Q Magazine Analysis

This is the front cover of the magazine I analysed. I analysed the front cover, the inside of the magazine and general information about the magazine and the company that publishes it.

Below is the full analysis of the magazine.

General

• Q is the company that produces the magazine, however Bauer Media Group publishes it.
• According to the publisher’s website, www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Q/ Q magazine do not define themselves by the kind of music they listen to so they do not have a definite target audience. As well as focusing on music, film, sport and comedy is also a big passion for the magazine so it would appeal to many different people.
• The magazine cost £3.90 per issue.
• It is published once a month.
• The magazine had a circulation of 130,179 as of June 2007.
• The NRS website includes data about trends in readership of many different magazines.

The Cover:

• The magazine is called Q because the company Q has many other things as well as the magazine such as, TV channels, radio and a music website: www.qthemusic.com
• The logo of the magazine is a white Q in a box with a red background. It is eye-catching because if the red background as red is a very bold colour. It fits the style of the magazine. The magazine is mostly a rock magazine and the colour red connotes rock music as the colour red is often related to danger and rebellion and rebellion is a connotation to rock music. It is easily recognisable because it is so simple and would be easy to reproduce.
• Q magazine does not have a strapline.
• The main image of the magazine is rock. The Arctic Monkeys are on the front cover, which shows what type of magazine this is. We can tell that it is a rock magazine from the facial expressions of the band which are very serious, we can tell that this is not a pop music magazine as the people on the front would probably be smiling and looking less serious. People on the front cover are staring right into the camera, which also shows the seriousness their expression. The clothing they are wearing is very dark and the image is also in black and white, which again represents the type of band they are. If Q was a magazine for another music genre such as Pop, then the front cover would probably have more colour.
• The front cover image is a low angle shot which is used interestingly and shows that The Arctic Monkeys are very popular and powerful band. These types of shots are usually used to express the fact that a person is dominating and sometimes used to show that a person is quite threatening. If you look at the image of the band, they do look this way and it is highlighted that they are very powerful as they are all standing up and looking down into the camera; also one of them is holding a Q music award.
• There are no other images on the front cover because they want the reads to focus on the Arctic Monkeys. This is because this is ‘the awards issue’ and the arctic monkeys are the main feature in the magazine.
• The cover lines on the magazine promote the bands that have won awards because this issue of Q magazine is ‘the awards issue’.
• There are lots of 3 different fonts/typefaces on the front cover of Q magazine. The colours of the fonts are red, gold, white and black. The gold fonts connote the fact that this is ‘the awards issue’ of the magazine as together the colours red and gold are connotative to royalty which we would often relate with awards; awards ceremonies are usually very formal which makes the colours red and gold work well to highlight the fact that this is a special edition of the magazine.
• The red and white fonts follow the house style of the magazine, which makes the magazine more recognisable. The Serif fonts used again connote the fact that it is an awards issue and the serif fonts make the magazine appear more sophisticated and makes it fit the theme of the magazine, as the awards are a special occasion as serif fonts would be used for more formal occasions and sans serif fonts are recognised as being more casual and informal.
• The language used again fits in with the theme of the magazine –‘the awards issue’. They have used language such as ‘and the winners are…’ which is clearly showing what the main feature in the magazine is because it is what is said at awards ceremonies.
• The front cover talks to the reader in the way that the facial expressions of the band on the front are very serious. It looks like a sophisticated magazine by the use of colours and fonts, which are quite subtle and follow the magazines house style. The band pictured on the front are popular which would make people want to read about them in the magazine; the band and the highlighted fact that this issue is all about the awards is acting as a hook which will make more people want to buy this issue of the magazine, this could raise the sales of the magazine by having a special issue because it will turn potential buyers into buyers of Q magazine.
• This magazine’s unique selling point (USP) is that it is a special awards issue and offers all the information on who has won the awards, which other magazines do not offer. It is the only music magazine this month, which is an awards issue, therefore this would persuade people to buy this magazine instead of another magazine, again this is a hook to get an increasing number of people to buy the magazine.
• This front cover is distinctive to others because it is purely dedicated to the awards. The only part that shows information on other stories is at the bottom of the page, which does not stand out as much as the main story on the awards because the main story is in a gold banner across the middle of the page.
• Another thing that makes this issue of the magazine different from other issues of Q and other music magazines is that the photo on the front is a long shot. By looking at other issues and other magazines, I have noticed that the image on the front is usually a close up or medium shots. It is unusual that you will see a full body image on the front cover of a music magazine.

Inside:

• There are 173 pages in this issue of Q magazine.
• There are 47 pages of adverts.
• The adverts in the magazine advertise: new albums, cars, upcoming concerts, men’s cosmetic products, DVD’s, alcohol, men’s jewellery, mobile phones, electronic equipment and the RAF. This suggests that the target audience of the magazine is males aged 17+. There are no adverts that advertise products for women which suggests that Q magazine is not aimed at females.
• The features/article topics in the magazine are: Q Awards 2009, Interviews with bands, Albums of 2009, Television, Quizzes, interviews with celebrities.