research into music comapanies

1. Research into music industries and institutions
1. What types of magazine and target audiences has Times Inc. (formerly
IPC) been associated with over the years?
A publishing company is an independent organisation which only focuses
printing and publishing products, specifically magazines. Magazine producers
in the past use to create produce and publish the magazine however this was
very costly. So magazine producers then went to other organisations which
print and publish into different cities. This is much cheaper and efficient for
producers to publish their magazine. If the printing organisation is in the same
country as the producer then they are called the national organisations.
However, if the producer wants to publish the magazine in different countries,
then they will have to contact an international organisation, who will print and
distribute the magazine in that country. IPC is an example of a large
publishing company that publishes a variety of products.
1800-1900- The Field launched in 1853 and within a year became the largest
newspaper in Europe. Then in eight further titles were published in the 1800’s:
: Country Life, Horse & Hound, Shooting Times, Yachting World, Amateur
Gardening, Cycling Weekly, Amateur Photographer and The Railway
Magazine. The first thing that this tells me about IPC is that they were focused
on newspapers, as that was the most popular type of method to get
information and entertainment across to the audience. When the newspaper
was released I know that it was war time and that mainly men read
newspaper and women didn’t really get classed as the audience as they didn’t
have any value at that time. Also, from this I know that higher class men
would read the newspapers as, men who were lower class were all sent to
war. In addition, men who were lower class wouldn’t be able to afford the
newspaper as they wouldn’t want to waste their money on something that was
‘useless’. Then IPC came out with magazines as they saw that their first
product made a huge profit, as it became the largest newspaper. This would
attract more men to buy the newspapers as they were more formal and
business like. They didn’t target women or lower class men at all, as higher
class men wanted to know about the war and how it was going. The
producers didn’t focus on women as they didn’t regard them as the audience.
This was because they didn’t need to worry about war as they weren’t going
to battle for the country.
Competitions played a key role in sales promotions for all early IPC titles, and
none more so than the sensational prize offered by the fledgling magazine,
Answers, in 1889 - the then unheard of fortune of £1 a week for life to any
reader who could guess the amount of gold and silver in the Bank of England
on a given date. This tells us that IPC was trying to widen their target
audience as they were now holding competitions that would catch many

2. people’s attention. The competition would lead to many people entering the
competition,specifically lower class/ middle class working males. This is
because they would want to have £1 a week for the rest of their life, as it
would be life changing and it would be able to help out their family
dramatically. IPC purposely held this competition as they it would catch lots of
males’ attention as not many people were higher class, and this amount of
money would be life changing for them in those days. This would lead to more
people buying the magazine and this would mean that the company would get
a much higher profit until the competition ends. In addition, many middle
class/ lower class males thought it was a great deal as they would get a
magazine as well as have a chance to win a fortune and be happy for the rest
of their lives. Using competitions IPC definitely gained a lot of attention from
the less wealthy region of the audience. This started to make IPC popular
amongst all types of working class people.
The 1932 launch of Woman's Own heralded the arrival of one of IPC's
traditional 'Big Two', with the appearance of Woman following just five years
later. Newnes promoted its first issue of Woman's Own with a free cover-
mounted gift - three skeins of wool with every copy! The first issue of Woman
in 1937 cost 2d and was the first full-colour magazine at that price. This tells
us that IPC now started targeting women as their target audience. This would
widen IPC’s audience and make women want to buy this magazine as it was
the first ever magazine that is targeted at women specifically. Middle class
women would be excited to get their hand on this magazine. Many women
wanted to see the design and the content that was included in the magazine,
this is because they wanted to get inspired and dress like the women in the
magazine. Also, the magazine included a free gift which would trigger many
women to buy the magazine as they would get something extra out of their
money. Also, the free gift that was included was wool, which shows us that
IPC was targeting older women. The magazine would accompany many
women in their free time as they had a lot of free time on their hands, while
her husband had gone to war. The magazine could also promote women to
go out and actually find a job, rather than being lazy and sitting at home.
1969 saw the birth of a new football weekly - Shoot! - launched to capitalise
on the upsurge of interest in the game generated by England's World Cup
victory three years earlier. This tells us that IPC started to branch out and
expand their range, as they targeted specific genres. They started targeting
football fans as the target audience as England won the world cup three years
earlier was a huge deal for England. Many people would want to buy this
magazine, specifically middle class males. IPC targeted middle class males
as they wanted to have a wider array of audience this would mean that they
would have more profit. If IPC didn’t start targeting the wider audience then
they would start seeing that their profit is staying the same every month/ every

