This document provides information about Q magazine, a popular music magazine published in the UK. It was founded in 1986 and is currently owned by Bauer Media Group. The document discusses Q magazine's publisher, ownership structure, operating model, market position, competitors, brand ideology, genres covered, technological convergence, form and style, typical content, associated products, and analyses of the front cover, content page, and double page spread of an issue. It also summarizes Q magazine's website and social media presence. The document is an analysis of Q magazine as a media product and the audience it targets.

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

3. Contents
• Slide 4- Focus Publisher and
product
• Slide 5- Ownership structure
• Slide 6-7 Operating model
• Slide 8- Market position
• Slide 9- Competitors (publishers)
• Slide 10-Competitors (magazine)
• Slide 11- Brand ideology/ethos
• Slide 12- Genre
• Slide 13- Technological
convergence
• Slide 14- Form and style
• Slide 15- Content of media product
• Slide 16- Associated products
• Slide 17- Front cover analysis
• Slide 18- Content page analysis
• Slide 19- DPS analysis
• Slide 20- Website annotations
• Slide 21- Social media presence
• Slide 22-23 Production process

4. Focus Publisher and Product
Publisher Product
Source:
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/bran
ds
Meaning
Q magazine is a popular music
magazine that was founded in 1986 by
Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who
were not really listened to by the music
press at that time, which they felt was
ignored by a generation of older music
buyers who were buying CD’s. it was
first published EMAP then bought by
Bauer 2008. They had their own music
TV and hosts the Q rewards. 44050
Source: http://www.qthemusic.com
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/uk-magazine-
abcs-winners-losers-and-full-breakdown-as-
circulation-declines-average-6-per-cent/
Bauer Media Group is a European
based media company,
headquartered in Hamburg,
Germany that manages more than
600 magazines over 400 digital
products and 50 radio and TV
stations around the world. It was
founded in 1875 by the Bauer's and
has been passed down ever since.

5. Ownership Structure
When was it founded
Bauer Media was founded in 1875 in Hamburg, Germany. The company is still
headquartered in Germany. They manage a portfolio of over 600 physical
magazines, 400 digital products and 50 radio/TV stations around the world.
Who founded it
Bauer was founded by Ludoph Bauer at the age of 23 who started out by printing
business cards, as well as doing various printing jobs.
When was the first magazine released
Bauer released their first magazine in 1926. This was the AnglingTImes which
featured a man who caught a big fish. It was an ‘All new weekly mag’ as not many
companies had started to make magazines that are released weekly at this point in
time.
When was it launched
Bauer Media launched Q magazine during October 1986 in the UK. The first issue is
on Paul McCartney and is now considered rare by fans. This issue is currently selling
for £37.19 on Amazon. That is more than what it costs to buy a years subscription
from Q currently (£35).
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about

6. Operating Model
Yvonne Bauer
Andreas Schoo Jorg Hausendorf
Witold Wozniak

7. Operating Model
http://www.bauer-
media.com.au/discover
/about-
bauer/management-
team/

8. Market Position
• Magazines • Publisher
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
Mojo Kerang NME Q Uncut
308,938
NME is the highest seller and
Kerang is the lowest. This is
because it covers a range of
different music genres, but
Kerang only focuses on hard
rock.
352,171
Chart Title
Time INC UK Bauer
Time INC UK has a larger Magazine
circulation than Bauer. This is mainly
due to the magazine ‘NME’ which sells
the most. Yet Bauer £2489.5million
and Time INC Uk’s net worth is worth
£431.1million, no where near the
amount Bauer is worth. Yet thei
circulation is better.
Source: https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/magazine-abcs-
full-breakdown-of-uk-magazine-sales-figures-for-first-
half-2017/

9. Competitors- Publishers
Founded in 1903
Founded by Franz Burda
Founded March 4th 1887
Founded by William Randolph
Hearst
Founded in 1909
Founded by Conde Monstrose
Nast
Founded February 1930
Founded by Briton Hadden

10. Competitors- magazine
First published in 1952
Founded by Theodore Ingham
First published 6th June 1981
Founded by Alan Lewis
First published 15th October
1993
Published by Bauer Media
Group
First published in 1997
Founded by Allan Jones and
Andrew Summer

