Textual Analysis By Bethany McPartlin

MASTHEAD: The title ‘Q’ is very large and bold, placed within an even larger brightly coloured square. Because the magazine covers popular bands that have important news and updates, the colour of the square may have been deliberately chosen to be red to reflect the urgency and exclusivity of the information within the magazine. The superlative “The world’s greatest music magazine” is used as a persuasion for potential readers to purchase the magazine. However, because the statement is heavily biased, it is in small font and made to be barely visible.

COVER LINE: There are several potential cover lines that are presented on the front cover. Because the font varies such a large amount, it suggests to readers that the magazine contains an abundance of important information, which may be an incentive to purchase and read the magazine. However, due to the main image of Florence Welch, lead singer of ‘Florence and the Machine’ appearing on the front cover, readers would assume that the key cover line would be ‘Florence wants to reach out and touch you’. This is open to different interpretations, as the artist may want to connect with readers by appearing in the magazine, or because she is physically reaching her arm out to the audience in the main image used. Putting the artists’ name in red relates to the red of the masthead, further showing she is the main feature of the magazine, as well as fitting with the general colour scheme.

DIRECT GAZE: The artist is looking directly into the camera that is photographing her, making a very personal connection between artist and reader as well as relating to the cover line that the artist ‘wants to reach out and touch you’. All of these aspects make the image seem very personal, and may also be an incentive for readers to buy it.

SELL LINES: Many other aspects to the magazine are featured on the front cover that will appear inside. The names of other musicians who’s interviews are covered in the magazine appear in larger and bolder fonts that the brief text explaining their relevance directly below. Making this larger makes it easier for readers to identify who else is featured in the magazine and creates a vague expectation of what they could be reading about. Including only a brief amount of information about each interview leaves potential readers questioning what will unfold, persuading them to buy it in order to continue reading. Because other features from the magazine are included on the front cover readers are shown that it contains a wide variety of interviews and topics, suggesting that there’s something within the magazine that will appeal to every genre of music and their fans, which effectively broadens number of sales. Different band names are shown directly at the bottom of the cover, which proves the idea that the magazine is attempting to appeal to a larger audience.

COLOUR: On the front cover the colour scheme is primarily red and white, shown on the masthead and all text featured. Repetitive use of the colour red suggests the type of music immediately to potential readers – this particular colour is associates with danger and passion, concepts that rock music has inspired to fans. The occasional and subtle use of yellow is used to highlight the important and exclusive information that the edition has to offer, which stands out effectively and draws the reader’s eye. LAYOUT: The features that appear on the front cover have a relatively chaotic effect, as the text is presented so close together. Within this edition a large amount of information is being presented in too small an area. Although the information can still easily be read, the effect comes across as messy and relatively overwhelming for potential readers.

TARGET AUDIENCE Although music in itself does not have a target audience, the artists and bands that feature on this particular front cover suggests an older audience, as these artists are more typically listened to by more mature consumers – based on this, I would assume ‘Q’’s target audience to range from the ages of Themes that are featured on the front cover from an interview inside states the artist to be the ‘king of heartbreak’. Covering artists described in ways such as this further leads me to believe the magazine suits a more mature audience that can understand and appreciate topics such as these. REPRESENTATION The artist featuring on this edition of ‘Q’ magazine is shown in an unusual position with her arm reaching out to her ‘audience’– this may suggest to readers that she wants to connect with fans and other readers by reading her interview, as well as suggesting that she has something important to share. Her lips are slightly parted and she’s holding a microphone to her mouth, suggesting that she is passionate about her music career – appearing on the magazine may have been a way of portraying herself positively to audiences as a successful and passionate female role-model. The artist is shown to be wearing a colourful blazer, a shirt that has been unbuttoned low, with a large amount of rings on her fingers. Because she is holding up a microphone her unbuttoned blouse does not reveal any intimate parts of her body to the reader. Despite the lack of necessity of it, the artist’s body is still relatively on display, even if it is mostly left to the reader’s imagination. The number of rings on her fingers suggest she is a more niche musician, which may appeal to a smaller niche audience. Every aspect of the main image suggests mystery and an interesting personality of the artist – this mystery and aspect of the unknown is a strong incentive for potential readers to purchase the magazine and see for themselves what the artist has to offer.