 | |
 Special commemorative issue (September 2020) | |
| Categories | Music magazine |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Circulation | 44,050 (ABC Jul – Dec 2015)[1] Print and digital editions. |
| Publisher | Bauer Media Group |
| First issue | October 1986 |
| Final issue | July 2020 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Based in | London |
| Language | English |
| Website | qthemusic |
| ISSN | 0955-4955 |
Q was a Britishpopular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalistsMark Ellen andDavid Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music seriesThe Old Grey Whistle Test.[2]Q was published in print in the UK from 1986 until July 2020. In 2023, it was revived as anonline publication, which ran until May 2024.[3]
Q was originally published by theEMAP media group and set itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography and printing.[2] In the early years, the magazine was sub-titled "The modern guide to music and more". Originally it was to be calledCue (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed so that it would not be mistaken for asnooker magazine. Another reason, cited inQ's 200th edition, is that a single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands.
In January 2008, EMAP sold its consumer magazine titles, includingQ, to theBauer Media Group.[4][5] Bauer put the title up for sale in 2020, alongsideCar Mechanic,Modern Classics,Your Horse, andSea Angler.[6][7][8] Publication ceased in July 2020 asKelsey Media decided to buy a number of non-music titles from Bauer (Sea Angler,Car Mechanics andYour Horse),[9] making the 28 July 2020 issue (Q415) the last to be published.[10] The end of the print version ofQ was blamed both on lower circulation and advertising revenue caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic, as well as being "a symptom of an expert-free internet age."[11]
After the sale of the brand to Empire Media Group,[12]Q was soft launched as an online publication in November 2023, posting new content along with articles from their archive.[13] It was officially relaunched in January 2024, with a new editorial team spearheaded by US Editor Andrew Barker inLos Angeles and Oxford-based UK and Europe Editor, Dominic Utton.[12] In May 2024 the magazine ceased operations. Six full-time journalists were laid off.[14]
The magazine had an extensive review section, featuringnew releases,reissues, compilations, film and live concert reviews, as well as radio and television reviews. Each review included a rating from one to five stars. While its content was non-free they hosted an archive of all of their magazine covers.[15]
Much of the magazine was devoted to interviews with popular music artists.[2] According toAlexis Petridis ofThe Guardian, it was originally set up after the success of "rock’s old stagers" atLive Aid, which co-founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth had co-presented, to focus on long-established acts that appealed to an older music market, such asPaul McCartney,Rod Stewart,Paul Simon,Elton John,Genesis, andEric Clapton.[16] It also compiled lists, ranging from "The 100 Greatest Albums" to "The 100 Richest Stars in Rock", with a special edition magazine called "The 150 Greatest Rock Lists Ever" published in July 2004.[17]Q also produced a number of special editions devoted to a single act/artist likeU2 orNirvana, but these magazines stopped in 2018, with its sister magazine,Mojo[2] (also owned by Bauer) continuing to produce specials devoted to artists likeBob Dylan.