11. Brand Ideology/Ethos
Slogan/purpose
We think popular is a brilliant slogan for Bauer as the connotation of ‘we’ is
multiple people, friends, family etc. This makes the consumer feel included
with Bauer media groups products. ‘popular’ means that they are popular
world wide and makes the consumer feel like by buying the magazine, they
will become popular.
Values
Bauer media group have four values, which are ‘create, collaborate,
challenge and respect’. This shows how the company is run and how the
staff works together to make a quality magazine buy challenging and
respecting each other. This makes them loyal, and a better company.
History
Bauer Media Group is a European based media company, headquartered in
Hamburg, Germany that manages more than 600 magazines over 400 digital
products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. It was founded in
1875 by the Bauer's and has been passed down ever since.
The blue could
represent the
Ocean, all over the
world, just like
how Bauer are a
global world wide
company
White represents
clean, fresh and
new and Bauer are
publishing
something new in
the market

12. Genre
Generally speaking, Q magazine covers everything going on in the music world. For instance,
the latest Q talks about the ‘epic return of queens stone age’ and has a link to an article on
the Q website. On the same site, there is another article talking about the ‘heavy heavy’
story behind the N.W. A biopic. Obviously this is a huge difference between audiences, it
really ranges. From writing on the ‘epic return of queens of the stone age’ to talking about
an argument which happened years ago between a rappers that not many people really care
too much about anymore as it is old news. Many other music magazines would stick to one
genre, but Q has a range of genres, which means that they have a wider target audience and
consumer base so may make a higher profit.
Source- http://www.qthemusic.com/the-latest-q
Hard copy magazine (august 18th 2014)
Each issue of Q include many
different genres, from rap to rock,
which both cover the same age
range really (13-30) yet, generally
the people who listen to these
kinds of music are completely
different so it even attracts a
variety in a particular age range.

13. Technological Convergence
Technological convergence is making
something accessible through multiple
different devices so it can access a wider
audience, this also cuts down the price it costs
to print hard copy’s of the magazine.
Q have a synergy with multiple social networks
as they know that their main target audience
uses social media and rarely watch’s TV, so
they have accounts on multiple platforms.
Social media platform Amount of people
Facebook likes 137,913
Twitter followers 135.9k
Instagram followers 17.4k
YouTube subscribers 4,382
Source: https://www.youtube.com/ https://twitter.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ https://www.instagram.com/

14. Form and style
Q’s front pages on most of their magazines mainly consist of Red, Black and White.
Generally it has the main star who is featuring in the copy front and center with a
white background with either a Black Q or a White Q on the red background (which is
their normal logo. But it is always towards the top left of the page. Steve Neale in 1980
said that magazines repeat form and style (Q does this)
Q magazine is approximately 30.6 x 22.2 x 1.2 cm, which is around the size of a
magazine, however the dimensions on devices vary dependent on what device you
are using.
Throughout the entire magazine, Q is rather consistent with font, color scheme etc.
this make the magazine come across as more professional as it doesn't’t look like it is a
complete mess, it has order to it.

15. Content of media product
Q magazines contents include mainly articles, news and interviews from people within the music
industry as well as covering reviews of newly released pieces of media. Q magazine will normally
have their main artist on the front cover as they are the ones who will attract the most attention.
For instance on this front cover of Q, the main image is of Kanye West with his name as the main
headline. This is because he is their main feature so deserves to cover the majority of the front
cover of that issue. The front cover will also include cover lines, these are other people who feature
in the magazine but may not be as prominent in the magazine as the main feature. These allow fans
to gain an idea of what the magazine features and if their favorite artist features. This inclines the
audience to buy the magazine.
Masthead, The brand
identity of Q is the
logo on the magazine,
so people instantly
recognize it. The red
background makes
the white Q stand
out.

16. Associated Products
Magazines Radio Digital product
Television
This is a symbol
the digital as
they will tell
the audience
that these are
the digital
products you
are looking athttp://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands
Bauer produce many
magazines, such as Q and
Mojo as seen above. They
have build up quite a loyal fan
base that many people buy
every issue.
Bauer produce few Television
programmes such as Kiss and
4music. They do not make
much from this as the
channels are not as popular as
their magazines or digital
products for instance.
Bauer have Radio stations
such as ‘gem’ and Kiss. Since
many people are exposed to
radio (on their commute for
example) may make people
start to recognise these more
and thus be more inclined to
purchase a product that Bauer
produce as it would be in a
similar format.
Due to the technological
advancements, Bauer has
noticed the trend of
phones being used for
everything, so they have
started to create digital
versions of their magazines
for instance. People will
pay online for a
subscription, which means
your brand is more out
there and you are making
money

