My L.I.I.A.R. Analysis Of Three Magazines.

Number Two

Q

Language – Front Cover - The Q masthead follows the conventional route of red and white. It’s also in the top left hand corner which is also seen as traditional. However the cover goes against conventions by putting the barcode in the top of the left hand corner instead of at the bottom. The picture on the cover is simple but very effective, the picture is black and white on a plain white background. Even though the bottom of his face is covered you can still see his eyes and hair, and he is still easily recognisable. and makes him look like what he used to look like when he was in the Beatles, this helps link to the main headline, which is ‘it’s impossible to live up to the Beatles’  This is also in the same shade of red as the masthead. The bit of writing that stands out is were it says Paul McCartney, as it’s in black highlighted with gold.

Double Page Spread – It is consistent to the cover showing another black and white picture, however this time he is not looking direct into the audience like in the cover, he’s eyes are closed and his head is towards the floor. The colours are similar to the cover as they stick with the read whit and black, and once again Paul McCartney’s name it highlighted to make it stand out.

Ideology – The magazine at one point was known for doing what they wanted, putting who they want on their cover and not really caring about their readers opinions, However now it has been criticised for been original and playing safe and now focuses on more popular bands and that the magazine has lost it’s individuality. The magazine is known mostly for it’s reviews of albums and artists, and are said to be very generous to British artists, making them sound better then they actually are.

Every issue of the magazine has a different message on it’s spine, the audience are then asked to figure out how this has any relevance to the magazines content. They call this activity Spine Line.

Institution – Q is published by Bauer Media, It has 19 million consumers around the UK every week throughout all of it’s publications. It also has a range of magazines, TV Radio stations and Websites about many of it’s different publications. Q is the best selling monthly magazine in the UK. They also hold the Q awards every year. In June 2007 it was reproted that Q magazine had a circulation of 130,179.

Audience – Q is published for a male audience but appeals to an older audience compared to other magazines such as Kerrang! And NME. The readers of Q usually do not like on type of genre of music and like a mix. And also unlike NME were their readers are crazed about music, Q readers enjoy other things such as comedy, sport and films and they are all an equal share within their life.

Representation – These days Q often promote bands that are popular and have great audience interest so they are able to keep their large readership up, and keep their status as best monthly music magazine. So as most people that feature in the magazine are popular they are represented in a positive way as this will keep the readers happy. The cover shows Paul McCartney covering up his face, as if he has secrets to hide and that in this Q interview these secrets will be reveled and in the article is shows this as he has let his coat go and it shows that he is screaming out all of his secrets.

Sources:

Information: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Q/
Images: http://covers.q4music.com/Item.aspx?pageNo=6152&year=2010