Analysing Pop Magazine Covers

Introduction

I am going to analyse three music covers from the genre of pop so I am able to consider what to use when I create my own cover. I will aim to do this by looking at the features present on current pop magazine covers and recognising what effect they may have on the viewer.

I will need to ensure that the audience are able to realise that my magazine is from the same genre as the professional ones, using products the audience can recognise and similar media language conventions could achieve this. This relates to the quote by Bentley (1997); “The creative process is the rearranging of the old to create new.” 

The target audience for my magazine will be the same as the audience for the professional magazines as I will be following the same genre of pop. The target audience will be aged between 12 to about 20 of the female gender. The ethnicity is generally white of middle class with a nationality of either American or British. The sexuality for this particular genre is mainly aimed at straight people, however anyone could read it.

I will be analysing the denotations and connotations of each magazine cover and looking at each aspect including; media language, masthead, layout, colour pallet, images, typography, lexis and any other features which may be present.

I will refer to representation theories to support my points made and will explain how the media language used represents and attracts the target audience.

Top of the Pops:

This magazine is produced monthly with a circulation figure of 56K and is ‘biggest-selling teen lifestyle title’. The first issue was made in February 1995 and the publishing company is Immediate Media Company and the editor of the magazine is Peter Hart. They have currently 247K Facebook likes and 7.5K Twitter likes. The cover price of the magazine is £2.99 and the magazine will generally come with free gifts, such as posters or stickers, to excite the reader, as it will encourage them to buy it over other magazines. 

The average age of the people reading the magazine are 12 and 85% are of the female gender. This suggests that the primary target audience are aimed at young female youths. The magazine will use informal language to give off a conversational tone to make the reader feel at ‘ease’ by using language such as ‘OMG’ and ‘cute confessions’. They will also include topics like, beauty and boys, this supports the fact that it is aimed at people of a straight sexuality and encourages the stereotypical, glamorous image of a female.  

Masthead:

The masthead fills the width of the cover to represent its importance so the audience focuses on the name of the magazine so as a result it is more likely to stick in their head. Another factor to prove this is that it overlaps the main image, this creates a sense of dominance over the rest of the cover showing that the masthead should be recognised and is one of the main features used to sell the magazine. The font is based all on one colour, which is fuchsia, this connotes to quite a stereotypical feminine colour to relate to the target audience, as does the small-spiralled swirl on the end of ‘pops’. It is kept basic suggesting that it is aimed at young youths and due to the words ‘top’ and ‘pops’ kept in capitals make it stand out as if it is almost shouting out to the reader. However the words ‘of the’ are kept in a smaller font in lower case letters and are printed on a circle one underneath another so they are unable to steal the attention from the rest of the masthead. The fact that the words within the masthead use a repetition of the phonological sound ‘op’ makes it more memorable and make it more appealing to younger people from around the age 12.

Layout:

The layout doesn’t appear to be too organised and there are various pictures spread out around the main image, therefore does come across slightly trashy with different style fonts and font sizes used. Due to the cover being full randomly placed images this could back up Dick Hebdige’s theory who considered youth to be fun but also a bit of a troublemaker. The main image is placed on a white background so it does not look too distracting. The cover consists of 4 main cover stories which are represented in different fonts across the page which potentially could encourage the reader as it makes it look like there is a lot going on leading to the excitement of younger youths. One of the main stories links to the main image and is based in a coloured circle matching the masthead to show a sign of co-operation.

Colour pallet:

The main colours involved are fuchsia, purple and white, the colours are very stereotypically related to women, which relates to the target audience and could encourage the readers to be interested in glamour etc. The white is used on the background so the images on the page stand out more, although it could also represent purity and innocence this goes against Stanley Hall’s theory in 1904 who stated that youths are extreme and seek excitement through drugs, sex and alcohol. The fuchsia is used in the masthead and on the circle with the main cover story in to link them back to each other. The purple is used on a strip of the cover at the top containing a fashion style story and on a strip at the bottom of the cover advertising posters inside. There are other colours also included, for example the model happens to be wearing a royal blue top instead of wearing a colour closer to the rest of the colour theme to represent the ‘madness’ of the magazine, however this could show a fault within the colour scheme used.

Images:

The main image is of a medium close up shot of a famous pop star ‘Cher Lloyd’ who could have a large impact on the reader whether to buy the magazine or not due to the fact simply whether or not they like her music or style. She is positioned directly at the camera as if she is looking at the audience, this could make them feel like they are important so they feel more persuaded to read it. The lighting is kept quite light and bright to relate to the stories inside which are kept quite light-hearted so it is kept suitable towards the audience. Cher is presented with her make-up done professionally with long lashes to give of a flirtatious look, which could very slightly link to Laura Mulvey’s theory in 1975 that stated women were used to represent an object of desire. She has long brunette hair placed to maybe represent the treading fashion at that particular time and the fact that she is wearing a necklace links to the idea of how women need to uphold a glamorous look and wearing a bit of jewellery can help represent the idea of expense. There are pictures at the bottom of the page that are shown as posters inside the magazine, four of these are of boys this is against Laura Mulvey’s idea as in this case people of the male gender are being used to sell a product although none of the pictures are provocative etc. the reason for this could be due to the younger ages the magazine is aimed at. The ethnicity of the people shown on the magazine are mainly white British, however there are only two people of colour on the cover out of eight this shows a bias side to the media who want to be represented by white people.

Billboard Magazine:

Masthead:
The masthead is in emboldened white font which spreads across the width of the page so it is easily noticed. The 'b', 'o', 'a' and 'd' have been coloured in separate colours that are red, yellow, blue and green, this makes them stand out to the reader more and makes it become more detailed. The font is based in lower case letters with an exception for the 'b' at the beginning of the word. The masthead is infront of the main image, this makes it seem of high importance and could help ensure that the reader will remember the name of the magazine easily which could result in the name being more likely to sell the magazine.

Layout:
There is only 1 image, taken as a medium close up,  present on the cover of the magazine this acts as the background. The font colour is kept consistent in white to follow the theme presented to the reader by the masthead, however there are several different font styles used, this could represent the different stories inlcuded within the magazine. Many of the headings are put in a narrow font in block capitals to stress the importance of what is being featured inside so people are persuaded to buy it. The biggest font across the page in capitals is 'Beyonce', this is because she is the celebrity used to be the main image and due to her celebrity status it attracts the target audience and draws in the most publicity.

Colour Pallet:
The main colour used is white, which is used for all the writing and the colour white is a symbol for purity and due to this magazine being aimed towards youths aged about 15 to 20 shows that Stanley Hall's theory is incorrect. The colours which are used to colour in some of the letters within the masthead are kept quite bright, therefore relate to the idea fo fun. This could also support Dick Hedbidge's, 1988, theory that youths are more for the idea of fun.

Image:
The main image is of Beyonce and she is presented on the cover directly looking at the reader. This could be more encouraging for the reader to buy the magazine as they feel they are being involved within it, this could result in them to feel more important. Her expression comes across flirtatious and could be considered to be quite sexual, this relates back to Laura Mulvey's theory in 1975 when she stated that women were presented as 'erotic objects of desire'. Her nails are also painted a vivid red, this connotes topics like danger or love, also it links back to the title which had the 'b' coloured in red. Her make up is quite subtle and is blended into her skin tone. The colours are quite warm, consisting of autumnal shades which could also match her eye colour. The fact that these colours are used maybe so they relate to the actual theme of 'Autumn' as the magazine was released in November. Beyonce is shown with long hair, full of volume, this upholds the look of glamour females are stereotypically meant to live up to and could encourage the target audience, who may idolise her, to copy her appeareance.