A slideshow containing what you need to know for your AQA AS Media Studies Coursework.

1. The Music Industry

2. Music Magazine
Industry
A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to
music and music culture. Such magazines
typically include music news, interviews, photo
shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews
and occasionally have a cover mount with
recorded music.

3. Bauer and IPC
 The two conglomerate companies that
dominate the UK magazine market are
German multinational cross media
company Bauer and IPC Media (which is
part of the American Time Warner Group).

4. Institutional Context and
Music Magazines
There is not one media institution that makes all
music magazines. As with all media texts like
films and tv programmes, they are made by a
number of different companies. Most
companies that make mainstream music
magazines are part of a conglomerate
company.

5. ‘Indies’
Only a few magazines are produced by
independent companies, and these tend to
be free/cheap publications or local fanzines,
such as Sandman Magazine in Sheffield,
founded and still run by two journalistic
entrepreneurs.

6. What are magazines for?
 Magazines serve as a tool to bring
advertisers to audiences.
 In a music magazine, everything is an
advert – it tries to sell you a brand
persona of a band/artist, albums, singles,
gig tickets, downloads, dvds, books,
films.
 Music magazines also advertise anything
else that would appeal to its target
readership (clothes, technology,
cosmetics etc)

7. Ang’s ‘Imaginary Entity’
 Ien Ang (1991) in her book
Desperately Seeking The Audience
discussed the manner in which
media producers and institutions
view audiences as an ‘imaginary
entity’, as a mass rather than as a
set of individuals. They will,
however, often have a ‘typical’
audience member in mind when
they produce texts.

8. Audience Targeting
 Audiences are targeted by media
institutions based on demographic variables
such as gender, age, class, sexuality,
occupation, hobbies, where they live,
wealth etc.
 In terms of magazines, the bigger the
readership the more the magazine can
charge for advertising.

9. Advertising
 Advertisers still like advertising in magazines
as they can reach very specific target
markets.
 Most music magazines have a very specific
target readership based on age and
musical taste, rather than social class (unlike
lifestyle magazines).
 16 - 24
25 - 34
(and just to be confusing 16 - 34 as well)
35 - 44
45 - 54 and finally 55+

10. Circulation Figures
 The term circulation means how many
copies of each issue are sold.
 The term readership means how many
people actually read the copy (think of how
many times you have bought a mag and
your friend have read it ‘for free’).
 The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is a
non-profit circulation-auditing organization.
It audits circulation, readership, and
audience information for the magazines
and newspapers.

11.  ABC provides verified information critical to
the media buying and selling process
(advertising) by conducting independent,
third-party audits of print circulation,
readership and Web site activity.
 This information is therefore vital for
magazine companies to sell their product
to advertisers, which is how magazines
make money. Cover prices only cover
production costs. ABC also maintains an
electronic database of audited circulation
and readership media.
 www.abc.org.uk

12.  Research Bauer http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/
 Research IPC Media www.ipcmedia.com
 Go to the ‘OUR BRANDS’ on both. Then answer the following:
1. List which music magazines they own.
2. What are their main sub-genres? How much do they
cost?
3. Do they cater for mainstream or niche audiences?
(demographic) Why do you think this?
4. Pick 3 and try to expand on their demographic
readership and find circulation figures (ABCs). Detail
how the magazine tries to target this demographic
with reference to content (images/articles).
5. How do these magazines use the process of synergy
to sell the brand (think about cross media
products!!)? Give as many examples as you can.

13. Synergy
 Synergy in media is the way in which
different elements of a media
conglomerate work together to promote
linked products across different media.
Eg: One Direction’s promotional products:
Music, Magazines, Websites, Books, Film,
Clothing, Toys– all produced and promoted by
subsidiary companys of Sony, thereby feeding
Sony’s dominance in the music industry.

14. Magazine’s roles in
synergy
 Promoting a band that is signed by the
conglomerate’s record label/s.
 Promoting a music news website that is owned
by the conglomerate.
 Offering free CDs promoting music produced by
the conglomerate.
 Synergy involves the production of numerous
products that then promote an original product
(it’s not just advertising across media)

15. Convergence
 The use of multiple media platforms to
promote a media product. Often
convergence is the result of synergy
between different elements of a media
conglomerate.
 Eg: Using music websites, printed media,
radio, TV to promote a new album.
 Synergy almost always involves media
convergence