TASK 1: MUSIC MAGAZINE INSTITUTIONS RESEARCH

Bridget Lockwood

BAUER: WHO ARE THEY?

• Bauer Media is a UK based division of Bauer Media Groups that derives from one of Europe's largest media empires. In summary, the Group is known for its publication of 300 magazines in 15 countries - varying from online presence to radio to TV.

BAUER: WHAT IS THEIR HISTORY?

• The company started as a small printing house in Germany. It was in 1987, after the establishment of Bella magazine, that Bauer Media Group entered the UK market. It wasn't long after before the company became the UK's third largest publishing company.

BAUER: WHAT PUBLICATIONS DO THEY MANAGE?

• The most famous publications they manage are:• Heat• Kerrang• Match!• Q

BAUER: HEAT MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

• Heat magazine focuses on gossip amongst celebrity culture. It features a lot of feminine articles. This shows that the stereotypical audience is likely to be women aged 13-25 years old. The magazine focuses on three main topics: an attractive body image, a celebrity lifestyle and a love-life. The colour scheme is also very feminine with pinks and yellows being used. Furthermore the informal language used gives a personal feel to the story's. This issue is focused relationship with the main story being “is Jay Z cheating on Beyoncé?” and the other smaller articles being about wedding and not trusting your partner.

BAUER: KERRANG! MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

• Kerrang! focuses on rock culture and music. It features interviews from various artists popular and up and coming, it gives details of bands that are touring and posters of famous rock bands. This shows that the magazines stereotypical audience are any gender or aged person that are passionate about rock music. However the magazine uses more informal language which would relate more to the younger generation. The colour scheme is very dark with some bright red and electric blue, these colours are stereotypically associated with rock. This issue is focussed on the band ACDC as many would consider them the greatest rock band of all time. The other smaller articles are about touring bands “Metallica UK tour exclusive”.

FUTURE: WHO ARE THEY?

• Future plc is a media company from the UK. It publishes more than 30 magazines in the fields of video games, technology, photography, music and TV. The company was founded in Somerset by Chris Anderson, under the name of Future Publishing, but later renamed to Future plc.

FUTURE: WHAT IS THEIR HISTORY?

• The company was founded as Future Publishing in Somerset in 1985 by Chris Anderson. The first magazine produce by Future plc was called Amstrad Action which ran for almost 10 years, until being scraped. Future were the first company to include free software on magazine covers. Anderson sold Future to Pearson PLC for £52.7m in 1994, but bought it back in 1998, for £142m. In 2001, Anderson left Future.

FUTURE: WHAT PUBLICATIONS DO THEY MANAGE?

• The most famous publications they manage are:• PlayStation Official Magazine• Professional Photography • Total Guitar • Total Film

FUTURE: TOTAL GUITAR MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

• Total Guitar focuses in tuition for the guitar. It features detailed information on popular guitarist, including their techniques and playing styles. This shows that the magazines stereotypical audience are males in the age group 16-50, who are either looking to learn or improve their guitar skills. The colours used on the front cover are dark greys and blacks which are associated with rock. However there are works in bright pink which may show they are trying to expand their audience to women too. This issue is focussed on the guitarist Slash, who is promoting his new album “It’s my album, my rules”. The other small articles are about song they will teach you how to play inside and what vintage guitar are good to buy.

FUTURE: PLAYSTATION OFFICIAL MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

• The PlayStation magazine focuses on the gaming culture, although only features PlayStation or Sony products rather then other brands. This shows that the magazines stereotypical audience are the males with no limit to the age. However it can be argued that females may be interested but they are in the minority. The colours used are very minimal the dark picture allows the whie text to easily stand out. The covers usually feature information about gadgets and games which will appeal and interest gamers. This issue is focused on the game “The Last Of Us”. It will tell you about how the game was made and the brilliant team behind it. The other smaller articles are about new consoles coming out “Everything you need to know before launch” and new games coming out “Mass effect 3”.