Music Magazine IndustryA music magazine is a magazine dedicated to

music and music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have

a cover mount with recorded music.

Bauer and IPC

• The two conglomerate companies that dominate the UK magazine market are German multinational cross media company Bauer and IPC Media (which is part of the American Time Warner Group).

Institutional Context and Music Magazines

There is not one media institution that makes all

music magazines. As with all media texts like

films and tv programmes, they are made by a

number of different companies. Most

companies that make mainstream music

magazines are part of a conglomerate company.

‘Indies’

Only a few magazines are produced by

independent companies, and these tend to

be free/cheap publications or local fanzines,

such as Sandman Magazine in Sheffield,

founded and still run by two journalistic

entrepreneurs.

What are magazines for?

• Magazines serve as a tool to bring advertisers to audiences.

• In a music magazine, everything is an advert – it tries to sell you a brand persona of a band/artist, albums, singles, gig tickets, downloads, dvds, books, films.

• Music magazines also advertise anything else that would appeal to its target readership (clothes, technology, cosmetics etc)

Ang’s ‘Imaginary Entity’

•  Ien Ang (1991) in her book Desperately Seeking The Audience discussed the manner in which media producers and institutions view audiences as an ‘imaginary entity’, as a mass rather than as a set of individuals. They will, however, often have a ‘typical’ audience member in mind when they produce texts.

Audience Targeting

• Audiences are targeted by media institutions based on demographic variables such as gender, age, class, sexuality, occupation, hobbies, where they live, wealth etc.

• In terms of magazines, the bigger the readership the more the magazine can charge for advertising.

Advertising

• Advertisers still like advertising in magazines as they can reach very specific target markets.

• Most music magazines have a very specific target readership based on age and musical taste, rather than social class (unlike lifestyle magazines).

• 16 - 2425 - 34(and just to be confusing 16 - 34 as well)35 - 4445 - 54 and finally 55+

• The term circulation means how many copies of each issue are sold.

• The term readership means how many people actually read the copy (think of how many times you have bought a mag and your friend have read it ‘for free’).

• The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is a non-profit circulation-auditing organization. It audits circulation, readership, and audience information for the magazines and newspapers.

Circulation Figures

• ABC provides verified information critical to the media buying and selling process (advertising) by conducting independent, third-party audits of print circulation, readership and Web site activity.

• This information is therefore vital for magazine companies to sell their product to advertisers, which is how magazines make money. Cover prices only cover production costs. ABC also maintains an electronic database of audited circulation and readership media.

• www.abc.org.uk

• Research Bauer www.bauer.co.uk • Research IPC Media www.ipcmedia.com • Go to the ‘OUR BRANDS’ on both. Then answer the following:

1. List which music magazines they own. 2. What are their main sub-genres? How much do they

cost?3. Do they cater for mainstream or niche audiences?

(demographic) Why do you think this?4. Pick 3 and try to expand on their demographic

readership and find circulation figures (ABCs). Detail how the magazine tries to target this demographic with reference to content (images/articles).

5. How do these magazines use the process of synergy to sell the brand (think about cross media products!!)? Give as many examples as you can.