Understand UK-based media publishing and associated products

2. Contents
1. LO1
2. Contents
3. Contents
4. Focus publisher and product
5. Genre
6. Demographics
7. Audience theories
8. Audience theories (continued)
9. Audience theories (continued)
10. Audience theories (continued)
11. Ownership structure
12. Operating model
13. Brand ideology/ethos
14. Brand ideology/ethos (continued)
15. Technological convergence
16. Associated products
17. Market position
18. Competitors
19. Purpose
20. Front cover analysis
21. Contents page analysis
22. Double page spread analysis
23. Website deconstruction
24. Content
25. Form and style
26. Production process
27. Production process (continued)
28. Production process (continued)
29. Synergy
30. Synergy (continued)
31. Social media presence (Facebook)
32. Social media presence (Instagram)
33. Social media presence (Twitter)
34. Advertising
35. Distribution
36. Distribution Evidence
37. Advertisement of Q

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

4. 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. Demographics
Gender
• There is no different gender appeal to Q magazine this means that they cater for a wider audience
by not being specifically for one particular gender.
Age
• Q interviews and reviews artists of all genres and eras so they can fill a wider audience all with a
range of different ages
Lifestyle
• Can be more relaxed lifestyle with more time for pleasure reading and other leisure activities
Spending power
• Have a larger disposable income as Q is a leisure magazine, that is not needed for a specific task.
Like economic magazine etc.

7. Audience Theories
• Hartley
• Q has no real gender that they target the magazine to. This is because they try to have the widest possible
audience which includes not gender specifying the magazine.
• Q’s targeted age group is mainly those aged between 20 and 50. This is because the artists in the magazine
have these audience ages. This also means that the magazine does not have artists that attract teenagers and
younger people.
• Q does not target the magazine to a specific class. This means that they reach a much wider audience. Than if
they only aimed to reach a particular class.
• Maslow
• Care givers will sympathise with people and their situations, this can be achieved through the interviews with
the artists, this allows the reader to feel sympathy for their situation.
• Social climbers aspire to be like someone and the climb up the social ladder. Q provides appeal to social
climbers through the star appeal of well known celebrities on the front cover and inside the issue.
• Survivors enjoy security and routine. This can be found in the consistency of the magazine layout and what
will be included in each issue.
• Explorers are driven by social change. Q can create social change through what they publish, so explorers are
more likely to buy the magazine if they feel that they can create a change through what is given to them in
the magazine.

8. Audience Theories (continued)
• Katz (Uses and Gratifications Theory)
• Using Adele on the front cover of the magazine would
allow the reader to personally identify with the text as
she was a typical Londoner, who still speaks with a
heavy London accent, but has become very famous
through her singing. This means that the reader will
identify and create a personal relationship with the
Londoner Adele and still look up to and admire the
famous singer Adele. This gives an escape from reality
through her famous and different lifestyle to the rest of
the London but also allows people to be informed of
her life through the magazine. Overall this creates a
large star appeal for Adele and encourages people to
buy Q, when she is on the cover and possibly continue
afterwards
https://www.alevelmedia.co.uk/media-theorists

9. Audience Theories (continued)
Grade Social Class
A Upper middle class
B Middle class
C1 Lower middle class
C2 Skilled working class
D Working class
E Those at the lowest levels of subsistence
• Socio-economics needs table
• Q mainly caters for all social classes as they are not specific in the content it
provides. This means that all types of people read Q, however the main social
classes of people will be grade A, B,C1 and C2. This is because they have more
time and money to spend reading leisure magazines.

10. Audience Theories (continued)
• Psychographics
• The mainstreamers will be attracted to Q as it is a
domestic leisure magazine and they often have
the disposable income to allow for magazine
purchases.
• Q will attract aspirers as they idolise particular
celebrities that could be featured in the
magazine.
• Resigned will read Q as it features older artists in
the same way in each issue.
• Explorers will enjoy Q as it includes so many
varied musicians in one issue, that they can
discover many different enjoyment factors.

11. 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/

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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/

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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/

29. 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.

30. Synergy (continued)

31. 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.

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. Advertising
There are 6 types of adverts that the magazine
allows, these vary in prices from £1,155 to £184
per advert. The advertisements are highly
competitive as lots of companies want to
advertise in Q magazine.
https://specle.net/uk/bauer-consumer-media-
ltd/q#fndtn-preparing_files

35. Distribution
Q is based in the UK but ships globally with a subscription, this can either be
in printed form, digital or both together. There is also the option to buy a
subscription as a gift. Q magazine subscribers get the latest issue delivered to
their address.
There is no paper copies available in stores outside of the UK.
There is also the worldwide availability to buy a digital version of Q, this is on
app on Apple or Android.
Single issues of Q can also be printed from £4.70, or digitally viewed from
£3.00.
They have 44,050 circulated copies globally. This is in supermarkets, high
street retailers and corner shops.
As shown in the next slide, WHSmith has a separate shelf for Q magazine.
This draws peoples attention to the magazine and encourages sales.

36. Distribution Evidence
https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/uk-magazine-
abcs-winners-losers-and-full-breakdown-as-
circulation-declines-average-6-per-cent/ ,
https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/q-magazine

37. Advertisement of Q
This used the star appeal of
AD/DC to encourage new readers
to read Q magazine. It attracts
more attention to the magazine
through audio-visuals and creates
a buzz of excitement around the
advertisement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78
UVEVzPeX4