Teen Now is a monthly celebrity gossip magazine purely for teenagers, and is a spin off from the adult celebrity gossip magazine Now. Although it is not actually a music magazine, it focuses mainly on pop artists and features all three elements, which are celeb gossip, music and fashion, all of which I would like to incorporate into my own magazine. I have also already analysed parts of the two most popular pop music magazines which are We Love Pop and Top Of The Pops, and would like to analyse a different magazine to get a wider insight.

From looking on Teen Now’s publishers website, IPC Media, I was not able to find their press pack, but some information that they included on the publishers website about the magazine, which included information on their target audience. In this case, a buyer can see that it is a magazine made for teenagers just from looking at the title, as the word ‘Teen’ speaks for itself. The official target audience is 11 – 17 year olds, with the cover price being £2.50 a month, suitable for that of a low or no income. From looking at the front cover which features mainly boybands, and the pink, blue and white colour scheme I would suggest that the readership has an 90:10 female to male ratio.

The most noticeable aspect of Teen Now’s front cover is that it is packed full of information. The four main colours used all clash against each other, the pictures overlap and the headlines are all different sizes and colours, creating almost a messy look which is fun and quirky, and is appealing to a younger audience. It also makes the magazine stand out on a shelf as a teenager would undoubtedly choose the most interesting looking and noticeable magazine. Teen Now also displays six different stories on the front cover, which would give a buyer a better insight into what is inside, and allows Teen Now to show different aspects of their magazine to get a more varied response. This is quite a conventional look for a teen magazine.

The fonts used on the front cover are all different and in varied sizes. This again adds to the fun look of the magazine as well as helping it stand out on a shelf. The different sizes of fonts tell the reader which story is the cover story and which are not, for example ‘The Vamps’ is spread out across the entire width of the page and is in a big bold font on a background of neon pink, telling a reader that this is the cover story and is most important, whereas ‘One Direction’ and ‘Union J’ are in a much smaller font and in subtler colours, showing that they are a smaller segment of the magazine. The colour scheme is pink, blue, yellow and white, which are all quite girlish colours, supporting my assumption of an 90:10 female male ratio. The number of boy bands on the cover also support this. The magazine has focused on a stereotypical view of teenage girls, and has put together three of the biggest boy bands and one male artist of the moment on the cover to attract female readers. This is again a very conventional aspect of teen magazines.

The cover band, ‘The Vamps’, take up the whole middle section of the page, again showing that they are the main focus of the magazine this month. The picture is a mid-shot of the four boys looking intently at the camera with very serious faces. This links with the headline, ‘2014: The year of The Vamps’. The seriousness of the photo and the headline suggest that The Vamps are going to be the biggest band in 2014, and the increased size of them overpowers the other artists on the page, emphasising the headline of them taking over. However, the headline ‘The Vamps’ almost steals away from the titles ‘Teen Now’, as it is more central and brighter, therefore some readers may become confused with the name of the magazine.

The front cover also features a section on winter fashion items, with a picture of Ariana Grande, an icon of young girls, suggesting that the clothes are ‘cool’ because she wears them. At the top left corner there is also a sign with ‘20% off at Claire’s’, this would appeal to young girls as Claire’s is a very popular accessory shop and some readers may buy the magazine for this alone. The issue also comes with a free poster of Union J and One Direction, which is mentioned in a big font size in the top right hand corner, again appealing to young female fans who could buy the magazine for only this reason. Above the title the date, price and issue number of the magazine are written in a small font, making it easy for anyone who is interested in these elements of the magazine.