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.