The document discusses how the magazine industry has adapted to the rise of digital media. It notes that while some magazines have gone out of business due to declining print sales, others have introduced digital subscriptions and reinvented their styles. Companies are focusing more on digital formats and online content to engage readers and generate revenue through cheaper digital subscriptions without printing costs. The industry is still struggling though, and some magazines have been unable to successfully make the transition, showing it remains a challenging time for the magazine business model.

1. Essay Plan 1
How Different Generation Media Platforms Has Conveyed the 2020 Black Lives Mater In Both
the US and UK.

2. Links
 Uk:
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/53268183
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=black+lives+matter+protest&page=
1
 US:
 https://www.foxnews.com/search-
results/search?q=black%20lives%20matter

3. Info
 UK
 News round – a children's news program created by the BBC – good, informative videos, simple
about how it does effect people.
 Educational videos, to understand what white privilege is
 Uses personal stories
 BBC – non-biased articles filled with factual evidence.
 Created informative programs on the subjective, emphasizing black creators within the BBC’s
teams.
 Also includes personal stories about how racism has directly effect them
 US
 Fox News has a opinion section, allowing readers to express their opinion on the subject, however
it means they get mixed in with the articles, making it so opinion becomes fact
 Opposite beliefs, some are extreme (white supremacy)
 News outlets makes the protests seem violent when there are videos of peaceful protests being
made violent by force of the police

4. Essay Plan 2
How Lorde has impacted the music industry with only 2 studio albums.

5. Links
 https://www.nme.com/news/music/lorde-88-1246495
 https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/review-
lordes-melodrama-is-fantastically-intimate-a-production-tour-de-
force-200314/
 https://www.npr.org/2018/08/31/638897130/lorde-is-the-21st-
centurys-author-of-adolescent-evolution?t=1600166818832

6. Info
 Net worth of $16 mill
 Won song of the year at the Grammy in 2014 at age 17, making her the youngest person in
history to win a Grammy In that category
 Signed to universal music group at age 13 to write music for them
 Self released an EP in Nov 2012, which was able for purchase in marc 2013 due to popularity
then released an album in Sept 2013, at age 17
 She has little to no appearance on social media, sending emails to her fans with updates every
few months
 Produces her own music with Jack Antonoff
 Wrote the soundtrack for the Hunger Games
 12.5 monthly listeners on Spotify even though she hasn’t released music since 2017
 2 world tours and festivals
 Royals was voted as one of the songs of the decade by Q magazine
 All done by the age of 23

7. Essay Plan 3
How the magazine industry has adapted to the Web Age.

8. Info
 The magazine industry is a dying industry, lots of magazines have gone bust due to a
rapid decline in sales – Q Magazine – whilst others have adapted to and have started
to make their magazine available both digital and print.
 Magazines like Vogue have now introduced digital subscriptions, meaning that they are
still getting sales but they are online rather then print issues.
 However, Condé Nast is now looking at photoshoots that can be 6 figures and writers
who charge $5 per word. With such high rates being thrown at them, it is vital that
companies start looking at different ways to adapt to this dying industry or else they are
at risk of going bust.
 Companies are also having to re-invent or change their style in order to keep people
buying the magazine. Doing this, it means that the magazine is able to adapt to the
online age, by introducing digital subscriptions or creating events to draw in readers to
keep buying their magazines. They could also publish a special edition issue – could
be about the history of the magazine or about a certain singer/ band. For example,
when Amy Winehouse passed away, lots of music magazines published an issue
celebrating her life, which lead to an increase of sales due to her fans wanting to
remember her life in a positive way.
 There has also been a rise of new magazines which are purely digital only due to the
industry dying. Online subscriptions are actually cheaper then print subscriptions due
to there being no printing costs.

