Top of the pops

The original teen pop magazine is under siege by TV spin-offs. Can its new editor, Lisa Smosarski, save Smash Hits as it nears its 25th birthday? Clare Rudebeck meets her to find out

Lisa Smosarski is sounding uncannily like one of her readers. "I loved Kylie and Jason more than anything in the world when I was a teenager," she says. "I was a pop kid." Now 25, she has been appointed editor of Smash Hits.

Times have changed since Smosarski would spend her pocket money on the magazine and the pop singles it recommended. Smash Hits was the original pop mag for teenagers. Now, singles sales are dwindling and pop stars are created on television. Smash Hits is being outsold by Top of the Pops magazine, with another TV spin-off, CD:UK magazine, snapping at its heels. As it approaches its 25th birthday next year, is it heading for a quarter-life crisis?

Smosarski doesn't think so. "The teen music market has seen a decline of 19.8 per cent in year-on-year sales. The fact that Smash Hits saw a decline of only 4.3 per cent suggests that during a hard time we really held our own," she says. "The current phenomenon of reality music TV shows will in no way damage Smash Hits' circulation – music is never going to stop being popular and our readers love good music. Simply, that means as long as there is music, there will be a demand for Smash Hits."

But as you flick through the magazine's glossy pages, it does appear to have drifted from its roots as a music magazine with clout. An interview with Liberty X did not discuss their music. In her first editorial, Smosarski promised her readers – mostly girls aged 12 to 14 – that she would provide them with "the sexiest stars" and the latest gossip. Again, no mention of music. Is Smash Hits in danger of becoming just another celebrity magazine? Smosarski accepts the criticism. "We're going to make the reviews section bigger for that reason," she says. "We want to use it to educate our readers about the music industry." She has kept her promise. This fortnight's magazine has nine pages of reviews – up from the first edition's four.

In her first issue, the "Smash Hit" single of choice was Atomic Kitten's cover version of "The Tide Is High". Liberty X's new single is also a cover version. But Smosarski doesn't believe that pop music has become stagnant. "There's nothing new about cover versions," she says. "Plus, they introduce kids to acts they never would've known about." She points out that Blondie's version of "The Tide Is High" was also a cover. The original was by a Jamaican band, the Paragons, in 1965.

However, she does concede that finding something new to ask the manufactured bands that litter Smash Hits' pages can be a challenge. "When you're interviewing A1 for the 25th time, you need to find a new angle," she says. But she thinks the determination to find new approaches is what sets Smash Hits apart from its rivals. "We are irreverent. We handle celebrities in a different way. We don't do cheesy photo shoots," she says. Her interview with Liberty X is James Bond-themed; the band are asked if they've ever spied on anyone. Irreverence is important to Smosarski. She has stuck the word up on the office wall, along with "Passionate" and "Surprising".

Smosarski is a new breed of Smash Hits editor. The top position has usually been filled by music journalists. The last editor, Emma Jones, came from a newspaper background, returning to The Sun as a columnist earlier this year. By contrast, Smosarski cut her teeth on teen magazines. Landing a job at Bliss magazine on the day she handed in her dissertation at the London College of Printing, she swiftly rose to become the magazine's acting deputy editor. Her last job was as entertainment editor at New Woman. So she already knows what her readers want.

"Gareth Gates is Smash Hits' No 1 star at the moment. Our readers love him," she says. The magazine has just launched a campaign for a National Gareth Day next month. And she is acutely aware of the danger of patronising her young readers. "The humour of a 14-year-old can be pretty similar to that of a 24-year-old. It's important to speak to them as they would speak to one another – not overusing slang." She falters slightly when I ask if she would voluntarily listen to a song by Westlife. "Yeees," she says, unconvincingly. She is cagey about her tastes, but finally admits to Massive Attack, Madonna, Take That and the compilation Electro Breakdance.

In recent years, Smash Hits has had a penchant for sexy young female editors such as Emma Jones and Kate Thornton. But Smosarski makes the point: "Everybody likes to remember Emma Jones and Kate Thornton, perhaps because they were young and sexy. But that's not the history of Smash Hits editors. I don't think the image of the editor is important. It is their ability that counts." Her no-nonsense attitude is reflected by her disappointingly un-rock'n'roll lifestyle. "I don't hang out with pop stars," she says. "I don't have any great tales of pop antics." Her most exciting touring experience to date was accompanying the boy band A1 to Norway.

Smash Hits editors have a habit, like No1 records, of not sticking around long. Emma Jones lasted just more than a year. But Smosarski says she's not going anywhere: "I'm definitely here to stay. I'm not going to miss the 25th anniversary."