‘Q’ Magazine Analysis

Q Magazine Analysis

To begin this analysis, the masthead is a large simple ‘Q’ which is white and therefore stands out against the red square which it is placed in. It is in the top left of the page, thus allowing readers to easily identify that it is a ‘Q’ magazine. Underneath ‘Q’ it says ‘a different take on music’ in a smaller and different font. The reason behind the positioning of the masthead (located in the top left of the page) is that English is read from left to right; therefore in theory ‘Q’ should be the first thing that is read by the audience. Normal mastheads tend o stretch across the whole top of the magazine (‘Sugar’ is an example of this). Therefore ‘Q’ only covering the top left corner of the page will provide easy identification for those whom wish to read it. ‘A different kind of music’ (font under ‘Q’) suggests that the magazine is promoting independent music and is therefore different to its competitors. Being told this, the audience shall feel unique as their tastes in music are different to the mass of mainstream content. However I find this rather ironic as they seem only to be promoting extremely large celebrities and bands (U2, Oasis and Lily Allen), therefore in my opinion the tagline ‘a different kind of music’ is a huge lie and is only on the magazine to increase sales. To expand on this, tagline is a myth because all of the bands featured on the front page appear to be incredibly mainstream. Here are some facts to back up my opinion:

• The band Oasis (featured on the front page of ‘Q’) won a world record for “Longest Top 10 UK Chart Run by a group” after an unprecedented run of 22 top 10 hits in the UK
• Lily Allen’s debut record ‘Alright, Still’ sold over 2.6 million copies
• U2 have sold more than 150 million records worldwide
  
  

‘Q’ magazine seems to appeal to teenagers and adults of both genders (it may draw audiences of other ages, however teenagers and adults appear to be its main focus). We can see that the front cover uses the ‘male gaze’ in order to appeal to males more so and thus boost rating and sales. This is clearly shown as Lily Allen is referred to as a ‘Sexy Beast’ and is shown topless on the front cover. This may also attract females as they could see the image as being an artistic statement and therefore empowering to women as they are portrayed as being artistic, powerful and having control over nature (shown via the panthers).