Ollie long unit 1
- 1. OCR – Level 3 Cambridge Introductory Diploma in Media Unit 01: Analysing Media Products and Audiences Evidence Name: Oliver Long Candidate Number: 3070 Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School Center Number: 64135 Set Brief - Print Project/Brief – Music Magazine & Promotion
- 2. Contents • Slide 3 - Publisher and product • Slide 4 - Genre • Slide 5 - Purpose • Slide 6 - Brand ideology/ ethos • Slide 7 - Brand ideology/ ethos • Slide 8 - ownership structure • Slide 9 - operating model • Slide 10 – Technological Convergence • Slide 11 - Technological Convergence continued • Slide 12 – Associated Products • Slide 13 – Market Position • Slide 14 - Competitors • Slide 15 - Competitors • Slide 16 – Front Cover Analysis • Slide 17 – Contents Analysis • Slide 18 – DPS Analysis • Slide 19 – Website Annotations • Slide 20 – Form and style • Slide 21 – Production process • Slide 22 – Production Process • Slide 23 - Synergy • Slide 24 • Slide 25 – Product analysis • Slide 26 - Demographics • Slide 27 – Audience Theories • Slide 28 – primary research • Slide 29 – Primary Research • Slide 30 – Secondary • Slide 31 • Slide 32 – product advertising and marketing • Slide 33 - product advertising and marketing • Slide 34 – Distribution Channels • Slide 35 • Slide 36 – Impact and Effect on audience • Slide 37 – Relevant issues on representations • Slide 38 - Copyright • Slide 39 – Editors code of practice • Slide 40 - Editors code of practice • Slide 41 – Ethical and legal issues • Slide 42 – Royalties • Slide 43 - Complaints • Slide 44 – Regulatory Issues • Slide 45 - Regulatory Issues • Slide 46 - Conclusion
- 3. Publisher and Product Publisher: Bauer media was created in 1875, the company now has over 11,000 operating in 19 countries. They are the biggest magazine publisher in the UK, but have offices also located in Australia and all over Europe. It is run by CEO Paul Keenan https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about /our-company Product: The logo is red, this colour is bold so can be clearly seen and stands out compared to other magazines with dull colours. This goes in hand with Bauer media’s slogan of “we think popular.” This connotes that they want to be well known and popular, and the bright red colour helps them to stand out getting more people to buy it making it popular. The magazine name ‘Q’ doesn't have many connotations as it Is just a single letter. As it is just a single letter this may connote that the magazine is quite simple or that is very professional depending on how the audience see it. The magazine is published on a monthly basis. Its circulation figures had a 12.2% drop in 2015
- 4. Genre The genre of the magazine isn't very specific, the magazine covers a wide range of music types and lots of different artists mainly popular. The slogan of Bauer media is a verbal code that shows this. The denotation of the slogan is “we think popular”, which connotes that they are trying to ‘think’ of ways to be popular and they do this by targeting a wide audience by not specialising in a particular genre instead cover a wide range of genres. http://www. bauermedia. co.uk
- 5. Purpose The purpose of the magazine is to inform the reader of things happening in the music world, this can be from a wide range of genres as Q doesn’t specialise in just one genre, it covers lots of different artists. This is to entertain the reader by meeting their needs, according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs which says people fall under one of 4 categories (social climbers, caregivers, explorers and survivors), the magazine needs to meet at least one of these categories in order to have an audience which enjoys the magazine and wants to read it again. The denotation of Q’s strapline is “the UK’s best selling magazine”, which connotes that they pride themselves on being the best selling and want everyone to know that as being the best selling means they must have good quality content that people love, so by having it on the magazine it means people will recognise this and are more likely to buy it.
- 6. Brand ideology/ethos Another strapline used on the cover of Q magazine is “Discover Great Music” the connotations of this is that the content in Q magazine is new and different from anything else, as you are ‘discovering’ as you read the magazine. Therefore it will attract people to the magazine as they will want to read something new and different. Also the verbal code “great” connotes that the magazine is great, as well as the content of the magazine. Therefore people will be attracted to the magazine as they will think it is “great”.
