The document discusses potential media institutions that could distribute a music magazine. It analyzes the BBC, Emap, IPC Media, and Bauer as the four main magazine institutions in the UK. The document concludes that the BBC or IPC Media would be good choices to distribute the magazine due to their experience with music magazines and appealing to a wide audience. It also suggests the magazine could be distributed in supermarkets, WH Smith stores, or online/via an app to reach the target teenage audience.

1. Evaluation Question 3
What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?

2. What is an institution?
∗ A institution is a company that disperses a media
product for audience consumption.
∗ There are four main magazine institutions: BBC, Emap,
IPC Media and Bauer.

3. BBC
∗ BBC magazine is the magazine publishing arm of the BBC worldwide. BBC
provides a varied and wide range of magazines that target many different
audiences. They focus their magazines on music, gardening, children’s
popular TV programmes, cooking, cars and astrology.
∗ The music magazines that the BBC has published include:
Its Hot - Top of The Pops - Classical Music Magazine.
∗ Top of the Pops attracts age ranges from 11 up to 15 years due to the
content. TOTP – affectionately known is released in magazine style monthly,
but now has a new website which is updated every day with new ‘Today’s
News’ section and new features. The magazine concentrates on chart music
and features and focuses more on the commercial groups. The magazine
and the website also feature interactive articles and competitions to win
musical related prizes, posters and pop memorabilia of star personas.

4. Emap
∗ Emap specialises predominately in the ‘b2b’ (business to business) publishing
space. It has specific publications for each genre and in general these are quite
different and contain specific content relating to an industry such as nursing,
retail and media. This attracts a very wide audience which is attracted through
magazines and online versions including rss feeds on breaking news within the
industry publications.
∗ Smash Hits is Emap’s music magazine. It is primarily focused on pop music, and
aimed at children and younger teenagers. It was published in the United
Kingdom by Emap and ran from 1978 to 2006 and was bi-weekly. It featured pop
music artists, gossip and fashion that attracted young girls who liked listening to
current music. Smash Hits and Top of the Pops were rival magazines trying to
compete for higher market share at the same defined audience.

5. IPC Media
∗ IPC Media is one of the leading of both consumer magazine and digital
publishers in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1963 as International
Publishing Company and currently produces over 60 iconic media brands.
∗ The iconic music magazine brand that IPC Media is well known for is New
Musical Express (NME). It was the very first British paper to include a
singles chart. Their genre is advertised as rock which would therefore
attract a wide audience of both mixed age, gender and target groups such
as rockers, punks, and new age groups. NME has become a truly unique
multi-platform media proposition. NME is the longest published and most
respected music weekly in the world. Every week it gives its readers the
most exciting, most authoritative coverage of the very best in
contemporary music, including award winning features, the latest releases,
live reviews plus lots more.

6. Bauer
∗ ThroughBauer Publishing Group own Bauer Media. It is Europe’s largest privately
owned publishing group. The Bauer Publishing Group is a worldwide media
empire offering over 230 magazines in 15 countries. They also feature heavily
online, TV and a wide range of radio stations.
∗ Bauer Media is a multi-media platform UK based media group. The group consists
of many sub-brands and companies mainly around two groups – Magazines and
Radio – this is widely recognised and being innovative and industry leaders, which
is reflected in many awards and accolades they have won within the industry.
∗ The music magazines that they publish are Kerrang. The other publication they
also publish is Mojo Magazine, which is also a multi-channel publication.

7. Who would I choose to distribute my
magazine?
∗ Looking at the four main institutions I feel that I would choose either BBC or IPC Media. I
would choose BBC because it has experience with publishing a pop magazine, Top of the
Pops. Although TOTP is aimed at the slightly younger teenage audience I am aiming to
produce a magazine to cover the older teenage audience as well and I feel BBC would be a
good choice for that. BBC magazines, like TOTP, have been known to focus on fashion as
well. My magazine also does this so that is another reason why I feel BBC would be a good
choice.
∗ I also feel that IPC Media would be a good choice because they have not really published
a pop magazine before and I feel by doing that they would make themselves more
appealing to the wider audience and they would have more variety between their
magazines. IPC also have been known for publishing fashion magazine, such as Marie
Claire, so this would be another reason why IPC would be a good choice.
∗ As both companies are well known this would help my magazine to get the advertising it
needs to be known to the target audience.

8. Where would my magazine be
distributed?
∗ I feel that my magazine would be distributed in supermarkets such as
Tesco and Sainsbury’s. This is because this is where the majority of music
magazines are distributed today and this makes them easily accessible.
∗ Another place where my magazine could be distributed is WH Smith. As
it sells lots of books and magazines my magazine would fit in being sold
in here and again would be easily accessible by my target audience.
∗ If some of my target audience could not get hold of my magazine in the
shops it could be distributed online or via an app. This would maybe be a
good option for my magazine as my target audience tend to spend a lot
of time online and they could access it whenever they wanted it.