Readership Profile- Top of The Pops

Name of Magazine: Top Of The Pops

Typical age of reader: 11-15 years old

Typical gender of reader: Male 13% - Females 87%

Income/social economic class: They will have a low income due to them still studying at school. Most of the 11-15 year olds parents will pay for the magazine for them, this is why it is critical that the content is suitable. 

Favourite bands/artists: JLS, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Flo Rida, Miley Cyrus, Pink, Lady Gaga, High School musical and Katy Perry.

Attitude to life: They generally have a positive look on life and want to do well at school, although they are starting to hit their teenage years.

Spend money on: Clothes, Cosmetics, Mobile Phones, Ipods/mp3 players, Music CD’s and DVD’s.

Typical fashion/clothes: SuperDry, Jack Wills, Toms

Music: The readers of Top of The Pops magazine, want to be just like the celebrities that they see in the magazines and on the TV. They are inspired by their talents and how they look, which results in them wanting to be ‘mainstream’ and follow the crowd with what they wear, and the things they do. They also listen to the music in the magazine to ‘fit in’ with people that like the same things as them.

Films: The readers watch musicals such as: High School Musical, Grease, Glee and Camp Rock, so that they can learn the songs and sing them with their friends.

Other Information:

• Launch date- February 1995
• Genre- Pop music
• Multiplatform- no
• Readership- 331,000
• Frequency- Weekly
• Circulation Figures- 78,325
• Price- £2.99
• Pages- 56

Why is this research done? So it can appeal to the readers through provision of:

Knowledge

The information given in the magazine includes interviews with celebrities eg: ‘Misha B’ and  ‘100% One Direction’ and information about the life behind the scenes of the stars. This magazine has mostly gossip contents to suit the target audience with little factual knowledge. (Maslow, Esteem and self-actualisation )

Independence/Influence

The attitude to the artists and bands is very laid back. There is a cool and trendy, relaxed theme to the magazine with a great deal of focus on relationships and insider information. The effect on the reader will mainly be informing them of the latest gossip. There are 6 articles for ‘All About You’, these include problem solving and real life stories. This is what the young reader are interested in so the magazine will really appeal to the reader. (Maslow, Esteem and Love/Belonging)

Belonging

Connections with other mind-like fans are shown through ‘Your Shout Outs’. Readers can interact with the magazine and online because they contain 8 competitions and ‘Offers’ on items to buy in shops. There are not obvious signs to social networking sites as the target audience may be a little young. There are adverts in the inside back cover of the magazine to mobile phone downloads eg: ‘Ringtones and Wall papers’. Subscription is not promoted well but there is a section near the end of the magazine called ‘Reserve me a copy’. There is also a reminder to ‘ Don’t miss the next issue of…’ for the online version on the same page. Subscription of both the magazine and online version are important to make people feel like they belong to the ‘Top Of The Pops’ family. (Uses and Gratification, Integration and social interaction) (Maslow, Love/Belonging)

Personal Identity

Top of the Pops is for those that want to know all the latest insider gossip. There is a lot of ‘Pop’ subculture. The appearance of the magazine is very basic with a girly pink colour theme. The pictures of the celebrities with body, vestural and object codes that connote a sense of popular dress style. They also contain many pull out style pictures that are up to date and they are highlighted on the contents page as ‘Boy Alert!’. This allows the young audience to connect with the magazine and have a lasting keepsake for themselves or for their bedroom wall. (Uses and Gratifications, Personal Identity)

Entertainment

Top of the Pops magazine is a source wonderful of gossip. The audience can get direst information from the artists on their feelings, bad habits and interests. The young readers can escape from real life for a bit. There are links to popular TV shows eg: ‘The Voice’. (Uses and Gratifications, Entertainment)

News

In Top of the Pops magazine the minority of the articles are about music news, though the content of the news varies from ‘Celebrities at London Fashion Week’ to the ‘Latest…music, film and TV highlights’. The website also offers a limited amount of news. (Uses and Gratifications)

Readership Profile- NME

Name of Magazine: NME

Typical age of reader: 23/24

Typical gender of reader: Male 74% - Females 26%

Income/social economic class: Upper and Lower Middle Class

Favourite bands/artists: Paramore, Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects

Attitude to life: Very loyal, “I can trust it”, “It’s full of facts that we should all know but don’t but we do now thanks to NME”

Spend money on: £152 on footwear, £532 on clothes, £66 on DVD’s, £170 on digital cameras, £1229 on music equipment- typical average spend per year

Typical fashion/clothes: Individual and alternative. Don’t follow the crowd.

MOBILES

• NME readers are influential when it comes to mobile phones.

• They are over twice as likely to convince friends and family about what mobiles to buy.

MUSIC

Not surprisingly NME readers are completely obsessed by music. Reader research has demonstrated that they rely on the editorial and the ads to keep them up to date with new music. This knowledge then makes them the authority in music in their peer group.

