Q magazine is a monthly published magazine and was founded by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth in 1986. It was first mainly aimed at older music lovers since many of the music magazines of their time were ignoring them and focusing on younger audiences.
The magazine was originally going to be named Cue, as in the act of cueing a record, but was changed to Q incase it was confused with a snooker magazine. Also the single letter title would make a more noticable and eye catching masthead. Q magazine is owned and published by the Bauer Media Group. Bauer Media Group are a major institution that publish various different types of magazines from Kerrang! Magazine to others such as Woman's weekly magazines such as Heat.
The magazine was originally going to be named Cue, as in the act of cueing a record, but was changed to Q incase it was confused with a snooker magazine. Also the single letter title would make a more noticable and eye catching masthead. Q magazine is owned and published by the Bauer Media Group. Bauer Media Group are a major institution that publish various different types of magazines from Kerrang! Magazine to others such as Woman's weekly magazines such as Heat.
Q magazine is aimed at a unisex market, from the age of 20 and over since it features relatively modern music but also has older musicians which would appeal to both younger and older audiences such as Elbow and Muse. The target market are fans of rock and alternative music who are induviuals and like to go against conventions which is mirrored by the magazine since it often goes against conventions of music magazines.
It often features up and coming British artists but has been critised lately for being very 'safe' with its cover choices and following artists that are known to be popular, such as the bands Muse and Take that, focusing on the artist more than the music.
The cover looks mature and sophisticated which reflects the target market of the magazine. The main colours of the magazine is grey, black and red which makes the main headlines show up since they are in the bold red colour. Readers can interact with the magazine by visiting the website that is shown in the section with the barcode.
On the cover of the magazine there is a close-up cropped image of Liam Gallagher. Unlike many similar magazines, there is no entry point for readers since he is wearing sunglasses to cover his eyes. Because of this, the magazine relies on its own popularity and fame to attract readers since they will recognise the well-known red Q housestyle masthead. This makes the artist look cold but makes the reader want to find out about them since they look quite mysterious.
An editing effect has been used to make the rest of the band look as though they are being reflected in Gallagher's glasses which gives the impression that the magazine has depth and therefore is worth the money. Also the techniques used makes the magazine look sophisticated and high class so as to appeal to the target audience more so than a weekly magazine that looks thin and not very indepth. The background in the glasses is also the same as that off the magazine so that the colours link together makes the magazine look classy.
The image is the anchor image of the magazine since it the largest image on the page. However the masthead is shown to be important since it overlaps onto the main image, showing that the brand of the magazine is still important for promoting it. The anchor image of the page is the masthead 'Q'. This breaks the conventions of most music magazines since most magazine attract readers through the main image. This is because in 'Q' magazine, the emphasise is based on the music, rather than the artist, which is reflected by the importance of the 'Q' at the top of the page.
An editing effect has been used to make the rest of the band look as though they are being reflected in Gallagher's glasses which gives the impression that the magazine has depth and therefore is worth the money. Also the techniques used makes the magazine look sophisticated and high class so as to appeal to the target audience more so than a weekly magazine that looks thin and not very indepth. The background in the glasses is also the same as that off the magazine so that the colours link together makes the magazine look classy.
The image is the anchor image of the magazine since it the largest image on the page. However the masthead is shown to be important since it overlaps onto the main image, showing that the brand of the magazine is still important for promoting it. The anchor image of the page is the masthead 'Q'. This breaks the conventions of most music magazines since most magazine attract readers through the main image. This is because in 'Q' magazine, the emphasise is based on the music, rather than the artist, which is reflected by the importance of the 'Q' at the top of the page.
The name of the artist is shown clearly underneath the image in bold red typeface so as to make it clear that the image relates to him and may entice readers to buy the magazine so as to read about him and the band. The image of the artist appears cold and detatched because the reader cannot relate to the artist since there is no eye contact. This makes the reader focus more on the elements around the magazine rather than the artist. The age of the artist also relates to the target audience as they would be likely to be similar ages to the artist. All the straplines and coverlines are pushed the the side of the image, making it clear that he is the most important part of the magazine. However, the vast amount of coverlines and straplines make it clear to the reader that there is a lot of content within the magazine.
The language used on the magazine mimics the language used by its target market to make the magazine seem familiar and friendly but uses less slang than Kerrang! Or NME as they are both aimed at younger audiences. An example is “Noel was a tit. I am very happy”.This is also a pull quote from an interview which shows the reader that it is an actual interview and not a feature on the artist.
The use of the bubble at the top right of the page emphasises the importance of the special 16 page Queen interview. This is also emphasised by the use of the word 'exclusive' which is a convention of music magazines as it grabs the attention of the readers since it gives the impression that the interview won't be anywhere else.
The use of the bubble at the top right of the page emphasises the importance of the special 16 page Queen interview. This is also emphasised by the use of the word 'exclusive' which is a convention of music magazines as it grabs the attention of the readers since it gives the impression that the interview won't be anywhere else.
The cover is very bold due to the fact that it has a very cropped image of just someones face which is unconventional of music magazines which tend to have a mid-close of image rather than a big close up. This is a housestyle of Q, to have images that are not mid close up which makes the magazine stand out on the shelves.
Q contains articles and information on indie, brit pop, rock and punk music. It has interviews with bands and reviews of albums and gigs and features on artists which are on the cover such as Muse and Smashing Pumpkins.
The reason Q appeals to its target market is because it doesn't follow all the conventions of music magazines, making it stand out and look unique.
The reason Q appeals to its target market is because it doesn't follow all the conventions of music magazines, making it stand out and look unique.
'Q' magazine, on a whole, tends to break more stereotypes than a more mainstream magazine such as 'Vibe' because 'Q' magazine is know for it's induvidualality and for not following conventions. However, certain conventions were still followed such as the masthead being at the top of the page and the image still being a major focus in the magazine. This is because it makes it clear to the reader that it is a music magazine, which would be unclear if these conventions were not followed.
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