17. Front cover analysis
Main image, wide shot
of the main feature in
the magazine
Main Headline,
specifies who
the main feature
Masthead, The
brand identity of
Q is the logo on
the magazine, so
people instantly
recognize it. The
red background
makes the white
Q stand out.
Cover line, they are secondary
story’s to the main one. They name
drop the other artists, which attract
more of an audience as it entices
them to keep reading. This allows
the consumers to see who else
features and the consumer may
personally identify with the story
so will buy the magazine
Barcode, shows
the date, issue
and price.
Second to this,
the bar code is
needed to
actually sell the
copy
The verbal code ‘punk,
provocateur, activist….’
This connotes that the main
feature in Kanye has such a wide
personality that almost everyone
can relate to him.
Anchorage text
Strap-line
Secondary image
Puff and pug. White
square, goes with colour
scheme
By having the main
feature dominate the
page, their fans will be
inclined to buy the issue
The Masthead
allows the
consumer to
identify that this
is an issue of Q.
This is good as it
reminds people
of the monthly
magazine so they
are inclined to
buy it.

18. Content page analysis
Main image of the star attract readers.
This image dominates the entire
contents page, a page in which
everyone looks at and uses, so by
putting a star on the page, a wide
audience is attracted
Masthead, tells that this is the
contents page, where the reader
can see everything in the
magazine is, according to
Maslow, this keeps the survivors
happy, as it tells them where
everything is and they can expect
a contents page in every issue.
Sub-headings, tell the reader what
else the magazine includes, so the
reader can find something they are
interested in and go straight to that
page. This is very helpful to the
readers that but the issue for one
article or interview in particular.
Sub-line, goes into more detail under
the Sub-heading, this picks up the
readers interest. According to Katz, this
helps the Personal relationship, since
they build up an admiration for the
subject of the interview
Web address, has more features than the magazine, putting it on the contents page
makes more people aware of it and more likely to use it. This is because they may
not have known of the website before, they can get more features on the website,
that benefits Q as they get more activity on their site.
Q magazine also include the
month and year that the issue is
released. For example this issue
was released in March 2011

19. Double page spread analysis
The Main image is
spread across both sides
of the double pages and
features an artist named
Ed Sheeran. He is
dressed very casual, with
his iconic acoustic guitar
next to him which does
relate to his music style.
He is from London,
hence the background to
the picture is a landmark
in London (Parliament)
The text used on the main part of the
article is clear and easy to read, which is
what most readers want. As it is not overly
complicated, which in a way is similar to Ed
Sheeran’s music as it is simple
Color- The general color scheme on
this page consists of mainly warm
and calm colors, the use of red,
black and white. This is a consistent
color scheme used throughout Q
magazines, the colors compliment
each other.
A small quotation ‘I'm bringing ginger
back’ as the main verbal code on the
page. It may attract a wider audience
as it is clearly a joke, so it implies the
personal relationship the audience
may have with the audience
Drop capital, the purpose of
this is to attract the readers
attention to start reading the
article.
Anchorage text gives the reader
a small bit of context to go with
the quotation. This is good as it
inclines the reader to read the
article and get future issues of Q
Pull Quote is a quote from the
article that has been pulled out
due to its interest and gain the
readers attention.

20. Website Annotations
Twitter
Facebook
Pintrest
YouTube
Range of social networks which Q
use, they use them because most
people in the world are on them
and it will help get the awareness
of Q up
There's a vote going on, which personally
includes the User, makes them feel
involved thus making Q look good
Logo, its one of the first
things we notice about Q
as it is red and really
stands out on the page.
It also tells the User
exactly what website
they are on. This is
professional from Q as it
clearly states that this is
their site.
Two navigation bars, show
how much of a range Q
provides, which gets many
different kinds of people
interested. This is good as it
means that Q’s website will
have a higher activity rate
Source- http://www.qthemusic.com
Q have a synergy with the social
networks with Facebook, meaning
they work with them as one of the
platforms that Q operate on is
Facebook
You can scroll down to get more articles from Q. The majority of Q’s site
front page are links to articles, this is good because many Q readers will
be here for that exact reason, to read articles

21. Social media presence
Q magazine use social media’s such as Twitter and Instagram
in order to keep their consumers up to date and attract new
consumers. Due to the fact that most people have a social
media account, social media platforms are a good way to
advertise as you are reaching a huge audience. Q have a
relatively big social media following, which has definitely
cause an increase in their sales as more people now know
about them due to the explore page. The explore page is
based on who you already follow, so if you follow a lot of
music related pages then a post from Q is likely to come up
on their explore page. This means that Q are reaching their
specific target audience of music lovers as that’s who will
mainly see their posts, either from following them or seeing
them on the explore page.