- 7. Brand ideology/ethos The denotation of Bauer’s slogan is “we think popular”, which connotes that they want to be the most popular publisher and that they’re thinking of ways to do so. It could also be a play on words as the magazine focuses on pop music and artists. The verbal code “think” could mean that they don’t know if they are popular or not they just think they are. It could also show that Bauer is trying to be down to earth rather than being confident and saying they are confident. This may be effective to target a bigger target audience. The slogan is clearly shown on the home page of their website, it is in the about us section which is the second paragraph on the page. http://www. bauermedia. co.uk
- 8. Ownership Structure Bauer is owned by CEO Paul Keenan, it is a large company with lots of associated products, such as Q magazine, Mojo and Kiss. Making it the largest magazine publisher in the UK. As it has so many different brands it mean that they can target a very wide audience as the people who read ‘car mechanics’ are not likely to be the same people who read ‘practical fishkeeping’ meaning they will have more people interested In there brands https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about/our-company
- 9. Operating Model This is the management team for Bauer media, they make the important decisions on what happens with the business. Paul Keenan is the CEO this is the most important role in the company as the CEO makes the final decision in the company and sets aims the company needs to achieve. The key people at Q magazine are shown on the Q media pack. Phil Alexander Is the editor in chief, this means he decides what the finished product will look like, and gets the final say o what will get published. https://www.bauermedia. co.uk/about/our-company
- 10. Technological Convergence Q magazine has a website which some articles from the magazine can be read. This is effective as people may read articles from the websites and get gripped making them want to buy the full magazine. Also on the website there is links (synergy) to several social media accounts Q has, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It is important for the magazine to have synergy with social media as it allows them to target a wider range of audience, as the majority of young people use social media whereas a small amount of people would buy magazines in comparison. Using social media is also important as it is interactive therefore videos, slideshows and other forms of media can be used that cant be used in a magazine. It is also a way of showing customers thing which they cannot show in their magazine, for example on their YouTube account they have interviews with music artists, this content could not be put in a magazine unless converted into words, which may not come across as well as the artist speaking through a video. This allows Q to publish much more content which will please the customers as they have much more content to look at. The website is good as it allows easy navigation. This is important as it means the reader can easily find what it wants to see, this will grip them into the Q brand as they will be able to locate things that interest them rather than be forced to look and things which make them bored, which would make them lose interest in the brand and move to a competitor. The website doesn't have any downloadable content, but it has a lot of in depth content which can be viewed on the website, therefore it doesn't have any need for downloadable content. http://www.qthemusic.com
- 11. Technological Convergence Continued Q magazines YouTube channel has 4,244 subscribers, this means that this many people are interested in Q enough that they want to make sure they see every video Q publish, their video get between 1-6 thousand views, therefore Q do have an audience base on YouTube but it varies depending on the content they post. This is quite a small audience though, especially when compared to NME, which has 110,509 subscribers. This therefore shows that Q don’t have a great technological convergence, and need to improve this in order to attract a larger audience.
- 12. Associated Products Bauer media has a 107 brands associated with it, including kiss, Kerrang, magic and Mojo. These are all very different genres which allows Bauer to target lots of different customers becoming a large company, which links into its slogan “we think popular” and ‘signifies’ (De Saussure) that they have thought about being popular as they have built so many different brands allowing them to be popular in many different genres. Kerrang is one of the brands under Bauer media, and is also considered a competitor of Q magazine. This is an effective way of ensuring both magazines are doing well as they will be competing against each other pushing the company forward. http://www.ba uermedia.co.u k/brands
- 13. Market Position http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/full -2015-mag-abcs-breakdown- cosmopolitan-bucks-trend-uk- magazines-decline-average-4-cent/ This table denotes the circulation figures of some magazines in 2015. It shows that Q magazine has had a 12.2% drop in circulation figures. This could be explained by the increase in digitalization of magazines and media in general, because of this less people buy hard copies of magazines and instead look at them online. The Q press pack connotes that they have a large position in the market, it states they investigate more music each issue than any other music magazine, and they employ the best music writers. They must have a large position in the market to be able to attract the best writers, and to be able to access all the important parts of media which they cover each week, as a smaller magazine may not be able to gain access to behind the scenes at concerts for example, and definitely wont have the best writers working for them. The national readership survey shows that Q magazine has a total of 202 in the readership estimates, compared to their competitors it is very similar, NME is ahead of Q with 274, and Kerrang is also ahead but not by as much, it has 208. These figures show that although Q do have a large position in the market they are still behind the competitors, especially NME which seems to be pulling away. They are still keeping up with their competitors though, they are not lagging behind by a lot, so if the brand pushes itself it could catch up, and even overtake. http://www.nrs.co.uk/download s/pdf/general_magazines_20161 1.pdf
- 14. Competitors A competitor of Bauer media is Townsquare media. Townsquare media is a large company 10 radio stations and more than 325 local websites in 66 markets, approximately 550 live events with 18 million attendees each year. (http://www.townsquaremedia.com/about) Similarities They have similar associated products, as they both have several radio stations and magazines which are in the same genres. This is what makes them competitors as customers are more likely to choose one magazine or the other rather than buy both, so they have to work to make theirs better than the competitors. They have similar technological convergence, as they both have very interactive websites with links to social media. Bauer have better synergy as they have a lot more social media sites linked, such as Instagram which isn't linked on Townsquare media. Another way Bauer is better is as it has a YouTube channel, which Townsquare media does not. Differences They have different slogans, Bauer medias is “we think popular” whereas Townsquare media don’t have one, which isn't very good as slogans are what represent the company, so it may seem unprofessional if they don’t have anything to represent them. Another difference would be circulation figures as Bauer media has a lot more magazine brands than Townsquare therefore it will have a lot more copies in circulation.
