Music Magazines - Target Audiences

The target audiences of music magazines vary widely depending on the particular publication. However, it is generally the case that weekly music magazines such as NME and Kerrang aim to appeal to a younger readership of students aged 16-25, whereas many monthly magazines such as Q, Mojo and Uncut are targeted towards an

older audience of individuals aged 30-50. The target demographic for NME is predominantly male, something which becomes immediately apparent when viewing the advertisements featured promoting products habitually targeted at at young males by companies such as Lynx, Wilkinson Sword, Adidas Sportswear, Strongbow, etc. These males are generally aged between 16 and 25, with an averageage of 18; this demographic is signified by the post-modern, humorous tone which many of the articles feature, something which is not as predominant within magazines targeted at a mature audience such as Mojo and Uncut. 94% of NME readers utilise the internet, which explains the substantial success of

accompanying website NME.com.

Music magazines which include elements of fashion, such as Clash, Fused and Dazed & Confused, have a slightly older average readership age of around 24-25, and readers are generally equally passionate about music and fashion.

Readers of music magazines have a great enthusiasm for musical culture, and this is generally their main passion. However, advertising within these publications is highly profitable and generates a large amount of revenue for both advertisers and publishers.

Below are examples of the typical appearance that a music magazine reader would take on.

The History of Music Magazines

The music magazine is amongst the most dynamic and thriving sectors within the publishing industry and, by definition, must modernise and transform with the constant revolution of the musical climate. Thus, the journey from the emergence of the music magazine to its current position has been a thoroughly changeable one.

The very first music magazine to be published is not certain and cannot be ascertained for sure. However, it is believed that such publications existed as early as the eighteenth century. The first prominent music magazine to be published in the United Kingdom was Melody Maker in 1926, focusing primarily on Jazz music coverage, an exceedingly popular genre at the time, the magazine rapidly became Britain's most popular weekly music magazine and remained so for almost half a century. The magazine was targeted at musicians/budding musicians, and is known to be the first weekly music magazine in existence. Melody maker was published by Time Warner subsidiary IPC Media and throughout the years, boasted highly influential music journalists such as Max Jones and John Peel amongst its staff.

1952 saw the emergence of NME (New Musical Express) magazine, also published by IPC Media, a magazine focused strongly on introducing new alternative music to its readers, with an increasingly youthful target audience. Due to Melody Maker being slow to feature coverage of the increasingly prominent rock 'n' roll genre in the 1970s, NME became Britain's most popular weekly music magazine and Melody maker lost some of its previously enjoyed success. As a result of this, the two magazines later became 'rivals'. In 2001, Melody Maker could no longer maintain a healthy readership and merged with New Musical Express.

For a younger audience interested in pop music, magazines such as Top of the Pops (1995-present) and Smash Hits (1978-2006) were available, experiencing considerable success during the 1980s.

Presently, the number of music magazines in existence is the largest that it has been in history, with several music magazines to suit every sub-genre imaginable. Despite numerous set backs with the mounting popularity of the internet in the early nineties, overall it is now apparent that the digital age has not been a hindrance to the music magazine industry, but has helped to bring several music magazines into light. The internet has also aided music magazine publishers as it also allows accessibility with people being able to read articles online and thus decide to purchase the magazine itself. The design of magazines has also been enhanced greatly due to editing technology such as photoshop, as is evident upon viewing a recent cover of Clash magazine (above).

In conclusion, the music magazine industry is one which we will no doubt see continue to thrive throughout the 21st century, with the process of distribution and consumption constantly being aided by the advances in technology being made daily.

Media Institutions - IPC Media

IPC Media is also one of the leading magazine publishers in the United Kingdom, currently owning five separate publishing divisions and selling over 350 million magazines per year. IPC originally came into light in the 1950s and has continued to dominate the magazine industry since.

Amongst several different variations of magazines, IPC publishes two of Britain's most successful music magazines: NME and Uncut.

With the evolution of the internet and constantly improving technology, IPC released music magazines now have the opportunity to thrive technologically aswell as in print, with NME's website rapidly becoming one of the most successful and widely utilised music websites, and a news section being constantly updated. This has proven to be of inestimable value for IPC media as a great amount of interest is generated through this.

