Top of the Pops ; Front Cover Analysis.

This is my analysis for the top of the pops front cover.

Looking at the front cover I can tell that  the genre this magazine is about pop music, also from looking at the front cover I can see that the kinds of issues and articles that are going to be inside are interviews with certain artists and also all the hot gossip from other artists. By looking at the front cover, I can tell that the target audience for this magazine is going to be young teenagers, around the age of 13-18, more likely to be girls than boys. Also i think it will be people that enjoy pop music and all the young attractive artists that are around in today’s society. From looking at the central image, you can see that the magazine is using a direct mode of address as the people in the image are looking directly at the reader. This shows that the type of relationship wanted with the reader is a personal engagement, as they are looking at the reader they are trying to get the reader to purchase the magazine. On the front cover, in the central image, there is a boy band called ‘One Direction’ an attractive new boy group that came in third place on the x factor and they are now international stars. The publisher used this group as the central image as they are loved by the target audience (teenage girls). There are also two other groups on the front cover, which are ‘The Wanted’ and ‘Little Mix’, they are also popular with the target audience and so are all the other single artists on the cover. The anchorage text says ‘straight from the heart- all new romantic revelations as 1D get emotional’ this implies that there’s going to be an interview in the magazine about the boys and about their relationships and personal information about their love life. The overall message that the artist is giving is that they’re stylish, quite fun and smart, and welcoming. The anchorage text uses a persuasive technique as it allows the readers to get an inside to the emotional side of the boy group.

The magazine represents boys as being quite soft and gentle and friendly, also they look very welcoming, however, the image of little mix represents girls as feisty, unapproachable, and strong. The front cover only includes one buzz word and that word is ‘cheap’. The effect that this would have on the reader is that it would attract them to pick up the magazine and read the cover as everyone likes cheap things. The design of the title block tells me that the magazine is feminine and directed towards females and the title is on a bright pink background and has stars around it. The puffs suggest that there will be similar clothes and items that celebs have been seen with and that they are cheap, this shows that the type of audience is teenage girls. The colours that are used on the cover are mainly pink yellow and turquoise; these colours are bright and eye catching. This helps attract the readers as the target audience is young teenage girls, and these are feminine colours. The colour scheme relates to the overall style and tone of the magazine and the magazine is fun and cool and this engages the audience. The strategies that the magazine uses to attract the audience are the graphic images, the bright attractive colours and the images of popular and loved artists. Bright attractive colours have been used all over the front cover, this attracts readers and the magazine looks fun. It has been used so that the audience is interested and it engages them to purchase the magazine.