Understand media products and the institutions that create them

1. OCR –
Level 3 Cambridge Introductory Diploma in
Media
Unit 01:
Analysing Media Products and Audiences
Evidence
Name: Jessica Raymond
Candidate Number: 5162
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
Set Brief - Print
Project/Brief –
Music Magazine & Promotion

2. Contents
1. Title
2. Contents
3. Focus publisher and product
4. LO1
5. Genre
6. Ownership structure
7. Operating model
8. Brand ideology/ethos
9. Brand ideology/ethos (continued)
10. Technological convergence
11. Associated products
12. Market position
13. Competitors
14. Front cover analysis
15. Contents page analysis
16. Double page spread analysis
17. Website deconstruction
18. Content
19. Form and style
20. Production process
21. Production process (continued)
22. Production process (continued)
23. Synergy
24. Synergy (continued)
25. Social media presence
(Facebook)
26. Social media presence
(Instagram)
27. Social media presence (Twitter)

3. Focus Publisher and Product
Product
• Monthly UK magazine
• Originally called “Cue” but
changed to “Q” so as to not
be confused with a snooker
magazine
• First published in October
1986
• Q was sold to Bauer Media
in January 2008
Publisher
• Reaches over 23mil
consumers
• Britain’s biggest magazine
publisher
• Founded in 1953
Source: https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about/our-company , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(magazine) ,
https://www.slideshare.net/Scriptette2012/q-magazine-reader-profile-55604307

5. Genre
Q magazine is a music magazine that publishes multiple different articles of
music in each issue. Q magazine is very eclectic, meaning they have a large
variety of different types of music and artists published in their magazine.
This means that they have a much larger readership as they cater for most
people in their magazine; for example they publish rock music, R&B music,
indie music, pop music, hip-hop music, and more.

6. Ownership Structure
Bauer Media Group was founded in Hamburg,
Germany by Ludolph Bauer in 1875. In 1926 the
production of a radio music magazine reached over
500,000 copies a week. In the 1970’s, Bauer Media
Group published the first weekly women’s magazines
‘tina’ and ‘Bella’. Around the same time, they
brought a stake in RTL (TV) and Radio Hamburg
(radio).
In 1987 Bauer took British markets, 1981 the USA,
1991 the Polish, and 2012 the Australian and New
Zealand.
Bauer Media Group is now Europe’s largest magazine
publisher and is the sister company of H Bauer
Publishing.
It is still run by the Bauer family and is now onto the
family’s 5th generation.
https://www.bauermedia.com/en/company/history/

7. These are the people who work
to make Bauer Media Group
Paul Keenan joined Bauer
Media Group in 1992 and
became CEO in September
2001.
Operating Model

8. Brand Ideology/Ethos
Slogan
• “We Think Popular”
– The closeness connotations of using the word “we” demonstrates that the business
works well together and is a group of people working to achieve the same goal.
– Using the word “think” implies that at Bauer Media they study the implications of each
published article, meaning that they will understand what their audiences will enjoy and
respond well to.
– “Popular” hints at being liked and enjoyed by many different audience members,
meaning they do not just cater for one niche group, rather more mainstream audiences.
History
• Family owned business and has been for 5 generations
Associated products
• There are many products that Bauer Media produces, some of these
includes KISS, Magic, Take a Break, Bella, tv choice, 4Music.

9. Brand Ideology/Ethos (continued)
Values
• Concerned with helping people in need
• Support charities and projects
– Germany
• Welthungerhilfe – fighting against hunger and poverty
• Reporters without borders – protecting press freedom
• Sternenbrücke Children’s Hospice and Phönikks Foundation – being there for one
another
– UK
• Cash for Kids – Nationwide from Bauer Media
• Respect, Create, Collaborate
https://www.bauermedia.com/en/company/outreach/ , http://www.bauer-
media.com.au/about-us/culture/

10. Technological Convergence
• Q has a website (https://www.qthemusic.com/)
and social media like Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/qmagazineuk/)and
Twitter (https://twitter.com/QMagazine).
• Bauer Media has social media profiles on
Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bauer-
Media-Group/109876119030868),
Twitter(https://twitter.com/bauermedia), and
YouTube
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrZOeHQv
M0PvJEa2BAXYBjw). They use social media to
advertise their products and who will appear in
the upcoming magazine/radio station

11. Associated Products
• Bauer media has 4 categories of products. They have magazine, radio,
digital and TV.
• 54 magazine
• 36 radio
• 80 digital
• 7 TV
https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands

12. Market Position
• Q has 44,050
• Billboard has 17,000
• Entertainment Weekly has
1.8 million
• Mojo has 79,345
• Music Week has 5,218
• NME has 289,432
• Rolling Stone has 1,468,263
This shows that Q is fairly average with
it’s circulation figures. There are some
magazines with more copies like
Entertainment Weekly with 1.8 million
copies published. However there are
some magazines with less copies
published like Music Week with 5,218.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(magazine) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_Weekly ,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojo_(magazine) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Week , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME ,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone

