4Q Magazine Information

4Q is a free national magazine published in the United Kingdom with a readership of 40,000.

Founded by Andrew Jackson and Michael Smith, and later joined by Rob Pearson, the idea for the magazine had been intended as a university coursework project. After winning a local ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition hosted by the Manchester universities, they set up the business after Jackson had completed his studies. Two years after the 4Q company was established the team announced the magazine will be going fully national, and brought in one of their writers and event organisers, Rob Pearson, as their third director and also head of strategy.

The free published magazine is a premium, or paid for, magazine, an image that has been a feature of 4Q since its first issue.

The magazine features dedicated sections of content such as music, comedy, fashion, gaming and technology, and film and entertainment. The focus of 4Q is much more on searching for and championing new acts as opposed to their view of ‘the stagnant approach of the old media’ some of whom have been criticised for playing it safe and focusing only on popular acts of the time.

It has championed acts include Dinosaur Pile-Up, the Virginmarys, Enter Shikari, The Heartbreaks, Beat the Radar, Spartak, The Volantes,Turrentine Jones,Six10repeater,Alexisonfire, Death to the Strange, Vampire Weekend, Nine Black Alps, Delta Maid, Suzuki Method, and the Jessie Rose Trip.

4Q has also featured both established and up and coming comedians such as Tim Minchin,Jason Manford, and Michael Fielding,

Many of the championed acts have been featured in the magazines "Fresh Meat" events, sponsored by international sportswear giant Converse, where new up-and-coming bands are given the chance to play at major gigs around the Manchester area. It is expected that these events will now go national along with the magazine.

There are hints that the new national magazines will also feature a fully integrated augmented reality system that has never been attempted by any other publication. Readers will be able to download an iPhone or Android app and access extra content projected onto the pages of the magazine. Details of this technology are still unknown though as the editors have yet make an official announcement.

The 4Q in-house media team includes photographer Luke Corbiere, and Katie Dervin, TV producer Caroline Farrell, and events organiser Ren Hall.

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