Music Magazine Comparison

Institutions 

• Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly magazine published by BBC Magazines. it is a supplementary magazine for the TV show Top of the Pops which was cancelled in 2006. The magazine was launched in 1995 and became famous for giving the Spice Girls their nicknames. 
• NME magazine and is currently published by IPC Media which is the UK’s leading publisher of consumer magazines and websites. NME was launched in 1952 and was the bestselling magazine during the 1970s. 

Target Audience

• Top of the Pops magazine is mainly aimed at teenage girls with 87% of it readership being girls and 13% being boys and the age is ranging between 11-15. The magazine includes all things pop music and pop celebrities. The magazine is quite expensive at £2.30 however the magazine gives away a lot of freebees making the price more reasonable and creating a wider audience. 
• NME magazines average reader is 24 year old fast moving music fan with 69% of its readers being male and 31% of its readers being female and 52% of its readers are also full time workers. The total readership spends £326 million on audio equipment per year and typically they enjoy going to gigs and other live events in their spare time. 

Representation 

• Top of the Pops magazine has a bright, young and friendly image which attracts the young audience, it is presented in a happy and cheery ways as it is a teens magazine. Top of the Pops magazine was originally the missing link between Smash Hits and NME. The main images and titles on the magazine is generally of a young new pop star with a catchy title with a lot of gossip this attracts the target audience as they are young and will want to know all the latest gossip.
• NME magazine has a dark and older feeling to it using mostly reds, blacks and whites, the hard edginess of the magazine will attract the target audience. The main images and titles are normally of a rock band with a short to the point title attracting the target audience as they are normally workers so they will want to read a quick magazine that still includes all the information about music.