Question 3: "What kind of media institution might distribute your media

product and why?"

Shannon Clarke

Referring back to my Pitch I can see that some indie/pop magazines are run by the magazine themselves. For example, The Wire’s publisher is The Wire Magazine LTD (a private limited company) which has been run independently since December 2000. I would not be able to do this with my magazine as it’s newly available in the market - I wouldn’t have the right resources or skills to provide advertisement for the magazine in order for it to sell well.

Dazed and Confused is another indie magazine, but is published by Waddell Limited. It’s a niche publishing company. I think they would like to distribute and publish my magazine as, although it’s fairly similar to Dazed and Confused, it has certain aspects about it which Dazed and Confused doesn’t have. For example, my magazine offers reviews of old and upcoming new artists, how the readers can get involved.

The main companies that I have found that would be the best for distributing my magazines would be either: Waddell Media LTD, The Wire LTD, or Bauer Media. Waddell Media LTD and The Wire LTD would benefit the growth of my magazine because they all represent magazines that are innovative and current but also appeal to a niche market. Bauer Media, however, are quite mainstream and I feel as though they would not be able to distribute my magazine to the correct audience.

I think Waddell Media LTD would like to distribute my music magazine. Waddell Media has really influenced my own magazine – the company has had many years of experience to help it establish its readership and they’ve also uncovered how to appeal to a specific target market and to be successful. Waddell LTD have been very successful for many years so they have experience in reaching out to their alternative target audience and this appeals to me because I want to be able to attract my ideal target market, which is the indie/alternative (niche) market.

The institution already publishes a magazine called DAZED, therefore I feel as though even if they are already publishing an alternative magazine they have room for a slightly different one. If they did publish my magazine, I feel as though they would utilise that audience they already have for their publication and transfer that knowledge to my magazine EXPLORE and provide it with the best possible chance for success and growth/expansion.

I am pricing my magazine at £3.50 which is considerably lower than the magazines I researched. I have priced it at this price because my ideal target audience will probably not have a lot of disposable income, and, I think, £3.50 is a reasonable price to pay for my magazine considering my content and the fact that my magazine is published seasonally (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) only four times a year – that’s only £14.00 every year! I would also include product placement in my magazine, such as the type of adverts that are included in DAZED (new albums, new films), this would be something that I would like to feature in my magazine as I would have a small film section.

I would also have fashion adverts as well as brands that are of a similar style to my design of the magazine and also the artists in it. I would include brands such as Urban Outfitters, Topshop, Topman, rokit.com, vintage stores such as Farah Vintage, Beyond Retro and marketplace on ASOS. Using product placements allows my readers and potential readers to be drawn in because they are based on things that my target market is interested in. Hopefully Waddell Media LTD would be aware of this and they would want to publish my indie/alternative music magazine.