Industry Research

After studying music magazines in detail I aim to look at the music industry itself and the companies behind the music press. Untill recently EMAP publishing have been the industry leaders in providing access to the biggest number of music magazines and brand platforms, such as websites and radio stations. In the later half of the year EMAP were bought by one of the worlds biggest media empires overing over 230 magazines in 15 countries as well as online, TV and radio stations.


"Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies collected around two main divisions – Magazines and Radio - widely recognised and rewarded as being industry innovators. "




Bauer media make a point in recognising that their business is built on personal relationships that are formed with their audiences through their multi media brands. These relationships are built apon engaging readers and stimulating their needs as consumers. "Our strategy is to connect audiences with excellent content through our broad multi-touch point brand platforms, wherever and whenever and however they want"
Bauer media is the sister company to HBauer publishing that own the publishing rights to many other infamous magazines across the globe. Bauer is the largest privately owned publisher in Europe, publishing in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Additionally, Bauer publishes in the United States and Mexico.

The Bauer Publishing Group was founded in Hamburg 1875 by Johann Bauer. Under the management of four generations of the Bauer family, The Bauer Publishing Group has grown from its humble beginnings as a printing house into a worldwide publishing empire comprising 238 magazines worldwide in 15 countries, as well as TV and radio stations.
Bauer entered the U.K. scene with Bella magazine in 1987. Introducing a new format that mixes previously unseen real life editorial and exciting service features, Bella made a significant impact on the women's market. The company gained attention again in 1990 with the launch of Take a Break magazine. Touching the lives of millions of women with its unique blend of upfront real life and competitions, the title quickly became market leader. Despite strong competition, Take a Break has maintained its no.1 status, currently selling over 1 million copies a week.

The 1990's saw H. Bauer further strengthen its portfolio with the launch of TVQuick in 1991, that's life! in 1995 and TVChoice in 1999. Together with sixteen successful puzzle titles within the stable, H. Bauer has always had a major presence in the UK magazine market with a considerable market share. At the beginning of 2008, Bauer expanded its portfolio further by acquiring Emap’s Radio and Consumer Magazine divisions and changed the name of these new UK businesses to Bauer Media.
With the recent addition of the former Emap Consumer Media titles, Bauer is now the largest consumer magazine publishing company in the UK, playing a primary role in the Women’s Weeklies, Women’s Interest, Women’s Lifestyle, TV Listings, Puzzles, Men’s Lifestyle, Music & Film and Specialist magazine markets

Magazine Case Study

My research conducted so far can only take me to a certain point in regards to generalising about the music press and how they use certain conventions to represent specific ideas. To get a more in depth look about how magazines more widely target niche audiences or on the other hand are able to appeal to the masses, I am going to do an in depth case study of Q music magazine and analyse the techniques that have been used throughout the magazine.


Background and Ownership

Q magazine started circulation in 1986 and prided itself on providing a monthly production that was of a higher standard to the main music press in terms of photography and printing. Q started out under a different name, "The modern guide to music" but was later changed as the press company felt a one letter title would be more prominent on newstands. Q magazine has created an identity for itself in the modern world with much of its content being used intertexually within other brands. The brands creators set about making a magazine that held extensive reviews and became devoted to music interviews with popular music artists. This is one of the reasons Q magazine is still one of the top music magazines around today, with a circulation of around 130,179.

In the music world, Q is well known for introducing the 'spine line' that came about after the editor decided to put a line on the spine of the book that had relevance to the content. This technique is still being used today. It is stated to be the Uk's best selling music magazine and herald a bold new creative vision widening its parameters to include the world outside music. Seeing life through the lens of music, it draws references from the world of sport, comedy, film and even politics.

Q is owned by Bauer/ Emap who also own the publishing rights to Kerrang, Mojo and Empire.Q also reached out to other media formats such as radio, Tv and internet. Q radio was launched in 2008 and is known in the industry for playing almost entirely indie rock music. As well as the radio Q music station was launched alongside the magazine and, again, is the front runner in promoting indie style music. As well as this, Q also holds an annual music awards title the Q awards. By having the brand spread our across many different media platforms it is almost impossible for audiences to escape the brand name and will be come into contact with it in some way or another.

