The target audience of the music magazine Top of the Pops would be pre-teen girls. This is because the genre of the music could be described as pop or more specifically ‘bubblegum’ pop which is aimed at a younger audience. The age range for this magazine would be aimed at 11-15. This fits in well with the price of £2.99 as the majority of the readers of this magazine won’t actually pay for this themselves, usually a parent will foot the bill. I believe customers of this magazine will be from the working class background.

The font used this magazine front cover is generally the same however certain texts are larger than others. The Masthead on this magazine is big and bold. However, the ‘s’ on ‘Pops’ is exaggerated with a spiral which could tie back to the younger target audience to give it an informal and friendly feel. The spiral theme continues on at least one word in separate parts of the front cover to give the magazine a signature and recognisable look. The BBC logo is imprinted at the top left hand corner of this magazine. This is chosen so that the reader can be informed straight away that this magazine comes from a respected broadcasting company that issues their favourite magazine. This is located in this specific place so that if the magazine was on a shelf and you could only see a small portion of the magazine, you would at minimum see this logo.

The colour used in this magazine is can be a direct link to the genre of the music included in this magazine. Pink or more specifically – bubblegum pink, is the primary colour that is featured on the front cover of Top of the Pops magazine. Pink is also the gender colour for girls so this would appeal to the target audience of teenage girls. The secondary colour used on the front cover is blue which you could argue would also attract boys. However, I believe this magazine has purposely went for a lighter blue than a darker blue which boys would more incline to be attracted to. Pink and blue also contrast very nicely so it would be comfortable for the reader to browse, rather than having neon colours on a black background which wouldn’t suit the genre of music specified.

This magazine has limited images on the front cover but they do specifically feature one main image in the centre right of the page. Top of the Pops always chose to have an artist who currently fits in their perspective of ‘current pop’, therefore One Direction have regularly appeared on the front cover as they appeal to the majority, if not all of the readers of this magazine. However, on this particular edition of the magazine, TOTP have chosen to feature an article on them not just about their music but about their life as teenager in school and how they dealt with bullying specifically, which a lot of target audience can relate to. This means they are more likely to purchase a copy. The members of the boy band are standing very casually with their hands in their pockets. This gives a relaxed and informal feel to the magazine which would appeal to the younger generation as they are looking to read something easy and simple to read. In addition to One Direction, at the bottom of the page there are two male singers who appear to be shirtless; this is used to appeal to teenage girls as they are always on the hunt for more ‘attractive’ celebrities to gossip with their friends.

The front cover of this magazine features samples of what is included inside. For example, after One Direction and boy bands, the secondary thing that appeals to teenage girls is fashion. In the top left hand corner beneath the masthead is a segment called ‘style special’ and this includes 82 new looks to inspire all the girls who read this magazine. There are several pictures to entice the reader in purchasing this magazine to find out what the latest trends are for their age group. This is again located in that position as we naturally read left to right and if a customer is going to read one thing, then the magazine will try to put something that will appeal immediately. Situated in front of the main image there is a puff related to the story that they are featured for. The puff is an exclusive of how “Bullies made me stronger” in the words of One Direction. This is something many teens can relate to as nearly everyone will experience it in one part of their life; more prominently in their teens. There is also a competition included on the front cover which gives an automatic element of fun for the reader. This specific one is to win a part in a British television show – Hollyoaks. This show also shares a similar age demographic which would appeal to the readers of this magazine.