More genre talk

After thinking it over and talking to some of my classmates, I have definitely settled into the idea of making a pop-based music magazine for the over "tweens".
I will decide more specifically on my target reader after I've analysed covers, articles and double page spreads, as then I'll have a better idea of the methods used to appeal to the target reader and be able to visualise how I could use similar techniques for audience I choose. Alternatively, I was considering leaving my target reader open ended, as I want this pop magazine to be for all those who feel stupid reading Top of the Pops for pop info. However this may be difficult to use when it comes to evaluating how my cover appeals to my specific target audience (How did you attract/address your audience?) when I don't have one, so this will have to be a decision I make later.
I say pop-based because I might dabble slightly in other genres with the artists I feature in my magazine, in order to represent mainstream for what it is; popular music that can be a little bit of every genre and is unthreatening to the masses. Like it's not just pure pop, there's crossovers into RnB (Alicia Keys), Dance (Madonna), Rap (Kanye West) and Rock (Pink) and these all make fusion genres of pop.
However, I still don't like the word "pop" to describe this. Although the preferred reading and denotation is that it is just popular music, but as the 1990s reception theory states, my decoding of "pop" is heavily influenced by my cultural experiences of it. After seeing countless TV commercials advertising "Pop Party" CDs in sickeningly juvenile primary colours, with small children dancing in them, it really conveys a childish vibe to me. It also reminds me of the cheesy pop hits of the 90s, like the Macarena and the Spice Girls, probably because of first school discos, but this is definitely not a signified reading I'd like my readers to pick up on, hence my problem with the word. If I do feature the genre of my magazine on the cover, I'm considering using "Popular Music" instead of "Pop", but I do think it's too formal and is a signifier with many possible meanings, some negative and some positive. But on my research into other covers, I'll take note if they do declare the genre, which has the effect of a caption on an unmotivated sign; gives it much more anchorage. However, if they don't mention it, it leaves the magazine fairly unmotivated (although images of celebrities are fairly motivated in themselves) and open to the reader's interpretation, which may in turn attract more readers if they don't think it's tied down to 1 area of music.
Also, while going about my day, a very early idea occured to me for my cover image. Although I haven't even started research yet, from my general divulging into the media (X Factor and teen magazines) I've decided that if I choose to use a girlband on my front cover (which is something I'd consider because of the success of recent girlbands) I could use a fashion statement that seem to be the style at the minute. Girlbands have always been co-ordinated outfit wise dating all the back to the Spice Girls and Destiny's Child (and probably before that which I'm not aware of, being born in the 90s) but the recent trend I've noticed is to have different style black skirts and each with a different coloured top. I think it's derived from the latest theory of dressing to your body shape, and so acts as a good representation of modern culture. Obviously I'd have to consider this idea much more when I'm further into developing my magazine to see if it'll be right for audience, but it's a start.