As IPC is owned by a media conglomerate, the use of convergence may be a valuable tool for Time Warner, allowing the institution to promote interest in its several products via its music magazine division.

Media Institutions - Bauer Media

In terms of music magazines in the United Kingdom, a major competitor is the Bauer Media Group, a private publishing company based in Hamburg, Germany. The Bauer Publishing group comprises of 282 magazines internationally in 15 countries and counts leading British music magazines Q and Kerrang amongst these publications.

Aswell as magazines, Bauer Media also branches out to own numerous radio stations and television channels, namely Box Music Television in the

UK. The company was founded in 1875 by Heinrich Bauer and currently remains a family-owned company.

Q magazine was first published in 1986, aiming to set a higher standard of modern music writing and photography. In recent years, the Q empire has expanded to include a popular radio station and television channel. With the emergence of the digital age, the magazine's website has expanded and the Q empire continuously creates substantial revenue for Bauer Media.

Kerrang magazine, first published in 1981, is a weekly rock music magazine which focuses on heavy metal music. Other Kerrang products include a radio station, a television channel, the Kerrang awards and a Kerrang tour. Kerrang magazine has a circulation of 134,000 and is one of the largest companies owned by Bauer Media.

Main Task - Backwards Plan

• Completion of Blog: Monday 27th April
• Evaluation Completed: Friday 25th April
• Completion of Main Task: Monday 28th March
• Layout and Editing Completed: Wednesday 23rd March
• Pictures Edited: Wednesday 9th March
• Text Completed: Monday 7th March
• Planning and Research Completed: Friday 4th March

Preliminary Task

Initial Ideas for Music Magazine

When considering which style of music magazine to create, the overall idea of a simplistic, sleek and streamlined music magazine focused on innovation and originality appealed to me greatly. With this style of magazine I wish to appeal both to a male and female audience in equal measures.

The idea of a guitar-based music magazine originally appealed to me, due largely to the current success of the genre. The magazine would be similar in many ways to NME, but different in design and overall target audience. The magazine would also feature several articles aiming to guide those who play the guitar/wish to work in the music industry, with other features including 'best guitar' articles, etc.

The second idea which occurred to me was to create an innovative, cutting edge music magazine with stylistic elements and a sleek layout. The magazine would feature several different sub-genres of indie music rather than simply guitar music and feature primarily 'up and coming' artists. The magazine would be aimed at individualistic young people between the ages of 16 and 25 who are passionate about the discovery of new music.

After great consideration I chose to create the second proposed idea, as I believe that it is something which does not currently exist within the mainstream magazine industry and therefore would be more of a challenge to produce, in turn allowing me to learn and to enhance my creative thinking and design skills.

Analysis of Clash Magazine

Clash is a widely favoured music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom with a circulation of around 40,000 issues. Featuring many stylistically unique elements and often incorporating fashion elements aswell as musical features into its content, Clash may be described as a 'fashionable music magazine'.

Clash magazine does not adhere to any particular genre of music, and often alternates between featuring rock bands such as The Dead Weather, hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z and Kanye West, pop acts such as Duffy, and electronic acts such as Daft Punk (below). Thus, Clash appeals to an audience with a varied taste in music.

Aesthetically, the magazine's design is simple, modern and features an array of bright colours to capture the potential reader's attention. Several badges, "3 Free Songs!" also intend to gain attention. Inside, the magazine's colour pallete predominantly consists of black and white and illustrations of artists featured give an artistic feel the the magazine.

Clash magazine aims to accurately inform its readers of the quality of up and coming artists, aswell as innovation and style. Features such as 'Ones To Watch' (below) are habitual, and the publication intends to be in depth and independent with its opinions.

Taking into consideration the aforementioned points, the perceived target audience for this publication would perhaps be individuals who are interested in a wide spectrum of musical influences, aswell as style and an aesthetically pleasing layout and structure. The magazine also regularly features sections such as 'Inside Knowledge' (below), signifying that a wide portion of its readers are themselves interested in embarking upon a career in the music industry. This would lead us to conclude that the target audience would be around student age 18-25. Unlike NME, the magazine aims to be gender neutral and features advertisments aimed at both males and females.