3. week. Also, by producing a football magazine weekly IPC gains more
attention as more males will buy it every week if they are obsessed with the
content that is seen. Before IPC produced football weekly they had widened
their range as they bought out magazines that were based on different genres
such as: Yachting World, Amateur Gardening, Cycling Weekly, etc. This
expanded their audience drastically as more of the audience was attracted to
the different types of magazines.
2000- Ignite! Launches Nuts, the world's first men's weekly magazine, in
January 2004. Backed by an £8 million marketing investment, it's the biggest
launch in IPC's history.This tells us that IPC is trying to target a specific
gender, males. IPC have published the first ever men weekly magazine which
will intrigue many higher class males as, they will want to see what is trending
with males. Also, higher class males will buy this magazine as they will have
money every week to spend on a magazine, whereas middle/ lower class
males won’t have the extra money to spend on not so important things. Higher
class males will buy this magazine very week as they would like to keep on
top of the trends and always look stylish as well as knowing what’s going on in
the world.
2. Why might Times Inc. be an appropriate publisher for a new music
magazine?
The reason that IPC would be an appropriate publisher for a new music
magazine, as they first started off with targeting an upper class male audience
and then went onto targeting the rest of the audience by publishing many
magazines that looked at different genres. They started targeting women as
their target audience in the 1920’s- 1940’s which shows us that they started
caring about what women would read in their spare time. This made the times
more profitable as well as them gaining attention from a bigger audience
range. More people were being entertained by IPC, which meant that buying
magazines that were produced by IPC spread through mouth of word. They
produced women’s magazines such as: Marie Claire, Chat, Mizz, etc. These
were some of the most popular magazines amongst women at that time.
Also, IPC is a good company as they sell internationally. This would mean
that if a new music magazine went to IPC to get their magazine produced it
would lead to the magazine spreading worldwide rapidly. The profit would be
extremely high as soon as the magazine gets published, as people would see
that IPC has published it and IPC is a very well-known organisation. Also,
IPC started as a very small organisation and as the years went on they
started getting bigger, as they started producing many magazines which
catered to specific interests. This would encourage people to choose IPC as
the producer of the new music magazine as they will see how well IPC deals
with producing and publishing new genres of magazines. The IPC history is

4. very good and would encourage people to come to the organisation to help
them publish new magazines.
‘Over 100 brands. 50 global offices. Millions of loyal consumers. One-of-a-
kind experiences. Countless conversations.’This quote is from the IPC
website. This shows us how global IPC is and how hard they worked to get all
around the world. Also, this would show a new music magazine that IPC is
international and very popular and this would make the magazine want to be
published by IPC as they would want to be popular instantly. They would see
the amount of people that are buying the magazine and want to get included
immediately. Also, it shows that IPC gets information from all around the world
and puts the best information into each magazine genre, as long as it relates
to that specific genre. In addition, the music magazine sees that IPC works
with over 100 brands which makes them think how IPC handles all the brands
so brilliantly. It shows new music magazine owners how popular IPC is for
publishing different genres of magazines.
3. What sorts of genres of music/types of magazines might they be likely to
publish?
In my opinion, the music genres that IPC would publish into a magazine would
be: opera/ Classical, pop and country music. I think that IPC would publish an
opera/classical music magazine, as IPC was first launched in the early years
of 1800’s, which tells us that at that time many people were into the
opera/classical type of music and they would have loved to read upon the
history of the music genre. The people that would buy this magazine would be
older adults mainly women, as they would be interested in seeing what the
best type of classical/ opera music, so they could play it in their home and this
genre of music was the type that people would generally dance to. Even know
this genre of music would be very popular amongst the older generation, as it
is somewhat calming and soothing. In addition, I think that a pop music
magazine would be published by IPC as they would want to release a
magazine that is trending amongst the younger ages. This is because they
would want to target specific age group with the different types of music
genres. A pop music magazine in this era would be a huge hit as many
youngsters love pop music and they would love seeing their favourite celebrity
on the magazine. IPC would make a huge fortune by releasing a pop
magazine. A pop magazine would be a hit because youngsters/teenagers
would want to see inside their favourite celebrities’ life. IPC would publish a
pop magazine as they cater for all ages and they would definitely not want to
forget the youngsters/ teenager. Furthermore, IPC would create a country
music magazine as in the 1800-1900’s they created a magazine named
Country life, which was a huge hit after they were viral with their first ever
news paper. I think that they would create a country music magazine as in the
past they have catered for the country lifestyle, so IPC would be good at
creating another magazine but this time catering for the country music genre.
They could get more background information/ history from their previous
magazine and include bits and pieces into the newer magazine, as it would tell
the audience what happened in the history of country lifestyle/music. It would

