Bauer Media would be an effective institution to distribute my music magazine product. As a large publishing company with a wide audience, Bauer Media distributes similar mainstream magazines and music content through major retailers and its own media platforms. Their tactics in producing for specialized audiences would help design a magazine appealing to young music fans. Bauer Media could apply their successful approaches used for magazines like Q to advertise and distribute my product to a large, mainstream target market through social media, TV, stores and online channels.

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

2. The Production Process
When producing my media product it would have to go through a production and
publication phase. This stage would follow 5 main steps, thinking of ideas, what will
my product look like visually? What genre will my product look like? What kind of
content will be featured in my magazine and what will be its audience?
The next stage will be to research other products which are currently on the market. It
has to be considered how they are different or similar to my product and why are they
successful in the market? Who are their audience, what is their layout like and what
appeals about their products.
The next process will to then be produce flat plans as visual aids, this helps the
production process as there is a general idea of what the product needs to look like
when it is being produced.
The next step is to construct a product that is industrial size.
The final step is to then distribute the product to an audience, whether this is a large
or niche market is considered and depends on the target audience of my product.

3. Publishing
As my product is targeted at a young, mainstream audience my magazine will be
similar to products such as Billboard, Q and Blender these are distributed to be
mainstream rather than at niche markets. My product would therefore needs to be
distributed to a wide audience who are interested in chart music therefore publishing
companies such as Bauer Media would be beneficial for my product to be linked with
as they produce similar products to my magazine. Their products are generally
targeted at mainstream audiences and a wide audience but are still able to focus on
specific stereotypes and age groups. As this publishing company has such a wide
audience they distribute to then these products are distributed to large retailers like
WHSmiths, Supermarkets such as Sainsburys and music stores like HMV.

4. Who would distribute?
Bauer Media produces products such as Q and Pop and also broadcast the TFM radio
station to the typical Pop, chart music genre and a target audience of young,
mainstream audiences. As this company has such a wide selection of media products
along with online websites and radio stations the publishers at Bauer media are able
to reach their specific target audiences with content that specializes in particular
genres of music. By knowing their target audience well it allows the company to
produce products that they know will satisfy their readers.
My product is in some ways similar to Q magazine as it aims at a wider audience and
follows the conventions of its appearance and how it appeals to its audience. It would
be therefore beneficial for my product to be linked to Bauer Media as they can use
techniques they use to produce their magazine and apply it to my product. It also
wouldn’t be risky for Bauer Media to produce a similar product to one they already
have as it contributes further to its diverse range of products and they can increase
their target audience.
During the production of my product Bauer’s tactics of producing into specializing for
their target audiences would benefit my magazine and increase my magazine’s
audience size. It would also help me design and construct a product that would appeal
to my target audience.

5. Advertising My Product
Products such as Q are advertised through its online website, social networking sites
such as Facebook, tv adverts and on the radio. Regarding the magazines audience
social networking sites are an effective way of reaching their audience particularly as
they are targeting a younger audience who are more likely to have accounts on these
social networking sites. This is a very good way of targeting to a wide and mainstream
audience as young people are more likely to see these advertisements this way.
As my product is also targeting a mainstream audience these advertising strategies
would work well for advertising my product. By using Facebook and Twitter I will be
able to advertise to my target audience directly as they are a very popular way of
communicating in the online age. I would also have my magazine advertised on tv
preferable on music channels such as The Box and Smash Hits as my target audience is
more likely to watch these channels.

6. Distributing My Product
As I want my product to be distributed to a large mainstream audience it would be
beneficial for me to have my product distributed in stores such as WHSmiths, HMV to
fit my music magazine genre and Supermarkets such as Sainsburys and various local
newsagents. There would also be available subscription services to my magazine
which would therefore gain loyal readers as they could have every issue delivered to
their house when it is released. Although this would be more costly to the reader,
because of posting and packaging upon buying the subscription they would therefore
get a free gift.
As the online age is increasing it would be easier for my product to be distributed and
advertised online, this would allow me to reach a wider audience.