Ali Butt

Task 7 – Choose a magazine that caters for music in a similar genre to the one you would like to do for your coursework other than an IPC title.

The chosen music magazine is ‘Vibe’ due to various reasons which will be explained, looking at the similarities and differences with the ‘Vibe’ and the newly designed ‘Beatz’ magazines.

Who Publishes ‘Vibe’ magazine?

It was originally founded by musician producer Quincy Jones and launched Vibe in 1993 in partnership with Time Inc. the magazine was owned by the two for three years until it was sold to miller publishing then in a short period of time it was then sold by miller publishing to spin magazine. The magazine was owned by Spin for many years until it was taken over by the Wicks Group of Companies in 2006. Furthermore, it was announced the Vibe was shutting down production in summer 2009, however a private equity investment fund InterMedia Partners purchased Vibe magazine and added Uptown magazine to Vibe Company.

Whether publisher can be applied to ‘Beatz’ magazine?

The company started back in 1993 as Vibe was launched by Quincy Jones in partnership with Time Inc. Now the company publishes a magazine and operates VIBE.com which features news, blogs, galleries and music. It has become a media company in operating video-on-demand channel and mobile VIBE which features music news, album reviews, polls, trivia, underground buzz and mobile content. These entire features would be used in the Beatz magazine in advertising and marketing of the magazine.

The publisher can be applied to the ‘Beatz’ magazine in many different ways; firstly the front cover has always given a creative direction such as portraying R & B singer Mary J. Blige with many articles covering her career journey which would be very insightful to the reader who is inspired by her. There has been

Ali Butt

non-photograph cover as illustration by singer Aaliyah, who had the very first appearance given by Alvaro. There are many famous and iconic celebrities had have appeared on the front cover of Vibe such as Brandy, Snoog Dogg, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Amerie, Jennifer Lopez, Keyshia Cole, Janet Jackson, Lil Wayne, The Fugees, Eminem, T.I, R.Kelly, Michael Jackson, Ciara and rap legend Tupac Shakur gave an detailed insight story revealing important details about his non-fatal 1994 NYC shooting and died two years before in Las Vegas, Nevada. The various celebrities can be applied quite easily to the Beatz magazine as the magazine keeps up the hip hop culture making it more engaging and interactive as well as the information presented in a better matter making the key features eye-catching for the reader.

The content of the Vibe cover many sections including back pages of 20 questions, the Boomshots column about various artists such as Reggae and Caribbean music by Rob Kenner, Revolutions music reviews and Vibe Confidential, a celebrity gossip column and also the Next profiled upcoming artists. These featured segments would be easily implemented in the Beatz magazine as it gives more structure to the magazine making it easier to reader to find out certain information. Also the vibe dedicates several pages to photo spreads displaying high-end designer clothing as well as sportwear by urban labels such as Rocawear and Fubu. This would be hugely beneficial to have in the Beatz magazine as it would meet the needs of the target audience. Furthermore in the Vibe there are constant use of models of all ethnicities featured in the pages keeping styling and fashion at the forefront of the magazine’s identity which was introduced by the former editor Emil Wilbikin in 2000. The Beatz magazine would also include model as fashionable iconic making it more attractive to the audience.

The layouts of the two magazines has some similarities and differences, firstly the use of colour in VIBE predominantly uses very strong and bright bold colours such as red, yellow, white and black which would be used on Beatz magazine. This symbolise the type of personality the magazine is targeted towards. The

Also the Vibe magazine advertises online, covering over 25 sites and subscribers receive Vibe Magazine monthly. The magazine has approximately 863,000 readers. This would be very useful source of advertising for the Beatz magazine which can also offer promotions in helping to sell the magazine in shops and online further. The Vibe offers subscription for two years for $14.95 online, viewers can benefit from saving 75% off the subscription offer which would be something that can be introduced in the Beatz magazine encouraging and engaging the viewers to sign up and being more successful due to the promotions. Beatz would find it beneficial in setting up a website which would engage people worldwide. This would increase the number of viewers reading information and gossip online. This would be useful in accompanying the Beatz magazine as it concentrates on Hip-Hop genre which is hugely influential to

Ali Butt

teenagers-young adults around the world. The majority of the teenagers enjoy listening to hip-hop music and therefore, by creating a website purely focusing on this specific genre would be good in engaging and persuading them to become members by subscribing on the website. Furthermore, Vibe has the online magazine which is also used to promote other magazines which will therefore be more profitability from the advertising costs such as Blackvoices, Singersroom.com, The Huffington Post Entertainment and Ballerstatus. Vibe issues quarterly with double covers with a larger online presence which was aided by the Vibe Lifestyle Network, a group of entertainment/music websites under the umbrella of vibe brand.

What target audiences does it cater for?

The vibe magazine’s target audience is predominantly young, urban followers of hip hop culture. The celebrities on the magazine covers are usually quite famous as it is a popular magazine. The audience tends to be teenagers-young adults. Most teenagers/ young adults are interested in hip hop genre as its ‘cool’ and music is upbeat. The vibe reported the circulation had records of 818,000 in 2009.

What other music magazines does it publish?

There are other magazines online that VIBE.com promotes which are Singersroom.com, The Huffington Post, Blackvoices, Hello Beautiful and Ballerstatus.

VIBE chronicles the celebrities, sounds, fashion, lifestyle, new media, and business born from urban music. As an authoritative voice, VIBE creates trends as much as it records them. It covers music, educates its readers, and gives back to the community. VIBE serves as a portal to a growing young, trendsetting, multicultural audience. As excellent journalists and innovative marketers, VIBE is the voice of urban music and culture. VIBE provides a democratic digital experience where users are encouraged to provide content. At VIBE print and online will seamlessly relate.

Vibe Lifestyle Network- 15 million unique users per monthMultiple channelsMusicSportsLifestyle EntertainmentFashionVixen Collective

I will be looking into the “Vibe” music magazine because it publishes R&B/Hip Hop artists and give latest info on what artists doing what and upcoming events e.g. tours, gigs, etc… For example: Vibe Lifestyle Network is the parent company of VIBE Magazine and VIBE.COM and is the premier destination for the hip-hop generation. Vibe Lifestyle network represents over 25 sites and reaches over 19

Ali Butt

million unique users per month. The new Vibe is the premier destination for urban music, entertainment, culture and lifestyle for the inspirational 18-34 year old. Source: http://www.vibe.com/about/

VIBE chronicles the celebrities, sounds, fashion, lifestyle, new media, and business born from urban music. As an authoritative voice, VIBE creates trends as much as it records them. It covers music, educates its readers, and gives back to the community. VIBE serves as a portal to a growing young, trendsetting, multicultural audience. As excellent journalists and innovative marketers, VIBE is the voice of urban music and culture. VIBE provides a democratic digital experience where users are encouraged to provide content. At VIBE print and online will seamlessly relate. Source: http://www.vibelifestylenetwork.com/

Furthermore, I believe that “Vibe Lifestyle Network” would be an appropriate publisher for my magazine because as well as their well known reputation, one their published music magazines. “Vibe Lifestyle Network” has an audience composed of passionate, engaged and open minded music fans driven to continually discover new music – and to use this lust for discovery to influence their friends. The audience is split into a ratio of 25% female and 75% male which will more or less be the same ratio for my magazine because it is in the genre of music.