Research and planning: investigating a music magazine on sale in the UK

Introduction/history

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the UK. It was first published in 1986 by Bauer media group, setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly productions and high standards of photography and printing. In the early years the magazine was subtitled “The modern guide to music and more”. Originally it was to be called “cue” but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker magazine. Also that single letter would be prominent on news stands. Q also have their own music station called Q tv and launched their own radio station in 2008.

Content
The magazine has different sections, featuring: New releases, reissues, music compilations, film and live concert reviews. The magazine features popular music from the chart so targets a wide variety of people. Much of the magazine is devoted to interviews with popular music artists. It is well known for it's compiling lists, such as “The 100 greatest albums”. Often, promotional gifts are given away. Every issue of Q has a different message on the spine. Readers try to work out what the message has to do with the content of the magazine.

The publishing institution
Q magazine is published by Bauer media group, a large German publishing company based in Hamburg, which operates in 15 countries world wide.

The typical reader profile

Q's audience is composed of passionate, engaged and open minded music fans driven to continually discover new music and to use this lust for discovery to influence their friends. The audience is split 75% male to 25% female and is affluent.

Layout Trademark
Unlike most magazines Q has a masthead of just one letter, which is prominent on news stands. The single letter is not just the name of the magazine but the logo and uses bold colours; red and white which stand out and is the main trademark sign. Q also has a message on the spine of the magazine, which buyers read and try to work out how it is related to the contents of the magazine. Q generally uses unusual central images on the front cover. For example Lilly Allen topless with two dogs either side of her, lady gaga topless and king of leon smashing glass.

Does Q reflect the values of it's audiences?
Q manages to match its audience's values by providing a magazine with up to date articles, photo's and news based on the typical music related interests of the reader. The music is up to date and shows new up and coming artists.

Research and planning: Montage of music magazine front covers

This montage illustrates how magazine front covers differ according to their genre and how many magazines there are on sale.

Research and planning: Research into a media institution

Spin magazine

Spin media LLC published the music magazine “Spin”

This company hopes to put a new spin on an old concept: music journalism. Spin Media owns and operates Spin, a monthly magazine devoted to covering new rock music through interviews, reporting, and photography. Spin Media also publishes an online version of its magazine at SPIN.com, and its SPIN Earth publishes digital music-related content from some 300 cultural correspondents in 75 major cities. Spin was launched in 1985 by Bob Guccione, Jr. (son of Penthouse founder Bob Guccione). Today the company is owned by San Francisco-based McEvoy Group, which also owns Chronicle Books. McEvoy purchased the company in 2006 for less than $5 million.

Spin magazine is a music magazine aimed at a range of audiences interested in music such as oasis; Mumford and sons, Arctic monkeys, hip hop music and the best music in 25 years. Usually the magazine is based on popular indie music, which targets a young audience and anyone who is interested in indie music. 

Introduction to main task

Now that i have completed my prelim task, I am going to begin research and planning for the main task. The main task is to produce a music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. Before i can do this I need to research some existing music magazines.

Action plan!

30 January

• Compare magazines and research the magazine market place
• Research similar products: 3X front covers, 2X contents pages, 2X double page spreads

24 January

• Initial ideas
• Audience research
• Writing a treatment plan

8 February-20 February

• Layout/ masthead ideas
• Plan photo-shoot and take photos
• Drafting of pages

20 February- 21 March

• Drafting of pages
• Audience feedback

22 March

• Evaluation
• Audience feedback

Evaluation of my student magazine

1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Before I started creating my own student magazine front cover and contents page I looked at examples using the internet and found that many of the magazines had similar characteristics, such as bright colours, subject that apply to the age group and clear and eye catching text. My student magazine has used an unique font for the masthead. It differs from many other student magazines that typically use bold, bright, large and eye catching titles. Other student magazines generally vary the size and font of the cover lines to draw attention to them, however I kept to one font and size but used a range of two eye catching colours. To improve I could have used a variety of sizes to make the magazine front cover look more full and eye catching. I used a puff for my magazine front cover, which are often used for all kinds of magazines. I kept it simple to give the magazine a formal look and to give a sense of maturity which may attract more focused students. The central image I used is a natural picture outside nearby the college, this may differ from other student magazines as many opt to use images of students holding books or something that involves the college itself. For my contents page I kept it mainly simple but added two images and some mistletoe to add to the Christmas theme. I also used the same font and colour for the title “contents page”. Some other student magazines use different title styles and choose to use more bright colours or use a more formal layout.

2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I wanted my magazine to target students just like myself and other students in the college I go to. I did this by taking a natural looking picture for my central image from nearby the college, this would then give a sense of familiarity for the students. I also decided the picture should look friendly and natural to appear like a normal student like the potential buyers of the magazine. I also used two other pictures for my contents page that were also nearby the college.

3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

I think the best place to put the magazines are in parts of the college that most students visit, such as the library, reception and the refectory. These places are typical places students could expect a student magazine to be. I think students should also be able to view it online, as it is free anyway and it would be easy to access for any student who cannot go out to get one at that particular time.

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience is students of 16-18 years. I am targeting both genders but the pink colours and offer on shopping may stereotypically appeal better to girls.

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my audience I used bright colours to attract the eye of young people and make the magazine appear fun and interesting. I used an inviting image that would appeal to students due to similarity to normal students. I used a puff with the offer of 5% extra student discount which would appeal to students who like to shop. The topics I chose for the magazine are typical subjects and activities students are interested in, such as music, parties and movies. By doing this students will know it is a magazine that suits them. I used informal, simple language which will appeal to younger people rather than using standard English that can appear boring to young people. I also chose a Christmas theme and this typically still excites students.

6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In the past I have used a camera before which came to my advantage when it came to transferring it to the computer and taking a good quality picture. However I have never used technologies such as photo shop, indesign and blogger. I found photo shop simple to use as I only needed it to lighten my picture. Indesign was difficult to use at first but I grew custom to it after some practise. However, I found it difficult to resize pictures and move them in the right place. Blogger was simple to use and I felt like I understood it due to using similar software's in the past. I have now learnt how to use a new software and how to create my own blog. 

Final contents page

Final front cover