IPC

1. WHAT TYPES OF MAGAZINE AND TARGET AUDIENCES
HAS IPC BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH OVER THE YEARS?
IPC has not only published music magazines; in 2004 it launched ‘Nuts’,
the world’s first men’s weekly magazine. Thus, in relation to target
audiences, this specific magazine is intended for working/middle class
men, not of a specific ethnicity, aged approximately 18-25 years old.
Also, IPC has been associated with Women’s Magazines, such as
‘Woman & Home’, related to women’s interest and home lifestyle, for
middle class females aged 30-40 years old, who come from a typical
British background. Thirdly, IPC has published sports magazines,
including ‘World Soccer’, aimed mainly at a male target audience, with
a wide age and working class range, who have a specific interest in
football. There are also specific interest magazines, such as ‘InStyle’,
which is directly linked to fashion and is intended for middle class
females, aged approximately 16-25 and are likely to have a British
ethnicity. Moreover, IPC currently publishes one of the biggest selling
music magazines, ‘NME’, so is directly associated with both female and
male audiences interested in Rock/Alternative Rock.

2. WHAT TYPES OF MAGAZINE AND TARGET AUDIENCES
HAS IPC BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH OVER THE YEARS?
Early 1800’s – Throughout the early stages of the 1800’s the target audience
were predominantly male. The topics were appropriate for middle class men,
who were likely to be educated. During this time period the only publications
were newspapers, there were no magazines.
Late 1800’s - As newspapers became more and more popular there was a
change in the niche market. The first development was the subjects; features
were influenced by the advance in industry and technology. As a result,
formats began to change and magazines were introduced. Eventually, the
first female magazine was produced, ‘Woman & Home’, intended for white,
middle class women. By developing a female magazine in addition to the
male newspapers, IPC were reaching a wider audience.
1950’s – This period saw another advance in the target audience, with features
appealing to younger readers. Even so, there was no change in the ethnicity
or class and overall the target audience remained mainly male. Yet, with a
new target audience and developments in technology, new genres were
introduced, such as a music magazine, ‘Musical Express’.
1960’s – By the late 18th Century the range of genres was becoming more vast.
Thus, sport magazines became the new popular topic.

3. WHY MIGHT IPC BE AN APPROPRIATE PUBLISHER FOR
A NEW MUSIC MAGAZINE?
In January 2005 IPC launched a new magazine ‘Real Life’, which is a
weekly magazine for women. The launch was supported by a £6million
marketing investment and with the largest sampling exercise in the UK
magazine history. This demonstrates that IPC is able to provide the
necessary funding for a new magazine, in order for it to become
successful by becoming a wider audience reaching publication. This
reference to a wider target market, relates to the niche market, which is
the focus of the magazine; in relation to this IPC publishes several
music magazines, particularly rock. For example IPC publishes ‘NME’,
which is currently one of the biggest selling music magazines and in
2013, NME was crowned Music Media Brand of the Year at the Music
Week Awards. The magazine has been backed by an online version of
the magazine and is now the world's biggest standalone music site,
with over 7 million users per month. Thus, this type of publicity and
vast advertisement is important for a new magazine, as it will assist it to
reach a larger target audience, particularly when I intend for my sub-genre
to be pop-rock.

4. WHAT SORTS OF GENRES OF MUSIC/TYPES OF
MAGAZINES MIGHT THEY BE LIKELY TO PUBLISH?
IPC currently publishes two music magazines, including ‘NME’ and
‘Uncut’. Both of these magazines have the sub-genre Rock/Alternative
Rock. Therefore, IPC are likely to publish purely rock magazines, rather
than Pop, R&B and Classical. These conditions are important to
consider when selecting a publishing company for your magazine. Also,
the content must be relevant to the target audience and the specific sub
genre, since learning that ‘Uncut’ readers spend over twice the amount
on music a year than the average adult. Whilst, ‘NME’ is currently at the
forefront of the music industry: setting agendas, instigating debate and
championing exciting artists of a wide variety of genres, but particularly
Rock in order to provide the relevant content to the appropriate target
audience.

5. WHY MIGHT ALTERNATIVE PUBLISHERS LIKER BAUER
BE APPROPRIATE?
Bauer is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15
countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations. This highlights its ability to
offer advertisement internationally, rather than only locally/nationally. Also, it
uses a variety of sources to create awareness of the magazine, instead of
solely publishing it. Therefore, this type of publicity would be important for
creating awareness of a new magazine. Furthermore, if the publishing
company is well known, consumers are more likely to purchase the new
magazine, as the publicity will act as a recommendation to purchase the new
product. This recommendation would be highly beneficial, since Bauer Media
is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies
collected around two main divisions – Magazines and Radio, which are widely
recognised and rewarded as being industry innovators. Therefore, I have
decided to select Bauer to publish my upcoming music magazine, as it
publishes internationally as well as nationally, which is important for making it
aware to the target audience. This would correspond with the publicity
presented on additional sources, such as blogs/websites.

6. WHY MIGHT ALTERNATIVE PUBLISHERS LIKER BAUER
Bauer publish many magazines,
across a wide variety of genres. This
includes music magazines, such as
‘Mojo’ and ‘Kerrang’ and special
interest magazines including ‘Classic
Cars’ and ‘Bird Watching’. A lot of
these magazines are monthly
publications and because many of
the magazines have the genre special
interest, each magazine would have a
very narrow and specific target
audience. These range from people
aged 16-20 years to 60-70 years. By
publishing magazines with a range of
target audiences, the company
reaches a wider target market, which
is important for the various
magazines’ publicity.
BE APPROPRIATE?
1953 – Bauer launches its first magazine – ‘Anglian
Times’.
1956 - Bauer publishes ‘Motor Cycle News’.
1990 – Bauer introduced their first radio
station Kiss FM (now called Kiss 100), followed by
Liverpool's Radio City and TWC and the Metro
Group. After, Melody FM was launched, which was
transformed into the market-leading Magic 105.4.
1994 – Bauer began a small magazine called For Him
Magazine which is now the core of the best-selling
international multi-platform brand FHM.
1996 - Bauer collaborated with Channel 4 to bring the
digital music TV channel The Box.
2002/2005 – The launch of women’s magazine, ‘Closer’
and ‘Grazia’.