Magazine research Task

Magazine Information

• Top Of The Pops was launched in February 1995 published after the TV series

• The genre of the magazine is clearly pop• The magazines target audience is 11-15 year olds 85% girls

and 15% boys both interested in fashion gossip and pop music

• The circulation of this magazine is 78325, the frequency is 4 weekly and the readership is 331,000

• The content of the magazine includes: articles on pop/movie stars, cringes, celebrity gossip, fashion, beauty, quizzes, posters, horoscopes and occasionally freebees

• The title has had several editors over the years, including Peter Lorraine, Corinna Schaffer and Rosalie Snaith, and contributing editors including Adam Tanswell. Its current editor is Peter Hart.

More Information

• The magazine is owned by the Immediate Media Company• it was originally marketed as the missing link between Smash

Hits and NME, but its format gradually changed with a more demographic shift to young girls and less music content.

• The Magazine is distributed both in shops and online• The magazines leading competitors include Bliss and We

Heart Pop• The brand identity of this magazine is

commercialised cheerful teen pop

Front Cover

Masthead- Florescent Pink background to the text therefor is eye-catching. Stars added as a logo feature so its recognizable. Bold font.

Coverline- Established by the yellow highlight and written in a handwriting font using informal slang to entice the younger target audience.

Strapline- Featuring buzzwords such as ‘Gossip’ to get the readers attention and providing information on what context this magazine includes.

House style- Bright opposing colours to create contrast and follow the pop genre, busy/crowded cover with a dense layout to pack in as much as possible to entice teens to read it. Handwriting fonts add an informal look which interests the teen audience.

Secondary images- provide entertainment especially for the younger audience as there is lots of image. These images of artists provide a motivated sign for Pop music as they are well know singers

Rule Of Thirds

Main image- The main image is of teen favorite One Direction which is a motivated image for this genre as they are a well know male pop bad.

Barcode, Price and Issue date- these three elements in this magazine provide essential information to the reader. The price of this magazine is £3.99 which is fairly expensive but still affordable for teens with a small amount of pocket money.

Flasher- Flashers give the reader a taste of information about a certain article in the magazine which engages them. This wacky subline intrigues the reader to find out what the tale of Georges tongue is.

Contents Page

Sections- There are 3 sections to the contents page: All about you, We heart shopping and Celebs & Gossip. By dividing up these areas it makes it easier for the reader to find what their most interested in reading.

Secondary Images- There are lots of images on this page to keep the reader interested and draw their attention to the page numbers.

Rule Of Thirds

Sub-headings- The sub-headings follow the house style of the masthead colour and font to continue the theme.

Page numbers- The page numbers are small and green following the house style of opposing bright colours.

Top of the pops logo- The logo of Top Of The Pops is continued on most pages throughout the magazine to establish the brand identity.

Masthead- The masthead consists of two different fonts one with bold capitals featuring two colour and the other florescent pink matching the house style colour of the masthead on the front cover. ‘Your mag’ is written in a handwriting font to appear more personal to the young reader.

Double page spread

Masthead- The masthead consists of two bright colours with a tall bold font highlighting the word ‘Wow’ to emphasize how fascinating One Direction are.

Secondary images- There are a few secondary images added to the double page spread to cover up the wasted space and make it more entertaining to look at and encouraging you to read the text

Format- The format of the contents page consist of the main image as the background and text on top of it in the form of a timeline. The text is in small boxes including dates and quotes keeping the reader interested as there are many of them and are labeled clearly.

Pull quotes- These real quotes by One Direction are exciting to read as they are considered as important people and are providing personal information about their experiences

Main image- The main image is similar to the front cover as it has the same motivated image of pop. The males are posing in an excitable way implying the text is exciting to read.

Anchorage- The images are anchored to give the reader information that the photo is linked to. In this case the books are advertised and priced to encourage the reader to buy them.