When talking about audience Q's readers are aged between 18 and 35 years. They are Open minded experience seekers, the Q audience don’t define themselves by the music they listen to. Music is an important passion, but their love of music will never be to the detriment of their other passions, such as film, sport and comedy

Style/Layout/Mode of Address

Q consists of approximately 190 A4 pages produced in glossy, full colour paper. The £3.90 price suggests that this magazine is more likely to be targeted towards the more mature college students and adults, however because of the monthly releases and not weekly, £3.90 would be sustainable for a teenage audience. The cover does not follow the expected magazine conventions but instead focuses on one main image with very little balance between image and text ratio. The image focuses on linking the main headin of the magazine to the image and creating a sense of continuity within the magazine. The image is of the band 'Kings of Leon,' readers become aware of this due to the boldly titled band name taking the majority of focus in the center of the frint cover. The stances taken by the band and the shards of glass around them are linked to their Breakthrough in 2008 highlighted in pink underneath the main heading. By doing this audience will automatically distinguish the focus of the magazine and will be able to decide on the spot whether or not this takes their interest. Aside from this center image, the cover features the infamous Q masthead, as well as the expected barcode and date.

The content of the magazine is expressed in the same form as the main heading but placed in a way that would not detract from the center image. This layout offers very little to audiences when establishing more magaine content and is limiting audiences by focusing on one main band as many may not like or listen to this style of music. The style of Q has been dominated in the past by more indie rock influences and the bands referred to on the cover follow the expectations from audiences. The cover image, contents page and general news pages all suggest a more mature audience due to the use of pastel colours on a white background. This would be more viually stimulating to adult audiences and allows the magazine opportunity to write in sophisticated text to follow the style and layout of the magazine. Photography plays a very important part in this magazines identity and the very artistic choice of images throughout the magazine also tie into a more sophisticated stance.

Content and approach to music

Q is a non genre - specific monthly publication that prvvides stimulating insight into all aspects of the music industry as well as film, sport and entertainment. The reviews and articles featured in Q differ however it is accepted by mass that Q will alway have a slight focus towards the more mainstream indie/pop music of the new millenium. Q's approach to music is highlighted as one that regocnises the inspirational and encourages talent that will enthrall audiences and install enthusiasm within audiences. This is seen in their article praising the 50 best albums of 2008, also mentioned on the cover image. Q take a very contempary approach to music but at the same time they are very focused on praising the talents of the artists and their successes rather than highlighting the celebrity, in that respect its very much a leader in the music press.

Editorial content: 'Opinion - leaders' and reader interaction

Q's stance to music editing is interesting in the way that they consciencly opt to not dictate the taste in music to its audiences. As with most magazines certain artists and stories are given 'starring roles' but their objectivity and balanced insights allow opportunity for audiences to form their own opinions. This is demonstaretd by editorial 'hierachies' in classification and reviews, more specifically in Q's best albums of 2008.

The target audience are always given the oportunity to pass their own judgement whilst at the same time their intelligence is never insulted. Q's readers are always given insight into accessing certain tracks and artists in general- this is especially usefull in the modern age as new and improved ways of access music technology has become available.

Music magazine analysis

Billboard magazine is one of the music industries oldest publications and one of the most successful music magazines in the world today. Billboard. for the most part, is intended for the muswic professionals such as music producers and record labels executives.It is generally not intended for the general public, although it can occasionally be found at bookstores.

In relation to this specific issue of Billboard have followed the most well known convention of music magazines of using one main central image as the focus of the cover. By doing this it allows the magazine to present a focused direction in their magazine and also tells readers what to expect in this particualr issue. In terms of colour and style there is a distinct and ovbious colour scheme that ties in with the style of the title. The colours used present a very sophisticated and 'adult' feel to the magazine as well as promoting a fresh and youthful feel by the using bold pastle colours. The same effect has been used in relation to the artists as their styling is indictaove of a more 'adult' style yet their fans present a more youthful feel to the magazine. This magazine could be trying to tell audiences that the artists want to take on a new direction and shake their current image of tween sensations.

The layout of the magazine is very much aligned to the left to maintain focus on the image, colours have been used as accents and are not intrusive. Artist names and features are given larger fonts and brighter colours to highlight to audiences but still remaining small enough not to detract from the center image.
At first glance it is not so ovbious that this magazine is intended for a musical audience as the layout and style are more inline with the likes of GQ indicating that perhpas this magazine isn't just a music magazine, in contrast to the likes of Kerrang that uses very brash and in your face style designs because of their younger demogrpahic and the genre of music that they present in their magazine.

Overall Billboard magazine presents a sophisticated approach to music, with a target demographic of young professionals looking for a more indepth read. The colours and layout are carefully and thoughtfully placed so not to detract from the main focus. There is a clear theme to the front cover in terms of colour and design. I want my magazine to portray the same sort of focus and I really like the layout of the text as well as the clever use of colour to highlight.

In terms of producing an Acousitc music magazine there is little out there that provides readers with the sort of magazine like the one above where artist interviews and latest updates are available. At the moment the only products in existence are music magazines dedicated to the art of PLAYING acousitc music and not for and inside look at up and coming artists, news, interviews. Guitar World, Acoustic is the only magazine in production that follows the same format as the magazine I wish to produce where the artists are the focus and not the instruments themselves. I believe this will make my product a success as there will be very limited competition to put pressure on my product.