- 15. Competitors A competitor of Q magazine is NME. This Is a magazine owned by Time Inc., this is a publisher based in the uk, it owns lots of brands such as TV Times and World Soccer. Similarities The similarities between the magazines is that they both feature a lot of popular artists and rock based artists, for example they have both featured Kanye west on front covers in the passed. This shows how they are in tight competition with each other to try to feature big artists on their magazine over the others, as they know star appeal will attract people to buy their magazine over the competitors. Differences A difference between the magazines is the slogans they have Q magazines slogan is “the UK’s biggest music magazine” this shows that the pride themselves is being the largest magazine and wants everyone to know that they are, this may be to attract people to buy it as they want the best magazine on the market. Whereas NME magazine does not have a slogan, this may not be good as it means people may not be attracted to the magazine as there is no slogan which convinces them to buy it. Instead they rely on the magazines name which stands for “New Music Express” this connotes that the magazine gets information out to the market quickly implying that they have exclusives and information no other magazine will have http://www.n me.com
- 16. Main image: Kanye west is on the cover, he is positioned in front of the masthead. This connotes to the reader that he is important as he is in front of the masthead which shows more people will buy the magazine because of him rather than buying it because it is Q magazine. This links into star appeal as Kanye west is one of the most recognized artists in music and is also known in other industries such as fashion. Because of this massive star appeal the editors would want him to be in front of the mast head as it will attract more people to buy the magazine as his fans or people interested in him will buy the magazine to see what he has to say or what he is doing. The shot type is a full body shot. This connotes power as whole artist is on the magazine, you can also see his stance which is wide, also connoting power. Another thing the wide shot does is shows off the clothes the artist is wearing, this is good as the audience may relate to it if they see cool clothes which they have or want to have. Then because they see this they would think the magazine is cool and will want to buy it. Masthead: The verbal code of the masthead is bright red so stands out and can be clearly seen on a shelf. The Q is in a simple font. This has connotations that the magazine can target a wide range of people as it is simple and doesn't’t target a small group, instead it tries to target the majority of people. Main Headline: The verbal code of the main headline just says his name in the largest text used on the whole cover, this connotes that he is important as they want him to be the first thing people see when they look at the magazine. This is because of star appeal as Kanye West is such a well known artist that he will make more people buy the magazine. Also in the headline it denotes “the audience with the ultimate antihero” this will make people want to buy the magazine to find out why he is the ultimate antihero, this is because the word ultimate connotes that he is the best at being an antihero and the word antihero connotes that he has one something bad, which will make people buy the magazine as they want to see what he has done because he is famous for being a antihero so they want to keep up to date with what he's done Date, price and Barcode Front Cover Analysis Strapline: The magazine strapline is “the UK’s greatest music magazine” this shows that the pride themselves is being the largest magazine and wants everyone to know that they are Cover Lines: The cover lines also attract people to the magazine, although they may not be as big as the artist in the main headline they are still well known musicians, this creates even more star appeal as the audience will see that the magazine is full of popular artists so will want to find out more about the different artists
- 17. Contents Analysis The largest thing on the page is this image, this connotes that the story that goes along with the image the most important and therefore will attract people to read this article. This section showcases the parts they deem to be the best sections to read, this will then make people read these sections as they will think they are interesting or relevant. The article names ae in bold and the page references are in red, this makes the magazine a lot easier to read for the customers as they can clearly see what the articles are called, what the paged number is and then easily locate it as every page has a number consistently throughout. There is a separate section called “Oasis Special!” the word “special” connotes to the reader that it is a must read and that it is a one off, this will make them feel that it is important that they read this section, and feel lucky they have a copy of the magazine with a special in it. The use of the colour gold for this section only highlights the importance and how special this section of the magazine is. It is also highlighted by the use of an exclamation after the word special, which clearly connotes to the reader that they need to read this section There is a separate section in the corner called “Every Month” this shows the reader what the magazine features in every magazine. This connotes to the reader a sense of professionalism as they have a consistency in their magazine issues. The brand identity is carried across from the front cover as the masthead is featured in the top left corner just like it is on the front cover, this way the reader will see the logo a lot and start to get familiar with the brand. A typical issue of Q features lots of articles and interviews with different artists. The contents shows that this is a typical issue, as the features section shows that there will be lots of articles and a few interviews. The purpose of the sublines is to give the reader more information about the article, so when they are attracted to it by the headline, they can read a preview of the article to see what its going to be about, this could interest them making them want to read it This is the subline, this is an explanation of what the picture is or what its about, this is important to go give readers more information about photo if the want it. Therefore if they are interested they can read more. In this magazine the subline is a quote from the article which the photo is from, it also has a page number, this means that if the photo interests any readers they know exactly what page to go to, to read more.
