Music Magazine Blog 3 Analysis of exsisting magazines

Front Cover

Top of the pops magazine is the other magazine I'm comparing to smash hits!. Top of the pops magazine has a higher target audience age than smash hits! It is aimed at teenagers. On there website it says 'the UK's best-selling teen gossip mag'. The success of the magazine is higher as it is still ongoing. It started off in February 1995-Present time.
The title "Top of the Pops" was given this title as it is a spin-off from the TV show Top of the Pops. So the magazine gives the latest information and gossip from the 'pop' music world. Also it gives you song words and lyrics, from different artists with the latest singles out, from the top of the chart. The 'top' shows that the magazine is only really interested on the artists who are popular at the top of the music charts. (Official UK Top 40).
The font on the title is known as sans-serif, this means that the font is not like serif where the lettering has the strokes flicked out on the ends of the lettering. The font is more rounded and are more low-key lettering. The size of the font is fairly small for a title. The main flash is used to convey the main headline or story that is featured inside the magazine. So the use of font and the words used try and pull in the reader to interest them into purchasing that issue of the magazine.
Colour is a key feature on the cover of this magazine. The colours of purple and pink have been chosen as the main colours as they contrast well together. Purple suggest and represents a symbol of royalty, where on the cover High School Musical is partly royalty as the success of the film has been so successful the actors are like royalty to there fans. The colour pink suggests a positive, happy symbol, on the cover the theme is 'prom' as the High School Musical feature is based on this, meaning a happy time to celebrate and party! The text consists of 4 different colours which conveys a more than basic colour scheme. There are enough fonts used to not to be overcrowded and leads to less confusion of what the colours symbolise. On the main image 'Vanessa Hudgens' is wearing a white dress, and the colour of the dress fits in with the text colour as 'You're a STAR!' is written in white. The colours stands out well against the pink background colour of text, so the bold, vibrant colours work well with the main image. As the different colours on the 'stars' are all unique and show they are different to the block colouring of the text and text box.
The target audience of 'top of the pops' has a similar target audience to 'smash hits!'. It is aimed at young girls who are aged between 10-13, who show an interest in the latest music in the 'pop' genre. They would follow other similar genres like r'n'b for artists such as Chris Brown and Rihanna, as well as McFly. They also would won't know the latest fashion from there favourite shops. The target audience that purchase the magazine has a total of 169,000 people that purchase it. This target audience purchase figures are based on the age range of 15-44. So generally parents may buy the magazine for their children. The number of upperclass socio-economic classifications in the range from A-C1 is 62,000 which is only 0.3% of the UK's population. So the higher classifications shows they don't buy many magazines like 'top of the pops'. The types of jobs they would consist of require a lot of skill so the ,magazine doesn't relate to them or reflect there job. The socio economic classifications classes C2-E has 107,000 copies of 'top of the pops' sold per issue. The percentage of the magazine's they hold in the UK's market is only 0.2%. This shows that mainstream pop music magazine are not very popular in the C2-E social class. The skilled labourer workers prefer other types of magazines. So 'top of the pops' magazine isn't revelant to a child who would purchase the magazine. As the breadwinner of the household job isn't based on the child's choice on what children's magazine to read. A child in a household doesn't at all control the class of a household as they are not dominant. The price of the magazine is irrelevant as the price of the magazine is reasonable for children to purchase at 'pocket money prices'. If 'top of the pops' was targeted at the breadwinner of the household the type of magazine chosen maybe different as they control what types of magazines comes in and out of a house generally. A pop genre magazine covers many mainstream trends for young listeners music, so all children from any social economic class may listen to the same genre of music.
The main image suggests that the people used in the image suggest a new look. A fresh start for a brand new film. As High School Musical was about to be released at this time. It suggests that the people here have a got a brand new look and want to share the acheivement with there target audience by giving them a taste of the makeover. The publishers have chosen High School Musical as the cover because they are in the peak of popularity and are the hottest topic in the pop world at that time. All of the other competative magazine want the latest stars of the pop genre. The image that has been shot is a pose as all four of them are facing the camera with a slight suspicious in there expression. Especially in this shot Ashley Tisdale's pose giving a deceiving look. The pose comes across this way as the suspicion of having a makeover, can be not always what the audience might expect. The clothing is all very formal suits and dresses, suggesting still the look of a fresh new image for all the actors. Generally on 'top of the pops' the cover star is mainly equally of 50:50 of being male or female. As in the pop genre the artists are from both sexes quite widely populated. The stars on the cover vary on there fame, some are internationally famous such as Miley Cyrus, known in the UK and USA. Then stars that are only really known in the UK such as Alexandra Burke, who has only just started her career.
The main sells are the key snippets from the inside of the magazine. "Take Avril's Reality Test" is one of the main sells which give the reader an idea of what to expect from the article which involves Avril Lavigne, either through a quiz or a test. This article would try and reel in a reader to purchase the magazine through this sell or the other sells. "A-List Glam! 56 hot buys" this sell gives a taster of the types of different fashion pieces that are key for when looking out for a bargain in this issue. The cherries and pink colour hint this is the fashionable theme in that season. "Bodyshock!". This is a feature that is published in every issue of 'top of the pops' that relates to the readers with real-life ordeals that have occured to other readers in the target audience. The quotations taken from the stories pick out the key parts that may shock a reader so much that have to buy a magazine to read on to explain the ordeals that occur. "Celebrity Love Secrets Exposed!". This main sell is shows a preview of some the celebrities that the target audience look up to as a role models such as Cheryl Cole and Peter Andre. It gives a little insight of what may be revealed about there love lifes to be exposed to the world.
On the cover some key information is presented such as the top of the pops website http://www.totpmag.com/ on the top left on the page layout. The barcode is also present on the lower right corner of the cover to show it is a valid magazine that has been paid for, the price of 'top of the pops' is £2.20.
Each issue of 'top of the pops' has 88 pages.
The main flashes consists of stories that a girl of the typical target audience would be interested in. For example a celebrity doing an interview and getting questioned about something the audience would be interested in. Overall the target audience of 8-12 would appeal to the front cover by the celebrities that are recognised as tween stars. Also the inviting colours will attract them, also some of the language used in the subhead, that is used to support the key sentence to draw the target audience in.


