The most popular magazines, music magazines and their target audience.

2. 
Taken from 2015’s data, these are some of the best
selling magazines. As we can see, they tend to be either
woman and home magazines, health and beauty
magazines, or TV guide magazines. The only exception
is National Geographic which has remained as one of
the best selling magazines for many years, this is due to
it’s dedicated target audience who are hooked to keep
buying the magazine to continue the stories it contains,
for example ‘Documenting the World’s Animals, One
Picture at a Time’.
Best Selling Magazines

3. These are four of the best selling music magazines in the UK,
2015. Three of which cover a wide range of music content,
meaning that they appeal to a wide target audience. On the
other hand, Kerrang has a very specific target audience as it
promotes the ‘emo’ culture. This magazine does well despite
their small target audience due to the fact that their audience is
dedicated and loyal to buying the magazine monthly.
On the other hand, these other three magazines are successful
because of their wide range of coverage: one month Tiny
Tempah could be on the front cover of ‘Q’ Magazine, the next it
could be David Bowie, the next Dave Grohl. This is similar for
Rolling Stone as they cover a wide range of topics, nevertheless
technically this magazine is a pop culture magazine rather than
strictly a music magazine because of it’s contents of film and
news articles. Additionally, MOJO is successful because it has a
heavy focus on appealing to older audiences who buy music
magazines for a sense of nostalgia, from buying music
magazines in their youth. The magazine often does this by using
new pictures of the same artists that would have been on the
front cover of music magazines 30/40 years ago as their cover
images. This automatically draws readers in as they use the
magazine to stay tied to their past, giving them a sense of relief
from most magazines which are aimed at a younger
demographic.
Best Selling Music Magazine

4. 
 The most popular music magazines tend to be those which cater to a core
audience who have the intention to use the magazine for a nostalgic or
utilitarian function.
 Those who buy magazines for a utilitarian function aim to learn from the
magazine. This tends to be in the form of a magazine which focusses on a
specific instrument.
 Another audience for successful music magazines today are those who are
interested in an extremely niche topic: KPOP, Folk, specifically French Music,
etc. These magazine genres require a small but loyal audience.
 Others used to read the magazine in their youth and choose to keep reading it
as it still covers the same artists who were relevant in their youth. This tends to
be artists who were relevant in the 60s and 70s who are acclaimed for the ‘cool
vibe’ they brought to the music industry.
 The Beatles
 The Rolling Stones
 The Who
 David Bowie
Music Magazine Genres and Audience

5. 
We often find that the most successful music magazines are those
with an extremely niche target audience. These tend top be aimed at
musicians, eg, ‘Premier Guitar’, a magazine which addresses guitar
players and talks about the technical side of guitar playing which
normal audiences may not understand or enjoy.
Alternatively, you find that niche magazines which focus on single
artists are popular, for example: NME’s Artist Special issues, a
magazine entirely focused on one popular band or artist.
Most Popular Niche Magazine

6. 
 Music Magazines are outdated today as their content can be
usually found online which wouldn’t cost the audience
anything.
 The fact that the audience for music magazines is growing
smaller is causing the funding of music magazines to decrease
due to the fact that it is too much of a gamble to invest in a
magazine which may not take off.
 Magazines are expensive to produce: the printing cost of
magazines can cost a company thousands and therefore
companies can not afford to gamble on printing a magazine
which will not be successful.
 This is why many modern magazines are released as online
editions.
Why are Music Magazines in Decline