Information on Magazine Publishers

IPC Media –

 Founded in the UK in 1968, is it one of the biggest publishers in the UK and worldwide and thought to reach 100 million consumers in print and 80 million online every month. Now known as Time Inc., it has a wide portfolio, with over 90 brands worldwide in print, as well as online and mobile platforms. It divides itself into three sections; Connect (which targets the mass market of women), Southbank (targeting upmarket women) and the Inspire (targeting the mass market of men.  Notable brands include NME, Now, Look, Ideal Home and Marie Claire in the UK and Time, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated and Life in the US. Time Inc. UK also includes “experiences”, such as the NME Awards, Wallpaper Handmade Exhibition and LOOK Interactive edition. This range of products, franchises and events is designed to connect further with audiences and go beyond the magazine, across different brands and platforms.

Bauer –

Bauer is part of the Bauer Media Group, which was founded in 1875, and is estimated to reach over 22 million UK consumers every week through magazines, radio and TV. It’s first published titles in the UK included Bella, Take a Break and TV listings magazines, all launched in the early 1990s, before it purchased and became the owner of brands like Q, Kerrang and Empire. Bauer is a multi-platform publisher, producing magazines in print and online as well as owning radio and TV channel brands like 4music and Absolute Radio. Categories include women’s and men’s weekly magazines for the mass market and upmarket (e.g. Closer and Grazia, Car and Classic Car Weekly), as well as titles for specific interests and hobbies (e.g. Country Walking, Bird Watching, Match!). It also uses events for its brands to create further interest from readers – for example, Kiss Radio has seasonal parties playing music that their target audience listen to (mostly mainstream chart music as well as “Kisstory”, which plays “old skool anthems” from recent years).

Conde-nast –

Attracting more than 164 million consumers, Conde-nast produces “highest-quality content for the most influential audiences”. It was founded in 1909 and is thought to be the first producer of “class publication” magazines; magazines that target a specific social group, hobby or interest, rather than trying to create a large a readership as possible. Magazine categories include Fashion and Lifestyle, Home and Garden, Bridal, Golf, Food, Travel, Technology and Culture. Its brands are targeted at a more upmarket audience, with its most famous brands including Vogue, Vanity Fair and Wired. In 2011 it became the first major publisher to deliver subscriptions for the iPad, as well as launching Conde Nast Entertainment to develop film, television and digital video programming. It’s College of Fashion and Design is based in central London, and claims to prepare students to work in all areas of the fashion industry.

Overview of the Magazine Industry

Overview of the magazine industry

 In Britain, there are over 8000 titles published, with 1.4 billion magazines being sold every year and consumers spending £2 billion on magazines annually. It is estimated that 85% of the UK population reads a magazine.

 All magazines can be categorized as follows:

• Consumer (general and specialist) – sold in newsagents and available online. They make up the majority of magazine titles on sale and are split into general and specialist. General titles are to entertain and inform (e.g. Radio Times, Glamour, Loaded) and specialist titles are aimed at a specific hobby or interest (e.g. Empire, Salmon and Trout, Shooting UK)

• Business/trade/professional – for people at work

• Customer magazines – given out by organisations as a form of marketing

• Staff magazines – used by companies to inform their staff

• Newspaper supplements – free as part of a daily or Sunday paper

• Part works – a set number of issues that build up to create an “encyclopaedia” on a certain topic

• Academic journals – discussion of arcane topics at university level

 The magazine industry has grown over the last few decades. In 1980 there were 1,383 titles available to consumers, whereas now there are around 3,200. It is thought that an average of 500 new magazines have been launched every year for the past decade, but only 3 out of 10 titles survive in the market for more than 4 years. In 2008, advertisers spent £745 million in magazines.

 The biggest consumer magazine publishers are Bauer Publishing and Time Warner (formerly known as IPC Media), with Bauer having a 25% share of the UK market and Time with 20%.

 Magazines are thought to be “ephemeral”, meaning they only last for a short time. This can be said for every category, not just fashion or celebrity magazines, as information and ideas are constantly changing and evolving. They tend to be more successful if they pick up on the spirit of the times, for example, featuring the latest celebrity news or advertising the latest trendy clothes. 

 Whilst many magazines tend to follow the ideas, culture and ways of society, some may try and challenge this and do something different. For example, a fashion magazine may only feature clothes from small unknown brands rather than big well-known labels, or a music magazine may only feature artists of a certain genre of music rather than feature a wide variety.

Textual Analysis