- 18. Pull Quote: The purpose of the pull quote is to interest the reader making them want to read the entire article. On this double page spread the pull quote is “do I ever have a casual Friday? Absolutely!” this makes the reader want to read the rest of the article as they want to find out what he does on a casual Friday as they want to get to know the artist on a more personal level. The word “absolutely!” will make the reader want to read on as it makes it seem really interesting what he does on his casual Fridays so the readers want to find out what it is Drop Capital: This shows the reader where they are supposed to start reading. This makes the magazine easier for the reader to read, therefore they are more likely to enjoy Page Number: The page number is on every page, this makes it easy for the reader to locate pages that they want to read about, as there is a contents page the web address is with the page number at the bottom, this is good as it means if the reader is interested in the article and want to read more, they know the web address so can go online and look at more information on Q Differentiated Questions and Answers: The questions used in this double page spread are a mix of informal and formal questions. There is informal questions such as “does Davey Havok ever have a casual Friday?” or “so what's your secret?” but there is also formal questions such as “has internet led to the death of the rock star?” this mix of informal and formal questions is effective as it will appeal to a wider target audience, because some people may only be interested in formal questions or only interested in informal questions, but they have both so all parties are happy. The questions and answers are clearly differentiated as the questions are highlighted in white and the answers are not highlighted at all, by doping this the reader can easily see the difference, so they can read it easily without getting confused. DPS Analysis Main Image: The image is made to look dark and quite gothic as it showcases the persons tattoos and large earing, the purpose of this is to attract a certain audience, which would be people who enjoy rock music. This is because the interview is of a rock artist so it will only interest people who like this genre of music.
- 19. Website Annotations on the website there is links (synergy) to several social media accounts Q has, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It is important for the magazine to have synergy with social media as it allows them to target a wider range of audience, as the majority of young people use social media whereas a small amount of people would buy magazines in comparison. Using social media is also important as it is interactive therefore videos, slideshows and other forms of media can be used that cant be used in a magazine. It is also a way of showing customers thing which they cannot show in their magazine, for example on their YouTube account they have interviews with music artists, this content could not be put in a magazine unless converted into words, which may not come across as well as the artist speaking through a video. This allows Q to publish much more content which will please the customers as they have much more content to look at. It has a layout which is quite similar to a magazine, as it has the logo at the top which is like a masthead on a magazine, it has a main image in the center and has links to different stories at the side of the website which is similar to cover lines . Similarities of the website to a hard copy, is the layout it has a very similar layout to a hard copy with several elements being the same or very alike. Another similarity is the content a lot of the content is identical to what would be in a hard copy of a magazine. There is also differences, the main one being the interactivity of the website, instead of flicking through pages which may be long and tedious for some people, you can click links taking you directly to the stories you want to read. Also as it is interactive videos can be shown which can allow visual content to be shared which wouldn't’t be possible in a hard copy. On the website it has a lot of content which can be found in the magazines, with tabs at the top taking you to interviews, columns, and win which are all things which can be found in the physical copy of the magazine. It also has extra content which isn't found in magazines such as playlists and videos. http://www.qthemusic. com
- 20. Form and Style The magazine has a consistent colour scheme throughout. It uses simple colours of red white and black. This is a good colour scheme as the red helps it to stand out on shelves against other magazines, but the white and black are simple colours so don’t distract the reader from the text or the images within the magazine. The colour scheme connotes that the magazine is professional and unisex as It uses simple colours of white and black with a slight bit of red to stand out, rather than a lot of bright colours. The front covers are set up in a traditional way, they are very similar to other magazines on the market. The masthead is located in the top left corner, usually being covered slightly by the main image which is in the middle surrounded by the main headline and other headlines. The magazine is A4 size (210 x 297 millimeters), this is the same as the majority of magazines on the market. The font styles are very basic, there is no swirly or comical fonts, they are all standard looking fonts, this is so the magazine looks professional and is easy to read for the consumer, this is important as if the magazine is difficult to read it wont be enjoyable. The magazine uses formal language, this is because it socio-economic audience is mainly A-C, therefore they speak in formal English, so the magazine matches the way their audience speaks. https://www.prepressure.com/li brary/paper-size/din-a4
- 21. Production Process I emailed Bauer using an email address which can be found on their website. They did not reply to the email so instead I researched the information myself.