Fanzines

When studying the music press and how brands generate success it is extremely potent to understand the habits of your targeted demographic and the way in which they consume and demonstrate their consumerism to other listeners who apply the same habbits to their music routines and consumption. Part of this understanding comes from looking at the arrival of the fan based publication, coined the 'fanzine' in the early 60's. The fanzine was and still is considered to be the defining connection between music and the fans. The idea of fanzines is centered around documenting a 'scene' that is more often than not to new for the established music press to understand or even recognise, it is also widely regarded that fanzines are the first validation of a new music sub culture/genre that has been born from new styles of music and advances in the way that music is consumed, ie: Digitally.
The very nature and purpose of fanzines evoke passion in its writers and are always purely subjective in their mode of address. Fanzines were very much a way of showing how music sub cultures felt the need to branch away form the music press and find alternatives to the established music scene. With so many fans feeling like something was missing from the mainstream music magazines, fanzines were a way of filling the whole and closing the gap between artists and fans. The purpose of fanzines was to showcase the talents of the artists and uphold integrity within the music itself, by doing this a recognisable niche is found that highlights how some musicians receive very little attention on their musical genious in the mainstream media. Just for a few moments fanzines allow audiences to become the critics, the professionals and provide the format for them to voice their ideas and opinions that the mainstream press or more 'measured' journalism is unable to provide due to restrictions on publishing. The fanzine unites fans on a level that estbalishes enthusiasm and opportunity.
Most important fanzines provide the access to more 'underground' styles and genres of music that have bypassed the mainstream and have been homegrown from such formats as fanzines. Following on from this idea just like music itself the fanzine has made the transition to digital formats and sunsequently the 'webzine' has been born. The 'webzine' is still very much the same as a fanzine but allows fans access, in different levels, to music and gives them greater freedom as writers no longer have to rely on the sale of fanzines at gigs and in independant shops to voice their opinions. This creation of the 'webzine' has been vital in playing an integral role in contemporary music consumption. This has been heightened once more in the passed few years with the introduction of sites such as Myspace that establish the format for music discussion and debate as well as an ingenious way to advertise music in a personal, intimate way, creating even more of an identity with fans that fanzines were unable to provide in paper format. The creation of Google in this new millenium also provided the outlet for fans to gain access to a range of different fanzines and experience different cultures on new levels that are rejected from mainstream music journalism.
The net provides immediacy for fans and the ability to enthuse a global community and discussion's of shared interests, it is also the most important 'player' to consider when discussing the consumption habits of the youth and will be vital to the ever changing future of the music press.
Music fan writing encourages creative expression and amateur publications can serve as an antidote to the corporate owend publilcations and the preoccupation with delivering audiences to advertisers.

Audience profile and Sub Cultures

Before starting my brand identity I first need to understand my audience and the expectations that they demand from the music press and music scene in general. After a lot of thought I have decided to design a brand that will be based around a fairly new 'underground' culture of the music scene. I aim to create a product that will be a host for the acoustic music scene to gain a greater fan base and hopefully give them the ability to voice their music and take advantage of the news and updates that will be in my magazine.
When referring to different subcultures within the music world my audience has been born out of two, now quite, mainstream stereotypes and cultures that are Emo and Indie. This fairly new sub culture share that same values that shape the indie and emo sub cultures but have branched out from the now regarded mainstream sub genres as they feel that the music industry has dominated these styles of music and are generating manufactured artists to appeal to masses. This has been fundamental to the creation of the new sub culture as their core values are in direct contrast to the manufactured pop of the music press. My audience believe that the focus of the music should be on the musical talents of the artist and keeping integrity within the music that they produce. most of the songs produced are very lyrical and for the most part evoke emotion within its listeners and by doing that listeners form a strong bond with artists that is vital to their success. This new music scene is centered around the acoustic music that has been homegrown within the culture itself with formats such as myspace that have given the ability to do this. The reasons for this relate to their rejection of the mainstream music consumption and how music is being distributed. Many feel that focus is taken away from the talents of the artist by turning individuals into celebrities rather than artist and most reject the way in which the music industry glorify the 'rock-star' image. Consequently they have had to branch out and find new formats for listening to music and myspace has been central to the rise in popularity for 'underground; artist as they provide the chance for artists to get their music herd an listened to on an international level.
This sub culture are not bothered about standing out or being different to the mainstream but instead they are focused on upholding integrity and believe that music should be about the talent and not about the 'celebrity.'