Q MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

Q MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

General

· Which company produces the magazine? The name of the company which produces the magazine is called Q. Q is a music oriented company, which also have their own music program. Its publishing company is Bauer Consumer Media (Emap). Mark Ellen and David Hepworth founded the magazine because they felt that there wasn't a magazine for the older generation who were still buying CD's. Originally Q magazine was meant to be called Cue (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed because publishers were worried that it might be mistaken for a snooker magazine.

· What is the target audience according to the publisher’s website? (Look at the media info kit for advertisers, which describe the ideal reader and give detailed audience research information). (In the rest of your analysis be sure to relate your points to how the magazine is appealing to this target audience.) Q magazine is catered for a variety of genres as suggested by the Q channel on television. The target audience for this magazine are the late teens and younger adults as the layout of the magazine is very sophisticated and fresh. Even though this is the expected target audience, the actual target are the older generation such as people in their 30's and 40's who are looking for a different mode of address, more sophisticated and just want to know more about the music.

· How much does it cost? The magazine costs £3.90

· How often is it published? It is published monthly in the UK.

· What is its circulation? Its circulation figures are 103,017. (81,240 being in the UK and republic of Ireland)

· What data is available about it on the NRS website? There is no information on the NRS website about Q magazine, except that the publication frequency is monthly.

· Work out the approximate monthly revenue streams from advertising and circulation. What does this tell you? The monthly revenue streams for circulation are about £401766.30. The cost to advertise a double page spread in Q magazine is £17396. The cost to advertise a single page in Q magazine is £9156. The cost to advertise on the back page (outside the magazine) in Q magazine is £11902. The cost to advertise a half page in Q magazine is £4578. The cost to advertise using a bound insert in Q magazine is £65. The cost to advertise using a loose insert in Q magazine is £45. These prices are much higher than ‘Kerrang’ and ‘Mojo’ and ‘Empire’. This identifies the popularity of the magazine because ‘Kerrang’ only charges £9092 for a double page spread, ‘Empire’ charges £14640 for a double page spread, and ‘Mojo’ only charges £9291 for a double page spread. This shows that Q is a very popular magazine, and it costs to advertise in their magazine as they are so popular. The specific revenue stream from advertising, for this magazine was £249042, which was a huge amount of money on just advertising.

Front Cover

· The title: why is it called that? What does the title connote? The title of this magazine is not very clear; it could be the banner at the top of the page which states ‘THE AWARDS ISSUE’ but this does not seem like a title, as it is describing the issue of the magazine. There may be other issues. The title could also be the ’50 BEST ALBUMS OF 2009’, this also is not a suitable title because the whole magazine is not about the ’50 best albums of 2009’. This only features in the magazine. So the only alternative title is the masthead, but this is not the actual title. So as the title is not clear, it does not connote anything particular.

· The masthead/title logo – analyse it. The magazine is also called Q because it's simple and easily recognise as the mast head. The masthead is positioned on the top left-hand corner. The masthead is partly covered by two members of the ‘‘Arctic Monkeys’’, this demonstrates that the audience are expected to know the name of the magazine because it’s so well established and successful. The Q masthead is simply a red box with the letter ‘Q’ in white on it. The bold red used in the masthead makes the magazine noticeable and easy for the readers to identify the magazine

· Is there a strap line? Analyse it. As there is not title or heading, there is no strap line.

· What is the main image? Analyse the facial expression, direction of gaze, body language, clothing etc. How does this reach out towards the ideal reader identified above? The main image consists of a long shot of four men; ‘the ‘‘Arctic Monkeys’’’ standing together with a white background. One of the members is slightly bigger than the other members because, he is the one holding the ‘Q’ award. The aim of him larger than the other arctic monkey’s members is to magnify to some extent, the award he is holding. They are all standing, turned to their right, facing their left; towards the camera. They are clearly not standing in a straight line, they are standing in a ‘V’ shape, as the members standing on the edges, seem smaller than the member in the middle, because they would have been further away from the cameras. The ‘‘Arctic Monkeys’’ are staring at the readers, which allows the reader to think that the ‘‘Arctic Monkeys’’ are actually staring at them. It is ironic how none of them look particularly happy, even though it is clear that they have just won an award. This mysterious gaze at the reader makes the reader intrigued to find out, why they look so miserable, and what they won the award for. They give contact to the camera because it seems as though they are trying to catch the reader’s eyes to interact with them all four of the members have quite a cool/calm/collected stance about them. The way they are standing seems quite relaxed, as they are standing with their legs apart, with their hands in their pocket. Their actual pockets are covered with writing, but it is obvious that their hands are in their pockets. One of the members, on the far right is wearing a simple white t-shirt with black jeans. The next member, to the left, is wearing a black blazer, and black smart jeans with a ‘scruffy’ shirt. The next member, to the left, is wearing a plain black top, with black smart jeans. The next member, to the left, is wearing a black army-patterned jacket, also with smart black jeans. They all seem to be wearing black, but the members have been desiderated, in contrast with the bright red and gold writing, which is written on the photograph.