5. be a history based music magazine. This will catch the older generation of
adults as they would love to know more about country music. People who like
this genre of music would defiantly buy the magazine. If IPC brings out a new
music magazine I think that it will be one of three music genres listed above,
as they could have a lot of profit from those genres of music. IPC would bring
out music magazines that are trending currently in the market industry.
4. Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate?
Bauer History:
Bauer is Europe’s largest privately owned media group in the year 2008.
Bauer was originally found in 1875 and now has a fifth generation of family
ownership. This tells us that Bauer media has been in the industry for a very
long time and is very experienced with their products. Also, Bauer becoming
Europe’s largest media group in 2008 shows us that it had big achievement
with its content that the organisation produced. This draws in more people into
buying the content that Bauer media produces as they have had a lot of
experience with media content throughout the many centuries. Also, Bauer
media operates in 19 countries, which includes UK, Germany, Poland,
Australia, New Zealand, USA, etc. This shows us that Bauer is an
international organisation and is very successful in these countries. Bauer
caters for most of the countries in the world. They try to cater for most
countries, which targets most of the audience and also Bauer has over 11,000
employees worldwide. This shows us that Bauer even gives out a lot of jobs to
many people all around the world.
In the UK Bauer has over 25 million customers and they produce magazines
such as; Heat, Kiss, Grazia, Empire, Motor Cycle News, Parkers, TV Choice,
Take a Break, Magic, Bella and Absolute Radio. This shows us that Bauer is
a magazine producing company and they producing all different types of
genres so that they cater to specific peoples interests. Bauer having 25 million
customers in the UK shows us that many people love Bauer magazines and
are interested in them. It shows us that Bauer caters to all different types of
content and that is why they have such a huge audience. Bauer does music
magazines, fashion magazines, motor bike magazines, TV listing magazines,
etc. They do an array of magazines which widen Bauer’s chances of getting a
wider audience in the UK. They cater for all genders, ages and social classes.
I know this because Bauer has brought out so many magazines that are
specified to gender, such as a motor cycle magazine would be for men and
Grazia would be for women. Also, they cater to all age groups as they have
music magazines that would be great for the younger adults/ teenagers and
then they have business magazines which would cater for older adults
interested in business. In addition, they cater for all social classes as their
prices must vary from each magazine as they won’t always be targeting
higher class males/ females to buy their magazine. This is because if they did

