Pop music magazine analysis

Starting with the masthead it is ‘TOP OF THE POPS’ which is not clear as it is somewhat of a circular shape which is what allows it to look like more of a flash. Although the bright colour and it being positioned at the top of the page makes it seem the name. Additionally this magazine is a monthly magazine which explains why it is so cluttered with many regulars and secondary images, further emphasizing the fact that due to this magazine being well known it can be easily recognized and therefore the fact their audience will already know means it is easy to identify the masthead. The font used for this is quite bold as well as it being sans serif. This allows the consumer to focus on the masthead first, additionally I noticed that within the name is ‘top’ which could signify why it is right at the top of the front page and not even slightly down or in the centre. Readers may like this as they will be more interested in seeing what  is new from the main image rather than seeing the masthead as the main focus every week. The colour being bright pink with a thick black outline emphasizes this, despite it being positioned in the corner that contrast between the two colours means it can still stand out. The colour black connotes formality, death, evil, and mystery, which in my opinion not what they want to convey. I think they have chosen this colour to contrast significantly and create somewhat of a sense of sophistication despite it being bold and cartoonish. ‘Top of the pops’ magazine has a high production value which is evident from its glossy, weekly format. They have clearly represented this magazine supporting the pop genre by focusing on well known main stream artists like ‘Taylor swift’ which allows these music artists to be well associated.  This magazine is well known for it looking chaotic and almost cluttered as there is a lot of information/content. The cover lines and flash (lettering) are all in bold font, sans serif block with its own signification of femininity as you are able to clearly see there is a lot of pink used through-out this front cover therefore implying that their target audience is mainly girls/fans despite there being a mixture of both male and female artists and some other youtubers as secondary images to entice consumers further. Taylor Swift is in the foreground towards the centre as a dominant, successful music artist in that industry. There is limited consideration of allowing this magazine to look sophisticated and minimalistic, this is due to them wanting it to look packed full of interesting content. The features are aiming towards younger ages which can be inferred from the ‘mega puzzle sesh’. Additionally you can see in one of the secondary images they are wearing a little Christmas hat which is cute and suggests this was to be sold around Christmas time however the entire them of the magazine is not surrounding the festive season and still remains to be on the pop genre. The bottom strapline is fairly small but is a warning for the contents of the magazine which are shown on the front of the magazine to intrigue the target audience to purchase as you further get small products which are quite girly. Therefore emphasizing the main audience being a majority of girls. The small details like the small stars scattered around the magazine of a cartoon feel and the variety of typography used such as the decorative font ‘merry Christmas’ on the left side and sans serif font as the flash.