13. Competitors
• Billboard
– 17,000 readers
– Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Billboard/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/billboard), Twitter (https://twitter.com/billboard)
• Entertainment Weekly
– 1.8 million readers
– Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/entertainmentweekly/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/entertainmentweekly/), Twitter
(https://twitter.com/EW)
• Mojo
– 79,345 readers
– Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MOJOmagazine/) Twitter (https://twitter.com/MOJOmagazine)
• Music Week
– 5,218 readers
– Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MusicWeekNews/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/musicweekinsta/)
• NME
– 289,432 readers
– Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/nmemagazine/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nmemagazine), Twitter
(https://twitter.com/NME)
• Rolling Stone
– 1,468,263 readers
– Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/RollingStone), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rollingstone), Twitter
(https://twitter.com/rollingstone)
• Conde nast
– Regarded as the dominated up marketing publisher. Publishes magazine such as vogue
• Hearst
– Circulation total of 1.5 million

14. Purpose
The purpose of Q is to inform the readers of new
music and artists, this is through interviews,
photos, reviews and music related information.
It is also to entertain as it is a leisure magazine
rather than a business magazine. It can also
have the purpose to sell products that the artists
create, this is through advertising the artist in
interviews and advertisement spaces in the
magazine.

15. Front Cover Analysis
Masthead
The stark contrast of the
large, white ‘Q’ with a red,
squared background makes
the magazine stand out
against other magazines in
the shop.
The connotations of white on
red is the power of the red
over the white perfection of
the product
Strapline
White on red background,
which also helps it to stand
out and get read more.
‘Discover Great Music’
indicates to the audience
what type of magazine they
will be buying.
Anchorage text
Uses a pull quote of the
interview inside
Names the photographed
person and adds a short
description
Main image
Shows a close up of Florence
Welch’s face with her fingertips
under her cheekbones on her
cheek and on her chin
There is also large star appeal
surrounding Florence that
would attract potential
audiences to purchase this
magazine instead of others.
Barcode
This has the barcode to allow
sales and distribution in
shops; the month and year of
publish, to allows readers to
buy the most up to date
issue, or to make up a
collection; the price, this is a
requirement to allow
potential audiences to know
how much the magazine is,
because magazines are paid
with disposable rather than
discretionary income; and
also includes the website to
encourage readers to visit the
website.
Cover lines
There are multiple cover lines
on the front page this shows
the reader what is included in
this magazine.
Puff promotion
This is advertising the new
column inside the magazine,
the blue surrounding circle
contrasts to the red of
Florence’s hair but also brings
out the blue near to all the
cover lines and her eye shadow.

16. Contents Page analysis
Subheadings
The subheadings are clearly
shown together to allow the
user to easily scan through and
view the pages they want.
Brand identity
A form of brand identity is
through an image of the front
cover, this is to remind the
reader of what is on the front
and what they might want to
read inside.
Brand identity
Another form of brand identity
is through the display of the ‘Q’
logo in the bottom right hand
corner of the page next to the
current page number. This
encourages the recognition of
the product into the readers
subconscious.
Subline
The subline adds a short
description to the subheading
and allows the reader to gain a
short summary of the content.
Sub images
This gives a preview of what to
expect in that issue of Q. They
also make the page more exciting
and makes the reader want to
find out about the interviews
and reviews.
Q Review
This is a regular part of the
issue and readers know and
enjoy. It is advertised here as a
short summary of the review.
This also stands out but stays
within the colour schemes of
red and white.
Page numbers
The page numbers are bold and
allow the reader to easily see
what page the content is on.
They also have the page
numbers overlapping the sub
images to highlight where that
specific image can be found in
the issue.

17. DPS analysis
Main image
This is of Ed Sheeran from his knees
up, as he is the person of interest in
this interview. The houses of
parliament and Big Ben clock tower is
in the background, which shows his
London roots. His guitar is also to the
side side of him signalling his passion
for playing his guitar in London. He is
leaning against a wall in casual
clothing with his hands in his pockets,
this illustrates that he has not let fame
changed him much.
Pull quote
This is a direct quote from the
interview article and is used as the
main title. “I’m bringing ginger
back” firstly shows how he is not
ashamed to be ginger haired even
though in society it stills has
negative connotations. This could
also be a play on words from Justin
Timberlake’s song SexyBack, also
providing positive connotations of
ginger.
Having ‘ginger’ in a red colour also
makes the word stand out in a bold
and confident way.
Stand first
This is another form of reader
encouragement as it describes Ed
Sheeran in a positive way and then
asks the question “What’s the
secret of Ed Sheeran’s sudden
success?” This rhetorical question
makes the reader want to know the
answer to it and therefore want to
read the article next. Highlighting
‘Ed Sheeran’ by using white font
with a red background, keeps in the
colour scheme of red and white,
allows the reader to identify who
the image is of and who the article
is about. This way it puts a name to
a face in an embedded way.
Drop capital
This entices the reader to read the
article and indicates where they
should start reading from. The same
contrast is used from the front cover
page and encourages the reader to
further read the article.

