Q Magazine, Front Cover Analysis.

Q Front Cover Analysis.

Cost
Q magazine costs £3.99 normally, sometimes more depending on the content in each edition. Compared to other magazines this can be seen as quite a high price, but the magazine front cover, in a sense, tries to justify the price by advertising the amount of articles they include, all the different genres of music and the amount of 'exclusive' interviews. By putting so much information on the front cover, it shows people that they are getting good information, and good quality for the price which they're paying, making them more willing to buy the magazine.

Coverlines
The coverlines used on the front cover of Q use direct address '...you didn't know...', which draws people in as the magazine seems to be talking directly to them, and in this case, they therefore feel that because they don't know these things, they have to buy the magazine educate themselves in that topic. Q's coverlines also include a hyperbole 'Rock's Greatest Nutjobs'. They make it seem like the magazine has information on who is officially the greatest nutjobs in rock, whereas in reality it's probably just artists who are considered to be nutjobs. It makes the information seem more important than it actually is, and in effect, makes the magazine more important because they seem to have the 'best of the best' information.

Target Audience
The look of the magazine and the style of clothing that the artist wears in the main image, suggests that the magazine focuses on the rock genre as the colours and style are linked to rock. Also the fact that the magazine has quite a few interviews with well known rock bands, and boasts about knowing 'Rock's Greatest Nutjobs' adds to the idea that the magazine associates itself with rock more than any other genre of music. This could symbolise that the magazines main target audience is rock fans as it includes many articles and styles that would interest a person who enjoyed reading about rock music, but also rock music which would interest different ages, giving the magazine a wider target audience.

Out of this front cover I like the main image of Matt Bellamy using a guitar to smash the magazine title, as I think it looks really effective, and represents the genre of music the magazine features well. However, as I am thinking of using 'indie' music for the genre of my magazine, this type of image wouldn't conform to the genre of music, but I could consider having the main image interacting with the magazine title in some way. I also like the use of banners shown on Q's front cover and this is definitely an element I will be adding to my front cover, as not only does it look sophisicated, but it also helps to draw attention to the front cover and certain articles.