9. Links
 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/business/media/the-not-so-
glossy-future-of-magazines.html
 https://www.statista.com/topics/3852/magazine-industry-in-europe/
 https://www.walkersands.com/is-the-magazine-industry-really-dying/
 https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/10/are-digital-magazines-dead/

10. Research
Chosen topic – Is the magazine industry dying, and how has it adapted to the Web Age?

11. Info
 The magazine industry is a dying industry, lots of magazines have gone bust due to a
rapid decline in sales – Q Magazine – whilst others have adapted to and have started
to make their magazine available both digital and print.
 Magazines like Vogue have now introduced digital subscriptions, meaning that they are
still getting sales but they are online rather then print issues.
 However, Condé Nast is now looking at photoshoots that can be 6 figures and writers
who charge $5 per word. With such high rates being thrown at them, it is vital that
companies start looking at different ways to adapt to this dying industry or else they are
at risk of going bust.
 Companies are also having to re-invent or change their style in order to keep people
buying the magazine. Doing this, it means that the magazine is able to adapt to the
online age, by introducing digital subscriptions or creating events to draw in readers to
keep buying their magazines. They could also publish a special edition issue – could
be about the history of the magazine or about a certain singer/ band. For example,
when Amy Winehouse passed away, lots of music magazines published an issue
celebrating her life, which lead to an increase of sales due to her fans wanting to
remember her life in a positive way.
 There has also been a rise of new magazines which are purely digital only due to the
industry dying. Online subscriptions are actually cheaper then print subscriptions due
to there being no printing costs.

12. Links
 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/business/media/the-not-so-
glossy-future-of-magazines.html
 https://www.statista.com/topics/3852/magazine-industry-in-europe/
 https://www.walkersands.com/is-the-magazine-industry-really-dying/
 https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/10/are-digital-magazines-dead/

13. Notes:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/business/media/the-
not-so-glossy-future-of-magazines.html
 Facebook and Google stopped advertising magazines which caused the sales to dip
slightly due to there being no advertising from big leading social media platforms.
 Brands pay big in order to have an advert for their products to be in a magazine, but due
to the Web Age coming into play, it could be deadly for advertising.
 The demand for a high wages – Conde Nast are looking at 6 figure photo-shoots and up
to $5 dollars per word journalists.
 Some people in the business think that it may be good for the younger generation to
“take the reins” when editing the magazine, as they have grown up with the Web Age and
are more adaptable then the older generation.
 Kurt Andersen – a former editor of New York – said that the industry was in “more of a
dusk, a slow dusk, and we’re closer to sunset”.
 Big named magazines such as The Rolling Stone are being sold onto larger Media
companies, which indicates that there is a problem in the industry for big names to have
to be sold on.

14. Notes:https://www.statista.com/topics/3852/magazine-industry-in-
europe/
 Statistics about the Magazine industry Us and EU
 In 2016 29%of people in the EU read print media every day or almost
every day, which had decreased by 7% since 2011
 In the US revenues of consumers magazines went from 17.4 Billon
US Dollars to 14 Billion Dollars between the years 2011-2016
 Magazine advertisement in the EU dropped from 10.1 billion to 7.1
billion between 2009 – 2015

15. Online subscriptions
 Most big magazine name now has an online subscription available for their readers to buy.
This consists of a digital copy of the magazine and is usually more expensive then a print
subscription. However, if you were to choose to buy the print subscription, you get a free
digital download as well. This is more common nowadays, due to the decrease in print sales,
the magazine companies have had to adapt to the Web Age and make their content available
on any device.
 On Apple News, there is a magazine section where you can buy digital copies or
subscriptions on your phone. Amazon have also made it available to buy magazines on their
kindle application. There are also multiple magazine websites such as Readly and Issuu,
where you can browse through thousands of magazine titles to buy subscriptions or copies al
for digital download.
 The Rolling Stones magazine offers a cheaper subscription for the print copy subscription as
a way to encourage their readers to keep buying physical copies of the magazine, rather then
buying a digital copy. This keeps the circulation of production of the magazine, keeping it on
shelves.
 Despite this, some magazines have died completely due to low numbers of readers. Q
Magazine, a well respected British music magazine has had to close down because of little
sales. Running from 1986 – 2020 the magazine died due to Covid – 19 and also blames the
internet age because of the popularity of online subscriptions.

