Final Front Cover

My final front cover follows many of the forms and conventions of a pop music magazine. Firstly, I called my magazine 'Pop', and this is similar to other pop music magazines such as 'Top of the Pops', as this masthead implies straight away that the genre of this magazine is pop music. The target audience trying to be appealed to therefore are more likely to identify the magazine as a pop music magazine as this indication can be found through the masthead. Likewise to 'Top of the Pops', I have included a banner which is a useful section upon this front cover, as the target audience are likely to be attracted to this as it's segregated from the rest of the magazine. Therefore, the information that is located within this banner is likely to be read initially, before the rest of the information is consumed by the target audience. This information that I have placed here reads "WOW! Dance like a popstar with Pop!'s dance move guide!". Firstly, as I have written "WOW!" at the beginning of this sentence, the target audience are likely to be enticed by this word, as it seems exciting and the magazine seems to want to imply to the audience that something fascinating is being offered to them through this magazine. As it is in capital letters and has an exclamation mark after it, this word also may catch the audience's eye at first as not only is it at the top of the front cover in a banner, but it is the left third, which   indicates that the audience will see this rapidly.

The sell line beneath the masthead; "We've selected the most exciting, up-to-date pop news around!" is effective as firstly, the magazine states "We've", which allows the target audience to think of the magazine as a set of people who have done something to benefit them; by selecting "...the most exciting, up-to-date pop news around". Moreover, the words "exciting" and "up-to-date" appeal to the reader as "exciting" implies that the news is interesting and will contain information that they are likely to be engaged within, and "up-to-date" suggests that there is current news included within the magazine's content, which is appealing because the young target audience are likely to want to be kept updated by what is going on linking to pop music. The mention of "the most..." implies that it is unique compared to it's competitors (pop music magazines trying to appeal to the same audience), and therefore the target audience are more likely to purchase this magazine compared to those in the same genre, as it contains "...the most exciting, up-to-date pop news around".

The cover line "EXCLUSIVE! Share your inspirational stories with Sam.W", accompanied by an image of "Sam.W", is appealing as firstly, the word "Exclusive" is likely to attract the target audience as it suggests that  this magazine contains information which is unique and therefore cannot be found in any other magazine that is in the same genre (competing magazines). The exclamation mark again makes it seem as though the information included within the magazine is exciting, which is appealing as the target audience are likely to want to read something that will interest them and evoke emotion from them. "Share your inspirational stories with Sam.W" seems attractive as it is a form of interactivity that the magazine offers, which means that the target audience may want to purchase this magazine as they are able to interact with the magazine. "Sam.W" is a popstar, and therefore the fact that the target audience have been given an opportunity to "Share" something with a pop star that they are likely to be familiar with, is appealing to them as they are being offered a chance to communicate with this person and therefore they may feel connected to them in some way. This celebrity endorsement is seen upon the front cover of 'Top of the Pops' that I analysed; pop stars such as Selena Gomez, JLS and Little Mix are appealing to the target audience and if they notice their favourite artists placed upon the front cover, they are more likely to want to read the content of the magazine as it connects with them.

The cover line on the left third of the front cover which states "Love Capital FM? Win a VIP day at the radio station's headquarters!" may seem appealing to the target audience of young females as, firstly, among this age group, it is common for people to listen to the radio. The incorporation of the radio station "Capital FM" therefore may seem attractive to these members of the audience as it is familiar to them and they are interested in it. This is similar to the incorporation of the radio station "Radio 1" upon the contents page of the magazine 'Top of the Pop's' that I analysed. Even if members of the target audience do not listen to this radio station in particular, they are likely to listen to the radio in general, or hear it at some point, and as they are interested in pop music, a radio station such as Capital FM that plays this genre of music connects with this interest of theirs, and therefore is likely to be an appealing prize for them. The cover line being on the left third is likely to cause the Capital FM logo that has been incorporated into the cover line to be noticed initially, and this is effective as this logo is a visual tool that a young audience is likely to recognise as this radio station is advertised upon the television and is also popular among this age range.

The cover line "Pop stars visit your school libraries for the annual Readathon!" is appealing to the target audience of young females because it involves them by using language such as "your", and it is also likely to cause them to be intrigued as the magazine suggests that "pop stars" that they admire may visit a library that they use, and therefore they may see the pop stars. The word "your" is in a different colour (maroon), and this emphasises how the magazine is talking to the audience. This can be seen within the other cover lines upon my front cover; words such as "EXCLUSIVE!", "Sam.W", "Up-to-date" and "Plus" are in this colour. These words are important and therefore the magazine will want the audience to recognise these in particular, and it emphasises the message that the particular cover line is trying to convey.

The main cover line; "Priya's 10 ways to make your holiday perfect! Plus! Discover how being a popstar doesn't stop her from doing normal things like you and me..." is appealing as this main cover line links with the  main image of Priya, which allows the magazine to seem linked to the audience and they are more likely to be able to access the information about the front cover. The phrase "10 ways..." is appealing to the target audience as, likewise to the magazine 'Top of the Pops' which also incorporate numbers upon the front cover, this may initially catch the target audience's eye as a number indicates that there is a lot of information within the magazine's content. The fact that it is "Priya's" attracts the target audience as this implies that the pop star is providing the target audience with information from herself; and this indicates to the target audience that the information that they are going to read within this magazine if they purchase it, is exclusive and unique compared to it's competitors. The word "Discover" intrigues the target audience as it implies that there is information in the magazine that is worth reading, and information that they did not know of before (as they are going to "discover" this information and therefore learn of it).

The magazine may also succeed in attracting it's target audience as it states that "...being a popstar doesn't stop her from doing normal things like you and me...", which compares the target audience with the popstar and therefore makes it seem as though they are similar in some ways. This may appeal to members of the target audience who idolise Priya, and if they believe that they share a common activity with her, then they form a connection with their admired artist. "2.50" is the price of the magazine, and this seems suitable for a fortnightly magazine (indicated by the date of this issue; "1st-15th June 2012"). The main cover line; "Priya's 10 ways to make your holiday perfect!" links with the time of year, being near to the summer holidays and therefore the time of year whereby holidays will be experienced. This is similar to the magazine 'Kerrang' that I analysed, whereby as it was a issue within February, the special occasion Valentine's Day was mentioned.