This document analyzes the textual features of two music magazines, "Top of the Pops" and "We Love Pop", to understand conventions of the genre and inform the production of a new music magazine. Key conventions identified include using direct addresses to readers, celebrity quotes, and photos to attract interest. Color schemes, formatting, and informal tones are used to appeal to younger audiences. Analyzing successful magazines provided insight into effective layouts, contents pages, double-page spreads, and the target demographic of girls interested in pop music and celebrities.

1. textual analysis

2. The masthead is written
in a speech bubble; this, The celebrity has a direct mode of A menu bar is used down the side
along with the use of the address, looking directly into the of the magazine, following
personal pronoun ‘we’, camera. convention of general magazines.
instantly connects with the This lets the reader know what they
reader and makes them will find in the magazine. The fact
feel involved. that the subheadings are highlighted
subconsciously lets the reader know
Sell lines are used all over the what the best information is.
cover of the magazine, but this
one particularly stands out The name of the celebrity that the
because it uses a direct quotation issue focuses on is written across
from the celebrity. This makes the the cover, almost used as a splash.
reader want to buy the magazine This draws the attention of the
because they know the line of reader and shows them the focus.
focus of the interview.
Some of the sell lines have no
This image of Little Mix is capital letters; this is effective
used to interest the because it attracts a younger
readers because they are a audience, due to the fact that
new upcoming band, capital letters are something which
showing that the magazine a younger audience would prefer
is aimed towards the not to use, making it appear more
younger generation. casual and relaxed- conveying an
informal tone.
A banner of images is used
A rule of three is used below
across the bottom of the cover to The barcode, price and issue
the splash; this is good because it
attract the reader and quickly number are written in the
is easier for the reader to
show the various celebrities that bottom corner of the magazine,
consume the information,
will be involved in the magazine, showing that they are less
therefore being a lot more
therefore attracting a range of important.
effective.
people.

3. The heading of the contents page The logo of the magazine is used
doesn’t say ‘contents’ as you would on the contents page, it appears to
expect, instead it sets the page as a almost finish the heading of the
There is a short block of text general information page, making contents page and leave the
written by the Editor of the appear more informal. magazines masthead in the readers’
magazine, it is written in first person minds. It reads ‘We love this…We
and uses a conversational tone. This love pop’ which seems to
instantly makes the readers feel at subconsciously tell the reader that
ease and guides them through the they love the magazine.
magazine knowing that it is chatty
and informal. The use of an ellipsis shows
continuation and gently leads the
The page is signed by the Editor; reader to the main body of the
this adds something more personal page.
to the magazine.
Images are placed in a backwards
The empty spaces within the ‘L’ shape down the side of the
letters of the subheading are filled magazine to highlight the best
in; this connotes doodling and is the sections of the magazine.
sort of thing that students would do,
showing that the magazine is aimed
at younger audience of teenagers Quotes are placed below the
aged around 13-16. images to show a snippet of what
the article is going to be about and
to engage the reader quickly before
they’ve read the magazine properly.
A box is drawn around the section
which numbers the different pages.
This conveys good organisation and A banner of images is placed along
makes the page look neat and less the bottom of the contents page to
cramped. It also directs the reader The page numbers are written in a show the posters which are included
to the most important part of the different colour and use a bigger, in the magazine; this instantly
contents page, the contents. bolder font so they stand out. This makes it appear like the reader is
makes it easy for the readers to find getting more for their money
certain pages and certain articles. because they have things included,

4. A pull quote is used as the main
A colour scheme is clearly
heading of the article, making it one
followed throughout the double
of the main focuses of the page at
page spread; black, yellow, white
first glance. The use of this is
and purple are all used, even on the
effective because it quickly shows
clothes the celebrity is wearing,
Some of the spaces in the what the body of the article is about
which shows continuity and looks
heading are coloured in and the direction that the article
visually appealing.
which portrays informality. takes.
The name of the celebrity is written
The questions are written in the top corner so the readers are
in a different colour and are clear on who she is and to convey
in a bold font so they stand the focus of the article.
out against the answers,
which, are written in a more A large image is used to cover
simple serif font. By using a the second page of the double
serif font I think it adds a page spread, to show who the
more serious tone to the focus of the article is and to
article because Jessie J is highlight the continuity from the
talking about her past. cover. The celebrity has a direct
mode address, again showing
Certain parts of the article continuity from the cover page.
are ‘highlighted’ to convey
the key pieces of
information. They show the
most emotive parts of the
interview and are almost
highlighting the more serious
The web address and page
parts.
A dotted line is placed down the number are both written across the
The columns of the article are left hand side of the picture, very bottom of the page of each page of
placed at a slant on the page to close to the spine of the magazine, the magazine. This use of certain
show quirkiness and a bit of edge, so the readers can cut the picture graphics portrays continuity and
making it aesthetically pleasing. It out if they want to and use it as a provides useful information to the
makes it look less serious and more poster. This is a good idea because audience, whilst still ‘selling’ the
informal, therefore appealing to a instead of it just being a magazine, company as a whole.
younger audience. it includes activities for the readers
too, making it better for the money.

5. In Conclusion…
Now that I have looked at a second magazine, the conventions of music magazines in general
are definitely much clearer and the features of the genre of music magazine I would like to
produce are becoming more apparent.
‘We Love Pop’ is, obviously, a Pop magazine which has many features I think are very effective
and grab the attention of the readers. I like the house style used on the cover because it sticks
to a clear colour scheme and uses typical conventions of a music magazine that I would have
expected to see. However, in my opinion, I don’t like the use of no capital letters on some of the
sell lines because I think it looks careless and messy, rather than informal and conversational.
Staying positive though, I like the use of quotes on the cover because it lets the readers know
that there are interviews and actual opinions from the celebrities themselves.
Like ‘Top of the Pops’ this magazine includes fashion and gossip pages, which shows that Pop
magazines target a certain social group. This group is girls who are fully into Pop music and
listen to what is in the charts, they also concentrate on their appearance and boy bands are
definitely a big focus. I think that this is something which I will need to remember when
producing my own music magazine.
The contents page of ‘We Love Pop’ is again one that I like. It is simple and concise yet is
aesthetically pleasing. I like the idea of writing something from the Editor because it personalises
the magazine and makes the reader feel as if they are in a conversation, allowing the magazine
to flow better. The use of personal pronouns helps to emphasise this. I like the simple colour
scheme which the contents page uses because as they say, less is more. It doesn’t look
overhauled with information and pictures, and it doesn’t look too understated, which shows that
careful attention to detail has been paid. Therefore, I think this is something which I will need to
focus on myself.
I like the double page spread because it seems to have good proportionality, pretty much like
‘Top of the Pops’. I am considering uses a whole, or the majority of a whole, page for a picture
of my model because this appears to be something which a lot of Pop magazines do, and I want
to use these as inspiration because they are successful magazines.
Overall, by analysing these two magazines I have a much better idea of what features I want to
include and how I am going to present my own music magazines. ‘Top of the Pops’ and ‘We
Love Pop’ have proved very useful and have given me a greater insight into what I will need to
focus on when producing my magazine.