- 22. Production Process 1. Choose Content: The magazine needs to include interesting content which will engage the audience making them enjoy reading the magazine. 2. Choose main article: This needs to be the article which will draw the most attention, this can be done in different ways 3. Choose cover image: This image is the most important as it will be the main focus of the front cover, star appeal can be used to attract people to buy the magazine. 4. Write Articles: This step is important as the articles make up the majority of the magazines content, so they must be written in a consistent way, this could be professional or informal depending on the magazine. 5. Incorporate Graphics/photos: Adding visual content to go alongside the verbal content is important as it will make the readers more engaged in the articles as they will have pictures to relate to the text, bringing it alive. 6. Add final details: this includes things such as the barcode and page numbers, this is to make the magazine look and feel professional. https://www.lucidpress.com/blog/2014/02/20/how-to-make-a-magazine-in-twelve-steps/
- 23. Synergy Q magazine has a very good synergy. It has a website which is very interactive and has links to several social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube) it is important that Q has good synergy and has pages on all of these social media sites as the majority of younger people do not buy magazines anymore instead they look at social media and read things online, so for the magazine to stay popular it must use these forms of media otherwise the target market may never see the content Q is publishing. Another reason it is good for Q to use social media is because content can be put on there which cannot be put into magazines, for example YouTube and Instagram can be used to post video content which isn't possible to do in a magazine. As they are using these to post more content it means that a wider rage of people will be interested in the magazine. Q magazine’s YouTube has 4218 subscribers. This is quite a small amount compared to competitors. For example NME has 109,485 subscribers. This connotes that Q magazine is lagging behind competitors, it could also show that Q has worse synergy than its competitors
- 25. Product Analysis Purpose The purpose of the magazine is shown in the strapline. The strapline is “The UK’s most popular music magazine” this connotes that the magazine prides itself in being Genre The genre of the product isn’t specific, it covers a range of different music and different artists. This is evidence for them wanting to be popular as by them covering lots of different genres it means they will have a large audience, because people who are interested in the different genres will all want to read Q, whereas in magazines that only cover one genre they will only have an audience who likes that genre. This means they have several competitors such as XXL and NME who cover specific genres (rock and hip hop) which Q also covers. Form It is a non-fiction magazine, which features articles about current and popular musicians such as Kanye West. Big artists like him have a massive star appeal as they are so popular and well known, this means people who walk past the magazine are attracted to it, so more sales are made. The magazine uses three simple colours of red white and black The colour scheme connotes that the magazine is professional and unisex as It uses simple colours of white and black with a slight bit of red to stand out, rather than a lot of bright colours. Spending Power The magazine costs £3.99 which may be considered expensive for some people, this explains why the majority of audience are in the ABC1 category as the lower socio-economic groups cannot afford the magazine. The magazine is monthly therefore customers will only have to pay £3.99 every month rather than pay around £1.00 a week which is what some magazines costs. Therefore the magazine is cheaper long term so could suit lower socio-economic groups if they save small amounts of money every week to buy it at the end of the month, rather than buying a different magazine weekly.
- 26. Demographics The readership of Q magazine is mostly male, whereby statistics denote how 68.3% of the readership are men which is quite a large difference between men and women. A reason for this could be that the magazine features a lot of rock artists, and artists which are mainly followed by men such as The Killers, therefore more men than women will be interested in the magazine. The age of the audience is 83.8% 15-44 year olds, which connotes that Q has a wide audience range as they are not all young or all old there is a mix. An explanation for this is that Q features a lot of different artists, they feature current artists like Adele and old artists like Michael Jackson, so different people of different ages will be interested in different issues of the magazine The denotation of the socio-economic groups are mainly ABC1. The Q media pack featured on Bauer media’s website says that 71.8% of readers are in the ABC1 categories. This connotes that the readers are quite wealthy, this could be because of the price of the magazine, some people may deem it as expensive and not a necessity. The media pack also states that 70% of readers are in employment, which further connotes that the cost of the magazine is the reason. http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/uploads /QMediaPack2016.pdf
- 27. Audience Theories Hartley’s Theory Age: the age would be around 15-44 as most people between this age would be interested in current music which is what Q magazine covers, the majority of older people would be more interested in music from their time. This I shown in Bauer's press pack for Q, which says that the median age of customers is 34, and their target customer is someone 29 years of age. Gender: the target gender could be either as Q magazine covers popular artists regardless of if the artists have larger male or female fans. But the demographics show that the audience is mainly men so this shows that more artists are featured which appeal to men. This is also shown in the press pack as Bauer says the target reader is Male. Katz’ Uses & Gratifications Theory Inform and Educate: The reader will learn about what the artists are doing or what they are promoting in the magazine, The screenshot at the bottom shows that this is the case as the Q and A asks questions about the artist and what they are doing in the career. The press pack states that the target reader is someone who has music at the center of their social life, therefore that person would want to find out everything that’s going on in the music world. Personal identification: The readers may relate to the artist or their stories if they are talking about having nothing then working hard to gain fame, which may inspire people who have nothing to go out and make a name for themselves. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs The audience for this theory I think is ‘caregivers’ as the people reading the magazine want to read the articles about artists they like and sympathize with struggles they are having or something similar. Socio-Economics The majority of people buying the magazine would be from A-C, shown by the demographics, this may be because the magazine costs quite a lot for what it is so lower classes may not be able to afford it. Also people of higher classes have a taste in different music like classical which isn't covered in Q magazine. The press pack shows that 71.8% of readers are in the ABC1 profile. https://www.learning- theories.com/uses-and- gratification-theory.html
- 28. Primary Research This graph shows that the majority of readers are in the 11-20 category. This is a young audience and could be explained by the fact that the content of the magazines is very current so older people who don’t keep up with current music wouldn’t be interested in the magazine. This shows that there is a majority of male readers, this could be explained by the fact that the magazine commonly features rock artists, This genre of music is mostly listened to by a male audience so therefore more males would be attracted to the magazine. Also as more males are featured on the front cover so it could connote that the magazine is made for men. This graph shows that most people don’t buy magazines often, mostly 1-2 times a week. This may be because the price of magazines are quite expensive for something which comes out on a monthly basis, so customers decide to buy only one or two as they don’t want to spend loads of money every week. Another explanation is that the majority of magazines are distributed monthly so they must wait another month to purchase more magazines, meaning they only get 1-2 in a week.
