Q (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Q is a popular music
magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.
Founders Mark Ellen
and David Hepworth
were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology. Q was first published in October 1986, setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography
and printing
. In the early years, the magazine was sub-titled "The modern guide to music and more". Originally it was to be called Cue (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker
magazine. Another reason, cited in Qs 200th edition, is that a single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands.
section, featuring: new releases
(music), reissue
s (music), music compilations, film
and live concert reviews, as well as radio
and television
reviews. It uses a star-rating system from one to five stars; indeed, the rating an album
receives in Q is often added to print and television advertising for the album in the UK and Ireland
. It also compiles a list of approximately eight albums, which it classes as the best new releases of the last three months.
Much of the magazine is devoted to interviews with popular musical artists.
The magazine is well known for compiling lists. It has created many, ranging from "The 100 Greatest albums" to the "100 Greatest '100 Greatest' Lists". Every other month, Q — and its sister magazine, Mojo
(also owned by Bauer) — have a special edition. These have been about musical times, genres, or a very important/influential musician.
Often, promotional gifts are given away, such as cover-mounted CDs
or books. The January 2006 issue included a free copy of "The Greatest Rock and Pop Miscellany … Ever!", modeled on Schott's Original Miscellany.
Every issue of Q has a different message on the spine. Readers then try to work out what the message has to do with the contents of the mag. This practice — known as the "spine line" — has since become commonplace among British lifestyle magazines, including Qs sister publication, Empire and the football monthly FourFourTwo
.
Usual features include The Q50, wherein the magazine lists the top 50 essential tracks of the month; Cash for Questions, in which a famous celeb/band answers question sent in by readers — who win £25 if their question is printed; Ten Commandments, wherein a particular singer creates their very own ten commandments
by which to live; and Rewind, in which they take us back in time through the history of music via archive issues of Q. On March 4, 2007, Q named Elvis Presley the greatest singer of all time.
, another musical Bauer publication based on heavier rock/metal music.
In 2006, Q published a readers' survey; the 100 Greatest Songs Ever, won by Oasis
' Live Forever
.
In the April 2007 issue, Q published an article containing the 100 Greatest Singers, won by Elvis Presley
.
Q has a history of associating with charitable organizations, and in 2006 the British anti-poverty charity War on Want
was named its official charity.
In late 2008 Q revamped its image, with a smaller amount of text and an increased focus on subjects other than music. This "Rolling Stone
-isation" has led to criticism from much of the traditional Q readership, though it is yet to be seen if this change in attitude will dramatically affect sales.
Lady Gaga
posed topless in a shoot for the April 2010 issue of the magazine, which was banned by stores in the United States due to the singer revealing too much of her breasts.
The magazine has a close relationship with the Glastonbury Festival
, producing both a free daily newspaper on site during the festival and a review magazine available at the end of the festival.
, Q Radio launched in June 2008 as a full service radio station
with a complete roster. Shows and presenters include QPM with Samanthi, Russell Kane
and Acid Jazz
founder Eddie Piller
.
The station is transmitted on the digital television
networks in the UK, across London on DAB
and online.
Coldplay
were involved with the launch of the station by giving an exclusive interview on Q's flagship programme QPM on the launch day.
It is based in Birmingham
with Kerrang! 105.2
after moving from London in 2009.
television channel
in the UK.
Q also holds a yearly awards ceremony called the Q Awards
.
album Be Here Now (widely criticised elsewhere and subsequently dismissed as self-indulgent by the band's songwriter Noel Gallagher
himself) has been seen as a turning point.
In a 2001 interview in Classic Rock
, Marillion
singer Steve Hogarth
criticised Q’s refusal to cover the band despite publishing some positive reviews:
At the 2006 Q Awards
, Arctic Monkeys
frontman Alex Turner
criticised the magazine’s choice of boy band Take That
for their “Idol” award. Commenting on the winners of the night, he said:
One notable series of CDs are the 'occasional moods' series, consisting of 'Essential Chill Out' and 'Essential Dance' froom 2001.
Another series is The Best Tracks from the Best Albums of [year], containing Q's opinion of their favourite tracks from the years' favourite albums according to Q.
Sometimes, new subscribers to Q will be given a free CD, such as OK Computer
by Radiohead
if the subscription was made in January 2011.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.
