Task 1: Music magazine institutions research

1. TASK 1: MUSIC MAGAZINE
INSTITUTIONS RESEARCH
Bridget Lockwood

2. BAUER: WHO ARE THEY?
• Bauer Media is a UK based division of
Bauer Media Groups that derives from one
of Europe's largest media empires. In
summary, the Group is known for its
publication of 300 magazines in 15
countries - varying from online presence to
radio to TV.

3. BAUER: WHAT IS THEIR HISTORY?
• The company started as a small printing house
in Germany. It was in 1987, after the
establishment of Bella magazine, that Bauer
Media Group entered the UK market. It wasn't
long after before the company became the
UK's third largest publishing company.

4. BAUER: WHAT PUBLICATIONS DO THEY
MANAGE?
• The most famous publications they manage are:
• Heat
• Kerrang
• Match!
• Q

5. BAUER: HEAT MAGAZINE ANALYSIS
• Heat magazine focuses on gossip amongst
celebrity culture. It features a lot of feminine
articles. This shows that the stereotypical
audience is likely to be women aged 13-25 years
old. The magazine focuses on three main topics:
an attractive body image, a celebrity lifestyle and
a love-life. The colour scheme is also very
feminine with pinks and yellows being used.
Furthermore the informal language used gives a
personal feel to the story's. This issue is focused
relationship with the main story being “is Jay Z
cheating on Beyoncé?” and the other smaller
articles being about wedding and not trusting
your partner.

6. BAUER: KERRANG! MAGAZINE ANALYSIS
• Kerrang! focuses on rock culture and music. It features
interviews from various artists popular and up and
coming, it gives details of bands that are touring and
posters of famous rock bands. This shows that the
magazines stereotypical audience are any gender or
aged person that are passionate about rock music.
However the magazine uses more informal language
which would relate more to the younger generation.
The colour scheme is very dark with some bright red
and electric blue, these colours are stereotypically
associated with rock. This issue is focussed on the
band ACDC as many would consider them the
greatest rock band of all time. The other smaller
articles are about touring bands “Metallica UK tour
exclusive”.

7. FUTURE: WHO ARE THEY?
• Future plc is a media company from the UK. It
publishes more than 30 magazines in the
fields of video games, technology,
photography, music and TV. The company
was founded in Somerset by Chris Anderson,
under the name of Future Publishing, but later
renamed to Future plc.

8. FUTURE: WHAT IS THEIR HISTORY?
• The company was founded as Future Publishing in
Somerset in 1985 by Chris Anderson. The first
magazine produce by Future plc was called Amstrad
Action which ran for almost 10 years, until being
scraped. Future were the first company to include free
software on magazine covers. Anderson sold Future to
Pearson PLC for £52.7m in 1994, but bought it back in
1998, for £142m. In 2001, Anderson left Future.

9. FUTURE: WHAT PUBLICATIONS DO THEY
MANAGE?
• The most famous publications they manage are:
• PlayStation Official Magazine
• Professional Photography
• Total Guitar
• Total Film

10. FUTURE: TOTAL GUITAR MAGAZINE
ANALYSIS
• Total Guitar focuses in tuition for the guitar. It
features detailed information on popular guitarist,
including their techniques and playing styles. This
shows that the magazines stereotypical audience are
males in the age group 16-50, who are either looking
to learn or improve their guitar skills. The colours
used on the front cover are dark greys and blacks
which are associated with rock. However there are
works in bright pink which may show they are trying
to expand their audience to women too. This issue is
focussed on the guitarist Slash, who is promoting his
new album “It’s my album, my rules”. The other small
articles are about song they will teach you how to
play inside and what vintage guitar are good to buy.

11. FUTURE: PLAYSTATION OFFICIAL
MAGAZINE ANALYSIS
• The PlayStation magazine focuses on the gaming culture,
although only features PlayStation or Sony products rather
then other brands. This shows that the magazines
stereotypical audience are the males with no limit to the
age. However it can be argued that females may be
interested but they are in the minority. The colours used
are very minimal the dark picture allows the whie text to
easily stand out. The covers usually feature information
about gadgets and games which will appeal and interest
gamers. This issue is focused on the game “The Last Of Us”.
It will tell you about how the game was made and the
brilliant team behind it. The other smaller articles are about
new consoles coming out “Everything you need to know
before launch” and new games coming out “Mass effect 3”.