- 29. Primary Research This graph shows that the majority of people don’t buy music magazines, but out of the people who do buy magazines, Q is the most popular, this may be because Q features many different genres so targets a much wider audience compared to single genre magazines such as XXL This graph shows that the majority of people don’t subscribe to magazine, this is because most people don’t read music magazines therefore would not subscribe to any. Only people who are very into a magazine who would want it every month will subscribe, therefore it is only a low percentage. This graph shows that the majority of people would pay under £4.01 for a magazine, this Is probably because it is not something which is a necessity to many people, therefore people don’t want to spend a lot of money on it
- 30. Secondary Research https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/q-magazine?gclid=CLfAk_- pj9ACFcIV0wodXVsBHg On greatmagazines.co.uk it has a list of reviews on q magazine. “My favorite magazine that I subscribe to.” This review shows that the person thinks the magazine is the best on the market, and is worth the price to subscribe to it. This review is good as it shows Q is doing better than its competitors. “Fantastic magazine with great features” This review shows that people like the features Q have, this is a good thing as Q can take this praise into consideration and keep doing the features they are doing, and do it even more, as that is what attracts people to the magazine. “Possibly the greatest music magazine in the world. Worth the money, especially having it shipped all the way to America!” This is a very positive review, it shows that Q is such a good magazine that people don’t mind paying a lot of money for it. It also shows that it is also a popular magazine in America because people are shipping it over. This is really good as it means it appeals to markets across countries, it doesn’t just appeal to the English target market
- 32. Product Advertising and Marketing • Above the line: Advertising which is designed to target a large audience, examples include advertisements on TV, radio and in newspapers. • Below the line: Advertising which is designed to reach a much smaller audience, but targets an audience who would be interested in the product. Social media marketing and content marketing are examples of this. • Q magazine is mainly advertised by just being on the shelf, it is designed so it will stand out to a pass along audience who notice it and want to buy it. One way they do this is by using red which is a bright colour so will stand out against other dull colours. Another way is by using star appeal, this works as people notice big artists which they are fans of and want to read about, this makes them want to read the magazine, so therefore buy it. • E media is the main way Q is promoted, it has its own YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. This is a good way of promotion as social media is one of the largest markets in the world, which means it has lots of people using it which will be in Q’s target audience. Social media is also very versatile, there is lots of different ways to utilise it to gain publicity for the brand. For example on Instagram and Twitter hashtags can be used which can start ‘trending’ meaning that the information Q puts out will be seen by thousands of people, this is a great way of promoting the product. • Q uses below the line marketing through social media, even though it is below the line, it is a way of advertising which can target a large audience. This is shown by their Instagram page which has 12.3 thousand followers.
- 33. Product Advertising and Marketing Continued • Another way they market below the line is the ‘Q awards’ event which they host annually. It is a way of marketing as people interested in music and like to see who receives awards will watch the event, and may decide to buy the magazine as they will be exposed to the brand, as it is of the same name ‘Q’. Another way it will attract people is by for example giving Kanye West an award, then the fans of Kanye west will find out about him receiving the award, and may look into it further and discover Q magazine, which they then might buy. Their YouTube channel is a way that they promote the awards and other Q related events, so their channel is another below the line way of advertising. • An above the line way Q advertises is through things such as billboards and posters, this attracts attention as the pass along audience can be massive depending on where the advert is placed, for example if they had a poster inside a train carriage, or a large billboard on a busy street, then thousands of people will see it and possibly look at Q further, leading to them purchasing it. • Guerilla marketing is a way of marketing in a low budget, unconventional way which gains attention of the public in a more memorable way. I have researched and cannot find any ways in which Q magazine has used this format of marketing, this my be because Q is a very professional company, and therefore may value more traditional ways of advertisement, or they may think that their audience would not react to guerilla marketing, and therefore pointless in doing it. http://www.q themusic.co m/q-awards/
- 34. Distribution Channel • Q magazine is stocked In lots of different retailers across the world. It is in major supermarkets like Tesco or Asda. These are a great place to sell the product as they are nationally recognised companies with stores across the nation, this means if people see Q magazine in one of these stores they’ll know it is a good product because a large retailer would not stock a product which is not professional or not likely to sell. Q is also stocked in shops such as WH Smith which are also a very well known company in the UK, so will also have the effect of making Q look good because it is stocked there. • The magazine is stocked online It is stocked on magazine websites such as www.GreatMagazines.com, websites like this bring together lots of magazines from different genres and offer you good prices to subscribe to them for different lengths of time. It is good that Q is stocked on websites such as this, as they are websites created to sell magazines specifically, therefore Q being on there means that people know it will be a good magazine, which is professional and worth reading if it interests them because if it wasn’t then it wouldn’t be on the website. It is also sold online on the websites of supermarkets which it is stocked in stores, like Tesco, you can buy a subscription to Q on their website. On both of these ways of subscribing online, you can get the magazine delivered to your house. This is a important thing as many people are busy so do not have time to go to stores and pick up the magazine in person, or they forget to pick on up every month. therefore it is important the magazine can get delivered otherwise a large section of the target market will be missed out. https://secure.tesco.com/cl ubcard/boost/q-magazine- subscription/UK-003533.prd
- 36. Impact and effect on audience Q magazine impacts its audience as it publishes content from its own perspective, or point of view. Therefore the readers will take the point of view of what the magazine says, then they will go and tell their friends/family that point of view and therefore the audience will all believe in a particular view that Q has given to the audience. This gives them power as they can put whatever they want into the magazine to get the view they want across. An example of this is the Q awards they give out, as they choose all the awards they give, so if they want a certain artist to be recognised then they can do that by giving them an award.