Analysis of NME Magazine

NME (New Musical Express) is a highly popular weekly music magazine published in the United Kingdom by IPC Media, one of the leading magazine publishers in Great Britain. IPC Media is a subsidiary of Time Inc. whose parent company is leading media conglomerate Time Warner. The magazine itself focuses on the genre of rock and its various sub-genres, whilst seeking to introduce innovative, up and coming bands and artists to its readers.

NME was originally published as a music Newspaper in 1952, taking on the form of a magazine in the 1980s, and has enjoyed enduring success since.

In contrast to many other well-established music magazines, NME often features ground-breaking new artists rather than those with an already well established fan base, as the audience predominantly seeks a world of music which is continuously revolutionised by a constant stream of new artists. This is exemplified below, as NME recently featured psych-rock band Warpaint on the cover of the publication just one week after the release of their debut album 'The Fool'.

Although those who purchase the publication may vary in terms of age, gender, class and status, etc; the perceived target audience for NME is likely to be predominantly male and between the ages of 16-25. This is reflected within the male targeted advertising of products such as Lynx, Wilkinson Sword (below) and sports companies such as Adidas, aswell as the habitual musical advertisements.

Like the music featured, NME also regularly breaks the convention of several columns with images secondary to the text, and images often bleed out rather than concisely fit into frames. This correlates with the youthful, exuberant nature of the magazine and captures the young audiences' attention. Until Krissi Murison, previously music editor at NYLON magazine in New York, was appointed as editor of the publication in mid 2009, the colour of the famous 'NME' logo was unchangingly red, the colour scheme often revolving around this. Upon her arrival as editor, Murison led the magazine to adopt a modernised aesthetic, opting for a more simplistic layout and a logo which changed colour from week to week - often bright and striking in order to attract potential readers.

The contents page of the magazine also follows a simple, clean style, featuring images of only the most important features within.

The Codes and Conventions of a Contents Page

Delving beyond the front cover, Music Magazines habitually feature certain conventions. Some of these conventions include:

• Contents PageThe contents page often includes several images of Bands/Artists, the most prominent image being that of the Artist featured on the front cover, as is visible with the example above (a recent issue of Clash Magazine). The contents also commonly includes a concise list of the Bands and Artists which appear within. In this case, the lists are separated into a 'Features' section and a 'Regulars' section.

However, many Music Magazines may choose to take a contemporary, simplistic approach to creating a contents page, which is illustrated in this example (The Fly Magazine, January 2011). Through the utilisation of only one image and a colour palette of just orange, black and white, one is immediately drawn to the image and the page takes on a minimalist, stylish feel whilst remaining informational and practical.

Upon creating a contents page, I will take each of these examples, amongst others, into consideration and endeavour to design an original, modernistic contents page which adheres to the style of magazine which I aim to create.

The Forms and Conventions of the front page of a Music Magazine

There are several eminent music magazines in heavy rotation throughout the United Kingdom, with those which are most prominent reaching circulation heights of approximately thirty to fifty thousand copies per issue. Despite the existence of an endless stream of musical genres and sub-genres, and several music magazines devoted to them, the codes and conventions of music magazines do not vary greatly, and generally persist with a similar generic formula for each publication.

Some of these codes and conventions include:

• The masthead of a magazine (title) in a clear, bold font at the top of the page, some well known publications such as 'Q' magazine may choose to show simply a logo as the masthead, as upon viewing this logo one is immediately aware of the publication to which it belongs due to the established nature of the magazine.

• A main image, generally of an artist or band, with some exceptions for instrument based magazines such as 'Guitar'. The artist is customarily well-established with a firmly rooted fan base in order to generate higher rotation for the publication. However, magazines which actively seek innovation within the music industry such as 'NME' often select up and coming artists, due to the fact that this is what the target audience of the product seeks.


• A price/barcode or, if the magazine is a free one such as 'The Fly', a clear badge/text stating that this is the case.

• Month/issue number.


• Sub titles: bands/artists featured within, in order to draw one's attention to the product.


• A description of the magazine itself, ie: "New Musical Express" (NME), "Britain's Biggest Music Magazine" (Q).


• Lists of bands/artists featured.
  

• Badges "Free CD!" in order to catch the attention of the reader.

• Thumbnail images to give the potential reader an idea of what is featured within the magazine.