Q Music Magazine

Q is biggest selling monthly music magazine published in the United Kingdom.

First issue was published in October 1986.

The magazine has an extensive review section, featuring: new music, music compilations, film and live concert reviews, as well as radio and television reviews.

The target audience for Q magazine 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. Although the founders state that they want to appeal to all the older generation, it seems that Q magazine doesn't appeal to many woman of that age.

Q’s cover price is £3.90.

A footer is used on the magazine to give the reader a bit more information on what's inside.

The mast head is the largest text on the cover. The letter Q is short and remembered well by the readers and is well recognisable. It is a capital letter and it is white against red and this sets the colour scheme for the whole magazine cover.

Barcode, issue date and price,this is a convention andall magazine have one.

The use of a flasher,offering something more to the readers. The colours of the flasher, again follow the colour scheme of the whole front cover.

Heading.

The sell lines, withpopular bands that readerswill want to read about. The bands alsolink into the Q genre.

The main image is an edited photograph of several people dancing, all of the people look quite dated and as though it is an old fashioned shot. The people are mimicking bands playing instruments and dancing. The background of the photo is dull and there is a huge black motor bike, this stands out from the rest of the images because all of the other images are in colour. This appeals to the target audience because the people in the photo are the same age as them.

The main cover line is the piece of text that stands out the most to the reader because its in bright yellow, red and black. The colours yellow and black are used in every day life to suggest danger. This could suggest that the story about ‘guilty pleasures’ isn't all innocent. The cover doesn’t explain to you about what the article will be about meaning it lures you into buying the magazine to read the story. It is also in capital letters as though it is been shouted at you and it makes it stand out a bit more.

Review of the Q magazine, and showing the readers that its worth buying for five stars.

Freebies advertised on the cover to make you buy it so you gain this freebie, it also promotes the magazine and more people will buy it if there is regular freebies.

There is also another image of a band which relates to the cover line, this shows the reader who they are and a bit more about the cover line.

The contents page for NME has one main image, it is takes up the whole page and it catches your eye. The image represents the genre of the magazine, by having a famous artist it also shows that Q magazine interviews artists that people know well.

At the top of the contents page there is the date and issue number there is also the name of the magazine again, this also sets the colour scheme for the contents page.

Use of a pull quote this, tells us something that Cliff Richard is saying, this lets the reader know a bit about the article before reading it.

All of the headings on the contents page are in capitals and this can make it seem as though it is shouting the words at you which links to the genre of the magazine, they are also easier to recognise and stand out.

This section here links to a section on the front cover, having the same colour scheme, and telling the reader about the same thing, this is as though the reader got lured in by the front cover, and then got told a little bit more from the contents page, making the reader want to read on.

This is a caption to the picture making it clear to you who it is of. There is also captions underneath each sub-heading telling the reader a little bit more about the article they want to read

The house style on the contents page goes by the colour scheme of red black and white, this makes the magazine look more professional, and also with there not being much on the page it is very spacious and not cluttered making it easier for you as a read understand what's what.

Rule of thirds is used on the contents page with three columns and creating a layout suitable for the magazine

A by-line to clearly show who wrote the article and who took the pictures.

Matt’s name is in bold just to stand out a lot more from the stand first.

A stand first has been included so the reader knows a bit about the article before reading the whole thing in two lines.

The layout for the Q magazine double page spread is very basic and simplistic, almost half a page is taken up by the bold headline which is also in capitals and in quotation marks meaning Matt himself said those words. The interview is spilt into 4 columns with around 150-200 words in each. When it comes to the interview with Matt the spokespersons questions are in bold making them stand out.

The house style of the double page spread in Q uses black colours and a bold headline, Matt is also in black clothes but this stands out from the page being bright with a blue background. The headline also stands out to the reader as is it the biggest font on the page, and the article is in a lot smaller font and takes up less than a page. There is also uncluttered appearance and the only colour is Matt Bellamy’s name standing out to the reader first.

The whole page is taken up with the picture of Matt opposite his interview, this would be used a poster for the readers who particularly like him, the interview is about Matt quoting about schizophrenia which is a long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behaviour, this would link to the random background been hosen for the picture to be shot, which if the reader reads the article the picture would become clear to them.