By James Rawlinson

TEXTUAL ANAYLSIS OF

„Q‟ Circulation: 64,596 (Jan-Jun 2012)

Readership: 371,000 (April–Sept 2012)

Mission Statement: Q is the magazine that brings music alive. It draws together

the biggest stars, the most exciting phenomena, the new artists that matter and a

healthy dose of irreverence to create an unmissable widescreen picture of what‟s really

happening in rock and roll right now.Every issue features agenda-setting star

interviews, the month‟s biggest moments in music, and fascinating investigations into

the wider world of rock and roll. Each month Q‟s comprehensive reviews section gives

the last word on all the most important new releases and reissues – and feeds Q‟s

readers‟ hunger for new music to enjoy. Q‟s reviews section is the ultimate critical

overview of music. And magazine‟s unrivalled access brings its readers up close and

personal with the stars who set the agenda. Q is the ultimate rock and roll read.

Andrew Harrison - Editor, Q Magazine

Publishers: Bauer Media Group

Q CONTINUED

Reader Profile: Chris is 29 years old and lives in Leeds. Music is more important to him than anything else. It‟s at the centre of his social life. It soundtracks all the best moments in his life. It‟s his identity, his social currency and his world.

Chris lives for gigs, festivals, and those electrifying moments of togetherness that only music can provide. He is the one who sorts out gig tickets for his friends, turns them on to new bands and sets up the big festival weekend. His tastes are “mainstream eclectic” – the big stadium acts like Muse or Noel Gallagher mixed with the best of genres spanning rock and electronica, plus the finest discoveries from music‟s past.

Chris works in a professional job and finally has the money and time to indulge his music habit to the full. He lives with a partner (no kids yet) who is similarly music- mad. He is “discovering quality” in all areas, from sound systems to deluxe reissues to cars, travel and clothes.

Chris loves technology – he was first with the iPod, iPhone, iPad and now streaming music services. He downloads music but still prefers to own CDs. And he spends more on music than anything else: a big-ticket gig every week or so, six albums a month plus a Spotifysubscription and countless on-the-go downloads.

TEXTUAL ANAYLISIS OF

„NME‟ Circulation: 56, 284

Readership: 411,000

Reader profile:

„The NME is damn honest‟

„Its full of facts the we should all know but don‟t BUT we do know thanks to

NME‟

„Honest no-holds barred reviews‟

Q COLOUR

The logo for Q on the left uses a red background to

symbolize the passion behind the music and the people

that read this magazine are passionate about the music. It

can also be used to make the White „Q‟ stand out so the

readers can see it from the other magazines in a shop.

The front cover (left) uses white and yellow text which is

used to stand out from the abstract background. The

white could symbolize that the music is pure and the

yellow is used to show the genre of alternative rock or

Indie. Both the white and the yellow stick with the house

style and stand out from the background. The background

uses lots of different colours which links with the artist

„Coldplay‟. The multiple abstract background can

symbolize the music by showing that they are

„alternative/rebellious‟.

Q COLOUR CONTINUEDThe contents page (left) uses mostly red which

links in with the logo because it uses red and

white. The red makes the white writing stand out

on the white background. The white background

is used to make the magazine feel more formal

and aimed at a higher age group (20). The

magazine sticks to the red white and black

which matches the genre of „laidback‟ and

shows the house style.

The double page spread (left) uses the same

house style of red, black and white so the

magazine looks similar the whole way through

and even includes a yellow guitar which is used

in the cover lines in the front page.

Q layout and design

The layout and design includes text and the

images on the magazine. The text (left) looks

like it has been hand written links with the

rough/laidback genre. The writing and the

image on the bottom left link well because the

artist is from an indie band and the writing links

with the genre.

The front cover of the magazine includes the

singer from Coldplay which is the most known

indie band and the whole front cover links with

their style of music. This uses (Marslow‟s

Hierarchy 1954) by using a idol to satisfy the

readers needs for friendship.

Q images

The main image on the front of the Q magazine is the image of the

singer in the band Coldplay. This is used because Coldplay are the

most known indie band and people will pick up the magazine to

expect there to be a review on him. The main image reflects on the

content because it is an indie magazine. So this would therefore

target the audience of indie listeners. Male gaze is used (Mulvey

1975) by using a male for women to look at.

Q Pose, style, hair and make

up

The Pose that is given by the main image is a natural pose, possible

from a performance and the model looks free so it fits the genre of indie

because it is laid back and this is shown through the main image pose.

