As I am heavily influenced by the music magazine 'Q', a product I have been drawing consistent inspiration and ideas from in the creation of my products, I feel to understand the company and their intentions more throughly (especially surrounding their target audience) I will need to deconstruct in detail their insights as a company and what they aim to achieve in the distribution of their product, this in turn may aid me in determining my motives for what I intend from my audience but also what techniques and conventions would most be appropriate in engaging their interests as fluidly as possible.
The two images presented above are a comparison of two issues of 'Q' - the top is from the year 2000 and the one placed below it is generated from 2013. It can be noted there isn't a huge difference between the copies, the layout is fairly identical in employment with the masthead situated in the same placement located in the top left hand corner, a giant proportioned centre image is focused upon to create audience interest - what is also important to consider is the gaze of both artists (Noel Gallagher and Lily Allen) are engaged with the audience specifically, making direct and promoting eye contact with them as a mode to engage them - it creates the illusion they are attempting to strike a conversation or even provoke some form of response. The only major development I can instantly identify is the use of more bold, striking, sleeker and visually beautifully crafted text on the 2013 copy, the issue from 2000 employs very standard yet boring 'Time New Roman' Style font - at the time of its release this wouldn't have been a detrimental marketing strategy as in the 2000's attention was normally prompted by being able to recognise the famous artist in the text (hence the blown up image). However in the modern day a lot of effort has started to revolve around entire products being presentable, this is not only in terms of the photographs, but the composition, layout, colour palettes and text, which emphasises why the Lily Allen publication is generally more grasping in nature. As we are a nation obsessed with photoshopping and artificial principles the editing seen here reflects societies tendencies towards the media.
Q is produced as a monthly magazine issue exclusively to the United Kingdom general public with its first publication date around the period of October 1986. During its first circulation it was noted that 'Q' produced the highest standard of art and printed editing in comparison to other publications of this genre at the time - which made it reknowned in the media industry. The original masthead for the company was 'Cue' (which refers to the principle of 'cueing' a record), but due to the possibility of it been mistaken for a snooker magazine in the 200th edition its name was shortened to what we see now as 'Q'. The generic wisdom and unconventional nature of this particular masthead allowed it to stand drastically out as compared to other products as it defied traditional conventions as what is expected of a publication title ('Q' creates emphasises and enigma to the audience - what does it stand for? what does it mean? - these provide a common boundary in creating an appeal to the intended readers. From observing this information I firmly believe it would be beneficial to create a masthead with this similar sort of enigma - an unconventional title would be thought provoking for my readers and could potentially make my product significantly enhanced in the appeal factor.
It was stated during an interviews by the founders of 'Q' magazine (Mark Ellen and David Hepworth) that they regarded the older generation of music lovers were typically ignored in contrasts to the younger age category which is the specific audience most products generate focus towards (NME is an excellent example as they originate in attempting to provoke a reaction from the young adult range of society) WIth an older audience in mind it allows 'Q' to incorporate more unconventional themes of 'classic' music artists (for the likings of Fleetwood Mac, The Eurthymics etc) which would connotate effectively with the interests of this elderly genre perfectly. 'Q' is particularly noted for including a wide range of artists (from pop, trance, alternative, rock) so it is suited to music lovers of all types, this is essentially an excellent marketing strategy as it gives it the crucial opportunity of attracting a much larger audience base and therefore a more viable income from sales. Due to its mass reading members, 'Q' itself is regarded as one of the highest achieving and popular music products of this century
The majority of 'Q' is dedicated to producing a large variety of interviews with a many different artists to provide an article which will suit the interests of any reader. A huge majority of the content is revolved around detailing and compiling together new music releases, film productions, live concert and film reviews that are based on a one to five star rating scale. Your most likely to see a common 'Q' standard 'Top 50' essential tracks of the month and the infamous 'Cash for Quesyions' where music artists answer questions which are selected from a list made from the general publics requests, any audience member who's querie is answered receives a £25 payment as curtesy from 'Q' thesmevles. Most often seen is articles such as 'Top 100 albums to listen to before you die' and 'Top 50 songs of the century', often in these issues free promotional gifts are included (such as an exclusive 'Q' CD) which is granted along with the purchase of the magazine. Since these kind of articles seem to be a common trend throughout 'Q' and with my magazine being along the same genre as it, I have drew inspiration here to maybe use a similar format including these 'Top 100' sections in my content, as obviously it is an effective tactic in gaining audience approval - if it wasn't then 'Q' would not continously use them over and over again as sell lines.
Due to its overwhelming popular acclaim Q has been successful in obtaining the legal rights to create its own music channel which commonly hosts music award shows, which has been circulating publically since the 90's era. In addition they also regulated the succession of producing their own radio station to broadcast the music commonly displayed in their publications, this began first transmitting in 2008 however it is only available to the UK and on an online format via the internet. With the mulitude of smart phones and touch screen convergence (i.e Ipads) dominating the media world currently it is surprising to note Q is yet to hold their on downloadable app software. With the popularity of this technology during this generation for me personally I feel if my magazine was to have a corresponding smartphone app, it would not just allow my audience to connect with the latest music gossip more efficiently, but in essence allow word of mouth of my product to spread to a greater variety and number of people. This is a valuable learning curve for me in recognising the techniques I would need to employ in engaging with the largest population of readers as I can to guarantee my publication will be a success.
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