- 37. Relevant issues on representation • Stereotype: A widely held view of a particular person or social group. • The stereotyped audience of Q magazine is Caucasian males aged 20-30, with a simple, casual style. This is because Q is a rock magazine, and rock has a stereotyped audience of white males. Also the magazines socio-economic group is mainly ABC1, this means that their audience will be working, and working men have the stereotype of dressing in a simple, casual way. Many front covers of Q feature an artist who looks like the stereotyped audience does, this could be a way Q tries to attract the audience, as they will identify with the artist on the front, so therefore will want to read the magazine to find out more. • Laura Mulvey's (1975) theory of the ‘Male gaze’ is that males are there to gaze at women, and women are there to be gazed at. This explains why many females are sexualised on the front cover of Q magazine, as the main audience of Q is male so they will attract this audience by using the male gaze. This is shown on the magazine cover featuring lady gaga and Beyoncé, where they are both barely clothed and making eye contact with the readers by looking into the camera. This is especially shown on the cover featuring lady gaga as she has no upper clothing on, instead she is just using her hand to cover herself. • Diana Saco’s theory is the opposite, it is the ‘female gaze’, this theory states that women like to gaze at men, this is denoted as men are often posing topless to appear masculine on magazine covers, which is shown on the vanity fair cover of David Beckham, however I could not find a Q magazine that shows this. https://www.filminqui ry.com/film-theory- basics-laura-mulvey- male-gaze-theory/
- 38. Copyright © Copyright is the legal right to film, publish, perform and edit a certain material. This affects Q as it means they cannot copy material from other companies or people without gaining permission from them. If they fail to get permission the use of the material is illegal, this could lead to a fine and would be asked to remove the material. It also means they must get their own material copyrighted otherwise it could be used by other companies or competitors. Q magazine doesn’t have any copyright symbols on their front cover or in their magazine, but on the website they have a privacy policy. The privacy policy is a list of 15 values that Q hold, these explain what data Q collects, how they keep it secure and how they use it, it also explains how you can access the data they keep about you and how to ask questions regarding it. This is important as it means Q is being completely transparent with the customers, this creates trust between the company and customers which could lead to more sales.
- 39. Editors Code of Practice Accuracy Must not publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information. If a inaccurate or misleading statement is made it must be promptly corrected with an apology published Privacy Home, health, family life and correspondence must be respected with privacy, any intrusions without consent must be justified by editors. Complaints of public disclosure of information will be accounted Harassment Journalists must not harass, intimidate or persistently pursuit an individual in order to get information. Intrusion into grief or shock In cases of grief or shock any approaches must be made with discretion and sympathy Reporting suicide Detail cannot be used to explain the way they died to prevent people copying Children Children should be able to complete time at school without unnecessary intrusion, and must not be approached or photographed without permission. Children in sex cases Must not identify victim if they are under 16. No language can be used to imply the relationship between the accused and the victim Hospitals Journalists must identify themselves and get permission to enter non public areas of hospitals. The restrictions of privacy are particular to each individual https://ww w.ipso.co.u k/IPSO/cop. html
- 40. Editors Code of Practice continued Reporting of Crime Relatives or friends of accused/convicted person should not be identified without their consent, unless they're relevant to the story. Clandestine devices and subterfuge The press must not obtain or publish material by using hidden cameras or secret listening devices Victims of sexual assault Victims must not be identified unless there is justification and they are legally free to do so Discrimination Must avoid prejudicial reference to an individuals race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability. Financial journalism Must not use financial information they receive in advance of its general publication for their own profit Confidential Sources Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential information Witness payments in criminal trials No payment to a witness, or person likely to be called a witness should be made in case once proceedings are active Payment to criminals Payments for stories, pictures or information in order to exploit a particular crime or to glorify/glamorise crime must not be made. https://ww w.ipso.co.u k/IPSO/cop. html
- 41. Ethical and Legal issues Accuracy Accuracy is important for Q magazine it means they must publish 100% true information, they cannot distort or make information misleading. Therefore they must be careful to only publish accurate information. This may become a positive for Q, as it means artists will be able to trust the magazine to only tell the truth, therefore Q will be able to get more interviews and stories, which will make the magazine more interesting, and have better content, so more people will want to buy the magazine. But if they do breach this code of practice it could be bad for the magazine as they will have to take down the content and publish an apology, this will make people lose trust in Q so they will lose sales and wont be able to get as many interviews.