Founders Mark Ellen
Mark Ellen
Mark Ellen is an award winning magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster who lives in West London.Whilst at Oxford University in the 1970s, he briefly played bass in the band Ugly Rumours alongside Tony Blair...
and David Hepworth
David Hepworth
David Hepworth is a journalist and music writer responsible for the launch of many British magazines.Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, Hepworth attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield and Trent Park College of Education, Barnet...
were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology. Q was first published in October 1986, setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
. In the early years, the magazine was sub-titled "The modern guide to music and more". Originally it was to be called Cue (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
magazine. Another reason, cited in Qs 200th edition, is that a single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands.
Content
The magazine has an extensive reviewReview
A review is an evaluation of a publication, a product or a service, such as a movie , video game, musical composition , book ; a piece of hardware like a car, home appliance, or computer; or an event or performance, such as a live music concert, a play, musical theater show or dance show...
section, featuring: new releases
Release (music)
In the music industry, a release is usually a term referring to the creative output from an artist available for sale or distribution; a broad term covering the many different formats music can be released in, and different forms of pieces .The word can also refer to the event at which an album or...
(music), reissue
Reissue
A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
s (music), music compilations, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and live concert reviews, as well as radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
reviews. It uses a star-rating system from one to five stars; indeed, the rating an album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
receives in Q is often added to print and television advertising for the album in the UK and Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. It also compiles a list of approximately eight albums, which it classes as the best new releases of the last three months.
Much of the magazine is devoted to interviews with popular musical artists.
The magazine is well known for compiling lists. It has created many, ranging from "The 100 Greatest albums" to the "100 Greatest '100 Greatest' Lists". Every other month, Q — and its sister magazine, Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
(also owned by Bauer) — have a special edition. These have been about musical times, genres, or a very important/influential musician.
Often, promotional gifts are given away, such as cover-mounted CDs
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
or books. The January 2006 issue included a free copy of "The Greatest Rock and Pop Miscellany … Ever!", modeled on Schott's Original Miscellany.
Every issue of Q has a different message on the spine. Readers then try to work out what the message has to do with the contents of the mag. This practice — known as the "spine line" — has since become commonplace among British lifestyle magazines, including Qs sister publication, Empire and the football monthly FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo is a football magazine published by Haymarket. Published monthly, costing £4.50, and at about 164 pages long, it published its 200th edition in February 2011...
.
Usual features include The Q50, wherein the magazine lists the top 50 essential tracks of the month; Cash for Questions, in which a famous celeb/band answers question sent in by readers — who win £25 if their question is printed; Ten Commandments, wherein a particular singer creates their very own ten commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
by which to live; and Rewind, in which they take us back in time through the history of music via archive issues of Q. On March 4, 2007, Q named Elvis Presley the greatest singer of all time.
Q today
Qs current editor is Paul Rees, former editor of the UK edition of Kerrang!Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
, another musical Bauer publication based on heavier rock/metal music.
In 2006, Q published a readers' survey; the 100 Greatest Songs Ever, won by Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
' Live Forever
Live Forever
"Live Forever" is a song by English rock band Oasis. Written by Noel Gallagher, the song was released as the third single from their debut album Definitely Maybe on 8 August 1994, just prior to that album's release....
.
In the April 2007 issue, Q published an article containing the 100 Greatest Singers, won by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.
Q has a history of associating with charitable organizations, and in 2006 the British anti-poverty charity War on Want
War on Want
War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England. It seeks to highlight the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world and lobbies governments and international agencies to tackle problems as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while...
was named its official charity.
In late 2008 Q revamped its image, with a smaller amount of text and an increased focus on subjects other than music. This "Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
-isation" has led to criticism from much of the traditional Q readership, though it is yet to be seen if this change in attitude will dramatically affect sales.
Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
posed topless in a shoot for the April 2010 issue of the magazine, which was banned by stores in the United States due to the singer revealing too much of her breasts.
The magazine has a close relationship with the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, producing both a free daily newspaper on site during the festival and a review magazine available at the end of the festival.
Q Radio
After a few years as a radio jukeboxJukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
, Q Radio launched in June 2008 as a full service radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
with a complete roster. Shows and presenters include QPM with Samanthi, Russell Kane
Russell Kane
Russell Kane is an English writer, comedian, actor and media personality. In June 2006, he became the face of digital station Five US. He has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, winning the main prize in August 2010...
and Acid Jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
founder Eddie Piller
Eddie Piller
Eddie Piller is an English DJ and record label entrepreneur.Starting his career in the 1980s as a part of the English mod revival, Piller launched the underground fanzine Extraordinary Sensations and operated as a DJ and concert promoter. In 1985, he started the Countdown Records label, through...
