Mixmag Analysis

Mixmag is a dance and clubbing magazine based in Britain. The name Mixmag suggests that there is a mix of music included in the magazine. It also ties in with the magazine and the fact that they cover a lot of mixes, and they always include mix CD’s with the magazine.

It’s currently published by Development Hell, who also publish The Word magazine, and Don’t Stay In. Mixmag has a certified circulation of 37,139 and a readership of 276,000. It also has a website which is www.mixmag.net/. It comes out once a month.

Its target audience is intended to be clubbers, from 18 to about 23, but it also has a smaller target audience of DJ’s and people interested in their own mixing, as it often contains a lot of information about how to make good mixes, and includes a lot of software that would be useful. It targets males and females, but more females, as it always uses bright, party colours, but they tend to be quite feminine like pink and yellow.

The cover of the magazine is very stereotypically trendy, and it shows the general target audience within the picture. Its very bright and colourful, and it gives the impression of a club, where there’s bright lights and lots of different colours going around. Because it features Calvin Harris on the cover, it manages to appeal to wider audiences because he is a popular electro/rave artist, and so a lot of people who like his music would be tempted to purchase the magazine. It stands out from a lot of other covers by having so much white, which contrasts with the bright colours, so if you saw it on a shelf, it would immediately catch a shoppers eye.

It still manages to look very slick and expensive amongst its “raver” stereotype, partly because of the quality and detail of the picture, and the reflection in his glasses. It makes it look very professional and quality because of the quality of the photos. The cover is a glossy cover which adds to the professional effect a lot aswell. It gives the feel of a classy magazine, and in such a small sub-genre, it seems to dominate.

Magazine Analysis -

Top of the Pops

Top of the Pops Magazine is a monthly magazine that costs £2.20. as the title suggests, it is a pop magazine that focuses on pop at the top of the chart. The name of the magazine is shared with that of the old Television programme that featured the chart, and also, it rhymes, which is catchy, which is good as the magazines target audience is quite young people who would be drawn in by catchy things.

The cover also instantly shows the magazines target audience, as the colours are pink and yellow, which are very standard feminine colours, and the photo is popular young girl pin-up band the “Jonas Brothers.”

Having them on the cover with smiley faces makes the magazine approachable for the young girls that are expected to be reading the magazine.

They use a lot of language that would be expected to be good with the young girls like the use of “OMG!” and “X-Factor gossip.” It also says that the Jonas Brothers are going to come clean about everything, which would make readers intrigued and want to buy the magazine. The play on “Taylor’s Swift Snog” also connects with young people as snog is a very common word with younger girls. Taylor Swift is someone that they would look up to, so it’s likely to be a pun that young girls would actually get, but it also draws them in, as it would make them feel closer to the stars that they look up to.

The completion and “need-them-now” bargain’s is a good way for the magazine to gain customers when on a shelf. For a young girl, winning a competition to get signed stuff from celebrities is something they could show off to friends, and so would popular clothing bargains. It’s a chance for them to learn about what is perceived as cool for girls their age, which is good, as they’re generally too young to have very specific tastes.

It looks very tacky as a magazine, and it’s all so cluttered and bunched together. It makes it look like a very cheap magazine, but at £2.30, it’s not bad compared to other weekly magazines. It generally gives the impression of a magazine for girls who love bright colours, and so it works perfectly for its target audience.