Promotional gifts were given away, such as cover-mountedCDs[15] or books. The January 2006 issue included a free copy of "The Greatest Rock and Pop Miscellany … Ever!", modelled onSchott's Original Miscellany.[citation needed] Each issue ofQ had a different message on the spine. Some readers tried to work out what the message had to do with the contents of the magazine. This practice (known as the "spine line") has since become commonplace among British lifestyle magazines, includingQ's sister publicationEmpire and the football monthlyFourFourTwo.[citation needed]
The magazine had a relationship with theGlastonbury Festival, producing both a free daily newspaper on-site during the festival and a review magazine available at the end of the event. That was first started as aSelect magazine spin-off, although asQ moved its focus to theBritpop andindie rock stars of the 1990s, it was decided that EMAP did not need two monthly titles (andRaw magazine as well) covering the same genre of music;Select was shut in late 2000, withQ continuing. In January 2008,Mojo was launched by EMAP as a rival toUncut and focused on all the rock stars, now viewed upon as being heritage and classic, thatQ originally featured in its pages in 1986. In late 2008,Q revamped its image with a smaller amount of text and an increased focus on subjects other than music.[citation needed]
In February 2012,Andrew Harrison was recruited as editor, replacing Paul Rees during a difficult period when on-line publishing had led to a 17% decline in the magazine's circulation in the first half of 2012. It had fallen to 64,596 units; a reduction in volume described byThe Guardian as "the worst performance of any music magazine in the period".[18][19] Directly reporting to Publishing Director Rimi Atwal ofBauer Media Group, Harrison's brief said to "refocus" and revive the magazine and to that end he took on a number of new journalists launching the magazine's iPad edition, but decided against a rebranding. Under his tenure,Q was named "Magazine of the Year" at the 2012 "Record of the Day" awards.[20] He left just 14 months later, according tothe Guardian, "as print music magazines continue to endure torrid times" and even free titles were failing to compete against blogs and platforms dependent ononline advertising.[18]
In July 2020, Bauer published a Special Collector's Issue of the magazine (Q414), which it had intended to be the last edition[21][22] before deciding to attempt to sell the publication to another media group. This issue was more of a 'throwback' publication, similar to whatMojo had been doing, and featured articles and acts from 34 years ofQ magazine. With other firms, such as Long Live Vinyl's owner Anthem Publishing,[23] ending the publication of a number of monthly music magazine titles, a buyer could not be found for the title, with editor Ted Kessler announcing that issue Q415 would be the last, on 20 July 2020.[24][16]
In the early days of publication, the magazine's format was much closer in tone to that ofRolling Stone (though with some of the characteristic humour of formerSmash Hits staff shining through), withTom Hibbert's "Who The Hell..." feature (including interviews with people likeJeffrey Archer,Robert Maxwell,Ronnie Biggs[25] andBernard Manning) and film reviews.[26] After EMAP started to publish a new magazine calledEmpire in 1989 (the idea being thatEmpire would be 'Q with films'), the movie reviews migrated to the new publication, withQ becoming a magazine focused on music (one found for sale alongsideSelect andVox in various magazine racks).
In the 1990s, formerNME staff writers, such asAndrew Collins,Danny Kelly,Stuart Maconie, andCharles Shaar Murray joinedPaul Du Noyer and Adrian Deevoy atQ. Music coverage in IPC's 'inkie' indie weekly[27] was becoming more serious afterMelody Maker closed down and so writers like Maconie[28] felt more at home at a publication that would still runtongue-in-cheek articles such as "40 Celebs About Whom We Only Know One Thing" and "Do I Have To Wear This, Boss?" (Du Noyer's feature about every band having a member who looks out of place in the line-up).[25]
In 2006,Q published a readers' survey, "The 100 Greatest Songs Ever", which was topped byOasis' "Live Forever".[29] In the April 2007 issue,Q published an article listing "The 100 Greatest Singers", which was topped byElvis Presley.[30]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.[31]
After a few years as a radiojukebox,Q Radio launched in June 2008 as a full-serviceradio station with a complete roster. Shows and presenters includeDrivetime with Danielle Perry andQ the 80s with Matthew Rudd. The station was transmitted on thedigital television networks in the UK and online.Coldplay were involved with the launch of the station by giving an exclusive interview on Q's flagship programmeQPM on the launch day. It was based inBirmingham alongside the now-closedKerrang! 105.2 after moving from London in 2009. The station was closed in mid-2013 after ownersBauer Media decided to use the station's bandwidth on various platforms (DAB, Digital TV) to launchKisstory, a spinoff of theirKiss brand. There was aQ TVtelevision channel in the UK, which launched on 2 October 2000 and closed on 3 July 2012.[32]
Q held a yearly awards ceremony called theQ Awards from 1990 until 2019. The Q Awards came to an end along with the publication itself.
According to the global business magazineCampaign in 2008,Q had been criticised for "playing it safe" with its album reviews and cover mounts.[33] In its early years it was sneered at as "uncool and lacking edge", withSteven Wells fromNME calling it "the magazine that says 'Hey kids, it's alright to likeDire Straits'".[16]
In a 2001 interview inClassic Rock,Marillion singerSteve Hogarth criticisedQ's refusal to cover the band despite publishing some positive reviews.[34] In 2005, after winning the Q Legend award at the Q Awards,New Order bassistPeter Hook criticised the magazine for being "two-faced" as it had given New Order bad reviews.[35]