· What other images appear on the cover? Why? There are no other images shown on the front page, as the whole page is taken up by the single photo of the ‘‘Arctic Monkeys’’.

· What content is promoted by the cover lines? At the bottom of the page, there are two main cover lines. The first one state; “OASIS’ LAST DAYS: THE INSIDE STORY”. This is a good cover line because the reader becomes intrigued to find out why it is Oasis’ last days. This is also written in bright red writing, which shows a sense of urgency to read the article. The other cover line states “ROBBIE WILLIAMS: ALBUM VERDICT”. This is written in gold, and does not seem quite as urgent as the previous cover line but the word ‘verdict’ is used in courts when the jury makes an important/informed/difficult decision about something. This makes the Robbie Williams album also seem like a difficult decision, so the reader is again intrigued to find out why the decision was so difficult or important. Across the centre of the page, there is brief information about who won the winners of the Q awards were. These include the ‘Arctic Monkeys’ obviously, Muse, Lily Allen, The Specials, Robert Plant, Lady Gaga, U2, Spandau Ballet, Kasabian, Sonic Youth, Mr. Hudson and more. The words ‘and more’ make it clear that there will be something on theses artist in the magazine; it is also like a cliff-hanger, as we readers want to know who else won awards.

· Explain the connotations of typefaces (fonts), graphics, colours etc. All the text on the front cover is in capital letters. A majority of the text is sans-serif. The different artist names and the two main cover lines are the only text which is in serif. The only artist name which is not in serif is the ‘Arctic Monkeys’ because they are the main magazine story. The only colours used on the front cover are; red, white, gold and black which detonates passion, innocence and darkness. It also shows a sense of applied house style The typography for The words ‘BEST ALBUM AWARDS’ and ‘ARCTIC MONKEYS; are written in different places on the page, but they are both the same font, identifying that there is a connection. The ‘Arctic Monkeys’ won best album award. Also, the text is all in capitals which are masculine and eye-catching. In addition the text which states the different artists is in a gold box, similarly to the box for the logo on the front cover which gives the magazine a more profession and neat look.

· What sort of language/language features/language devices can you identify? The language gives the reader a prelude as to what is to come. This is shown in the heading ‘and the winners are…’ because it leaves the reader anxious to find out who the winners were. Below the ’50 BEST ALBUMS OF 2009’ is a line in small font which reads; ‘warning, likely to provoke arguments’. The warning prepares the reader for a difference of opinion and a mindset ready for debate. It can also be seen as quite comical because the reader is unaware of whether the magazine is serious about the warning.

· How does the cover “talk” to its reader? The magazine takes into consideration the readers views, when it states that the best albums may cause arguments. I do not feel the magazine really talks to the reader simply because I do not enjoy the type of music advertised. The advertised music only appeals to one genre, which I think makes the magazine quite weak. However, the magazine cover shows that the magazine will feature the ’50 best albums of 2009’, which caters to all music genres. The fact that it on the front cover, communicates with the user well.

· Does the cover look similar to other magazines? If so why? What does this magazine offer which rivals don’t (ie what is its USP)? The magazine front cover looks similar to other magazines of that music genre, such as ‘Kerrang’ and ‘Mojo’. Both ‘Kerrang’ and ‘Q’ contain the picture of the same artist on the front cover. The colours used in ‘Mojo’ and ‘Q’ front cover are also very similar; they both contain a dull-looking picture as the background, accompanied with red or white or black writing. ‘Q’ contains a few lines of gold writing, but other than that, the colour used are basically the same. The layout of the writing, however, is different. In comparison to other genres such as gossip magazines, the layout is very different because gossip magazines usually contain more than one picture on the front cover, and usually use more fluorescent colours. Gossip magazines also usually contain a lot more text on the page. In terms of other ‘Q’ magazines, this magazine varies in similarities. For example with the famous ‘Madonna’ Q magazine, the layout is slightly different because the picture at the front is a close up shot of Madonna, not a long shot and the barcode is placed in a different position. With this in mind, the colours used are then same and the diagonal box is shown in both magazines. The writing is also basically in the same place; the main story in big font in the middle, with a little bit of writing on the top right hand corner.

