Rolling Stone magazine was founded in 1967 in San Francisco. It originally focused on in-depth political stories and music but in the 1990s shifted to appeal to younger readers by covering television, film, and popular artists. While it still discusses music, it has resumed coverage of politics and recently added financial topics. Rolling Stone has a median reader age of 35, most of whom are white, employed males. It earns over $40 million annually from subscriptions and newsstand sales as well as advertising from brands like Coca-Cola that target its demographic.

1. Music magazine Case
Study
Rolling Stone
By Madison Alger

2. History
• Founded on November 9th 1967 in
San Francisco by Jann Wenner
• Part of the Wenner Media LLC
• Based in New York
• Published bi-weekly

3. Development
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In the 1990s it changed to appeal to a younger
readership.
Focused on television shows, film
actors, popular music etc.
Recently it has resumed its original themes of
in depth political stories and more recently has
added financial and banking issues/news.
Opened its own restaurant in 2011 with its own
night club but this later closed in February
2013.
Has own website and MySpace, Facebook and
Twitter pages.

4. Typical Reader
Profileis 35
• Median age
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60% male and 40% female
73% are employed, 25% of which are in
professional or managerial posts
50% are single and 35% are married. 46% have
children living in their current household
56% own their own home, worth on average
$206,000
Around 8.5 readers per copy
Ethnicity:
%
White
73
Black
14
Asian
1
Other
12

5. Funding
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Each issue costs $4.99
A years subscription costs $39.96
Currently there are over 12 million subscribers
Each year that equals $39,960,000 in sales from subscriptions
alone
Another 75,000 issues are sold at newsstands
That’s another $374,000 a year
Total sales per year is roughly $40 million
For a full page colour advert the magazine charges over
$200,000 and a half page is around $120,000

6. Advertisers
• Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Bid Light, Axe, Pringles, Camel
Cigarettes, HP Sauce, Snickers.
• All of these appeal to its target demographic of 18-35 middle
class male, they are cheap and easy to obtain.

7. House Style
• Aimed at a young, mainstream audience
• Largely covers popular culture, focusing on actors, television
and popular music.
• The magazine certainly relates to its audience, that much is
clear by its popularity. They cover the stories its audience
wants to read in a clear and mature manner.