Analysis of music magazine front cover 1

Q magazine follows the typical conventions of a magazine. It has the main conventions which therefore help to sell the magazine.

'Q' magazine there is a main image which is centered in the middle, a mid-shot picture which automatically draws your eyes straight to it. The banner headline includes the image and the line 'Has Risen' shows the story of why Lady Gaga is on the front cover and the story behind her, by using the short phrase 'Has risen' it draws the reader in as they want to find out what the full story is. There is a main masthead which tells the reader who one of the main viewpoints of the magazine is, in this case 'Lady Gaga'. By using a pop icon such as Lady Gaga this shows the genre of the magazine, is pop. The main image could be classed as very controversial, but in this case suits the person as we see in the pop/music industry that lady Gaga is a very controversial person therefore this image suits the person she is. Also the 'A' letter of the text is covered by her body and the letter 'G' is over lapping her body this shows dominance and that she is a bold character but as the 'G' is over lapping her this shows that she can be very venerable and let characters take over her. This is also reflected in the clothes which she is wearing, as she is wearing black leather and black leather gloves, this type of clothing can sometimes be seen as a representation of dominance, also as she is topless this shows venerability but is represented in a bold confident way, as the image is sexy and she is portrayed to be comfy in the image and also possesses power and control over the situation she is in. Also by using Lady Gaga, it shows that the magazine is popular as hey are using very iconic people who are loved by many and are at the top of the music industry to represent their
magazine.
The target audience of 'Q' magazine is any ages and any gender, I think that it would be more suited towards 13-40 year olds which are interested in the music industry and that are particularly interested in music acts and the happenings of the month. I think that most of the audience will be subscribers to this magazine as it is a very popular well represented magazine.  I think the more audience that they receive depends on the person or people that are on the front cover, if people like the icon on the front they are more likely to buy this magazine as a one off.
 The colours of this image and front cover are very basic, the only colour which stands out is red and this is the colour that represents 'Q' magazine, this is a dominant colour which can also represent passion, which I think is important as 'Q' is a music magazine and will therefor appeal to people who are passionate about music and the musical industry.
There is a main masthead on the top of the magazine which features on every single monthly copy 'THE UK'S BIGGEST MUSIC MAGAZINE' this shows the reputation of the magazine and will therefore make the reader feel more confident too buy this as it has been said to be the best UK music magazine. 

The cover lines of the magazine are surrounding the image, there down the left and side and the right they are the main cover lines are in bold plain font to stand out from the rest. 

Also there is a main cover line which is situated in the top right hand corner, '100 most shocking moments in music' this is a particularly important cover line, the word '100' and 'shocking' are in red to make these words stand out to the target audience.

This is a double page spread from Q magazine, it doesn't match my front cover as I couldn't find an article to match. The genre of this article is within my chosen genre of 'pop music'.
The main imagine is Shakira working in a studio, this shows a positive image as she is showing the work side of her career and that being famous and a singer is not all about glamour and fame. The main image shows her in casual clothes, she is not all glamed up and she is looking very comfortable in her surroundings. There is also another picture on the double page spread, one of her from her she wolf video, her hand is round her body in a claw shape, this portrays the image of a wolf and therefore links in with her song and video.

The double page spread is about Shakira and her work and there are also parts where they are interviewing and including Shakira's opinions. The headlines on these pages are a real attention grabber's, 'Danger! Shakira at work' I think this shows that she is a very successful women and that she is set on achieving her goals. I think the connotations of the word danger show that she is a women to be feared and that she is a very career driven and successful.

This is a contents page from Q magazine. It is set out in a very simple typical way, there is a main image of a band to show one article and then a smaller one showing a different article this shows a variety of what is included in the magazine, rather than just having one main picture and one main focus. The main image is of 'The Courteeners' a successful band and a popular band, this is reflected in the location of this photograph, they are on top of somewhere high so this could have connotation of them being above other people in the music industry. Next to the main image Q have listed the features which will appear in this magazine, this is typical of a contents page and is just set out in a list to make it easy for the reader to choose what they want to read and be able to get to that page easy. The whole page is set out in boxes and columns to make it easy and simple for us to understand and follow.
The colour and font used on this page is very basic, theres no colour that really stands out and draws your attention, therefore you look and take in the whole page before anything catches your attention and you turn to that page already. The text is very simple, it has a sophisticated feel to it as well as it being easy to read.
'Every Month' this makes it obvious to us that this magazine has an issue every month, is also shows us that this magazine has been published for a long time. It also shows that articles and features have become popular to this certain audience so have been put in the magazine more often.