Contents Page

The contents page is split up into 6 different categories. Celeb, Real Life, Style, Fun, You and Plus. This contents page of Mizz shows that the page layout has been well organised. The layout of the page looks like the design has been set out on a grid. This grid has been divided up into smaller boxes to fit in more detail about what information is coming up in the forthcoming pages of the magazine. Mizz isn't an actual music magazine as 'top of the pops' doesn't consist of a contents page unfortunately. So Mizz is the alternative, so there is no band index of all the latest band around. For this page a series of smaller size images are used. The images present a preview of what images to expect on certain pages of this issue. For example page 12 is an image of Zac Efron, so page 12 is a hint that Zac Efron will have a feature on this page. Either a poster or a personal interview.
The type of font used on the contents page is known as sans-serif as the lettering is rounded on the edges. If the lettering was serif then the lettering would have flicks at the bottoms of the letters. Also the lettering of the word "mizz" is spelt in lower case which shows a relaxed approach to the style of the magazine. The colours used are lots of different ones which implies that the magazine has lots of different activities going on, so the schedule of the contents page is hectic. All in all the amount of colours used is 10. This shows a crazy kind of atmosphere inside the magazine. The colour of the text fits in with the images on the page by using key, bold colours bringing out an item that is dominant in the image. An example of this is the text "64" is written in red and the image of the model has bright red lips, so the text really brings out the colouring in the lips. On the Zac Efron image the colouring in his shirt and suit jacket is reflected with the colour of the text box underneath his image. The grey and white, reflect and give the image a more appealing effect with the light colour green.
The image of Zac Efron is suggesting that he is posing at the camera by looking down the lense directly at his target audience. The shot is taken from the above the shoulder, so he is directly interested in the audience. He has been chosen in this shot as he is a huge star for this target audience, so a preview photo is key to draw the attention of the reader in. The clothing he wears is very formal as the High School Musical film was about to be released so he went to the premiere where the stars dress up for the event. Also another reason he is a feature is that he is a international star, so his image would be instantly recognised.

