2. Pop music magazine
• I am now going to be researching into my genre of pop. I will
be doing this by showing examples of artists, fashion, my
genres history etc. to make sure my magazines follows
convention for my genre in order to attract my audience.
3. Typical front cover images
I have looked at typical front covers and have also looked on pop music websites such as we love pop to get an
idea into the type of celebrities that are promoted though the pop genre. I also did this to find out the type of
celebrities that would attract my audience in order to encourage them to buy my magazine.
Once finding Pixie Lott on the “we love pop” website I did
some research into her type of music and her fan base. I
found that pixie Lott many focuses on the pop genre but also
incorporates dance, soul, electro and R&B into her music.
Although her music seems to contain other music genre’s it
still tells me that her styling would attract my audience. From
task 5 in my brief pop history I found that more and more
pop songs are now branching out to other genres to make
them seem fresh and unique in order to attract a wider
audience . However I do think the most obvious
characteristic of a pop star is their fan base. I have found that
Pixie Lott primarily has a female fan base, making her
attractive to a female audience thus making me consider a
female model for my front cover.
Here I can see that a female has been used as the
font cover image on a pop magazine. Ariana
Grande has featured as a teenage actress on
children's programmes such as Nickelodeon but
most recently have focused on her music, which I
can see from her history is mostly pop. Although
Grande is not primarily a music artist she would
still attract my audience. This is due to her
success in children's programmes making her well
known to my audience as someone to aspire to .
In this pictures despite her age of 20 she looks
quite young and innocent which links in with how
the young audience would be preserved, making
me consider the way my model would be
presented to my audience.
This is well-known band called One Direction. They are all in their
twenty and also have a target audience of young teens. This is
due to their music which very much so relies on its lyrics to
appear sympathetic and charming, which stereotypically is seen
desirable and attractive to young teenagers. The band are
represented in a similar way for example on this front cover they
are all wearing suits. This makes them appear grown up and
smart which would attract the audience. Therefore when
choosing my main image I will consider using a male band who
are slightly older than my target audience , giving them
something attractive to look at.
Justin Bieber is known for being one of the most iconic pop
music stars of this century. His music back in 2009 had a
feminine style such as “Baby” which had connotations of
love sweetness. These are stereotypically females
characteristic telling me this target audience is young girls.
As his music developed it become more sexy which would
appeal to my older audience of 14-16 years old due to
them being more aware of the meaning being the lyric
thus making Bieber himself appeal attractive and grown
up. Therefore this will help me if I was to chose a male
model by indicating to me how I should represent this to
my audience.
4. Mise-en-scene
From the images I have collected from fellow pop magazines such as we love pop I can see that there is a vast variety of different locations that
mages have been taken from. The first thing I noticed is that many of the images have not been taken by professional photographers, but
appear to be images of celebrities in their day to day lives, suggesting that they have been taken by paparazzi. However I think this has been
done in a way which makes it attractive to the target audience. The images are natural and casual which allows the audience to feel as though
the celebrities are normal people , capturing them in perhaps times of embarrassment or laugher ,of which might could happen with your
friends or family. This would work well for my magazine as it would l allow me to take natural and casual photos without the pressure of editing
them to make them appear glamour. However later on I did notice that some images had been taken by photographers. Many of these images
had a white or blank background. I think this is effective as it makes the image standout, making the audience attracted to it due to the models
aspiring looks and therefore making them want to continue reading. I these photo’s I can see that Photoshop has been used to make the model
appear more glamorous and made up. By doing this is supports my idea of pop magazines being very so money-orientated and materialistic
This is because the pop industry does not always focus on the music but the physical appearance of it artist to make it appear attractive to its
youthful audience, thus making them want to pick up the magazine to also “learn the secret” into this beauty. Therefore when it comes to
taking my photos and then editing them I will make sure that some images look glamour and attractive in this style. As well as this I have
noticed that some of the images appear to have been taken by the celebrity themselves, this would be inside the magazine due to the photos
initially being published on social networking sites by the celebrities of which the audience would be familiar. As the audience may have seen
this image before, due to their stereotypically loving all things social, allows them to feel knowledgeable and familiar into the magazines
content , sharing a common interest and therefore making them connected to the magazine. Due to this when it comes to taking my photo’s I
will make sure that the style some of my images will be in this fashion by not focusing on lighting or editing but emotions and passion of the
models in order for them to look realistic.
Professional
Natural
Taken by celebrities
5. Clothing My Artists/Models Would
Wear
Here I will be researching in pop celebrities styles in order to help me when choosing the outfits for my
artist/models in order to attract my teenage audience.
•When trying to find different clothing images that embodies the pop genre I found it very difficult due to almost all pop
celebrities having their own styles, presenting themselves as different and unique from other pop stars . However they all did
have a similar characteristic, all their clothing colours such as white, blues, greens etc. all had connotations of happiness and
enjoyment. To elaborate I found that almost non of the pop celebrities wore all black , which is associated with darkness and
evil or had outrageously bright clothes which would connote immaturity . For example here we see Selena Gomez a typical pop
star wearing mostly pastel clothes, showing little skin except her legs which gives her an element of sexiness. This would be
expected from a 21 year old due to her being in her primal age of beauty and success which allows her to subtly expose herself
without appealing inappropriate. This would attract a younger audience due to them stereotypically wanting to look in this
way , therefore if this styling was in my magazine this would attract my audience.
