Top of the pops language analysis

Within this analysis I have discussed the language of the magazine ‘Top of the Pops’, discussed the structure, how it targets its audience and what it tells us about the magazine.
The magazine ‘Top of the pops’ is a successful and popular magazine. It is very clear who the target audience is just by looking at the front cover. The target audience is young teenage girls. You can tell this by the band on the front cover, The Jonas Brothers who are a young, good looking band of brothers who are very appealing to young girls. The language has been chosen very carefully to draw in its target audience. It targets its audience by using slang words and shortening of words such as ‘OMG’ and ‘pics’ this makes the audience feel like they can relate to the magazine and make them believe that it is a cool and up to date magazine to read.
On the front cover it is clear that they have purposely included lots of girl interests to draw them in such as ‘Your instant makeover’ as girls always like to look good and ‘Exclusive pics! 24 hours with ZAC’ as most teenage girls have crushes of Zac Effron. Each coverline is short and catchy and draws your eye right in. Everything which is mentioned on the front is there because it’s the main contents of this magazine, so individual words are essential for them selling their magazine. A lot of explanation marks are included on the magazine which shows very informal and chatty language.

Looking inside the magazine at the second page is an interview of the Jonas Brothers. The language again is very casual and chatty and not too long. Therefore again this shows how the magazine targets its audience. The responses from the Jonas brothers within the questions are very enthusiastic and they come across really ‘cool’ and they often talk about dating girls which is what young teenage girls like to read. They seem to come across really happy and excited which is a positive tone which will have a positive effect on the reader. The structure is very good and relevant as it shows a clear indication of the question then answer in a short paragraph instead of long paragraphs with quotes from the band hear and there. It also includes a lot of pictures throughout the page which makes it easier and more interesting to read for a teenage girl.

Also in parts of the magazine there are sentences like ‘Its time you found out what all the fuss is about’ which is as if they are talking to the reader. It also includes rhetorical questions which makes the reader feel involved and it makes them relate to what is being said. The whole spread has a sense of rhythm via the punctuality as there’s a lot of comers and ‘…’ which makes it seem to flow better and makes it more reader friendly.

The magazine uses celebrities to help draw in the target audience. Within the magazine they have included celebrities talking about subjects that teenage girls can relate to. For example they have a section on the front cover of McFly, a well known and successful band, talking about ‘Our hidden heartache’. Most teenage girls can relate to this and they will automatically think it must not just happen to them and it must not be that much of a bad thing if it’s happened to a good looking and popular band such as McFly.

To conclude, the overall language of the magazine, top of the pops is informal, chatty, gossipy and enthusiastic. It is targeted at young teenage girls and this is clearly shown by the chosen language and is successful. It is very basic and easy to understand which is useful for the intended reader. The language suits the target audience very well and the kind of music magazine that it is.