16. Digital magazines
 Digital magazine subscriptions for MAG+ doubled from 2012-2013. there is also a rise of
digitally published magazines each year, especially in international markets.
 The birth of the web age and the birth of digital magazines go hand in hand, it took a few
years for digital magazines to fully take flight, but it began to flourish around 2012/2013.
which correlated with the rise of the release of tablets.
 As more devices like the iPad were released, they became more popular and found that
lots of people were buying them and became aware of the fact that online magazine
subscriptions were available, which prompted more magazines to go online to join in the
trends, to keep their title popular. This kept both the magazine and the reader happy as it
kept business running as usual.
 Apple released their first tablet iPad in April of 2010, as the popularity of the product
grew, the demand for digital magazine saw a rise. This links to the flourish of digital
magazines in 2012. this can show how the industry had to adapt rapidly to the new age
of technology that was quickly being developed. As the decrease in sales got larger than
ever, the magazine industry had to modernize and take a brave leap to the online world.
This would keep their sales up – even though it was not the type of sales they wanted; it
would still be some sales for their companies.

17. Vogue - Subscriptions
You get access to both print and digital copies
of the magazine – showing they have been able
to adapt to the Web Age, as well as keeping
their physical copies available.
Cheaper than the digital subscription –
this encourages readers to keep on
buying physical magazines, rather then
digital copies. this also keeps their
traditional format in circulation.
More expensive then the physical
copies, as a way to keep their
traditional magazine on shelves and
relevant.
There is no other add-ons available with the
magazine, making it less attractive to
readers – however, the option is available.

18. Rolling Stone - Subscriptions
Similar to Vogue, Rolling Stone charge
more money for access to their digital
copies then their print. They include a free
tote bag along with their physical
magazines to encourage their readers to
keep on buying print copies. This keeps the
ethos of the company the same as when it
began, keeping it traditional and keeping
the industry still in swing. This shows that
they can and have adapted to the web era
but still want to keep the traditional print
issues for their older audience who have
supported the magazine for longer and are
used to buying a physical copy rather then
an online copy. However, having an online
copy as well attracts a younger audience
as they will be more likely to read a digital
magazine.

19. Personal Survey Research
 In order for my research to match up with the articles I have used, I
need to get opinions from regular people. To do this, I conducted a
survey about magazines and sent it around people I know. The age
range was from 17-55.
 Age could be a big factor when researching magazines, as the older
generation are more likely used to buying physical magazines and
having a subscription, contrasting with the younger audience who
would more likely buy a digital subscription, or read the magazines
online.
 These are the results:

20. Do you buy magazines or do
you read them digitally?
This helps me understand which type
of magazine that people read more.
However, having a 60-40 split, it
proves that magazine companies
must be able to satisfy 40% of their
readers. This also helps me
understand the all-round basis of the
statistics which people actually read
physical or digital.
A lot of people will choose to read magazines digitally due to the free, no cost and
accessibility of the articles. It attracts people as they can read the same articles for
free, saving money. This doesn’t bring money into the company – which is able for
big companies like Condé Nast, but smaller, nicher magazines may suffer from
free digital articles, as they will not be able to profit the same way they would with
selling physical copies.

21. Do you prefer physical or
digital magazines?
The answers to this question throw
off the question – is the industry
dying. This proves that people still
want to read and buy physical
magazines.
This also shows to magazine
companies that although physical
sales have gone down, people still
want to buy physical copies.
This contradicts the view that the magazine industry is dying, because it shows them
that readers prefer to read the physical copies then the digital copies. However, due
to the lack of advertisement and knowledge of the magazines subscriptions, it
wounds the industry, as it is known to their readers. It also goes against the age
factor, as it shows me that no matter the age, people do prefer physical magazines
over digital magazines.

22. Are you an active magazine
buyer/subscriber/reader?
This does prove that the magazine
industry is dying, because they are
loosing customers. Although previous
results show that some people do still
buy physical magazines, this shows
that it is not through a subscription,
rather a one-off purchase. This could
also be due to the lack of
advertisement of them.
The magazine industry used to rely on subscribers to their magazines every month, but
they have experienced a dip of magazine subscriptions due to the free, online
magazines that are now available at your fingertips. Because the numbers are vastly
different, it causes the magazines to suffer, as people are only buying them
occasionally, rather then subscribing monthly. There is also very little advertisement for
the magazines, which could impact the sales that the company makes.

