Research Into The Music Magazine Industry

Research into the Music Magazine Industry
Before starting to produce my magazine I decided to carry out some research of music magazines. I wanted to find out which music magazines are the most successful, their methods of production, which companies dominate the market, what are their main sub-genres, how much they cost and also what audiences they cater for. The two main companies that dominate the UK market are German multinational cross media company Bauer (which is an independent company) and IPC Media which is part of the American Time Warner Conglomerate.

My first research was into the company Bauer who own the music magazines Kerrang, Mojo and Q. The sub-genres of the magazines owned by Bauer are as follows Kerrang – Rock & Alternative, Mojo – Pop & Blues, Q – Punk, Alternative and Rock. I also wanted to find out the price of each magazine so I searched on www.ukaop.org.uk. Kerrang is priced at £2.20, Q is £3.90 and Mojo is £4.30.

Above are some samples of the magazines made by Bauer. The front covers have pictures of iconic groups within the genre of the magazine such as Blur on Mojo, Paramore on Kerrang and Coldplay on Q. Bauer cater for main stream audiences, due to the wide range of people that they reach. All of the above magazines cater for a mainstream audience aged 16-24. The reason they cater for a mainstream audience is due to the size of the audience that they reach they are sold in many different countries. Bauer use the process of synergy to distribute their products by offering services other than the magazines in order to raise awareness of their products, they do this by offering radio stations for both Kerrang and Q as well as music channels which helps to raise brand awareness.

The second company I looked into was IPC Media who own the music magazine NME, Uncut and Guitar and Bass. The sub-genres of the magazines are as follows NME – contemporary, Uncut – Rock and Film and Guitar and Bass’s sub-genre is pretty self explanatory. NME costs £2.20 and is available every week, Guitar and Bass costs £3.95 and is available monthly and Uncut is also available monthly at a price of £4.30.

IPC Media is a leading UK consumer magazine publisher. Almost two thirds of British women and over 44% of U.K men read an IPC magazine. That’s over 26 million people in the U.K.

IPC media use a diverse print and digital portfolio that appeals to a widespread audience. IPC publish 80 magazines, these include: What's on TV, Pick Me Up, NME, Woman, Now, Marie Claire, In Style, Woman & Home, Ideal Home, Nuts, Wallpaper, Country Life, The Field, Rugby World, Practical Boat Owner and Look which is their latest high street fashion and celebrity weekly magazine. Online digital properties include NME.com, the third largest commercial music website in the UK and housetohome.co.uk, the UK's first homes portal. IPCs’ brands are at the heart of UK's cultural life.

The main sub genres of IPC magazines are T.V, home, mens’ lifestyle and entertainment, womens’ magazines and also garden and leisure. The cost for these main magazines ranges from around 90 pence to about £4.20.

IPC cater for a large mainstream audience. I think the socio demographic categories for these magazines is between C1 and D. They are aimed at an audience of mid to lower class people.

NME is the longest published weekly music magazine in the world.
The magazines produced by IPC Media use the process of synergy to advertise and promote their products in a variety of ways. These techniques include: Magazine websites