2. IPC MEDIA
IPC Media is one of the leading of both consumer magazine
and digital publishers in the UK. It was formed in 1963 and
currently produces over 60 iconic media brands.
IPC Media is known for the New Musical Express (NME)
music magazine, which has been going for over 50 years.
NME’s genre is advertised as rock which attracts a wide
audience of both mixed age, gender and target groups. The
type of musicians included are bands like Kings of Leon, The
Killers and Arctic Monkeys.
IPC Media also publish Guitar & Bass, a magazine dedicated
to guitars rather than bands. This music magazine is also
heavily involved in the rock genre.
3. BAUER MEDIA
Bauer Media is Europe’s largest privately owned publishing
group. The Bauer Publishing Group is a worldwide media
empire offering over 230 magazines in 15 countries.
They publish Q, the UK’s biggest selling monthly music
magazine; MOJO, the world’s largest UK music magazine and
Kerrang!; the UK music magazine devoted to rock music. All
3 of these are extremely popular and all focus on different
types of rock music.
Although Bauer Media would be useful in terms of widely
advertising and distributing my magazine, there isn’t a gap in
their market for another rock music magazine as they already
publish 3 popular brands. Compared to other publishers, I
don’t think they would be interested in taking on my
magazine.
4. BBC MAGAZINE
BBC Magazine provides a varied and wide range of
magazines that target many different audiences. The music
magazines they have published include It’s HOT!, Top Of The
Pop and Classical Music Magazine. Top Of The Pops is
generally aimed at 11 – 15 year olds interested in pop music.
It’s HOT! used to be published and aimed at 9 – 13 year old
girls, featuring articles about pop music, TV, movies and
celebrity gossip.
Due to the difference between the genres of music magazine
sold by BBC Magazine and the genre of my music magazine,
I don’t think they would be interested in publishing
Download. Although it means there is a gap in their market
for a rock music magazine, the difference between target
audience in terms of age, gender and music taste is just too
big.
5. EMAP
Emap (East Midlands Allied Press) was established and
founded in 1947. It attracts a wide audience by having
specific publications for each genre – ranging from nursing,
retail and media.
Emap published Smash Hits, a music magazine focused on
pop music and aimed at children and young teens. It was
published in the UK and ran from 1978 to 2006, during which
time it was very popular.
Emap would not be a suitable publisher to produce
Download as again, its previous publications have been too
varied for it to have built up a good audience who could buy
my music magazine.
6. PUBLISHING
The publisher that I would use to publish my magazine would
be IPC Media. The reason for this is that they are one of the
biggest media institutions in the UK and already publish
magazines which are similar to Download, but not too similar.
Download features similar bands and articles to NME but is
aimed at a younger generation, and more specifically, punk
rock music rather than all rock and indie music like NME.
As IPC Media is such a well known and leading company,
there is more advertisement options and it should be both
easier and cheaper to advertise with help from such a big
media institution.
7. PITCH
To: IPC Media
I would like to put forward the idea for a new music magazine
dedicated to the genre of punk rock. The magazine will be called
‘Download’ and is aimed at 15+ year olds. It will be sold biweekly
for £2.99. ‘Download’ magazine brings a new look to punk rock
music and will be featuring the biggest and best upcoming bands
of the genre. The target audience are teenagers in education or
jobs, meaning they can afford to pay £2.99 a fortnight.
‘Download’ magazine will feature a number of recurring articles
such as an advice column for teenagers from the lead singer of
popular rock band Paramore, Hayley Williams; a feature on the best
upcoming bands; a list of concerts playing the following month
and competitions. The magazine will also feature articles on the
current popular bands and news about them, for example new
albums, singles or tour dates.
‘Download’ magazine has been created to appeal to males and
8. PITCH
females who are interested in punk rock music. It will be sold in
newsagents like WHSmiths, supermarkets such as Tesco and
Sainsbury’s and also available to order online, as market research
has shown that our target audience spend a lot of their free time on
the Internet.
‘Download’ will be advertised in a number of places: billboards, TV
adverts and popular social networking sites such as Twitter and
Facebook. The first issue will feature a mix of popular, well known
bands and upcoming bands. I think this will appeal to a wide
audience and I hope you will take on and publish this magazine.
Amber Slater, editor of ‘Download’ magazine