6. target just higher class people then they would not have such a huge
audience of 25 million customers in the UK.
In 1953 Bauer produced Angling Times and in 1956 Bauer produced Motor
Cycle News which both are still very iconic brands for the organisation. Then,
in 2005 Bauer launched Britain’s first weekly glossy magazine called Grazia.
10 years later, Bauer published a new niche within the gardening market, it
was called Modern Gardens. This tells us that Bauer is catering for all
different genres throughout the years trying to target all different types of
people. Angling Times and Motor Cycle News show us that Bauer have been
catering for different genres from the very start of their career and they do not
like discriminating against the other genres of magazines. Bauer caters to
everyone’s interest which is why so many people like Bauer. Bauer producing
the first ever weekly glossy magazine in 2005 was a huge hit between many
fashion lovers and magazine lovers in general. This is because it was the first
ever weekly magazine in the UK to be glossy and many people were amazed
by that. Grazia got a huge profit every week by creating such a great
magazine. In addition, this made Grazia a huge magazine as it was a
magazine that catered to many women interests as the genres that were
included were beauty, fashion and gossip. Many women love beauty, fashion
and gossip as they get to see the biggest news, trends and new beauty items.
They also get to see many top models/ celebrities in this magazine. The
audience that Grazia brings in are women who are middle aged and are
higher class. The women are higher class as the glossiness of the Grazia
paper shows us that the magazine will be much more expensive than
standard magazines. Then, Bauer published a gardening magazine which
would cater for people who love the outdoors and they can become an expert
without them actually going out. The audience can see adventures in the
magazine and this makes them entertained. The audience also learns tips
and tricks in this gardening magazine. The people that would by this
magazine would be unisex and they would be middle to higher class people.
Anyone that has an outdoor interest can read this magazine.
‘In an era where audiences are ever harder to categorise, we build strong
cultural connections, drawing people together with the things that they really
care about. Our brands become the lens through which our audiences see the
world. ‘This quote is from Bauer’s website. This tells us that Bauer tries to
cater to all of their audiences needs and wants by producing separate
magazines, which will catch different people’s attention. They want to make
magazines that will let the audience see the world through the different brands
of magazine that they do. Also, by Bauer being an international organisation,
it helps the journalist that produces the magazine to see most countries and
actually put it in an article in the magazine. This shows us that Bauer puts in
hard work to impress their readers and do the best they can in producing the

7. magazine so they can entertain the audience to their best potential. The quote
tells us that Bauer respects all the different cultures that read that magazine
and they produce magazines which show people who are different ethnic
groups , so that they bring people together and make us all one. It shows that
Bauer cares about the world and specifically puts in good content in each and
every one of their magazines.
Why is Bauer better organisation that IPC?
In my opinion, Bauer is a better publisher than IPC as Bauer has achieved a
lot of things since their organisation was launched. Bauer has becoming
Europe’s largest privately owned media group in 2008, it is Britain’s largest
magazine publisher and has becomes the UK’s biggest selling magazine
several times. They have had many more achievements than IPC has since
they have begun and they have made drastic changes throughout the year.
Also, Bauer has made a big achievement by having over 25 million customers
in the UK only, which shows us that they have created many magazines that
people love and are loyal to buying every week or every month. Their content
must be really amazing, as over 25 million people in the UK love many of their
magazines. Also, Bauer is an international organisation, which means that
their magazines sell all over the world. This makes Bauer very popular and
makes people more known about Bauer as a brand.
Also, Bauer is a better publisher as they are the producers of the magazines
that are very popular all around the world. They are the magazine producers
of the very well known brands called, Grazia, Kiss, Heat, Empire and TV
choice. This tells us that many popular brands went to Bauer to get their
magazine published as they saw how successful Bauer as an organisation is.
They publish music magazines, fashion magazines, men’s lifestyle
magazines, etc. The brands that I have mentioned above are one the very
best international magazines and they get a lot of readers as they all well
known to have the same publisher. Also, this shows that Bauer handles many
brands at the same time but always keeps on top of their game of having the
magazines published at the right time. It shows that Bauer is much organised
and well kept.
Lastly, on the Bauer website it talks about cultural connection and how they
want to make people think more diverse by having different brands added to
their organisation. This tells us that Bauer cares about the world and wants to
make everyone feel as they are important as one another by adding different
genres which will speak to every individual and tell them that diversity is very
important. By Bauer bringing out many different types of magazine people see
that Bauer tries to cater for everyone’s interest and tries not to leave anyone
out. They want to keep everyone entertained in what they enjoy reading or
seeing. Bauer is a diverse organisation as it has over 11,000 employees

8. worldwide. This tells us that Bauer gets its information from different countries
and puts the information into different magazines as long as it has a meaning
to its genre. People will get an insight from the magazines about features
around the world and maybe places they will want to visit in the future. This
shows us that Bauer might promote people to get out of the house and go on
adventures around the world and do something fun.
Overall, Bauer caters to many different types of magazines and they cater to
all age groups, ethnicity and social class groupings. Their magazines reflect
how diverse the organisation is.