WHICH KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MAY DISTRIBUTE

MY MAGAZINE AND WHY?By Daniel Clipperton

BAUER MEDIA GROUP About- This corporation is based within Europe, and has assets within a range of media products including 50 radio broadcasting stations, 600 magazines and 400 digital brands. They are known for publishing the music based magazines Q, MOJO and KERRANG. The Bauer Media corporation describe themselves as having a range of persuasive brands and a personal connection with their audience.

The advantage of distributing U with the Bauer Media Group is that they have a range of different successful magazines in their portfolio which include Q, Mojo, Kerrang, Empire and Heat, showcasing their intense knowledge of the magazine market industry. When focusing upon the music magazines, which they publish Q, MOJO and Kerrang, it shows that they publish a range of magazines with different features. If we look at the issue frequency Q and Mojo are released upon a monthly basis whereas Kerrang is released weekly, also they appeal to different audiences the age bracket for Q and Mojo is relatively older 30+ compared to the adolescent bracket that Kerrang is appealing towards. It is clear to see that the Bauer Media Group do not currently publish any Indie alternative magazines and therefore there is space within the market which my magazine could fill. Furthermore if the Bauer corporation were to publish my magazine they would expand there audience to a wider group of people, which they do not currently appeal towards, helping them to increase profits. U magazine is aimed towards a similar age bracket to that of Kerrang, therefore relating that this age bracket is interested in magazine medium, yet there is not a style to appeal towards the alternative individual. Thus this is the hole in the Bauer Media portfolio that U would fill. A possible issue within publishing U magazine with the Bauer Media Group is that they don’t publish any other Indie/Alternative brands, so there is a lack of evidence as to whether it will be popular with the public/their readership, meaning they may not want to invest their time or money in U without a guaranteed success. Another issue is that we are aiming towards a similar age bracket to that of Kerrang and therefore members of their readership may be dissuaded from purchasing U due to their loyalty. U provides the opportunity for the Bauer Group to develop it further through their larger digital assets, they could possibly produce a radio show or television programme helping them to reach a wider audience. There are few big radio or television indie broadcasters, so this would allow Bauer to corner an undeveloped section of the market.

TIME INC UK About- Time Inc. UK is a sub-section of Time Incorporate, which produces digital media and magazines within the UK, it is known for its 60 archetypal brands including the magazines NME, Country Life and House & Hound, which are available upon their multi-media platforms.

Currently Time Inc. UK publish two music based magazines NME and Uncut, with NME aiming towards males in the age bracket of 17-30, with a mean age of 25, whereas Uncut aims towards 25-45 year olds with a mean age of 37. Uncut is a monthly publication, whereas NME has become a free weekly publication, since 2015 due to poor sales. The advantage of distributing with Time Inc. UK is that they already produce an Indie magazine in the form of NME, although it is published weekly whereas U is going to be published on a monthly basis. As Time Inc. already have an indie readership, U would be ideal for them, to provide their viewers with a more in-depth look back over the months music, without removing from NME’s readership. Both the magazines which Time Inc. produce currently are aimed towards an older more mature audience whereas mine magazine, U, is aimed towards a younger demographic, so therefore publishing my magazine would help Time Inc. to reach a wider audience and filling a space in the market. There are some disadvantages with publishing my magazine with Time Inc. UK they predominately focus there marketing/brands towards more of an adult demographic, so therefore my magazine would be relatively out of place due to its teenage target audience. An problem is that Time Inc. UK already publish an Indie magazine, so they would probably be reluctant to have another magazine that appeals to the same genre, as it is likely that their readership will continue to purchase NME rather than a new less sophisticated brand, rather than an additional one which they do not cover.

It would be advantageous for Time Inc. UK to publish my magazine as it would allow them to branch into a younger audience with different interests and brands which they could incorporate. It would allows them to produce a magazine, not other institution has a indie magazine aimed at a younger demographic, cornering the market.

IMMEDIATE MEDIA CO About- Immediate Media Co is a combination of Origin publishing, Magicalia and BBC Magazines that formed in November of 2011. It currently publishes 24 different magazines including the Radio Times, Top Gear and BBC music magazine. Their biggest asset is the Radio Times which accounts for Around 60% of the companies total profit.

The music magazines that Immediate Media Co currently publishes are Top of the Pops, The Radio Times and BBC Music Magazine, The Radio Times appeals to a much older audience to that of U magazine with an average age of around 51 years old, appealing to both males and females and is published every week. Whereas BBC Music Magazine has a readership with the average age of 32 with a predominately a male readership and it is published every month.

There are various advantages with publishing with Immediate Media Co, they currently only publish a small minority of music magazines that appeal to an older smaller demographic, so therefore U magazine would be completely unique compared to anything else that they publish appealing to a different genre widening the audience that the appeal towards. Furthermore U is aimed at a younger target audience compared to all the other music magazines that they produced, that are for the more mature adult, so it would allow them to connect with a wider younger audience. As Immediate Media do not currently publish a wide range of music magazines, they may not be interested in publishing my magazine as they have no interest in the development of their music magazine portfolio past their current classical themed magazine. Furthermore they currently only aim their magazines towards a very young audience and older more mature audience, so they may not be interested in developing their portfolio to accommodate teenagers as well. Choosing to publish my magazine would be extremely beneficial to the Immediate Media group as they would be able to branch into an extensive age bracket, which would provide them with additional revenue. Plus those who are drawn into purchasing U magazine, then may be encouraged into further purchases of other brands published by Immediate Media. Immediate Media includes an extensive range of different alternative brands that would appeal to the teenage indie market, so through publicising U magazine they could increase the readership of their other brands, such as Papercraft and Sky at Night.

CHOSEN DISTRIBUTOR After careful consideration and researching current distributors of music magazines within the UK, I have decided that my magazine would be best distributed by the Bauer Media Group. I feel that this organisation would be best suited as it does not currently produce any magazines that fit within my chosen genre, so it will help them to corner a new audience/age bracket. Furthermore they have the largest successful portfolio of magazines across all the companies of the ones which I researched. Showcasing their exceptional ability at marketing, so therefore I am confident they will be able to help make my magazine a success.

For my second choice of media distributor, I have chosen Immediate Media, although the majority of their current magazines appeal to an older audience, meaning my product not fit within their portfolios style but, my magazine would help them to branch out and reach a younger demographic, as they are currently neglecting a large proportion of the populations interests. The reason why I have placed Immediate Media as my second choice is because it currently only publishes a small quantity of music magazines, so it clearly has more interests within its other genres. So my magazine may not receive as beneficial marketing and circulation as with other distributors. Finally, I decide against Time Inc. UK distributing my media product as they currently already produce a Indie/Alternative magazine, NME, so it would be less advantageous for them, as they already cater to this style of people. Therefore my magazine could possible be over looked by the members of their readership, who are avid readers of NME.