FILMS

NME readers enjoy watching films, both in the cinema and at home. They tend to buy a new DVD every month (higher than the national average)

Back ground-The music industry structure

Major record labels

A record label is a brand name and trademark for the marketing of music recordings and videos. A record-label company scouts for talent and develops new artists, coordinates production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforces copyrights. Examples of record labels:   A&M Records   American Recordings   Angel Records   Capitol Records   Columbia Records   Decca Classics   Deutsche Grammophon   Elektra Records   Epic   MCA records   Philips Music Group   RCA Victor   RCA Victor Red Seal Opera Treasury   Rhino Records   Sony Music Online   Universal Music Group   Virgin Records America   Warner Bros. Records The industry is dominated by four majors who produce and market 75 percent of music recordings. They are:   Sony BMG   Universal Music Group   EMI   Warner Music Group Each of the big four record labels manages smaller businesses. Artists who are signed by one of the big four labels are either signed to the main label or to a subsidiary label. For instance, a band might be signed to Sony, or they may be assigned to a Sony subsidiary label such as Columbia Records. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Inc., one of the big four record labels, was the result of a merger of two industry giants, Sony Music and BMG Music. Sony BMG has more than 20 labels including:   Epic   Jive   Columbia   RCA   Arista   LaFace   Zomba Music Group   SoSo Def   Legacy   J Records   Red Music Distribution Sony BMG's artists include:   Britney Spears   Jessica Simpson   Celine Dion   Franz Ferdinand   The Fray   Belle and Sebastian   Justin Timberlake   Kelis Universal Music Group, owned by Vivendi SA, is the top selling family of labels:   Interscope   Geffen   Motown   Def Jam   Island   So So Def   Roc-a-fella   Verve Universal's artists include:   Gwen Stefani   50 Cent   Marian Carey   U2   Kanye West EMI is another of the big four major record labels. Headquartered in London, England, the company started in 1931 as the Gramophone Company, manufacturer of gramophone record players. In 1931, EMI opened the Abbey Road music studios in London, which eventually became home to the Beatles and had a significant influence on the music industry. EMI artists include:   The Beatles   Elvis   Nat King Cole   The Beach Boys   Pink Floyd   Depeche Mode   Pet Shop Boys   Elvis Costello   The White Stripes Warner Music Group labels include:   Atlantic Records   Bad Boy   Roadrunner Records   Asylum Records   East West Records   Rhino Records   Sub Pop Records   Rykodisc Records   Reprise Records The record labels produce the music of each artist who is under contract, manufacture the discs, distribute them to wholesalers, and sometimes have their own retail outlets.

http://www.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/Music&PopCulture.html

Kerrang Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Kerrang Magazine Front Cover Analysis

This Magazine is called Kerrang! The target audience at teenagers to young adults aged 15-25. It is aimed at a niche audience that listen to the music and bands that are shown in the magazine, which are mainly rock/metal. This is also shown by the images and fonts used that seem more violent and aggressive; this is the kind of image that is associated with that genre of music.

The pugs include pictures of ‘Paramore’ and ‘Deftones’ in the bottom corners. In the top corners there is a picture of something to do with ‘My Chemical Romance’s New Album’ and a grab quote reading ‘ WIN a £700 guitar’ are located in the corners of the front cover. This draws the attention of the reader as they have been placed in ‘The ‘Z’ Shape’ which is ideal as it is the way the reader will first look at the magazine. The barcode is placed at the bottom of the front cover but just above the strapline. The barcode is angled vertically and includes the date, issue number and the price, which is helpful to those who want to collect each issue. There is also a website included with the barcode, which is good because it is good for today’s generation of digital natives and is used for interactivity.

The masthead is in a font that is made to look cracked, this links to the idea of onomatopoeia that ‘Kerrang’ sounds like the crashing sound of a symbol, connoting the style of music the magazine is based on. It also creates a house style that is well known, so it can be covered by the main picture but the customer would still understand that this is Kerrang! With the white colour for the text it also stands out on the purple background.

The main image of ‘Black Sabbath’ is spread across the cover to show that this is the main article inside, if the band is unknown to the audience then the cover line is the anchorage text. The clothes that the bands are in portray a ‘normal’ feeling as they aren’t dressing in, out of the ordinary costumes, this is done to show that they are rockstars and they have white faces and they’re dressed all in black. The image is quite serious as none of the members of the band are smiling and there is a dark and depressing feel to the image. The member in the middle appears to be the lead singer as the rule of thirds has been used to define him from the other band members at a different position as he is stood slightly more forwards than the other two members. The image is definately a direct mode of address as the band members are looking directly at the camera which gives the impression that the band are looking directly at the reader. This is done so that you can engage with the band and really understand the image.

Kerrang magazine has a lot of pull quotes which creates more anticipation and also help to draw the reader in to the inside material. The magazine includes lots of buzz words, for example ‘world exclusive’ and ‘revealed’ shows to the reader that it is only found in this magazine therefore it is special. The use of bold white text stands out really well on the dark image and background. The use of different fonts is really effective as it shows something ‘different’ in this case a poster.

The genre of music is once again emphasised by the images of performance, bands that look like typical rockstars with the clothes they wear and their long hair. The images used have been used to show samples of the posters and images to be found inside.  Almost all the other images have been placed on the lower half of the cover so it doesn’t draw the attention away from the main image, they are also separated away from the main image by a white border to really make it stand out.