A magazine publisher has the job of producing an entire magazine; they direct and observe theprocess and stages of development in order to make sure everything comes together in perfect harmony. Some of these processes include; copyediting, graphic design, printing etc...
The publishing industry is organised through media ownership; magazines, newspapers, television channels etc... All these are owned by conglomerates which control what these products publish and display. For example, in the United Kingdom one of the biggest owners of media outlets is Rupert Murdoch, who controls major tabloids and broadsheets (including The Sun, The Times and The Daily Mail) as well as television services such as SkyTV. Many people have issues with this fact which is why there are independent and alternative publishing, something the internet has helped to grow.
The New Musical Express magazine (or NME) is generally considered to be the voice of new, fresh and independent music in a society dominated by the mainstream (or at least it was in its early years), however, the fact that this magazine is owned by IPC (a major publishing industry) suggests otherwise. Evidence of this can be discovered through the advertisement we see in the magazine, for example; Shockwave hair gel sponsors them (as well as their awards show), HMV (a mainstream music seller) is also advertised within the magazine, we also see synergy being used – films advertised, film soundtracks, and even books. If you take a look on the IPC website, they put their magazines into audience profiles, age range etc... It’s not at all about music, it’s all about money.
The fact that NME is published by IPC doesn’t come as much of a shock, I’ve never considered the magazine to be at all radical, underground or independent (I think this is partly because of the amount of advertising you find in it). The ownership of NME suggests that the actual of function of this magazine is to make money and to advertise other industries (film, television, video games etc...) even the music published within the magazine is relatively audience friendly, there’s nothing here that’s going to stir up the hive. They are clearly using a well devised and choreographed business structure which is aimed at a certain demographic of Britain; 16-21 year old middle/upper class “indie” teenagers who spend their life on Facebook, watching Skins and Misfits, listening to Vampire Weekend whilst taking legal highs at the Reading Festival in their skinny jeans, tank tops and £150 trainers and declaring (in their fake accents) David Cameron to be Britain’s answer to Barack Obama, until they catch an STD and eventually die in a motorcycling incident.
One of the magazines I have researched into is Q who are part of a horizontally integrated media conglomerate - Bauer Media Group (based in Germany) who also publish Kerrang magazine, as well as broadcasting music channels such as 4Music, Smash Hits TV, Kiss TV and many more.
From the business structures I have seen, it would appear that the best way for a magazine to gain recognition and make money is to set a precise target audience – you need to establish exactly who your magazine is for. Once this is completed you can decide on what type of material you would use, the right advertisement used (e.g. a sports magazine could advertise Nike, energy drinks, sport video games etc...) the right celebrities and so on. Also, being owned by a major publishing industry would boost your exposure, through television and the internet – the internet plays a huge part in securing a magazines success.
The publishing industry is organised through media ownership; magazines, newspapers, television channels etc... All these are owned by conglomerates which control what these products publish and display. For example, in the United Kingdom one of the biggest owners of media outlets is Rupert Murdoch, who controls major tabloids and broadsheets (including The Sun, The Times and The Daily Mail) as well as television services such as SkyTV. Many people have issues with this fact which is why there are independent and alternative publishing, something the internet has helped to grow.
The New Musical Express magazine (or NME) is generally considered to be the voice of new, fresh and independent music in a society dominated by the mainstream (or at least it was in its early years), however, the fact that this magazine is owned by IPC (a major publishing industry) suggests otherwise. Evidence of this can be discovered through the advertisement we see in the magazine, for example; Shockwave hair gel sponsors them (as well as their awards show), HMV (a mainstream music seller) is also advertised within the magazine, we also see synergy being used – films advertised, film soundtracks, and even books. If you take a look on the IPC website, they put their magazines into audience profiles, age range etc... It’s not at all about music, it’s all about money.
The fact that NME is published by IPC doesn’t come as much of a shock, I’ve never considered the magazine to be at all radical, underground or independent (I think this is partly because of the amount of advertising you find in it). The ownership of NME suggests that the actual of function of this magazine is to make money and to advertise other industries (film, television, video games etc...) even the music published within the magazine is relatively audience friendly, there’s nothing here that’s going to stir up the hive. They are clearly using a well devised and choreographed business structure which is aimed at a certain demographic of Britain; 16-21 year old middle/upper class “indie” teenagers who spend their life on Facebook, watching Skins and Misfits, listening to Vampire Weekend whilst taking legal highs at the Reading Festival in their skinny jeans, tank tops and £150 trainers and declaring (in their fake accents) David Cameron to be Britain’s answer to Barack Obama, until they catch an STD and eventually die in a motorcycling incident.
One of the magazines I have researched into is Q who are part of a horizontally integrated media conglomerate - Bauer Media Group (based in Germany) who also publish Kerrang magazine, as well as broadcasting music channels such as 4Music, Smash Hits TV, Kiss TV and many more.
From the business structures I have seen, it would appear that the best way for a magazine to gain recognition and make money is to set a precise target audience – you need to establish exactly who your magazine is for. Once this is completed you can decide on what type of material you would use, the right advertisement used (e.g. a sports magazine could advertise Nike, energy drinks, sport video games etc...) the right celebrities and so on. Also, being owned by a major publishing industry would boost your exposure, through television and the internet – the internet plays a huge part in securing a magazines success.
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