Double Page Spread

Some of the language used in this spread is presented to the audience by being informal and having a relaxed approach. An example of this is "Dolls drama" the language is informal by abbreviating the word "Dolls". It has been shortened from The Pussycat Dolls, the use if abbreviation here is to highlight a pun of what this double page spread is all about. Here the language is relaxed as the language is informal and is using an exclamation mark at the end of an article which shows it is a media piece of work. The tone of voice is relaxed by not taking the jokes too seriously. If an article's tone was all serious they wouldn't appreciated the joke of "I wore this sharp, lightening bolt earring that punctured my face every time I danced". They may take the meaning literally, and not comment on the informal language of including a speech In this double page spread their is 9 images that are used. The images are grouped in certain ways for them to link together. The 6 images that relate to the Pussycat Dolls are all linked together as they are images involving them filming the scene for there new video 'When I Grow Up'. The images of the two stars who are from Eastenders are linked together as they are both were going out for dinner. The images have similarities through the dress code and the background suggesting night time. The images dominate the double page spread by filling up the vast majority of the page. They are there to be the centre of attention so that the audience is drawn to the centre of the page to view all the images. The different colours and backgrounds presented in the image dominate the pages by having a lot of interesting poses and famous faces in them. Such as the image with Zac Efron and David Beckham in the same image, this dominates a page as they are some of the most famous people known on the planet and a photo of them is rare together so the article would be interesting to see what they are up to.The page includes a few quotes in the article from The Pussycat Dolls, updating 'top of the pops' on there progress of shooting the new music video. (These quotes are from The Pussycat Dolls themselves. Reading through the articles it shows that only the Pussycat Dolls had a quotation as the other articles looked liked observations rather than interviews. Every image that has been taken each includes a caption which is a little joke. The captions relate to the main flash that effects that image. An example of this would be The Pussycat Dolls, main flash is all about drama, so Melody's facial expression in the largest image is with the mouth wide open holding an iced drink. "Gag! I thought it was chocolate milkshake", this caption implies a joke which could relate to the drink she is holding an is implied like a drama queen not having the right drink. These captions are like puns to humour the target audience. The first paragraph on the page is not written in a bold format except for the band's name PUSSYCAT DOLLS. This shows the text is again in a relaxed format. Also the start of the first paragraph is presented like if it is presented in a text box so the first capital is presented the same size of the rest of the text instead of a drop capital.
My magazine will find its niche by being available in local shops such as supermarkets, newsagent and convenience stores. The price of the magazine would be determined by the other magazines in the same genre from comparing all the prices of the other magazines and coming up with an average price. The marketing of the magazine would be published fortnightly by giving enough rich detail about the latest news in the 'pop' music genre creating a centre magnet for the latest music news. Promotional introductory offers would give my magazine a good start off to the music magazine industry. So a promotion for my magazine to promote music could be through the magazine's website by giving a direct link to an artists website or something. The title could be linked to a certain artist either through the music or something similar both the magazine and artist might believe in. In January 2010 the issue that would be out in my magazine would be the first interview of the 2009's winner of The X Factor. The interview would be exclusive as it would be there first interview since winning the show and being interviewed about there single that they had released on winning the show. Also some personal questions on what they thought of the other contestants. In the terms of new albums Eminem and Christina Aguliera are both releasing albums in early 2010, so a preview of there albums may appear in my magazine. The earliest awards ceremony in 2010 is the world famous 52nd grammy awards. So a lot of acts from the UK and across the world may be nominated at the grammy's especially if they are artists in the 'pop' genre. Also this first issue could feature predictions of the year to predict the hot new artists of 2010 also who else is going to do well this year with a brand new album out that is highly rated.

Front Cover
Smash Hits! was given as the title as it conveys an interest in music. The name smash hits! sounds like a name that is catchy, and recognisable to remember. The word hits implies that it relates to songs as it is a nickname for singles. 'Smash' implies that the magazine sounds fresh as smashing something can mean a new start by breaking something. So breaking records in the music charts is suitable for a name of a pop genre music magazine. The use of colour on the front cover of this page implies many things. For example the colour yellow that is used for the main flash, implies that the bright colour is trying to brighten up the day or pretending to be sunshine, this would be appropriate as the magazine was published in the springtime May 2005. The colour contrasts well with the grey t-shirt worn by James Bourne. As the yellow brightens up his t-shirt. The colour is important as it draws the target audience towards the magazine when wanting to buy it in the shops. The main colours on the page are yellow and white which work well with each other. Also the colour of white implies that it is a giving a fresh, clean cut image to the pop stars features. For example the background colour is of a brick wall and it looks like that it has been painted white, one of the reasons might be to make the pop stars that are standing against it to make them stand out. There are various fonts presented on the front cover here. The style of font that is used on the main flash "SON OF DORK" has a stamp effect which gives the effect of the font being physically getting stamped directly onto the page. Also this feature has a connotation of some Pop artists being manufactured by there record labels so this could imply that Son of Dork could of been manufactured and then the stamp is the seal of approval like in a factory. The font that is used on "McFly" is sans-serif as the lettering is all rounded off and features no serifs. Also this type of font is typical of McFly as whenever they present the name of there band there is always a little star shape cut onto the letter "Y". The strap line that is featured at the very bottom of the page the font that is used is still keeping to the sans-serif font style but there is an implication to show that it isn't the most important aspect on the front cover. As it just shows a few minor, important features that are featured in the magazine. The language used in the strap line is short, sharp, straight to the point giving out the artists names that are featured. There are five main sells featured on the front cover implying that the magazine is trying to suggest a bargain-type magazine where they are trying to get as much key information on the cover to attract audience, so it lacks sophistication. The type of language that is used all the main sells are very elliptical as the sentences are very, short and snappy, and not fully finishing a sentence in detail for example. Also the language is very colloquail such as "Girlband Glam!", this type of language is very informal as Glam is not the sort language that you would use in standard English it is non-standard. The main flash and subhead that is present "SON OF DORK""Why McFly should be afraid...very afraid!" The language that is used here is threatening disaster that is mocking McFly as having Son of Dork as their opponents. Which this is a threat towards McFly as like a warning towards them, so this is why it is the main flash as this story could 'shake up' the pop world. The whole presentation of the magazine has the impression of looking entertaining for a tween girl of age 8-12. The barcode is presented in the right corner at the base of the page it is placed there as it won't detract the design of the front cover as the other elements are more important. The barcodes are key feature on a magazine because they are what magazine researchers go on to see how many of a certain magazine that they have sold each year. Also this is how magazine companies know if they are making a profit or not. Finally the price and date are printed on the barcode, so they are apparent to the reader but to distract from the other elements on the page. The target audience would like this front cover as it uses a brand new band as there main image, so this will interest them into buying the magazien, to discover who 'Son of Dork' are.