- Times Inc. (formerly IPC) started as a newspaper in 1853 and primarily targeted middle-class men aged 20-30 with publications about war and battles. - In the late 1800s, IPC began publishing additional titles targeting hobby interests of middle-class men like Country Life and Yachting World. - Throughout the 1900s, IPC gradually expanded their target audiences to include women through publications about home decor, fashion, and providing government information during WWII. - By the 1950s-1970s, IPC published more music and television magazines targeting both men and women, and formed partnerships to further broaden their global audiences.

1. Times Inc. (formerly IPC) types of magazines and target audience 1800-1900
This started off as a newspaper in 1853 and quickly became the largest newspaper in Europe. The
newspaper included a lot of events of the Crimean War and also gave first-hand accounts of
people who had been part of the charge. The main target audience at this time would have been
men, typically middle class and aged around 20-30 years. This is because war and battle would
not have been associated with women at this time, but with young men with the ability to fight.
Later on in the 19th century, 8 further titles were published which are still being published today:
Country Life, Horse & Hound, Shooting Hound, Yachting World, Amateur Gardening, Cycling
Weekly, Amateur Photographer and The Railway magazine.
These magazines would have been aimed at white middle class men with disposable incomes.
They are specialist magazines and focus on hobbies and lifestyles that these people would have
typically had. These mastheads show us that they are aimed at males: therefore when IPC started
out their main target audience were males. To promote their magazines, IPC included a lot of
promotions and prizes in their publications: for example they offered £1 a week for life to anyone
who could guess the amount of gold and silver in the Bank of England. This would have attracted
the attention of the target audience as they would be in with a chance of winning a lot of money.
1920-1940
During this period of time, the company tried to extend and grow their target audience. For
example, titles such as Woman & Home were being published. This shows that women had
started to become the target audience now. The word 'woman' in the masthead shows us that this
is targeted at women: we know that it would have been middle classed white women who could
afford to buy the magazine, and also because these women spent a lot for time decorating their
homes.
In 1932, Women's Own was created, and only five years later, the first edition of Women was
published - this was the first full colour magazine. This shows us that IPC were using new
technologies to print their work, and also shows us how the company were broadening their
audience.
During WWII, IPC published Women's Weeklies, which gave information to women on behalf of
the government. This would have been aimed at most of the women, because their husbands had
gone to war, and it tells us that IPC was trying to keep up the morale of the women at this time.
1950-1970
During these 20 years IPC focused a lot on music. They introduced their first ever music
magazine (New Musical Express (NME)) and this broadened their target audience as it was
aimed at women and men alike. The target audience for this magazine would have been people
who enjoyed listening to music, both male and female alike and this meant that IPC had
broadened their audience meaning that more people would be able to purchase their publications.
TV TIMES was produced, and this was aimed at any genders who are interested in watching TV.
The main people photographed on this were females - this shows us that IPC was no longer
aiming at just men: it had broadened its target audience. In addition, its links with TV meant that
it could attract people who had different interests and this also shows IPC's advance of
technology.
IPC later added 3 companies into the publishing business in 1960 - this shows us the increase in
their target audience as well as their business.
Later on IPC produced many sports magazines such as Shoot, Rugby World and World Soccer -
these magazines were aimed at mainly middle class men who enjoyed either watching sports or
playing them. This again increased IPC's target audience as it was now publishing more specialist
magazines which would attract specific audiences.
In 1979, IPC yet again showed that they were up to date with technology as they began to use a
video division - this was perhaps aimed at more higher class people as it could not be afforded or

2. accessed by people of lower income, but it shows us that IPC was up to date on technologies that
would allow them to expand their target audience.
1980-2000
In 1980 IPC formed European Magazines Ltd. This tells us that the business was very successful
as they were again expanding their target audience by going global. This was joint with Marie
Claire to create the UK edition of Marie Claire which was a world famous title in 1988.
From 1991, when TV was getting more popular amongst people, IPC began to publish the TV
listings in magazines. During this same time period, IPC again showed that they were up to date
with technology as a website was developed for NME, which was the first major title in the UK
to have this.
However, in 1998 IPC Magazines were sold to Cinven for £860 million, one of the biggest
buyouts in the UK up to this date.
In 2000, IPC Magazines was renamed IPC Media.
In 2004, Ignite! was launched: this was one of the biggest launches for IPC and this shows us that
it was very important to IPC.
In 2015 IPC produced TVeasy, the UK's first weekly TV listing - this was backed up by a £10
million investment which shows us that IPC knew where the main target audiences lied and how
they would best be reached.
Later in 2008, Mousebreaker, a gaming website, was purchased. This shows us IPC's aim to
expand the target audience even further by beginning to target kids and perhaps people who play
games on a daily basis. These people would perhaps be middle class or even lower class as kids
from families like this would be likely to have access to this website either at home or at school.
2010
During this year, IPC began to focus its magazines on 3 more specific target audiences: men,
mass market women and upmarket women. This was evident through the genres of magazine that
they published which tended to be around subjects such as 'cooking' and 'home'.
In 2011, Feel Good Games was produced - like they had originally done, these magazines offered
readers to win real life prizes - this would therefore engage the audience more.
September 2014 was also another significant time in IPC's history as they were renames Times
Inc. (UK).
Why would Times Inc. be suitable for a music magazine?
I think that Times Inc. would be suitable to produce a music company as they would be able to
reach the biggest and most diverse kind of audience. Due to their long history as previously
described, they have had magazines aimed at men, women and even children; people of different
class and perhaps even ethnicities. This means that they will be able to attract very specific types
of audiences for any type of music magazine. In addition to this, they have already had
experience with music magazines due to their famous titled magazine NME. This magazine
covered genres such as hip hop, rap, rock etc... So the sub genres that Times Inc. would be able to
cover are quite diverse. Also, they have kept very up to date with technology, for example using
the Internet to produce the magazines - this will make it easier for magazines to be accessed as
the majority of people these days have access to Internet.
What genre of music?
I think that due to their very broad target audience’s fans with different lifestyles, IPC would be
able to produce any type of music magazine. However, because for most of their history there has
been a continuous target audience of middle class men, music that these types of people listen to
may be a good genre to use (eg classical, pop etc...)

3. However, because they have also had experience with NME, they could stick with the same genre
as this because they already have a large fan base for these genres. The title NME is widely
recognised and the genres produced in it are generally very popular, so this would perhaps be the
best genre of music for them to publish.
Why might an alternative publisher be better?
Bauer may be better to produce a music magazine. This is because this publication company has
produced some of the most famous music magazines worldwide, for example Q and Mojo. They
started the business in 1875 and have since then gathered a very large target audience. Most of
their magazines are based around celebrities and a lot of gossip, and their main target audiences
are females whose lifestyle involves knowing a lot about their favourite celebrities. Bauer has
also produced a magazine by the name of Grazia - this brings ethnicity directly into the title and
shows us that it is an Italian magazine - and therefore, this tells us that Bauer has also gone global
and can attract audiences from different parts of the world.