Pop Music Magazine double page spread annotations

By Matthew McMinn

Top of The Pops double page

Again, there is a continuity of colours of pink and white is again very feminine. The article is about a girl group and so this appears to be a suitable colour pallet scheme option. The boxes of which the text are in vary between a dark purple and pink but the text stays consistently white. This is a continuous colour from what we have previously seen on the front cover and contents page of the top of the pops magazines, admittedly they are not all from the same issue but this just shows a consistency through multiple issues. The pink, yet again, stereotypically attracts the young female audience.

The “Exclusive interview” makes it appear that the information in this article can’t be found anywhere else and so that attracts the audience and for the age group maybe it is something they can shock their friends with.

At the bottom left of the page there is a photograph of little mix and this can make the reader feel involved in their lives and so the text could come across more personal. The small picture contrasts the centre image as in the small picture they are wearing black and the centre picture they have white. This could suggest that they have a slight devious party animal side to them and they are not just the pure nice girls they come across to be.

In the centre image little mix are wearing white clothes which shows them to be pure, nice and kind, non-fake people and what you see is what you get. This suggests good role model ship and as it is young girls wanting this magazine parents will have to buy it and they will respect this and see it as a suitable purchase.Also they all look to be singing which happy looks on their face. This suggests to the reader that little mix enjoy what they do and so it makes young people think that it is something that they would want to do too. So this has been done as a slight psychological effect.

Another thing is that all of little mix have at least one hand on the microphone stand. Perfect harmony runs over and next to the mic and suggests that all the girls are well adjusted to their new group and this is something the reader would want to see/hear.

Billboard double pageColours quite different to the cover I analysed. I think this is because the colours are chosen to represent the person the article or page is on so that the reader can understand what type of artist/person they are. This appears to be a more sophisticated way of picking colours as younger readers may not notice this. Also these colours represent the colours chosen for the cover of Rita’s first CD which was of her in black and white and the text “ORA” was in red. The way this page strongly relates to Rita’s CD and may subconsciously make people think about it and purchase it. Rita is in colour as this prevents the article looking too boring with it just being black, white and red.

The heading of this article is “RITA ORA” in bold, edgy, red text. This suggest something about her that she is a go at it character and the reader can infer this from the text. Also it suggest danger, love and passion. As the reader you could infer that she is not afraid to take risks and what she does she is passionate about and she loves it. It is also straight to the point and you know instantly what the article is about.

The splash image is the page, there is barely any text and you would assume that the main focus is of this image. However most of the image is of a wall and so is not too distracting, it just acts as a background to the page more than a picture. Rita is sat more in the light than in the dark suggesting a spotlight and that she is the main focus. The colour of her clothes stops the page looking too boring, also a lot of leg flesh is shown which looks at the male gaze as it could look like she is not wearing any trouser type clothing unless you see the blue shorts.

The way that the article is written is in a question and answer format where each question is a different subheading. The reader may find this useful as they might only want to know one fact and so they would only have to read the questions and not the whole text. The questions are written in red text so to stand out against the rest of the grey text which is Rita’s answer to the question. This style of writing can also make it feel as if the reader has asked the question and Rita is responding directly to the reader as the entire article is quoted form what the interviewer and Rita say. This makes it feel more personal and connected.

We <3 Pop double pageThis special Christmas edition has what is most certainly a different colour scheme compared with what would usually be used for this pop magazine. The colour pallet scheme used is to fit the fact that this is a Christmas special issue. The red can relate to a father Christmas which has become an iconic Christmas figure. The blue which is used is for the icy effect and the feel and hope for a white Christmas. Snow flakes have been added to this background colour to reinforce the Christmas feel as blue alone would not necessarily have the same effect. The colour red can also make it feel as if this is a present from the writers due to the colour relation to Santa and so what has been put in red, such as what is it the bottom of the page, can feel like an unexpected gift. Also the white looks as if it’s a type of book and that what is in this article is only part of the Olly Murs story, this is suggested by the curvy bump look that the middle of the page has as if it can be turned over to continue the story.

The header for this article is a pun as it plays on the word Christmas and replaces the “mas” with “Murs” as this is the singers name. The “Murs” is also a different colour from the rest of that text as it punctuates who the article is about. Yellow is also a very stand out colour compared with the rest of the colours on this page and so this emphasises this part of the header. The text also looks to have been placed on what looks like red ribbon, ribbon is something you would expect to see on something such as a T.V. as a way of making gifts look nice once wrapped at Christmas time. This further reinforces the idea of this article being a present to the readers from the header. Also the holes in the “R’s” are filled suggesting that this article is full and nothing else could be put into it.

The picture of Olly is a poster and this takes up a full page of the double page spread, this is a poster for the readers. This may have been done because the target audience for this magazine are quite young and so they will not want to spend ages reading an article no matter who it’s about because not everyone will be obsessed with the same person. Also this suits the modern day rushed lives that people live, with the text only being half a page there is less reading for the reader and so they will finish quicker meaning they can move on to one of their many other things. This is convenient for the reader and companies sell their produce well if they are convenient to their target market.

This text for this magazine also has a question and answer style to it where the interviewer is the questioner and Olly is the answerer. This is also usful for the reader as it is possible for them to find a certain topic about that one person if they do not want to read the whole thing and just want to know a specific detail.