Research into the IPC/Time Inc. Publishers

2. From IPC Media to Times Inc.
• IPC Media is the publisher of many magazines including NME, Marie Claire and
What's on TV. The IPC brand (International Publishing Corporation), dates back to
1963, originally created as a holding company for the Mirror newspaper group, and
a number of the UK's biggest magazines.
• IPC was bought by Reed International in 1974, and then the publisher was
rebranded as IPC Media in 1998. Following that, it was bought by Times Inc, the
publishing subsidiary of Time Warner, in 2001. Joe Ripp, chairman and chief
executive of Time Inc, said the switch would "help us better leverage our global
portfolio...and foster greater collaboration throughout the organisation".
• This is a classic example of a smaller company, being taken over by larger, more
wealthy, global company, which took place in September 2014 to create a single
Time Inc. brand in both the US and the UK.

3. What types of magazines are they associated
with?
It has published many different types of magazine, which can be sorted
into the categories of:
• Music
• Woman’s weekly magazines
• Sport/leisure
• Fashion/Gossip
• Lifestyle/Home
• Men’s magazines

5. Different Target Audiences
IPC/Times Inc. currently publishes about 80 magazine titles, reaching more than 130 million
people each month across multiple platforms. It groups its current magazine titles under
three categories, to focus on specific core audiences.
• Connect - the mass market for women – comprises famous women’s weeklies including
brands such as Teen Now, Woman's Weekly, Now, Chat and Woman as well as TV
entertainment brands including What's on TV, TVTimes and TV & Satellite Week.
• Southbank - upmarket women - comprises luxury fashion brands such as Marie Claire and
InStyle; lifestyle brands including woman&home, wallpaper and essentials as well as home
interest brands including Ideal Home; Livingetc and housetohome.
• Inspire - market for men – comprises a wealth of leaisure brands including Country Life,
Horse & Hound, Rugby World and Decanter, as well as lifestyle brands including Nuts,
Amateur Photographer and NME.

6. Why might the IPC/Time Inc. be an appropriate
publisher for a new music magazine?
• They would be appropriate as they have a considerable amount of experience and
knowledge working with well-known magazines such as ‘NME’ and ‘UNCUT’.
• They also have a lot of knowledge and experience in publishing and advertising music
magazines and knowing what features in a magazine would be appropriate for their target
audience.
• Similar to Bauer Media, they also self-publish their products, meaning that they do not
have to rely on another publishing and printing company to create their products – as
Rock Sound and CLASH magazines would have to, given that they are 100% independent.
• Following on from that point, they are a reliable publisher as they have been running for
many years and publish many different magazines.
• They are very aware of the different target audiences they aim to attract, so will have a
clear understanding as to whom the new music magazine would appeal best to.
• Lastly, ‘NME’ and ‘UNCUT’ are highly successful music magazines, and so they will know
what sells to the reader and how to do it professionally.

7. What genres of music magazines are they
most likely to publish?
• IPC/Time Inc. are more likely to publish rock/indie magazines are they have
a lot of experience in this field of music given the fact that they have
published ‘NME’ and ‘Uncut’ for a numerous amount of years. For this
reason, they will have already built a reliable fan base of this particular
genre of music, and will know how to fittingly publish for their audience
• Having said that, they will more than likely be interested in publishing a
different genre of music magazine to create more of a ‘niche market’ as
opposed to the ‘mainstream market’ that they currently work with. This
may be challenging, given the amount of followers the media institution
have, meaning that they would still have a large amount of readership as
readers trust the company and would be willing to give their new magazine
a go.

8. Why might IPC/Time Inc. not be appropriate
for a new music magazine?
• Another publisher such as Bauer Media may be one to consider, given
the fact that they have many more music magazines, so they can
circulate the new music magazine through other brands such as ‘Q’,
MOJO’ and ‘Kerrang’.
• IPC/Time Inc. also have very specific audience categories, whereas
other publishers such as Bauer cover a wider age range of target
audiences.
• Generally, Bauer Media publishes their magazines at a lower price than
IPC, meaning that, especially for a new music magazine, consumers
would be more interested in buying it as it is more affordable for the
target audience.