Research on Top of The Pops

Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly glossy publication published by BBC Magazines. It features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizzes, song lyrics and posters. It is a supplementary magazine for the TV show Top of the Pops.
The magazine was launched in February 1995, and is famous for giving the famous girl group the Spice Girls their nicknames. Alongside a revamp of the TV show. It was originally marketed as the missing link between Smash Hits and NME, but its format was gradually changed, with less music content and a demographic shift to young girls. It is still in publication despite the cancellation of the TV show.

Research on Smash Hits

About Smash Hits

Back to the very beginning, Smash Hits the magazine, was founded in 1978 by Nick Logan, creator of The Face and a veteran editor from the halcyon years of the NME.

The first regular issue featured Blondie on the cover and after three issues, in response to massive sales, switched from a monthly to fortnightly publication.

It was during the 1980s that Smash Hits attained ‘phenomenon’ status and helped to launch the careers of high-flying journalists including Heat editor Mark Frith, The Observer’s Miranda Sawyer and Mark Ellen who went on to launch Q, Mojo and The Word. Famously, Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys’ was assistant editor for a time.

During this period, appearing on the cover of Smash Hits was a sign that an act had finally ‘arrived’. Despite iconic status, the magazine never pandered to pop stars; instead editorial deployed an irreverent and witty style – hence references to Dame David Bowie, Sir Clifford of Richard and Fab Macca Wackythumbsaloft
The 1990s were less kind and saw circulation figures drop away in spite of a variety of format redesigns and a change in editorial emphasis towards celebrity and entertainment icons. Even Kate Thornton’s editorial stewardship was unable to reverse decline.

In spite of this reversal in UK magazine fortune (abroad, licensed versions continued to sell strongly), the brand gained recognition and fame for its Poll Winners Party, while the business extended via compilation albums, TV and Digital Radio.

After 28 glorious years, the UK magazine folded in 2006, an era had ended. But Smash Hits on TV and online lives on, giving fans the chance to indulge their pop gland with the UK’s no. 1 Pop Channel.

Names for Music Magazines

Top 10 Made up Music Mag Names: 

• Issue
• Smash
• Music of the Decade
• Pop

Moc Music Magazine Covers

Info on Music Magazines/Genre im Aiming For

I have researhced theses typical music magazines for studying conventions of design, not for undertsanding your chosen audience or music genre.
I feel that the musinc magazines that are on sale or on  the internet are varried in a way however are aimed at maybe more hard core rocky readers and mainly male readers aswell. For example magazines like NME and Kerrang are the mian type of magazines that are being sold on the shelves at this point in time. You however can find many other different genre music magazines on the internet via various different sites. Also if you use the internet to look at an artist or there music thenn that may take you to differtn mucic mag sites.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

As my magazine i would like to create a pop young fresh music mag there are not many of these about. So is a good market to start with because havnt got much competition. This sort of magazine would be aimed at young girls maybe aged between 10-16 years. The magaizine would be very relaxed and creative and have its own style of free and informal. i have done some reaserch on some magazines like this for example SMASH HITS and BBC WEB.



Case Study for Developing a Music Magazine

I have researched these typical music magazines for studying conventions of design, not for undertsanding your chosen audience or music genre.
The two magazines I am comparing are Kerrang and Mojo. Whilst comparing the two magazines I found that Mojo was a higher quality magaine with the price of £4.50 compared to Kerrang with the price £2.20. The quality of Mojo is of a better class to Kerrang because Mojo has more articles and information about current, past and up coming bands. It contains less images comapred to Kerrang, As it seems Kerrang readers are of a lower class this is becuase Kerrang has less content and has more images for the reader to look at.

It seems that in both magazines the focal point is the main image of the leading article. This is because the image of the artists covers the mast head. This makes the Masthead seem less important becauase it is being covered by the more improtant topic. And because the Matshead is so well known the editors can cover it and people will still know what it is. Mojo uses a simple and relaxed font for their masthead to show the relaxed feel to the magazine, compared to Kerrang which uses a lively, smashing font to represent the up beat genre.                    

The layout of Mojo seems to be layed out as a T formation with the masthead, focal image shaped as a T, with seprate articles/kickers going below and along side the T. Mojo dosent layer the front cover as much as Kerrange does this might be becasue Kerrang is again for a lower class of people therefore resulting in more images. Kerrangs layout is much more busy compared to Mojos. Kerrangs cover has lots of images to intise the reader to buy the product and it has lots of kickers informing what?, when? and where? stuff is going on.

The Colour used on both magazines is mainly black and white with a hint of colour here and there this implies the housestyle of the magazine its fashion and image it wants to potray. Both magazines advertise popular bands. and offer posters and jucy articles about other artists. Both magazines offer hooks, buttons, teasers these are all key conventions of magazines they make the cover look more appealing and attractive. hooks ans teasers also inform the readers of what is in the inside.

Hooks:
New artists
New bands
News
Dates of things

Buttons:
Free CD inside
Posters/Stickers
Gig Guide

Teasers:
Interview
Your vote counts
Whos back?

General Info about Magazines

General Details about Magazine:

Reader Profile:
Age
Gender
Likes/Dislikes - Hobbies, Questoaire, Clothes, Food
Socail Grouping - Class, Education, Income Bracket, Class of Job, Sterotypes
Magazine aimed at people who play instruments- Tips on stating a band.

Circulation:
How many magazine get sold?

Distribution:
Where go? What Shops?/ Internt.

Competition:
Any other simialr magazines.How will be the best? How get most money?

Revenue:
How much money this magazines brings in?

A - Audit
B -Buro
C - Circulation

House Style:
Its Fashion
Its Stillisation

Mode of address:
How does magazine talk to audeince?

Editorial:
Edotors letter talking to you

Attidue to reader:
On side of the reader or the act.
Influencing - How influences the reader?

Price:
How much mag? Why charged thatmuch? Why readers pay for mag?

Competition:
What mags are similar? What competion you have? How to be the best? How to get most money?