Front cover analysis of 'Top of the Pops'

Top of the Pops magazine was formed in 1995 and is a suppliment of the BBC television programme. It was originally described as a mix between 'Smash Hits' and 'NME' but over the years the format has changed, with the magazine featuring less music information and is primarily aimed at young girls with features that include celebrity gossip and fashion and beauty advice. The cost of the magazine is £2.30 which is quite expensive for a magazine aimed at young teens, who won't have much money of their own for luxuries so would have to rely on their parents for finance.

The first thing that catches my eye about the front page is it's bright colour scheme. The background uses pink tiles but we can only see parts of this as most of it is covered up by feature boxes of what to expect in the magazine. The magazine uses pink and yellow which makes the target audience obvious as these are typical girly colours.

The main picture is of Cheryl Cole, a popular girl band member who is a role model for a lot of young girls, not just for her talent as a performer, she is also a fashion icon and spends a lot of time in the public eye due to her fashion choices. The picture is a mid close up so you can see her hair style and make up clearly, as people always expect her to look good. Her head is the only part not covered by a cover line and blocks out part of the masthead. This makes only the words 'top' and 'pops' visible to the reader, as these are most important.

The cover line which relates to the main story of the magazine is positioned at an angle and is overlapping the picture. It is in a dark pink text box, the same as the outline of the masthead, so it stands out. The box starts with the words 'World Exclusive!' to differentiate the magazine from others making it seem like this is the only place the reader can find this information, and gives it the edge over competing magazines. The cover line reads 'It's scary being me!' which is a quote from the interview with Cheryl Cole and will interest the audience as they will want to find out more about her life and the fact that someone so famous finds it scary would be a shock.

The is a banner across the bottom of the page, also in dark pink, which shows the 'hot' posters that are included in the magazine. The word 'hot' is a mode of address used because the magazine are trying to reach out to the target audience my using similar language. This is followed by pictures of the 6 people, not all of them being involved with music, which indicates that the magazine is edging away from being primarily about music and just being aimed at various things young girls are interested in, such as Edward from the film Twilight who is loved by lots of young girls.

Beside the picture of Cheryl, there is a small picture of Alexandra Burke in a white box. This is so it stands out from the pink background. The cover line is about a 'new year makeover' which will appeal to young girls as they would aspire to be like the stars. There is a similar box on the left of the page featuring JLS, also off the popular TV show 'The X Factor'. This is to advertise that inside the magazine you can 'WIN!' signed JLS hoodies. These celebrities aid the sales of the magazine and fit in well as 'The X Factor' is so popular and the artists they produce are known for topping the charts.

There are various issues not involving the music business that are featured in 'Top of the Pops'. At the top of the page there is a cover line of a quiz featured in the magazine which relates to friendship issues, which is a popular subject for young girls to worry about and need advice for. As well as this it uses a black circle shape which includes information about being safe online. This is more advice for the target audience, as online safety is very important and younger girls are more vulnerable. The fact that this is in black makes it stand out from the rest of the page, and sort of symbolises danger as its the only dark colour used.

At a glance, the front cover includes different shades of pink and yellow and different shapes which the cover lines are written on. This is so all the different features stand out from each other. It also makes the magazine easily recognisable to regular readers, and will definately draw the attention of the target audience of young girls when on a shelf surrounded by various other magazines. All the cover stories say the page number so if someone is flicking through it, they can find what they're looking for easily.




The language used on the magazine also indicates the age group it's aimed at. Words such as 'OMG' which is used frequently by girls of this particular age groups to communicate with each other. This shows the magazine is trying to relate to them and lure them in by using similar expressions.


In my opinion, the layout is too crammed with various pictured and too many strap lines. I think it will work for the target audience as they will rely more on the cover of a magazine when they are choosing to buy it so will want as much as information and unique sellings points as possible on the front page to draw them in.