Task 4 and 5

Research into similar genre magazine and publishers

Bauer Media• Bauer Media offers over 300 magazines in 15 countries as well as TV and radio stations.• It has been managed by four generations of the Bauer family and originated from a small

printing house which has now grown into a worldwide publishing and media company. • The two main music magazine that they publish are ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang’. ‘Q’ has been known

for it’s high quality writing and photographs as it is published monthly. Whereas, ‘Kerrang’ is a rock magazine that was first published in 1981 and later became Britain’s best selling music-newspaper in the early 2000’s.

• They appeal to a range of audiences in terms of age as well as lifestyle as they publish a lot of lifestyle magazines. They are also influential in the music business as they own a number of music channels and radio stations.

Would Bauer be a suitable publisher for my magazine?• I think that Bauer would be suitable for my magazine as they are specialise in the music

industry and are experienced in publishing music magazines. However, they already have a large-selling rock magazine which could cause competition for my rock magazine. Although, they could invest a sum of money into publishing my magazine because of the number of the magazines that they publish, the large number of other magazines could take focus and attention off of my magazine.

IPC Media• ‘IPC’ was formed in 1963 when three leading UK magazine publishers merged and came

together with the Mirror Group to form IPC (International Publishing Corporation). This then became IPC Magazines in 1968 which later changed to IPC Media in the 2000.

• UK’s leading magazine publisher meaning they engage with 26 million UK adults – two thirds of them being women.

• They group their magazines under 3 titles: Connect (mass market women); South Bank (upmarket women) and Inspire (Men). Many of the magazines are lifestyle and leisure suited to these three specific target audiences. IPC only publishes one music magazine: NME.

Would IPC Media be a suitable publisher for my magazine?• IPC Media would be a suitable publisher for a new music magazine on one hand because

they only have one other music magazine so it wouldn’t have much competition. It would also offer something new and different to the people IPC engage with. However, as IPC specialises in lifestyle magazines, it could be risky going with them as they wouldn’t have much experience or knowledge within the music industry. Although, the one music magazine they do publish – NME is highly successful and has a large circulation which proves that IPC would be capable at publishing another music magazine.

BAUER OR IPC?• I have chosen to go with Bauer because although they only publish two music

magazines – Q and Kerrang compared to IPC publishing one, they specialise in the music industry on the TV and Radio. This would make them suitable for publishing a new music magazine because they would know what would be important in making sure the magazine was successful.

• I have also chosen Bauer because IPC is mainly UK based where as Bauer publishes over 300 magazines in 15 countries which would leave room for my magazine to expand if it was popular.

Front Covers The Front covers of Kerrang often have medium close up of the artists with the main cover line going across the page. It doesn’t tend to follow the rule of ‘C’ which gives it a more chaotic look. Contents Pages The contents pages follow quite a generic layout, I have found two or three different styles of layouts which show how they have changed over time. Most contents includes an Editor’s note and are very image based.Double Page Spread The articles are also very image based with almost a whole page taken up by the main image. The articles also use quite dark colour schemes to fit with the stereotype of rock.

• Kerrang was first published in 1981 as a one off in Sounds newspaper. The title is onomatopoeia from the sound of a power chord on the electric guitar which fits to the style of music it is – rock.

• 41% of Kerrang readers are ABC1 and 57.4% are male. This shows that the target audience isn’t specifically male or female as they have a fairly equal readership. The majority of the readers are 15-24 with 63.%. Kerrang also has a readership of 387 000.

KERRANG.COMKerrang’s website is an extension of not only the magazine but of the tv channel and radio.

It gives the opportunity to listen to Kerrang radio or watch their TV channel. Although sales figures of Kerrang magazine have decreased slightly in recent years, the website has gained a lot more attention and has helped improve popularity as use of the internet has become much more preferred to reading.

The website also sticks to the magazine’s colour scheme so it is still recognisable to the audience.

Advertisements on the website still stick to the target audience and their interests to make sure that they don’t lose people’s attention and therefore lose viewers.

SIMILAR MAGAZINES – ROCK

• Big Cheese• Kerrang• Rock Sound• Rolling Stone• Under the Radar

Ideas For My Magazine• A punk rock magazine rather than heavy rock magazine. • Amplify• Deaf tone • Boom• Emphatic• Voltage

I have chosen these as possible names for my magazine because they are associated with sound and rock music. I want a short, snappy title for my magazine because these tend to have more power to them and stand out more when made into a masthead.

Ideas for articles• Up and coming artists – a feature article on local talent in the rock genre with an

interview from them.• Article written about people’s perception of rock and the stereotype associated with

them – the images could be of a stereotypical ‘rocker’ to support the article.