· Is there anything else distinctive about the cover/format? (E.g. size) The magazine is not A4 is size. It is slightly wider than other magazines, but this is probably a usual format for this magazine issue. This is the ‘Awards Issue’, which acts as a banner across the top of the page

Inside

· How many pages are there? There are 172 sides to the magazine, including the front and back cover. So there are 86 pages in the magazine.

· How many pages of adverts? There are 3 double pages of adverts and 22 single pages of adverts. This is 28 sides out of 172 sides which are filled up with adverts

· Categorise the products advertised into types. The products advertised all come under the categories; cars, new albums, alcohol, watches, shavers, and electronics such as phones and headphones.

· Make a list of the features/article topics in the magazine. Who the hell do NDubs think they are? Oasis, Albums of 2009, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, awards gallery, Access All areas: Take that, new artists to enter Q, around with…Bon Jovi, a Q quiz.

· Categorise the features/articles into types. Every article is about awards, or new artists, or old artists, or questionnaires.

· How many double page spreads are there? What are they about? There is one double page spread about N-Dubs. This article is actually three pages in total. This article consists of one page of all writing, one page occupied by a picture, and the last page contains a picture and writing. There are 3 double page spreads about adverts. These adverts are; ‘the new Corsa car’, ‘Biffy Clyro’s new album’ and ‘Jack Daniels alcohol’. There is another double paged article about ‘Take that’ access all areas. There is also another double paged article about ‘Take MGMT’ access all areas. There is a double page spread about Bon Jovi, except only one page contains actual text, the other page is simply a picture of Bon Jovi. There is a double page spread about Tiesto, which contains mainly text, and a picture which takes up about a quarter of each page. This picture is situated at the top of the page, in the centre, across the two pages. There is an article about Arctic Monkeys, which consists of one single page, and three double paged spreads. This is then followed by an advert for alcohol, yet on the next page, the article about Arctic Monkeys continues for another page. There is a double page spread about Lilly Allen, but this consists of one third of on page containing text, and the rest of the double page spread was taken up by a picture of Lilly Allen. The ‘Winners Gallery’ consists of two double paged spreads, which shows a variety of different artists, and small text about each artists and what award they won. There is a double page spread about Robbie William, a double page spread about Nirvana, and a double page spread about Jamie T. All of these double paged spreads contain the same format; one page of text and one page occupied by a photograph. This layout becomes very dull and predictable. So in total, there are 17 double paged spreads in the magazine.

· Are there any “advertorials” where it is not clear if something is an article or an advert, or a mixture of both? There are quite a lot of advertorials in the magazine. A good example is an advert about fireworks. The title of the advert is ‘Boom boom’, which could also relate to music. Also there is a lot of text on the advert, and the text is separated in columns, like an article would be. Also, there is a picture of Britney spears on the advert.

· How does the magazine achieve a unified “house style”? Think about language and mode of address, colour schemes, graphical elements, etc. Why is this house style appropriate to the target audience? All the Q magazines have the same masthead; this is to keep consistency and identification throughout the magazines. This also makes it easier for the viewer because they will always know which magazine it is that they are purchasing. The masthead could also be seen as a logo, since it is just the letter Q, this is short and will make people remember this brand name. The masthead in this magazine is always in the top left hand corner. Also it is usually overlapped/covered by the main images on the cover. Doing this attracts the viewer as they will be anxious to find out about the artists shown in large on the cover. All the images used in the ‘Q’ magazine are shots where the artist or band have posed for the shot and have been dressed purposely for the magazine cover. They will have certain clothes and make-up for the shot needed. This differs to gossip magazines, where the front cover is usually a picture of a celebrity, taken by paparazzi. The bright red used will attract the target audience. Also the continuity of the colors used will help the target audience to recognize the magazine. The large picture on the front should also attract the target audience, if they are into that artist/group.