Analysing music magazines- Top of the Pops

Rosanna Todd

Masthead-Stands out on the cover

Rule of Thirds-Page is split into three sections

Pull quote-draws the reader in

The main cover line

The main image- The “Jonas Brothers”

Date, issue number and price

Flasher-offers something extra to target audience

Cover lines

BBC logo

Barcode

Quote from an article-what the reader is interested in

Competition details

Footer

Caption/slogan-recognisable to the reader

Extra images that may feature in the magazine

Example of a front cover from a music magazine (TOTP)

What aspects of the front cover attract the target audience?

• The main image- The main image is of the boy band the “Jonas Brothers”. It could be suggested that the magazine is aimed at young girls aged 10-14 because the image is of an attractive young group of boys and this is what this age group would be interested in. This target audience also could be stereotyped to like the kind of music that they represent.

• Font colour- The font colour used is mainly pink throughout. As pink is seen as quite a girly colour the magazine could be seen to be attracting this gender as their target audience. The background is also pink and as it is a very bright colour, it stands out on the page so therefore catches the reader’s eye.

• Cover lines- The cover lines include information and details on fashion and celebrity gossip because this is what the magazine assumes the target audience is interested in. They have featured celebrities such as Cheryl Cole, Taylor Swift and Alesha Dixon. This is because the target audience may inspire to be like them as they are successful and famous and they may enjoy the music that they produce. Furthermore when referring to the celebrities the magazine only uses their first names. This could imply that they want to make the target audience feel close to the celebrities like they are friends with them. The magazine also makes the assumption that the reader’s know who the celebrities are so they have no need to put their full names, this makes it seem more personal and gives something that the target audience can identify and relate to with the magazine.

• Competitions- The competitions give the winner tickets to see the x factor and to receive signed items from celebrities that they would know of. This would attract the reader to buy the magazine as they would want to have a chance of winning these things. Also the competitions relate to the genre of music that the magazine represents: pop.

Example of a contents page from a music magazine (TOTP)

Main Headline- Pink background and the font is almost like it has been written so gives a very personal effect for the reader

Main Image- Although it does not use up the majority of the cover, this could be seen as the main image as it is the biggest one on the page.

Page Numbers-These are in a bold font and are written in pink to highlight the importance of them.

Rule of Thirds- The page is split clearly into three equal sections

Informal speech is used so that the reader feels relaxed and it relates to the target audience

The copy is split into different sections under headings so that it is easy for the reader to find what they want to read straight away.

Different font sizes and colours used- effect way of Separating out the text from the headlines. It also makes the page look more colourful and appealing for the reader.

“On the cover”- The front cover of the magazine has been put onto the contents page with labels coming off it. This is so that the reader can find easily what may have attracted them to buy the magazine from looking at the cover lines on the cover.

Additional image used

Example of a double page spread from a music magazine (TOTP)

Main image-medium long shot

Main heading/headline

Interview styled questions-different font for different people who are talking

Standfirst- this is a short introduction to the article, and tells you what to expect from it

Alliteration used-catchy title to interest the reader

Short key quotations from the article

Compliments the reader

Additional images are used

Second image used-relates to article and other pictures featured on the page

Website details-luring the reader to become more involved and an active member of the magazine

The copy (text) is in columns

• Musical interests/favourite artists: Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Cheryl Cole, Girls Aloud, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Mcfly, Busted, Lady Gaga, JLS, Justin Bieber, One Direction and more.

• Gender: Female

• Age: 10-14

• Social class: Middle class

Target audience of this magazine

Identify the elements that connect the 3 different parts of the magazine

• Link to website: http://www.totpmag.com/• The teen gossip magazine uses many elements

that connect all 3 different parts of the magazine together. This includes: font style, layout, informal/chatty language used, the house style, colours (pink and yellow), celebrities mentioned and images.

• These elements combine together to show a sense of consistency throughout the magazine.