1. Evaluation question 3
What kindof mediainstitutionmightdistribute yourmediaproductandwhy?
Afterconsiderableresearchintodifferentmediainstitutions,andthe differentmagazines
these institutionsalready distribute,Ifeel thatthe bestpublishersformy new music
magazine, andtherefore the twoinstitutions Ihave decidedtofocusonare Bauer Media
and Time Inc. UK.
I thinkBauerwouldbe a suitable choice asafterlookingata lotof magazine thatthe
companycurrentlydistributesforIfeel thatthere isa space for an indie rockmagazine such
as TEMPEST inwhichBauer couldtake on andhave few internal conflictsbetweenother
magazine companiesthatBaueralreadydistributesfor,asIdidn’tsee anyothermagazines
too similartomine inwhichIwouldbe indirectcompetition againstforthe same target
audience.Butalsotheyhave enoughexperience withmusicmagazinessuchasQ magazine
and therefore wouldbe well suitedandequippedtohelpdistribute mymagazine
successfully.Alsoitcouldbe seenas somethingnew forthe companyandwouldallow them
to branch outevenfurther.
Bauerpublishesforthree majormusicmagazines,Q magazine,MOJOandKerrang. Ithink
Bauerwouldbe suitable asall 3 of these magazinesshare similaritieswithmymagazine
TEMPEST as theyfocuson a similarmusicgenre inrock. Q magazine isone of Bauer’s most
successful magazines,itisone of the biggestmusicmagazinesinthe world,itwasfounded
in1986 and releasesnewissuesmonthlyinthe UK. I feel Qmagazine andTEMPEST share a
similartargetaudience inthe sense thatboth appeal toa youngeraudience thanmostmusic
magazines.Thismakesme confidentBauerwill be agoodchoice as itshowstheyhave
experience workingwith ahuge magazine withasimilartargetaudience tomine makingthe
transitiontomy magazine asmootherprocess.
Time Inc. (previouslycalledIPCmedia) isone of the largestbrandedmediacompaniesinthe
world and currently publishes forthe hugelysuccessful musicmagazine:NME.itwas
foundedin1968 and reaches more than130 millionpeople eachmonthacrossmultiple
platforms andsells 350 millioncopieseach year. SimilarlytoBauermedia,Time Inc. alsohas
experience withmagazinesthat targetayoungeraudience thanmostmusicmagazines.One
of these magazinesis NME.
NME isa Britishmusicjournalismmagazinepublishedsince 1952. It was the firstBritish
paperto include asingleschart,inthe editionof 14 November1952. In the 1970s it became
the best-sellingBritishmusicnewspaper.NMEissimilartomy magazine TEMPEST inthe
sense thatboth are UK basedmusicmagazines andbothtargeta youngerportionof music
fans. Thiswill enable Time Inc. touse a similarapproachtomy magazine astheydidwith
NME as we share a similartargetaudience.
Anotheradvantage of choosingBauermediatodistribute mymagazine wouldbe the fact
that theyhave the abilitytouse cross-platformpromotiontoadvertise myproduct.Thisis
the case as Bauermediaownsa varietyof radiostationsincludingKissFM,whichreaches
4.6 millionlistenerseveryweek,meaningmymagazine canbe promoted tothe huge fan
base of KissFM. Thisisparticularlyuseful formymediaproductasKissFM alsoappealstoa
youngertargetaudience meaningpeople wholistentothe radiostationwill be more likely
to be temptedintobuyingmymagazine.
2. Howeverapossible disadvantage couldbe thatbyhavingothermagazine similartomine in
termsof musicgenre,theymightnotfeel thattakingonmy magazine isappropriate if itis
goingto cause riftsbetweenBauermediaandtheircurrentclientssuchasQ magazine who
are byfar a largermagazine thanmyself andwill obviouslymake Bauermore moneyand
therefore Bauerwill prioritise these companiesovermymagazine andperhapsidwantto
choose a distributorthatwill show mymagazine the time,care andeffortitrequirestobe
successful.