•The pastel colours of her outfit connote sweetness and cuteness, characteristic associated with the audience. The audience
may also wear pastel colours however due to their age might find it difficult to style therefore they would look towards a
famous celebrity (Selena Gomez) in order to help them therefore by selecting clothing items that are sexy yet innocent would
attract my audience, giving them idea’s into how they could style themselves. The styling of male pop artists/ bands are some
what different . They tent to stay on the professional side, however still maintain a youthfulness which makes the audience feel
connected to the magazine due to them being of a similar age. The band members of One direction appear to mirror each
others style. In many I have looked at most of the time at least one element of each individuals clothing will be white. White
has connotations of purity which is then linked to virginity, a state that I would expect my target audience to be in. I also looking
back at the outfit of Selana Gomez she also has the colour white in her outfit, connoting similar things. Therefore when I come
to styling my models I will try to incorporate the colour white in their styling, in order to embody the styling of celebrities,
which seems to attract my audience.
6. Make Up Pop Artist Would Wear
•
•
•
There are a range of different make-up looks pop artist have due to their individual style, preference and personality which
makes them chose certain looks .It appears to me that female and males wear make-up , however they do this for different
reasons .
I have noticed that female artists try and link their make-up looks with her outfit colours, making it appear classy and
stylish, as you can see to your left . The styling of not only music artists but all celebrities are very important as they can
make or break the opinion of them from the audience, potentially jeopardise their pupil image . In the current day females
who are not only celebrities have a lot of pressure on them to appear attractive, this would cause young girls to look up to
music artists/celebrities for advice on how they should wear their make up or clothes. Therefore when I am deciding upon
makeup I will make sure it matches their outfit and embodies pop celebrities make-up styles in order to attract my
audience. As said previously I noticed that male pop artist also wear make-up. As you can see below, this has only been
done to make the male celebrities skin seem unblemished and clear, thus stereotypically making them look more handsome
and grown up. It is important to realise that the males make-up is more of a cover up where as the females looks are more
for show and effect. Therefore when it comes to styling make-up for my artist/ models I will make sure to focus more on
the females looks, rather than the males .
To further add on the topic of female pop artists make up, I noticed that most of their looks connote elegance and
prettiness. For example Taylor Swift a young pop singer has created a signature look of a red lip and winged eye linger.
Although it could be said that the look is quite sexy ,due to the red lip which has connotes seduction , this would still be
appreciate for my audience, due to it being counterbalanced by the minimal makeup on her eyes, making her look innocent
and almost childlike. By doing this it would attract my audience whilst also creating a unique image . therefore I will
consider this when choosing the makeup for my arts/models.
Bold and
unique
make-up
Natural and
basic
7. Charts
• Here you can see the current top ten charts
from MTV , an international recognised
music website. I can see from these charts
that pop music is a popular genre due to
numbers 1,3,7 and 9 all being pop music
artists. This is also supported due to the
iTunes charts having similar pop artists at
the top of its chart. By researching this it
suggests to me that the pop genre is not
only targeted towards my audience of
teenage girls but across different ages,
therefore by choosing the genre of pop my
music magazine will be successful and
popular. As said in task 5 most likely my
target audiences parents will be buying my
magazine due to them not having the
money to buy their own. As the genre of
pop is popular this type of magazine would
appeal also to their parents, making them
more inclined to buy it for their children,
thus increasing the sales of my magazine.
8. interviews
What I found on pop stars from their interviews ?
From what I have found on the internet I can see that many pop stars such as Taylor swift and little
mix primarily appear on well known shows such as chatty man (UK) and Late Show with David
Letterman (USA) .This supports the idea of the pop industry and pop stars being popular and
mainstream, attracting not only my audience of teenagers but also the general public. Large scale
shows like these are watched by many people at one time, driving thousands to watch them
every week, therefore for a pop star to feature in one of these shows it is highly beneficial,
gaining them not only publicity but also expanding their fan base.
As a result of this when it comes to representing my models/artists in my magazine I will try to make
their styling similar to current popular pop artist who have featured on these shows to order to
make them appear likeable and interesting, therefore attracting my audience to may my
magazine.
Links to the interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uy_maBHX5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_T5LvnVvo
9. Possible images of people who fit the look
of the pop genre
Here are some models of which I have
chosen to be in my pop music
magazine. As you can see they fit into
my target audience of teenagers aged
12-16 making them appropriate in my
magazine. I hope to use their models in
my magazine as rising stars, and as
they are teens I hope they are aspiring
to my audience, making them want to
buy the magazine. I will try and styling
these girls like current pop stars,
meaning minimal make-up and clothes
that connote innocents but coolness
but also try to make them unique and
attractive such as a bold red lip or a
statements pose.
10. • I will also be using a male model to give my magazine some
variety and also to attract my audience which was
distinguished in my questionnaire and focus group. My
audience said that male models act as eye candy in a
magazine which would make them want to purchase it
therefore I will be doing this in my magazine.
01/25/14
Male Model
