylor Swift has portrayed an open posture,
meaning she is open to change, foreshadowing her change from
country to pop, and they respect her for doing this change to
please her target audience.

7. The makeup and hair used on Taylor Swift contrast
in the sense that her hair is in tight ringlets
portraying a sense of innocence symbolising the
young innocent target audience. Whereas, the
makeup used is overpowering conveying a more
mature, older perceptive of Taylor and her music.

8. The image of the band on this contents
page from Billboard is an iconic sign due
to it is iconic to the pop genre as they
typically have a lot of groups within the
genre. The image of the girl jumping in the
air appears to be Zooey Deschanel; this
indexical sign conveys that the pop genre
is joyful and cheerful due to having the
target audience of the younger
generation. The colours that are used
within this contents page on the masthead
in the top right hand corner, are red,
yellow, blue and green, these colours are
symbolic due to they represent equality to
all genders which means the magazine is
not stereotyped to any particular gender.

9. The typography used within this contents page from Billboard is
sand serif, this gives the impression that the magazine was going
for a less formal look to the magazine to engage younger
audiences to read it, due to with the less formal typography it
makes the magazine seem more personal, meaning more
personal stories from the used celebrities, engaging the audience.
The preferred reading towards this contents page would be as the
main image is evidentially joyful, the readers will believe due to
she is doing what she loves she is successful and standing out
from the crowd. However, the oppositional reading would be due
to the outfit the main image is wearing, all black, leather with a
short top showing parts of her stomach, she is seen as sexual due
to showing body parts and wearing leather which is seen as a
sexual clothing material. Furthermore, they believe this will
encourage the younger generation to dress in this way, as they
will see her as a role model due to her being chosen as the main
image.

10. This particular contents page from the
magazine Vibe has evidentially used
modern, plain colours for their colour
scheme, like black, white and beige to
attract the younger adults and teenagers
audience. The large ‘V’ that is apparent on
the page is a symbolic sign due to only
people that read the magazine will know
that it stands for ‘vibe’, the title. Ciara is
evidentially the iconic sign for this addition
of Vibe due to she is iconic to the pop
genre and this particular magazine.
Furthermore, she is also the indexical sign for the reason that she is
not wearing a lot of clothing. The oppositional reading for this
would be that they believe Ciara is flaunting herself evidentially too
much and as she is seen as a role model other teenage girls believe
they will have to flaunt their bodies also to become as successful as
she has.

11. However, the preferred reading would be as she is showing
so much of her body she is happy with herself and she is
standing out from the crowd and accepting her for who she
is, so people will see this as being inspirational.

12. This particular image of
Lady Gaga in this addition
of the magazine Q , is
evidentially, very exposing.
This makes her the
indexical sign due to the
oppositional reading will be
that she is advertising the
idea of sex and not pop
music. Carrying on from this point, the chains around her neck are
also symbolic to sex and S&M, so people will believe she is trying to
encourage her fans to have sex. However, the preferred reading for
this image will be that she is just being original and standing out
from the crowd which is what Lady Gaga is famous for and people
admire her for it. The large, red L that is apparent on the double
spread, is a symbolic sign due to you have to know who Lady Gaga
is to know what the large L stands for.

13. Furthermore, due to it being large and red, it makes it eye
catching meaning that it is all about Lady Gaga and is also
symbolic to her personality and her music. The iconic sign
for this magazine spread is Lady Gaga’s name in the corner
due to it is the name of the artist that the article is going to
be about.

14. This double page spread of
Nicki Minaj from the
magazine Billboard, is
evidentially for the female
audience due to the pink
colour scheme used. This is a
symbolic sign due to pink
stereotypically being a feminine colour. This contrasts against the
double page spread of Lady Gaga, due to the one with Lady Gaga
would seem to attract more of a male audience due to the
provocative photograph of herself, whereas, Nicki Minaj is more for
the female audience and helping them with the answers within her
article. Nicki Minaj, is evidentially the indexical sign for this magazine,
due to the outfit she is wearing. Due to the variety of colours that she
is wearing shows she is for equality, what is what the preferred
reading would be. Furthermore, a lot of people also see her as a
fashion icon, supported by her ‘icon’ ring within the photo.

15. However, the oppositional reading would be that her
choices for fashion make her look trashy and lower class.
Due to the decision of putting the image of Nicki Minaj in
the middle of the double spread, makes her the iconic sign,
due to it portrays that the article is going to be all about
Nicki as she is the main focus like with Lady Gaga in the
magazine Q.