POP MAGAZINE CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Colour

Colour is a huge part of pop magazines as it allows them to show the personality of the mag. Colours which are usually shown in pop music magazines are pinks, blues, yellows, purples and oranges. All of these colours are bright, vibrant and eye catching, they all create happiness and a sense of fun, which would appeal to a young target audience who would appeal to these colours.

Without these, fun juicy colours pop magazines would look dull and would not show the joy of pop music to the fullest. Therefore it is massively important for me to follow this convention throughout my magazine production.

The Main Image

The main image of a pop magazine needs to fill the frame, the artist/band that features on the front of the magazine usually appears smiley, full of energy and personality. To ensure they look like they are having a good time, which would make the audience want to have as much fun as they are, wanting them to buy the magazine.

Direct Address, is featured strongly through pop magazines, as it gives the reader the chance to interact with the artist and make them feel like they know them. As the artist is looking directly at them luring them in, this increases sales in magazines.

Also, the artist which features on the front of the magazine is usually featured again on both the contents page and double page spread, to ensure a clear symbiotic link is shown.

This artist is featured wearing brightly coloured clothes to ensure their brand identity is made to look as fun and energetic as possible, so they jump out of the magazine making the audience appeal to them.

Mode Of Address

The mode of address used through pop magazines is chatty and informal, this is language a young teen audience would understand and can relate to. Words such as ‘OMG’ and ‘LOL’ allow the reader to understand what they are talking about creating slight humour to the magazine. It also creates a friendly tone as this is how the target audience would talk to their friends or how they would talk on social networking sites.

Fashion

Fashion is featured lots in music magazines and on the front cover there is usually a section dedicated to it. It will feature images of clothing with a caption such as ‘100 Winter Must Haves..’ this makes the reader feel as if the magazine is looking out for them and keeping them up with latest trends and fashion ideas. It also adds to the typical girly feel to pop music magazines as fashion

The Masthead

The masthead of a pop magazine must be bold, eye catching and funky. It must reflect the genre of pop. It has to make an impact on the audience and be sure to grab attention.

It usually features right at the top and is centered to make it stand out.

Additional Images

They tend to feature images of other pop artists on the front cover to ensure it looks there is lots of gossip and to make sure the entire frame is filled with jam-packed fun. It is also important not too much text is on the front cover of the magazine as images allow the reader to

POP MAGAZINE CODES AND

CONVENTIONS

The Masthead

The masthead of a pop magazine must be bold, eye catching and funky. It must reflect the genre of pop. It has to make an impact on the audience and be sure to grab attention.

It usually features right at the top and is centered to make it stand out.

Additional Images

They tend to feature images of other pop artists on the front cover to ensure it looks there is lots of gossip and to make sure the entire frame is filled with jam-packed fun. It is also important not too much text is on the front cover of the magazine as images allow the reader to

The Barcode and Price

The barcode and price are what the reader must see last. Therefore a convention of pop magazines is to place this at the bottom right of the page, to ensure it is the last thing they see, as the western eye moves from left to right. This will allow the reader to be presented with all the information and gossip and be so excited by it all before seeing the price. By them searching for the price after they have seen all of the information, it is sure to make them want to buy the magazine.

Also, the barcode is the least important piece of information the reader should see therefore, by putting it at the bottom right it is out of the way of what everyone actually wants to see.

Puff’s And Buzz Words

These are shown several times on music magazines as it is an easy way to grab attention. Pop magazines will sometimes use more than one puff to add to the fun effect, as shapes are a visual way to lure in the reader. They are usually brightly coloured with colours such as yellow or blue, to highlight the information inside.

Buzz words featured on pop magazines are usually words such as ‘OMG’ ‘EXCLUSIVE’ or ‘HOT’ and ‘GOSS’ these are all popular choices used on pop magazines as they are fun and would be effective to use for a young teen audience.