Matt
Mason is a busy man. By his own account he is “snowed under with work”, and it’s
hardly surprising. As Senior Editor of the UK’s biggest music monthly, there is
plenty to do.
Every
month Q hits shelves and doorsteps
packed with news, reviews and features, and making sure that this content is of
the highest possible quality is an incredibly important task for Mason. “Like
every title, we’re having to deal with a general decline in magazine sales. So
we have to ensure our product is consistently strong and compelling” he
explains.
But Mason wants more than to simply maintain Q’s own high standards. “The aim is to
keep our loyal core readership happy and bring in new readers. Increasingly those
new readers, particularly at the younger end of the scale, will come in via our
digital products. So the next key thing for me is to develop our website to
ensure it's something music fans feel they have to visit and return to every
day. I think a lot of that will come through turning the magazine's access to
music and artists into unique, compelling online content.”
Mason’s position is clearly a demanding one.
Overseeing Q’s transition from a
print powerhouse to a multimedia publication, whilst retaining the high quality
journalism that has made Q such a
successful title, is no easy task. It is the job of a man at the top of his
field, and Matt Mason has worked hard to get here.
Mason took his first steps towards a career in
print when, on leaving university, he enrolled on a post-graduate course in
magazine journalism. Having studied
history and anthropology, he felt that this was a logical progression. “It was the research, writing and the study
of people that really fascinated me, so journalism seemed like the ideal way to
carry on doing those things and get paid” Mason explains. Despite the course
focusing on magazines, Mason found himself heading in a different direction. “I
wanted to be a feature writer but the most valuable thing it taught me was
subbing. Knowing how to sub makes you a better writer and when I was starting
out, there were more subs’ jobs advertised than writers' jobs.” After taking a
role as a TV listings sub for the Press Association, Mason moved into
magazines, working as a staff sub/writer. It was a valuable experience for him,
and one which he believes had a significant influence on his career. “I
definitely wouldn’t have got to where I am today without learning to sub.”
As well as crediting his sub editing education with
helping him to progress, Mason also believes his career has been shaped by a
fair amount of good fortune. “There's been a lot of luck, lots of being in the
right place at the right time. You do make your own luck though.” Out of eight
magazines and newspapers for which Mason has worked, he claims he only applied
and interviewed for three. The rest of those jobs he got “because someone I’d
previously worked with recommended me or someone there had seen my work and
approached me.” This, he says, is one of the great things about being a
journalist. “Your work is out there, bylined, for everyone to see – so you can
quickly build up a reputation.”
This comes with its own pressures, however: “Every
single thing you write has got to be as good as you can possibly make it
because it could be the key to your next job opportunity. I got offered some
shifts as a football reporter at the Daily Mail because the sports editor had
read something I'd written as a staff writer for Total Sport magazine. He heard
later that day that the magazine was closing, so he gave me a call. It was
fortunate that he'd read the mag when he did, but I'd also worked harder on
that feature than I had on anything I’d ever written, so I helped make my own
luck.” Not that such events always turned out to be a success: “As it turned
out, I was terrible at tabloid football reporting so I don't think the Mail
would consider it a particularly lucky event.”
His spell at the Mail aside, Mason has enjoyed
success in both sport and music journalism. He believes the key is a genuine
interest in the subject matter. “Music and football have always been two of my
biggest passions so it's always felt like a privilege to write about them –
that's why I've pursued those two areas. It’s wise to write about what you know.”
With his passion for music undimmed, Matt Mason has
worked his way to the top of music journalism, with Q one of the most popular and respected music publications in the
country. He believes there are two reasons why the magazine continues to be so
successful. “I think Q really stands out in the music market for its access and
variety. No-one gets the time with – and insight into the lives of – rock and
pop stars that we do. We’re also broader than everyone else, covering the whole
waterfront of music.”
Mason describes Q’s
broad scope of coverage as “a double-edged sword.” “You appeal to a wider base
of readers but it's hard to make them all feel that everything in the mag is
worth their attention.” Mason’s solution is “to make sure our writing and
photography is of such a high-standard that the reader knows that Q’s take on a
band or artist will entertain them – even if they aren’t particularly
interested in that act.” This, he feels, is one of the key strengths of the
magazine. “I think Q’s very good at telling the stories behind the music. I
want every reader to feel that if Q’s covered something, it's got to be worth
reading.”
While Q
is a well respected, successful magazine, Mason acknowledges that there are
challenges facing the publication, especially in an increasingly digital world.
“Music fans get so much online content for free that Q has to be really special
to justify £3.99 of someone's money every month. We can't break news like a
website can. We can't stream music or play videos like a website can.” With the
ever growing number of online publications and blogs, Mason is aware of the
need to adapt.
“The worst thing a printed publication can do is
try to take on online outlets head on. The magazine has to play to its
strengths and use the website and tablet edition to expand.”
Expanding the online element of Q is important in overcoming the
challenges facing the publication, but Mason also believes that the magazine
must stick to the formula that has made it so successful. “What we can do is what we've always done
better than anyone else: brilliant, considered long-form feature writing;
stunning photoshoots; authoritative, witty reviews; and provocative,
agenda-setting opinion.”
With an increased digital and online presence,
paired with a continued dedication to top quality music journalism, Matt Mason
believes that Q is still a relevant
and important publication. The proof, it seems, is in the product. “Our shoots
and interviews are so good that the national papers will pick them up and run
fully credited excerpts. Our festival partnerships underline how much we love
and identify great music. We still feel like an essential part of the music
fan’s world.”
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