1. Evaluation Activity 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media
product and why?
If my music magazine, Rock Variety, were to be published and sold in shops across the country, I would
say my biggest competition would be Kerrang. This is because both are focused on styles of rock music –
punk, indie, screamo, emo, metal, glam, etc. Many of my magazines features have also been influenced by
that of Kerrang, such as the title, using quotes in the contents and some of the colour themes. It also
appeals to the same target audience (teenagers and young adults).
Kerrang magazine is published by the company Bauer Media Group. BMG was founded in 1875, so it
holds quite an established and strong position in the media industry. It is a German company based in
Hamburg but also operates in 15 other countries, including the UK where Kerrang is centrally advertised
and sold. Not only does it distribute many magazines but also has stakes in radio and television
programmes. Around 38 million magazines are sold a week by the popular manufacturer.
These are some of the profits and losses made by the company over the past few years up to the present:
• Group revenue up 9.0% at £1.94m (2008: £1.78m).
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• Profit for the period £0.62m (2008: £2.04m loss).
• Dividend announced – interim distribution of 0.102 pence per ordinary share, a total
interim dividend of £200,000.
• Cash position £9.69m with no debt (2008: £2.46m).
• Operating loss for the period improved by 46.2% at £0.33m (2008: £0.61m).
• Loss for the period from continuing operations improved by 36.9% at £0.33m (2008:
£0.53m).
• Group overheads for the period down 17.3% at £0.83m (2008: £1.01m).
•
BMG also make a yearly turnover of around €1.79 billion, which converted into English currency is
£1.60937099688. As you can see, there have been the occasional dips in and losses in profit, but over all
the BMG makes a substantial amount from distributing media.
Along with Kerrang, the BMG also publishes another of UK's most popular magazines which is Q. It is well
renown for its higher production of photography and printing. It does focus on rock genres, like Kerrang,
but it also diverges into other genres too. I would say its target audiences are teenagers up to older
adults. It is printed monthly, unlike Kerrang which is printed fortnightly, but the Q holds considerably
more information. Other magazines that BMG publish are Take A Break, Closer, Mojo, Grazia, FHM, and
Enpire to name but a few.
Kerrang and Q are are not only two of the most popular, UK music magazines, but they are also leading
name brands in all magazine category's. They are definitely sold in all supermarkets and most likely many
newsagents and smaller shops which helps in their contribution to popularity as they can be found easily .
The layout of these magazines on a stand, would obviously be in the music section, but I think they would
also be grouped near each other, due to the fact they cross paths in advertising same style music and they
are owned by the same company. Usually only the tops of the magazines are displayed on magazine
stands, so they both have eye catching colours and fonts for their titles, to help gain the upper hand in
attraction attention. Q uses red, while Kerrang uses yellow.
So bearing all this in mind, I think Bauer Media Group would be the media institution that publishes my
music magazine, because in terms of similarity, Rock Variety is closest to Kerrang and Q. RV, focuses on a
crossover of both the magazines genres of music, (Kerrang doesn't normally tend to feature, indie music
whereas Q does. I have used bands ranging from Metallica to The Cribs, hence the name), I have used
same style colour themes for my magazine, (both red and yellow are used), and we are all roughly

2. appealing to the same target audience. Not only that but as you can see from the facts, BMG, have helped
in making these magazines, massive earnings by distributing them all over the world and from already
having a powerful stance in the media industry. Consumers are more likely to trust a household name,
then a smaller unbeknown source. So if my magazine were to be published by them, then i think i would
have a bigger head start in making good profits and staying afloat. Seeing as BMG have shares in
television and radio, means, that RV could get advertised in these media contexts too, meaning it can
reach a bigger audience depending on if you listen or watch either of these. Also if all three magazines are
distributed by the same manufacturer it means that the placement of them would probably be near each
other on stands. Over all Bauer Media Group seems to be the most likely company to source Rock Variety.