Textual analysis Top of the pops music

magazine BY EMILY SMITH

Top of the pops music magazine Cher Lloyd

I shall be analysing this magazine so I know what is conventionally used on a music magazine where the target audience is teenage girls.

This is useful for when it comes to planning what target audience my music magazine will have.

House style All of the top of the pops magazines have the same styled masthead this is so that

when the customer goes into the shop to buy a magazine they instantly now what magazine it is. The consistency and uniqueness of the masthead on each magazine keeps the audience familiar so it stick in their minds and they will always know what magazine they're buying. In addition the masthead at the top of the page is a conventional feature of a music magazine. This is useful information so that when it comes to me making my music magazine I know where to put the masthead. The typography of the title is in bubbly swirly writing with exaggeration on the 's'. Having the 's' extra swirly suggests the idea further that this is a teenage girls magazine. The swirls connote style and style is a stereotypical ‘girly’ subject.

Another house style is the BBC logo it is at the top of the page and it is a recognisable logo. This is important because the BBC is a respected company who are known for doing good TV programmes and everything the BBC do audiences and readers expect what they do to be good and when people see the logo it gives them all the more reason to pick the magazine up. The masthead and the BBC logo are both at the top of the page so, that its eye level when someone picks it up therefore, being easily noticed. the colour of the masthead is a vibrant pink, this implies further that the target audience is girls. This is done so that it fits in with the /colour scheme, issue and image and appeals to the desired audience. But it doesn't loose it's impact.

Target audience It is easy to specify who the target market is for the top of the pops

front cover. Teenage girls between the ages of 10 and 15 are most likely to buy this magazine because the main colour scheme is bright shades of purple and pink and pink is a stereotypical a 'girly' colour. One Direction is featured on the magazine with posters '7 sizzling poster' and 'exclusive pics' by this it is suggested that the target audience for one direction is teenage girls because only teenage girls are going to want a one direction poster as they're considered to be 'teen heartthrobs' and fans of their music will buy the magazine.

When referring to Bulmer and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory young people buy magazines to establish a personal relationship with the star on the front and inside the magazine. So by the readers seeing Cher Lloyds name on the front and if she's their role model, young people will want to buy the magazine and feel by reading the magazine they get to know Cher Lloyd personally.

Mise en scene

Cher's clothing is bright which suggests she is a protagonist, her top is a bright navy blue colour and the vibrancy of the blue has connotations of energy and energy has connotations of activeness the blue top could be suggesting she is active in the limelight right now and people are interested. She is wearing a necklace which portrays she is a fun person and has a glitzy life style just like the glitzy necklace the necklace is in the shape of a bow, a bow has connections to innocence in contrast to the headline next to her where she says "I'm not going to hide anything any more " this statement suggests she has two sides to her personality - on the one hand she is sweet and innocent and on the other she has a fiery personality which no one has seen before. The quote from her is in white so it stands out from the rest of the writing which is black and the background which is pink. The designer of the magazine intentionally made this quote stand out because it will grab the audiences attention as it something different and the reader will want to read about it and ask questions like why ? and therefore in turn buying the magazine.

Mise en scene continued… The camera angle used is a medium shot this allows the reader to be at eye level

with the star on the front and it emphasises that she is glaring right at us. Her eyes are glancing to the left. This makes it look like she is looking straight at the reader which draws the audience in. When she glances to the side it gives connotations of innocence and the fact she is eye level gives connotations that she is on the same level as everyone else which gives the reader the impression that she is a friend and someone they can relate to not someone with any higher authority than the reader. It is important for Cher Lloyd to look innocent because the magazine want her to be the 'role model' to younger people therefore they don’t want her to not look respectable especially when younger people want to be like her otherwise it could give young people the wrong idea.

Furthermore there is no harsh lighting on her face which suggests she is a protagonist and that the magazine is on her side and they're not showing her to be a 'bad' character. Also the fact the background is white connotes purity and innocence and emphasises how brightly lit the magazine is which suggests to the audience that the stars on the front are 'role models' and are people with a bright future and are going to go far.

Mise en scene- The One Direction picture

On the other hand the picture of One Direction is took in the dark which connotes mystery this intrigues the reader. The designer of the magazine intended to have a long shot on the front of them doing something crazy because their fan base will want to know more especially if its teenage girls because by them buying the magazine the feel they have an insight into there lives. The caption on the photo is ‘1D go nuts!’ the context of this will relate to young people as 'go nuts' is another way of saying that one direction have gone crazy and it is shortened down because the target audience is young people and young people are less likely to read a full sentence to what’s happening in the photo therefore it will be quick and simple to skim read and they wont loose interest.

By having One direction abbreviated to ‘1D’ the designers of the magazine expect the readers to already be big enough fans of one direction to know that ‘1D’ really means one direction. It also stands out from the rest of the image because the writing is white and the background is black the contrast between the two colours is eye catching enough for the target audience to see it and make them want to buy the magazine to see the other 'exclusive pics'. ‘Pics’ is also abbreviated from ‘pictures’ this is another place where the designer expects that the target audience will know what it means . The effect on the target audience is that they can relate to the magazine because the dialogue they use is like how young people speak today which persuades them to purchase the magazine .

The use of punctuation The over use of '!' gives the magazine a sense of urgency and engages the reader

and makes them want to read on to find out more. Also it gives the voice of the magazine a sense of excitement which suggests to the reader that by buying the magazine and reading on that you're going to be entertained.

The strapline 'Style SOS! our experts to the rescue!' and 'Will Aston take you out?' have again purposely used a question mark and exclamation mark give the magazine a certain sense of urgency and excitement.

The question makes the target audience think and it intrigues them which, encourages them to buy the magazine and find a response to the question. 'Style' is seen as a 'girly' subject matter and is something that young teenage girls are interested in. The combination of fashion and young male singers are stereotypically what 10-15 years olds would be interested in.

'Aston' is a singer at the time when the magazine was published the designers of the magazine expect that people are going to know who he is as they don't say his full name. The designers of the magazine would not put singers on the front cover who weren't in the ‘limelight’ at that specific time because otherwise the magazine would have no universal significance and people would have no reason to purchase it.

Barcodes and prices

At the bottom of the front cover is a banner of photos showing what posters the magazine includes there is emphasis on the number ‘7’ it is larger than the rest of the writing used on the front. It is eye catching to the buyer and draws attention to that section of the front cover. On the right hand side of it is the barcode and price the fact the barcode and price are along side the amount of posters emphasises to the buyer that they're getting good value for their money. It is important for the designer to specify how many posters the magazine includes because the buyers of the magazine will probably be young peoples parents because young people probably don't get their own money therefore the parents need extra persuasion and a reason to actually buy the magazine.