It is also shown by the model not having make up or a hair style, it is

very lazy. Also uses (Mulvey‟s male gaze 1975) including a male on the

front for women to look at.

Q Framing

Both the main image and the double

page spread image are long shots of

a band member and they are both

male which shows that most band

members are male and they are

male. The magazine is using Male

gaze (Mulvey‟s 1975) by using

mostly men so the women buy it t

gaze at them. This makes the

magazine for men and women. The

background on the front page is an

abstract background including lots of

different bright colours to link with the

band Coldplay. When you look at the

page, your eyes get drawn to the

picture first which are placed on the

left hand side so you can see what

the article is about before reading to

make it more interesting.

Q written codes

The written codes in the magazine

are mostly on the front cover, for

example, the biggest cover line is „50

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR‟ which tells

the reader that the 50 albums of the

year is included in the magazine.

Also the strapline has a list of artists

which tells the reader what is

included. This suggest that the typical

reader would like to know what the

best songs or albums are. The titles

and the title of the magazine are bold

and stand out from the background

which make it easy to see.

Q Language The language style that is used in the

magazine suits the genre by using laidback

language that sounds like its talking t the

reader individually or as a friend would, „Its

Friday afternoon‟ this is also trying to make

the reader feel like the magazine is in the

present so they are up-to-date with the

information.

The image on the left shows the

language used on the front cover, it

used formal language with no slang

and short snappy words so the reader

doesn't‟t have to spend a long time

reading it and quickly knows what's in

the magazine without buying it.

Q Overall impression

Overall I think that Q targets their audience very well (17-25)

by using laidback language and a laidback feel throughout

the magazine. This magazines strong points are using a

male model that is well known (Coldplay) so it targets a

wider audience that may not read Q. (Mulvey‟s 1975) male

gaze is used to get the male and female attention witch is a

strong point. However I think that the magazine could be

improved by adding female models in the magazine to get

the attention of more males. But overall it is a good

magazine and I will use some of the elements in my own

magazine such as, the male gaze to get more female

readers and the language style, by talking to the readers

individually as friends and not feeding them information.

NME Colour

The colours used in the NME

magazine are red, white and

some yellow text. The red is used

to show passion about the music

inside the magazine. And the

white is used to to make the text

stand out from the blue

background, which is similar to

the red text. The red and white

are consistent throughout the

magazine which shows that the

magazine is for and older

audience and the language is

more formal.

NME Layout and design

The layout and design of the NME magazine is formal and

matches the genre type of popular and indie music. The text is

bold and some is hand written to show the indie feel. And as

you can see from both pictures it uses popular artists to make

the reader want to read it because they may be their role

model and this helps the magazine sell more.

NME Images

The main image on the front cover of

the NME magazine is a male from a

band. This is used because the

majority of the magazine readers are

male and this will attract the female

attention aswell. This will be known as

the male gaze (1975). This is where a

magazine will use a female to get the

attention of the males and this can be

done in the same way for females. Also

the image could be used because he

could be a role model for young

people, or could link to a large age

group.

NME Pose, style, hair and make up

The pose on the cover of the NME

magazine is usually posed

because its popular music. The

hair and make in look to not have

been done to link the artist and the

magazine to the genre of rock or

indie. The pose also links to the

male gaze, because the image is

posed it will appeal to females

aswell.

NME Framing

The shot used for the image on the

front cover is a close up on his face

and the mage is put on a plain blue

background to make it stand out

from the background. The thing you

first notice is the main image

because it is the main part of the

page, Then your eyes get drawn to

the main coverline because it is the

largest piece of text „MUSE‟. Most of

the text is on the left hand side

because it is easier to read from the

left to the right.

NME Coding

The title is NME so the buyers

know what magazine it is, and the

strap lines on the front cover are

used to show what is inside the

magazine such as „Florence

Returns‟. The cover lines show the

main subjects the magazine will

talk about and this shows the

readers interest. The biggest cover

line is he biggest text on the front

of the magazine which makes the

magazine stand out on the shelf

from a distance.

NME Language

The language used in this magazine is informative

but relaxed at the same time. „This will be your last

chance to hear a lot of our songs‟ there isn't any

slang involved because it tries to appeal to an older

audience.

The language used on the contents page is

formal and informative because it tries to

reach and older audience so no slang is

used and the layout is neat.

NME Impression

My overall impression of the magazine NME is good because of the layout, colour and language techniques. I will take the language style from this magazine and put it into my own because I want to reach an older audience. However, I will not use posed front covers because I want to get the genre shown through this because the genre is laid back and I will show that through the model by using messy hair and rough clothes.