- 42. Royalties Q Magazine makes and average annual income of $2.6 billion per year, The magazine generates this high income in a number of ways. Firstly through people purchasing the magazine in shops and supermarkets, this used to be the foundation of getting income for magazines, which is why it is so important to ensure your magazine is distributed in large chain supermarkets and newsagents, such as Tesco and WHSmith. In modern day technology is much more important for publishers to make money through magazines. One way of doing this is through online subscription, this is good as it means the business will definitely get a purchase every week as the customer has subscribed. https://www.owler.com/ iaApp/1481116/q- magazine-company- profile?onBoardingComp lete=true
- 43. Complaints On Q magazines website they have a section called ‘complaints policy’, this section lists everything Q does in regards to complaints, the list contains 6 different sections. The first section tells you what a complaint is, and states that when making a complaint you must say that it is a formal complaint. The second section explains what the policy is about, and everything it covers, such complaints on advertising or complaints with radio services. The third section tells you how to complain, this can be doe in two ways, either by complaining by email at complaints@bauermedia.co.uk, or by complaining by letter and sending it to Bauer Consumer Media Limited, Endeavour House, 189 Shaftesbury Avenue. It also states that complaints will only be accepted within 4 months of the event. The fourth section talks about what happens to the complaint, they say they will acknowledge every complaint within 5 days of receipt, and respond to every complaint within 28 days of receiving it. The fifth section says what to do if you receive a response you are not happy with, it says that you should take the complaint to www.ipso.co.uk and they will deal with the disagreement between the two parties. The sixth section states that they have rights to change the policy, and the current policy will always be the one published.
- 44. Regulatory Issues Content which is copyrighted is known as intellectual property. This property is legally protected from theft. Intellectual property can be on print and digitally, companies can get a digital watermark which signifies that the property is protected, therefore it makes sure it is safe from theft, As for someone to use copyrighted material they must pay for it, or ask for permission, they cannot just take it and use it as they please. The most effective way of protecting property is through getting a patent, as this means products cannot be made which copy the property or steal any of it. This is hard to do though as it takes several years to obtain, and costs up to $7000 in fees, which Is a large investment for a company to pay.
- 45. Regulatory Issues continued The data protection act is an act introduced in 1998. The act means that businesses must follow the ‘data protection principles’ when holding information regarding customers. They must ensure information is kept secure and safe, used for a stated purpose which is fair and lawful and not kept for any longer than is absolutely necessary. https://www.gov.uk/data- protection/the-data- protection-act
- 46. Editors Code of Practice Accuracy Must not publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information. If a inaccurate or misleading statement is made it must be promptly corrected with an apology published Privacy Home, health, family life and correspondence must be respected with privacy, any intrusions without consent must be justified by editors. Complaints of public disclosure of information will be accounted Harassment Journalists must not harass, intimidate or persistently pursuit an individual in order to get information. Intrusion into grief or shock In cases of grief or shock any approaches must be made with discretion and sympathy Reporting suicide Detail cannot be used to explain the way they died to prevent people copying Children Children should be able to complete time at school without unnecessary intrusion, and must not be approached or photographed without permission. Children in sex cases Must not identify victim if they are under 16. No language can be used to imply the relationship between the accused and the victim Hospitals Journalists must identify themselves and get permission to enter non public areas of hospitals. The restrictions of privacy are particular to each individual https://ww w.ipso.co.u k/IPSO/cop. html
- 47. Editors Code of Practice continued Reporting of Crime Relatives or friends of accused/convicted person should not be identified without their consent, unless they're relevant to the story. Clandestine devices and subterfuge The press must not obtain or publish material by using hidden cameras or secret listening devices Victims of sexual assault Victims must not be identified unless there is justification and they are legally free to do so Discrimination Must avoid prejudicial reference to an individuals race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability. Financial journalism Must not use financial information they receive in advance of its general publication for their own profit Confidential Sources Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential information Witness payments in criminal trials No payment to a witness, or person likely to be called a witness should be made in case once proceedings are active Payment to criminals Payments for stories, pictures or information in order to exploit a particular crime or to glorify/glamorise crime must not be made. https://ww w.ipso.co.u k/IPSO/cop. html
- 48. Conclusion In Conclusion this unit has helped me to understand how and why a media product is managed and marketed in the way it is, specifically Q magazine. I looked into the audience it targets, how it aims to reach this audience and how successful they are in doing so. I also looked at the legal and ethical issues it is faced with and how it overcomes these by sticking to the editors codes of practice, as well as copyright laws.