HISTORY OF Q MAGAZINE.

BRIEF HISTORY:

This is a monthly music magazine which gets published every month in the UK. The first ever issue was published in 1986 and the people who founded it, felt as if people were forgetting the old generation of music which is being influenced by all the new technology. In the previous years the magazine was called 'Cue' however got changed as it could then be easily mistaken for a snooker magazine. They decided to name the magazine 'Q' because they felt as if it would me more dominant when on news stands.

WHAT IS THE TYPICAL CONTENT?
Some of the main features in the magazine are a review section including the latest releases, reissues, concert and film reviews, radio and television reviews and music complications. Also within the magazine is supplies the readers with a list of the upcoming gigs and tour dates so they know when their favourite bands and artists are playing next; this is essential as the majority of people reading the magazine may be interested in booking tickets. The magazine is most commonly known to print compiling lists which range from 'The Greatest 100 Albums' to 'The Greatest 100 Singles".

One of the best features this magazine has is the 'spine line' which is when they print a different message on the spine of the magazine on each issue; this leaves the readers trying to discover what the purpose of the message is. 

WHO IS THE TYPICAL READER?

By doing research from the National Readership Survey (NRS) it seems to be that males are more interested and purchase this magazine more than females. 345 males have brought this magazine and only 132 females have brought it; this could show that males tend to favour this genre more when compared to women. On the NRS website it also shows the number of issues sold within two seperate age ranges. 15-44s brought 386 issues of Q magazine whereas 45+ brought 90 copies of it. However with this I don't think the age ranges were split up to the best ability as teenagers and young adults will more likely purchase this magazine rather that middle-aged people.

MAGAZINE HOUSESTYLE:

In each copy of Q magazine the mast head is printed in an upper case white 'Q' letter placed onto a red square background. Both of these colours compliment each other as the red draws the attention to the white title. On the front of the magazine cover the designers make the it look quite plain and simple, and stick to the '3 colour scheme' using the colours black, white and red; this can be effective as it doesn't look over complicated and is pleasing to the eye. The main images, usually mid shots, are central on the cover and take control over the rest of the page which could show signs that the artist is powerful; this may be a good feature to use as readers may feel more tempted and interested into purchasing it.

Most of the time, the artists or bands photographed on the covers of Q magazine seem to be giving direct eye contact to the camera lens, which could help engage readers in to the magazine, while making it more personal for them.

WHO PRODUCES AND DISTRIBUTES IT?

Q magazine is publised by Bauer Media Group (a German publishing company is which increaing in size and is based in Hamburg. It is also known to operate in 15 countries worldwide). Q magazine is distributed by a company called Frontline.

HOW SOCIAL GROUPS ARE REPRESENTED:

Typical social groups who tend to read this magazine can be seen as indiviuals, prefering indie/punk/rock bands, seeing as they don't conform to popular pop artisits and bands such as Rihanna or Lady Gaga. It feels as if people who like indie bands only favour to these and don't sample more mainstream bands/artists; this then leads me to think that when pop artists feature as the main subject on the magazine, that they don't gain as much interest and lose some regular buyers who are large indie fans. However this can be benefical as it gains readers who don't normally take interest into this magazine.