22. Production Process
Dates of
publication
The first thing in which
you must do is set up a
date of publication. The
date of publication is
simple the date that you
are trying to get you
magazine release by as a
finished product, making
it available to the
general public. Once this
date has been agreed
on, you now have a
schedule to run on, the
schedule is your plan on
how you are going to be
able to meet your date
of publication. Proper
management of the
schedule is vital to
meeting your date of
publication.
Managing the
schedule
This step is of high
importance. As if you
want your magazine to
be produced
successfully, and meet
the date of publication,
it is vital that the
schedule is managed
well. Your schedule
should be made in a way
so that there are
provisions for certain
mistakes so that even
when mistakes happen,
you will still be able to
meet the date of
publication you had set
previously. This is why a
good management of
the schedule is
absolutely vital.
Editorial and
budgets
The editorial decisions
mainly involve the
magazines editorial
teams getting together
and deciding amongst
themselves what topics
they want to include in
the coming up issue of
the magazine they are
working for. Essentially,
the editorial team talks
about multiple content
stories, interviews,
photographs, etc that
will be in the coming
issue. There is also a
budget to this, which
will mostly be spent
towards the production
of the magazine,
interviews for example.
Content
acquisitions
The content acquisition
process is the most
important step, as
without any content, the
magazine wouldn't’t
work at all since it would
be empty. Thus, content
is the most important.
There are 2 major ways
in which content can be
gained for a magazine.
Firstly, in-house staff
writers. Secondly,
though external writers
(who earn commission)
to write on topics that
are specialist in nature.
At this stage, artwork
and graphics are also
being worked on to
speed up the total
production process.
Source: https://hosbeg.com/the-magazine-
production-process/

23. Production process continued
Sub-editing
Sub-editing focuses on
one major thing, which
is how good the quality
of the magazine is. If
there us no sub-editor,
they editor will do this
job. This step involves:
Checking accuracy of
facts
Making sure words are
spelt correctly
Checking grammar/
punctuation
All articles follow the
correct house style
Working on page layout
Page Layout
In big publications, there
is a special team who
are responsible for page
layouts, they’re called
they layout staff. There
job is essentially to
typeset and layout the
various pages that come
together, to make the
magazine. In performing
this task, they use a
powerful DTP program,
for example InDesign or
PageMaker to get their
job done to a high
standard. This is also the
time that adverts are
placed in the magazine.
Proofreading
Once the Page Layout
has been completed, the
next stage is
proofreading. The
editing department will
print a copy of the
magazine for the
purpose to be read
through carefully to find
any spelling errors or
grammar mistakes. After
this mistake is found, it
is quickly corrected by
the DTP file. The
magazine is proof read
until everyone is happy
and satisfied with the
copy and are sure there
are no mistakes.
Distribution
Lastly, the final stage is
distribution, where the
magazines, after being
printed are boxed and
distributed to the
retailers who sell the
copy to the general
public.

24. Purpose and meaning
Product
Q magazine is a popular music
magazine that was founded in 1986 by
Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who
were not really listened to by the music
press at that time, which they felt was
ignored by a generation of older music
buyers who were buying CD’s. it was
first published EMAP then bought by
Bauer 2008. They had their own music
TV and hosts the Q rewards. 44050
Source: http://www.qthemusic.com
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/uk-magazine-
abcs-winners-losers-and-full-breakdown-as-
circulation-declines-average-6-per-cent/

25. Purpose and Meaning
Flick on the Q is
sophisticated and formal
Red background makes
the white Q stand out
Red has connotations with
passion, Q is passionate
about music which
attracts people
Called Q because it used to
be called ‘cue’ (as in cueing
a record to play) but they
changed it as they didn’t
want their magazine to be
mistaken for a snooker
magazine.Strapline – Qs
strapline is usually
“Discover Great
Music”. This strapline
connotes that there
is always new music
to be discovered
through Q magazine.