23. Do you think the magazine
industry is dying?
Unfortunately, the answers to this
question proves that people do
believe the magazine industry is
dying. However, the magazines are
trying to adapt to the web age and
due to the invention of online outlet
and social media, magazines were
suddenly left behind, having to catch
up to keep their name still relevant.
Although people believe that the magazine industry is dying, studies show that “68
new magazines were introduced in July of 2010. Compare that with 58 titles in
2009, 54 titles in 2008, and 34 titles in 2007” this shows that the industry may not
be dying, but the advertisement of magazines aren’t shown enough, which leads
people to believe that it is dying, because of lack of advertisement.

24. Do you enjoy reading
magazines?
This research has shown me that
people do enjoy reading magazines,
but they don’t buy them on a regular
basis. As said before, this is due to
the rise of popularity in social media
platforms and online blogs which
make it easy to access the kind of
information that is found within a
magazine.
The ‘no’ answers to this question can reflect the slow burning that the magazine
industry is facing. It shows that people have lost interest in magazines due to the rise of
the digital age. It also means that over the years, magazines have become less exciting
then they were to the generation before.
This could also link to a rise in the digital magazines, as it shows that people may
prefer to read them online then in hand.

25. Quotes/Statistics to use
 Kurt Andersen – a former editor of New York – said that the industry was in
“more of a dusk, a slow dusk, and we’re closer to sunset” – context being
that the magazine industry is dying and has adapt to the popularity of online
blogs and news outlets.
 Magazine advertisement in the EU dropped from 10.1 billion to 7.1 billion
between 2009 – 2015 – context – the severe drop in advertisement could’ve
effected the rates of magazine purchases, as the lack of advertising would
take the knowledge away from the readers.
 “68 new magazines were introduced in July of 2010. Compare that with 58
titles in 2009, 54 titles in 2008, and 34 titles in 2007” – context being – more
magazines are being created each year which contradicts the thought that
the industry is dying.

26. Reception Theory – Stuart
Hall
 In the theory of reception, Hall assess the theory that media texts are
encoded and decoded. This means that the producer of the text has
encoded a message for the audience, however, that message can be
decoded by differently by various audience members. Potentially, in a
different way then the creator intended.
 Hall stated that there were three different ways in which the audience
can decode the text:
 Sources:
 https://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/media-studies-level-
revision/reception-theory
 https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/digital-storytelling/0/steps/9276

27. 1 – Dominant or Preferred
Reading
 This is how the producer wants the reader to view the text – the initial
message given by the producer. This is usually taken by audience
members if the message is clear and the member is of the same age
and culture. If the text has a clear narrative and is easy to follow and
it deals with themes that are relevant to the audience, this makes the
text dominant.
 For example, a dominant viewer of the film Saving Private Ryan,
would see it as a powerful, realistic story telling of the horrors of war.

28. 2 – Oppositional Reading
 Oppositional reading is when the audience rejects the preferred reading
and makes their own personal meaning for the text. This can happen
when controversial topics are involved that the audience could disagree
with. It can also happen if the text has complex narrative structure or
when dealing with problems that are not in modern society. This can shift
between different audience members because of factors such as beliefs,
age, culture etc.
 An example of this, could be when looking at an advertisement for a
MacDonald’s Burger, instead of seeing the message of hunger, they see
the health aspects, or the negative things surround the product. Or
looking at a new Apple product and instead of looking at the glossy new
phone, they think of the steps that created the phone, such as factory
qualities and quality of life of the workers.

29. 3 – Negotiated Reading
 Negotiated Reading is a compromise between dominant and
oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the
producers view and combines them with their own views. This can
occur with a combination of liking the media , of the same age and
understands some of the messages but the narrative is complex
which inhibits full understanding.
 An example of this is when an audience member enjoys watching a
program like Love Island but understands that it is scripted and isn’t
reality. This can apply for most reality TV programs that aren’t in fact
real, genuine moments.

30. Reception Theory
 Factors that could effect an audience’s view of the media text:
 Age
 Beliefs
 Culture
 Gender
 Life experience
 Mood at the time of viewing
 Religion

31. Reception Theory
 This can link in magazines, as it is used mainly in advertisement,
which is used both for selling products IN the magazine and the
actual selling of the magazine. This could contribute the industry as
the dominant view of the audience towards online platform has
grown larger from the creation of products such as iPads and newer,
high tech phones. This effected the industry as there was such a little
oppositional view toward these products, which meant that the
magazines had to go digital quickly to satisfy their audience, who
held the dominant view.