2. About Q Magazine
Editor Paul Rees
Distributor Gareth Viggers
Category Music magazine
First issue October 1986
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Website www.qthemusic.com
Audience Profile
Q‟s audience is 75% male to 25% female.
“Q magazine is inventive, insightful, irreverent, the UK’s biggest selling
music magazine and the world’s best music guide.”-greatmagazines.co.uk
3. Ownership:
Who publishes Q?
“Our business is built on millions of personal relationships with engaged
readers and listeners. We connect audiences with compelling
content, whenever, wherever, and however they want. Our unique insight
allows us to work closely with our customers to develop innovative
solutions that create a difference to their business.”
4. Are there any particular sectors of the magazine
industry that they dominate?
5. Who is their parent company?
“Our business is built on influential media brands with
millions of personal relationships with engaged readers and
listeners. Our strategy is to connect audiences with excellent
content through our broad multi-touch point brand
platforms, wherever and whenever and however they want.
Our wide portfolio of influential brands gives us advantages
over pure play magazine or radio competitors.”
6. The magazine:
How has Q expanded diagonally?
Radio TV Website
7. How does Q make use of new media technologies
and social media?
10. Website: www.qthemusic.com
Logo to
indicate to
the audience Gold and red colours signifies wealth and Britishness
how they
brand
themselves
Selection of
pages to
chose
from:
guides the
reader.
Masculine
Clear
indication
of headers:
guides
reader to
read on
Inclusive to
the reader
12. How does Q promote the other arms of its
business within its pages?
Prompt to subscribe to
magazine: command
word such as „now!‟
Promoting their
twitter
page, festivals, TV,
radio and
subscription
Promotion to Bauer
Media Group‟s
magazines
13. Would you argue that Q has created a „brand‟ for
itself? How?
14. Tiara signifies it is royalty of
Analysis of Q magazines and blood adds
the alternative genre
Personal pronouns such as
„you‟ to include the reader Imperative verb used to
command /engage reader
Masthead is formatted in a
bold colour to attract the 3D effect on text and boxes
reader. Serif font to add a jumps out to the reader
classy side to the magazine making it more clear
Line to separate creates false Puff to add to the magazine
relationship with audience contents makes the
and magazine as it helps magazine seem better
them Yellow, black pink and red
are used throughout to
Synthetic personalisation
continue the house style
created by meeting the
readers eye line and this
Pink and white colours are
makes them included with
used to match models dress
the magazine
Informal/hand writing font to Explanation marks used to
add a sense of modernism add to the magazines content
and fun to the magazine
Puff and personal pronoun
Rhetorical question involves include the audience
the reader and creates false
relationship Ellipsis engages reader
15. Analysis of contents
Clear centred heading to
The use of the colour red
indicate and guide reader
highlights important
information
Simple structure with equal
amounts of images and text
Synthetic personalisation
creates a false relationship
Command word such as
with the reader
„now!‟ forces reader to
download the songs
Number indication on the
images is simple to
Clear indication of page
understand and this guides
number and the followed text
the reader to the text to
find out what it is about
Teasers used to make the
reader seen what it is about
Arrow is used to guide the
reader on the next page
16. Analysis of contents page 2
Same simple layout to help
guide reader down the
magazine contents
Shadow used on the images
to create an effect
Capitalising heading signifies
importance and indicates
reader to read on Rhetorical questions and use
of personal pronouns
includes the audience and
creates a false relationship
Lines used to separate
different text and images
creates an orderly house style
of the magazine
„Take me to page 94 now!‟
use of imperative word
makes the magazine
inclusive to reader
17. Analysis of editors letter
• The word „you‟ is used six times to create a
personal inclusive tone to the audience
• „like millions of others we were‟- impersonal tone
used to create a chatty style of writing
• „as, I trust, you‟ll agree once you‟ve read this
month‟s cover feature which starts on page 48‟-
person pronouns used to include the reader and
chatty tone to create a false conversation between
reader and magazine.
•Last line to finish editors letter: “Now, tell us what
you think- it‟s your magazine” By commanding
reader to do something creates a false relationship
which is reinforced as Paul Rees says: „your
magazine‟ which is formatted in italics to emphasis
point.
18. Analysis of feature pages 1-2
•Sans serif and serif font used to establish a modern feminine tone
• Red text of title matches Q red logo
•Equal ratio of text to image- shares on 2 page
•„LANA DEL REY‟ capitalised and formatted in large font to signify importance
•Mid-shot image uses synthetic personalisation to connect to reader.
•Shadow used on image adds a mysterious tone
•Dark shadows still used on image suggests an ominous tone
•Red arrow pointing right guides reader to turn to next page
19. Analysis of feature pages 3-4
•Smudged make up suggests dark content which matches lighting
•Teasers bleed over image to show reader key information
•Bold font to indicate questions and unformatted font to show its the answer
which makes it clear and readable for the audience
•Use of synthetic personalisation only once to audience doesn‟t feel targeted
•Teaser used in red to match Q logo
•Timeline at the bottom to give reader simpler information
•Good ratio of image to text
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.It is edited by Paul Rees which had its first issue published in October 1986.The magazine covers features of new music, music compilations and live concert, radio and TV reviews. Q also rates music from one to five stars, interviews popular musical artists and classes eight albumsas the best new releases of the last three months.Q magazine has expanded into having a radio station and TV channel called QTV.
“Bauer Media Group owns more than eighty influential media brands from wide range of interests including heat, Empire, GRAZIA, Closer, FHM, MATCH, Magic 105.4, Kiss 100, Kerrang and Q.Bauer Media is Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. The Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations. It is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies around Magazines and Radio - widely recognised and rewarded as being industry innovators. In 1994, the company bought For Him Magazine (FHM)which is now the best-selling international multi-platform brand FHM. Women'sCloserGRAZIAheatmore!Men's EntertainmentEmpireKerrang!MojoQMen's LifestyleArena Homme PlusFHMZoo
Their publishing companyBauer Media Group dominates the motorcycling and motoring sector in the magazine industry.Magazines such as car, classic car, classic bike, ride and bike are all published by Bauer Media.MotorcyclingClassic BikeMCNPeformance BikesRiDEWhat Bike?Practical SportsbikesMotoringCarClassic CarsLand Rover Owner InternationalParkersPractical ClassicsClassic Car WeeklyCar Mechanics
Due to Bauer Media being a privately owned publishing Group, this means no other company owns them.Bauer media expanded horizontally and joined the Bauer Media Group in January 2008.Bauer Media is therefore about two main divisions – Magazines and Radio.
This is one example of magazines producing their media through new technologies- Facebook.On this facebook page there is images of each magazine which is updated when a new issue comes out.This page shows tabs which hold photos, videos, newsletters and subscription.This group also updates status of information about recent updates of the magazine.
This is their twitter page.
Youtube page on facebook with a list of videos of interviews and updates.
www.greatmagazines.co.uk publishes magazines, provides subscriptions and previews of the magazine itself.
Q promotes many aspects of it’s magazine brand within its pages such as subscription, their website, festivals, TV and radioThe magazine also includes promotions of other magazines that Bauer Media owns such as FHM and Empire.
In some ways yes Q has developed a brand for itself, due to the iconic red logo. However, I believe that Q can only go as far as creating a magazine. This may be due to the alternative music that they include which isn’t considered as ‘popular’. Nevertheless, Q is a well known magazine which has clearly been established in the UK.
