The Music Industry
Music Magazine Industry
A 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 Audiencediscussed 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 http://www.bauermedia.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.
Synergy
Synergy in media is the way in which
different elements of a media
conglomerate work together to promote
linked products across different media.
Eg: One Direction’s promotional products:
Music, Magazines, Websites, Books, Film,
Clothing, Toys– all produced and promoted by
subsidiary companys of Sony, thereby feeding
Sony’s dominance in the music industry.
Magazine’s roles in synergy
Promoting a band that is signed by the conglomerate’s record label/s.
Promoting a music news website that is owned by the conglomerate.
Offering free CDs promoting music produced by the conglomerate.
Synergy involves the production of numerous products that then promote an original product (it’s not just advertising across media)