.
The station is transmitted on the digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
networks in the UK, across London on DAB
Digital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
and online.
Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
were involved with the launch of the station by giving an exclusive interview on Q's flagship programme QPM on the launch day.
It is based in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
with Kerrang! 105.2
Kerrang! 105.2
Kerrang! Radio is a specialist rock music radio station broadcasting to the West Midlands, England. The station's format mixes modern & classic rock with speech programmes targeted at young people and an adult rock audience. Broadcasting on FM in the West Midlands and DAB & Freeview and online,...
after moving from London in 2009.
Other Q brands
There is also a Q TVQ TV
Q is a UK music channel based on Q Magazine, launched on 2 October 2000. It is operated by Box Television, and specialises in indie, rock and alternative....
television channel
Television channel
A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...
in the UK.
Q also holds a yearly awards ceremony called the Q Awards
Q Awards
The Q Awards are the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine Q. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards have become one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards, helped in no small part by the often boisterous behavior of the celebrities who attend the event...
.
Criticism
Some critics and readers of the magazine have believed it to have lost its edge, and is now opting to play 'safe' with who and what it covers, focusing more on the popularity of the band rather than the actual music itself. The award of five stars to the 1997 OasisOasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
album Be Here Now (widely criticised elsewhere and subsequently dismissed as self-indulgent by the band's songwriter Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
himself) has been seen as a turning point.
In a 2001 interview in Classic Rock
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
, Marillion
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
singer Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth also known as "h", is the lead vocalist and occasional keyboardist/guitarist with the British rock band Marillion. Hogarth was formerly a keyboard player and co-lead vocalist with The Europeans and vocalist with How We Live...
criticised Q’s refusal to cover the band despite publishing some positive reviews:
I don’t understand why Q Magazine won’t write about us. The most memorable review they gave us was of Afraid of Sunlight which said, ‘If this were by anything other than Marillion it would be hailed as near genius’. And they still wouldn’t give us a feature. How can they say, 'this is an amazing record. . . no, we don’t want to talk to you'? It’s hard to take when they say, 'here’s a very average record . . . we’ll put you on the front cover'. Why don’t they just stop pretending that it’s all about music and admit it’s really about money? Then put the top-selling five bands on the cover and tell everyone else to fuck off.
At the 2006 Q Awards
Q Awards
The Q Awards are the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine Q. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards have become one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards, helped in no small part by the often boisterous behavior of the celebrities who attend the event...
, Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
frontman Alex Turner
Alex Turner (musician)
Alexander David Turner is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and main songwriter of the English rock band Arctic Monkeys...
criticised the magazine’s choice of boy band Take That
Take That
Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...
for their “Idol” award. Commenting on the winners of the night, he said:
A lot of people make jokes about having awards for no reason just for the sake of having awards, and pretending they were good when they weren't. I'm not old enough to know a lot of them, but even I know Take That were bollocks.
Album series
A series of 'Q' albums have been released- Q The Album Volume 1 (1991)
- Q The Blues (1992)
- Q Rhythm and Blues (1968)'
- Q Country (1994)
- Q Awards The Album (2000)
- Q Anthems (2001)
- Q The Album (2003)
- Q The Essential Music Quiz (2006) (DVD)
- Q The Album 2008 (2008)
- The Anthems - Q (2009)
Promotional gifts
Countless CDs have been released free in Q magazines.One notable series of CDs are the 'occasional moods' series, consisting of 'Essential Chill Out' and 'Essential Dance' froom 2001.
Another series is The Best Tracks from the Best Albums of [year], containing Q's opinion of their favourite tracks from the years' favourite albums according to Q.
- World of Noise (CD in issue 104, 1995)
- Q Sounds New Music Now (CD with free-mini mag, 2004)
- Q Essential Jukebox (CD, 2004)
- Q Here Comes the Sun (CD, 2005)
- Q Born in the USA (CD, 2009)
Sometimes, new subscribers to Q will be given a free CD, such as OK Computer
OK Computer
OK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997 on Parlophone in the UK and 1 July 1997 by Capitol Records in the US. It marks a deliberate attempt by the band to move away from the introspective guitar-oriented sound of their previous...
by Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
if the subscription was made in January 2011.