18. Website deconstruction
Social media links
This allows the user to easily access Q’s
social media channels.
Subscription
button
This makes it
easier for the user
to subscribe as
they do not have
to call Q to
subscribe, they can
do it all online.
Similarities and
differences between
physical copy and online
Both have the same
information and content,
but are displayed
differently to each other.
The website is multiple
images and titles with a
short description of each
article, that when clicked
leads to a page of the
article in full.
The website also has
different subheadings
with links to each mini
homepage. This then
holds many links to
articles relating to the
subheading.
The website also allows
for direct links to music
through the ‘track of the
day’ subheading. This is
different to a physical
copy of the magazine as
the website can be
updated daily to provide
users with daily tracks
that may relate to
important events of that
day for example
seasonal or special
holidays.
Search bar
This is an easy way
for the users to find
a particular article
in the magazine.
This also allows the
user to find any
article in any issue
of any time, this is
easier than using a
physical copy of
magazines to find
articles.
Listen now article
This allows the user to listen to a radio’s music with Q. This
means that the user can easily listen to the radiobroadcast as
catch up of the broadcast.

19. Content
Q covers multiple genres in each issue; however, it tries to focus on one
slightly broader genre per issue. The general content in each issue includes
interviews and images from musicians. This gives an insight into their lives
that members of the public would not normally know. There are also review
sections that inform the readers of Q’s opinion on particular albums, songs or
musicians, for example. This means the reader can form an opinion on the
product before purchasing it themselves.

20. Form and Style
Q magazine uses red and white colours in each issue. This means the
magazine can be easily found on shelves and can also be easily read. This is
because red and white are fairly bright colours and stand out when used
together well but are also easy on the eyes so that the journalism is not
ruined by the graphic design of the magazine.
Each of the front covers are laid out in a similar way to each issue. There is
always one constant, the logo in the top left hand corner of the cover. This
logo is always present and allows the audience to easily recognise the
magazine in shops.

21. Production Process
Q does not have any way to be contacted through their website, this shows
poor communication with their readers and potential readers. If the customer
does not have a clear way to contact Q, they are less likely to look further.
As shown below, I emailed Jess Blake at Bauer Media instead to gather
information on Q’s production process.

22. Production Process (continued)
• Date of publication
– This is the final deadline and when the magazine is to be published and released to the
general public.
• Create and manage a schedule
– This allows the magazines to be published on time even with errors occurring, as the
schedule should allow for this to happen.
• Editorial and budgetary decision
– This is the decisions made of what is to be included in the issue, this includes the
images, interviews, news and all other content. After this the team will make the
budgeting decision, this is looking at all the money available and dividing it between all
parts of the issue.
• Content Acquisition
– This is where all the content is gathered to be put into the issue of the magazine. One
way of doing this is through the Q writers or through external specialist writers. At this
stage all photography, graphic editing, interviews and reviews can be completed.
• Sub-editing
– This is the checking of facts, spelling, punctuation and grammar checks, ensuring the
house styles are followed and working on the next stage.

23. Production Process (continued)
• Page layout
– This is to typeset and layout all the magazine pages, at this stage, advertisements are
placed in the magazines.
• Proofreading
– This is when a hard copy of Q is produced and the editors read through it and edit this
on the desktop publishing program. This continues to happen until all editors are happy
that there are no errors remaining.
• File emailed to printer
– The file is emailed to the printing company and they then print a few copies and returns
them to Q for final proofreading called the printer’s proofs. When the Q editorial team
are happy they tell the printing company to print the large amount of copies Q has
requested
• Distribution
– This is the part where all copies are packaged neatly and send them to warehouses for
distribution and selling to the public.
https://hosbeg.com/the-magazine-production-process/

24. Synergy
Q is in synergy with Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/QMagazine/ ),
Twitter (https://twitter.com/QMagazine ), and Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/qmagazineuk/ ). This allows the readers to
communicate with the magazine quickly and also allows the magazine to
advertise their latest issue and the content.
They also have a website (https://www.qthemusic.com/ ), this can promote
the new issue of Q and also their social media accounts.
The social media accounts and the website all talk about the latest issue of Q
with Interpol on the cover and talk about what else is included in that issue.

25. Synergy (continued)

26. Social media presence
The cover image is Q’s logo, this shows synergy between the magazine, website and
social media. The blue tick means this account is verified informing the users that this
is Q’s actual Facebook page. In the about section there is a link to Q’s website,
providing ease of access for the user. In the pinned post, it has a change of profile
picture to the front cover of the latest issue and describes the issue.

27. Social media presence
In the bio there is the link to the Q awards voting page rather than the whole website.
They have posts about the latest issue and the front cover. One of these is an image
with Interpol tagged on the image, this promotes the band to their followers, another
is a video showing multiple artists that feature in the latest issue, with a description
tagging the main artists.

28. Social media presence
The profile picture is the logo of Q, this is evidence of synergy between the magazine
and the twitter account. It also increases brand recognition of Q. This account also has
a blue tick, meaning it is verified. In the bio, there is a link to Q’s website, which
provides ease of access to the user. In the pinned tweet, there is the same post as the
Instagram video; however, on twitter there is a direct link to order a copy in the tweet.