TOP OF THE POPS

&

NME

The masthead

The typography of the masthead looks playful, the use of rounded fonts automatically makes what's written look more childish.They usually use bright bubbly colors which suggests that they’re trying to attract a target audience which relies on the visual aspects of the magazine rather than its content.

NME is reaching out to a more mature audience, possibly late teens and older(18+), the use of bold font conveys that the magazine is serious also the use of basic colors such as ‘Black, red and white’ makes the magazine look more strict.NME’s masthead is plain in comparison to ‘Top of the pops’, this is because people who buy the magazine aren't buying it for what the front cover looks like but contents of the magazine such as feature articles, Interviews, gig guides etc.

Mode of AddressMost of the language used in the magazine and on the front cover is ‘Informal’.Informal language is used to reach out to a less mature audience.e.g. “The stars who are killing the planet”- the use of the metaphor ‘killing’ could be seen as colloquial language (slang) and would only appeal to children as adults don’t really speak slang.However, sub-headings such as ‘Cristiano strips’, ‘34 hot boys’ & ‘Kiss and tell’ portray that the magazine is really aimed at teenage girls as oppose to both sexes.

However,The language used in NME is more Formal although you’ll find that occasionally they say certain things to go with the artist that is on the front cover.e.g. “Kiss my ass” is not usually something that you would see on the front cover of NME but in this case it is something that the feature artist ‘Ditto’ would say, and her fans would understand this.In contrast to ‘Top of the pops’In NME there is hardly any use of colloquial language as there target audience probably wouldn’t understand it, or couldn’t relate to it.

Main ImageThe main image is of a very popular actor ‘Zac Efron’ who starred in Disneys ‘High school musical’.This particular issue of the magazine seems to sway manly towards female teens, excluding the males as ‘ZacEfron’ is more of an idol for girls than boys.In this case a ‘Mid-shot’ of the artist helps the magazine to sell, as they know teenage girls ‘love’ Efron because they find him attractive.e.g. We are unable to see his outfit, the only things that are visible are his face, neck and arms; and as he’s smiling and his arms are crossed it makes him look more relaxed/chilled= more cool.

In this issue of NME the feature artist ‘Beth Ditto’ is a well known Punk artist.She produces serious sounding music and her fans are mostly adult, as they can relate to her music.The fact that she is completely naked shows that the magazine is not aimed at anyone younger than 18, and her not being a ‘size zero’ would also confuse in-mature teenagers which shows that you have to have reached a certain level of maturity to be attracted by this magazine and its front cover.

Comparatively it is clear that both magazines have different intentions…

NME intend to inform there readers about upcoming gigs, the latest news on artists etc

Where as, Top of the pops entertain there readers with the latest gossip, posters, celeb style etc

As they are both aiming to attract different target audiences which have different needs they have to use different colors, font layouts and images.