Music Magazine Analysis

For my music magazine analysis, I am focusing on Q, the popular UK-based music magazine which I have used in previous posts.

Q was founded by journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth in 1986, at a time when they felt the music press was below satisfactory. It was first published in October 1986 by EMAP, which set itself apart from rival magazines and publications as the standards and overall quality of the publication itself, particularly that of the printing and photography, were much higher, not forgetting to mention it was published monthly. Its originally proposed name Cue was intended in that the definition in context meant to cue a record prior to playing it, but this was changed to the letter Q to avoid confusion with the game of snooker, and the magazine stated in its 200^th edition that its single-letter title would be more prominent and noticeable on newsstands. In 2008, EMAP sold its consumer magazine titles, including that of Q, to the European-based Bauer Media Group, who at this present time (as of the date and time of this writing) own the magazine and its assets.

Q features releases and reissues of music, as well as film, concert, radio and television reviews, in its extensive review section, and anything that is reviewed, particularly albums and releases, are rated with the star-rating system (from one to five stars). The magazine devotes itself to interviewing and promoting popular musical artists, and it is renowned for compiling lists such as “The 100 Greatest” lists. Every other month, a special edition focused around an influential musician, time period or genre of music is published.

Q primarily focuses on the indie, alternative and singer/songwriter genres of music, and its target audience consists of the people who listen to such music, as well as those who take initial interest. The style of the magazine, mainly regarding the colour scheme and use of fonts, provides the alternative feel with the frequent use of red, black and white colours and serif and sans serif fonts.

Q also used to have a radio station and television channel affiliated with its publications, named Q Radio and Q TV, which featured music videos and interviews involving artists and bands in the indie and alternative genres. These closed down in 2012 and 2013 respectively, of which Q TV was replaced by celebrity-oriented Heat TV on 3^rd July 2012, while Q Radio was replaced by Kisstory (a spin-off of Bauer’s Kiss brand) on 7^th May 2013.