Q Music Magazine Analysis

Media Language

Q magazine is an informative, fun magazine that is produced for both entertainment purpose and educational purpose for those who want to learn or keep update with the music industry. Q magazine doesn’t have a specific genre of music that it bases its issues around as it is an alternative music magazine, instead it focuses on a mixture of both known and upcoming artists, such as Justin Bieber, Ed sheeran, Rhianna, James Bay etc. The magazine has regular features that appear in every issue, these features are interviews with the artist/band that are shown on the front cover, there are preview sections that give the readers exclusive information about artist/bands upcoming music releases and reviews of concerts or albums from professionals. The magazine is laid out the same for every issue, there is a front cover with a full bleed image of the artist or band that the issue is based on, and there is a double page contents page which has the same headings on every issue, there is also a large double page spread that is focused on the main artist/band, this usually includes an interview with the artist/band and an image of them, the double page spreads keep to same layout having a large capital letter to start of the article.

Audience

Q’s magazine audience is 25 year olds of both genders within the social class ABC1, with the magazine audience being older and working class it allows the magazine to be higher priced than other music magazines such as Kerrang. The audience of Q is also middle aged as it includes a wide variety of information about recent music but also about “old classic” albums and artists/bands. The magazine has a mass audience but also a niche audience as it does specifically aim its magazine at music fans only. This magazine audience is also middle aged / older aged because the founders of the magazine stated that they wanted to appeal to the older generation rather than the younger generation.

According to valid statistics, a majority of Q’s readers are male with the percentage of men being 66.2%. The statistics also showed that 83.8% of the readers are aged 18-44 years of age. In June 2012 statistics showed that the magazine was read by 369,000 adults, working out that it was read by 0.7% of the adult population. Q manages to appeal to its audience by featuring a mixture of current and old artists, such as John Lennon, as on his 70th birthday they printed a special cover and issue which was dedicated to him. When Amy Winehouse died in 2011 within a week of her death Q had printed an issue dedicated to her, this appeals to the middle aged audience as the magazine

features artists/bands that the audience would of grown up knowing about or want to know about currently which makes them want to purchase the issue.

Q magazine uses different uses and gratifications, a reader may want to read Q for personal identity as the magazine advertises opportunities for readers to get involved and allows them to some times have their opinion printed within the issue, also the artists/bands spoke/interviewed in this issue can reflect some people’s behaviour and personalities which instantly allows them to relate to them. Some articles within Q might even inspire the reader to do something like they have done allowing the person to create an identity for themselves. Another use and gratification that Q magazine used is social integration (personal relationships) as by reading Q the audience can find out the latest music industry information which they can then discuss within their friendship circle or with new people allowing them to build friendships. Also some of the artists/bands that Q include with the magazine don’t always fit in with societies idea of normal such as rock bands/artists, if a reader was not societies idea of “normal” also they would be able to read about them which would allow them to relate and get a sense of belonging. The last use and grafications that Q magazine includes is entertainment as people are able to read the magazine to fill time, such as if they were waiting for an appointment they could pick up an issue and read it to make use of time, instead of being sat there staring into space. Q also can be read for emotional release or if someone wants to escape their problems as the magazine is quite positive so wouldn’t include any form of information that could make someone feel worse, but make them forget about their problems as they can get enjoyment from reading about their favourite artist/bands that are most likely to feature once in the issue.

Q magazine has a selection of ways that allows the audience to interact with the magazine, It has various social media sites such as, Facebook (104,641 likes), Twitter (115.8k followers) and Instagram (5207 followers), all of which allow the audience to comment their opinions and get involved with the magazine by liking photos and tweeting in their ideas for what they would like to see in the magazine. Q’s facebook page is used mainly for advertising the magazine. Another way that Q allows the audience to interact is that they have online voting; this allows the readers to vote for what they would most like to see in the next issues, such as a particular artist/band. Lastly Q also have a website (http://www.qthemusic.com/) which has subscription information on it and an online payment system so you can pay for the subscription online, it also has the recent issue available to read online and new music industry news which hasn’t been able to be published within the magazine. The website is accessible worldwide so that Q appeals to a wider target audience.

Readers of Q still decide to purchase the magazine even though free content is available online as many are collectors of the magazine so want to have every issue so they have a completed collection. Moreover it is because the audience are middle aged , and some may be against the idea of technology replacing “good old fashioned” magazines so are against using online content and prefer to have the paper copy . The audience that Q appeals to are also within the social class ABC1 so have a disposable income meaning they are able to afford the magazine and don’t even consider using the online method even if it is free.

Representation

Q magazine is an alternative music magazine that has a variety of different genre artists/bands featuring within the issues. Artists/bands that are of the rock or rap genre are represented through images that show them to be looking aggressive and confrontational, in most the images they are also usually dressed in dark coloured clothing to emphasise their genre of music. However Q

represents pop or house artists/bands in a complete different way, they are shown to be looking energetic, fun and excited and in the images they are either wearing brightly coloured clothes or if female usually a revealing outfit. The different genres of music that Q includes within their issues are all represented differently, all genres are portrayed positively as Q present all artists/bands to be successful, happy musicians who are succeeding within the music industry whilst still including the real life realities that these music artists/bands face.

The key iconography within Q is the influential artists which feature within the issues, different artists/bands feature monthly making it a key element as the audience and buyers look out for the magazine to see what influential artists/bands will be featuring in the magazine monthly so they are able to tell whether they will enjoy reading the magazine or not.

Institution

Q is published by Bauer Media group which was founded in 1875, Bauer Media owns radio stations, television stations and magazines such as Kisstory, MCN sport and Cool FM. Bauer Media also publish other magazines with the main ones being; KERRANG, EMPIRE, ZOO and CLOSER, these magazines are all of different genres ranging from music to gardening. Q is published monthly within the United Kingdom and many other places around the world. Q make their money thorough allowing companies and businesses to have advertisements within the magazine and their social media sites, over 68% of the money Q magazine makes come from allowing companies and businesses to advertise within the magazine.

Q magazine attempts to retain its audience by having subscription deals with the current one being 6 issues for £15 making a saving of 65%, these kind of subscription deals retain the audience as they are able to buy a mass of the magazines in one go whilst saving themselves a large amount of money, by subscribing it also means the magazine is delivered to their home which is a benefit to those within the working class who may not have the time to go and purchase the magazine from the shop. The magazine also holds monthly competitions that can be entered online for free, these competitions allow the audience to win gadgets, concert tickets and signed merchandise all of which appeal to the music obsessed audience. Lastly Q magazine sometimes gives away freebies such as a CD or album, by giving away a freebie it allows Q to retain the audience as they believe they are getting something alongside the magazine where in reality the price of the magazine funds the same amount Q paid for the freebie itself.

Q music magazine has a range of wider assets; it has a website and social media which has links to Q’s magazine music concert that happens once a year. Q magazine also has a television channel which plays interviews and the latest music from artists/bands that have been featured in the monthly issue. There is also a radio station which is available to listen to 24/7 which plays the new and old tracks from artists/bands that have featured or will be featuring within the magazine.