Q Magazine

History and Success of the Magazine

• Q is a music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, it was first published in October 1986, offering higher standards of art and printing to other music magazines at this time.

• The circulation of the magazine has been of around 130,179 as of June 2007.

• At first Q was originally named Cue (cueing a record, cueing the music etc.), but as it may have been mistaken for a snooker magazine on the 200th edition the named was shortened to a single letter, Q. This would have also made the magazine more prominent on a news stand, with a modern twist.

Target Audience of Q Magazine

The founders of Q Mark Ellen and David Hepworth felt the older generation of music buyers were being ignored, so instead of aiming at teenagers and young people, the target audience for Q is music buyers of over 25 years old, of both genders. The fact that the target audience is slightly older means that the magazine can afford to be a bit more expensive than if it was aimed at young people as the majority of these people have paid jobs. Also with an older audience the magazine can also contain more information about old ‘classic’ albums and music from past decades as it would suit the audience. Q features many genres of music so it is suited to all music lovers. The magazine has a mass audience as it is so popular, but could also be referred to as having a niche audience, as it is specifically aimed at only music fans.

What can Q magazine offer?

• Much of Q is dedicated to interviews with popular artists and Q has a large review section that features: new music releases, music compilations, film, live concert, radio and television reviews that are rated from one to five stars.

• Usual features of the magazine are: The Q50 – the top 50 essential tracks of the month, Cash for Questions – where artists answer questions sent in by readers who win £25 if their question is printed, Ten Commandments – in which an artist creates their own Ten Commandments as to how they live and Rewind – a glance back at the history of music.

• The magazine also contains compiling lists such as 100 greatest albums and 50 bands to see before you die.

• Often free promotional gifts such as CDs or books are given away with the purchase of the magazine.

The Future for Q Magazine

• Q doesn’t have it’s own ipod touch/ipad or smart phone application for reading the magazine online. So maybe this could be an addition for the future.

• Q released it’s own radio show during 2008, and is currently only available in the UK on DAB and online.

• In 2000 Q launched it’s own TV channel and now hosts it’s own award show.

• The award show originally started in 1990.