Megan Hall

include sponsoring a variety of events, such as Q sponsored Glastonbury festival,

launching social media websites, television channels and shows, radio, etc.

Overview of the Magazine Industry

The first magazine, which was known as ‘first publication’, was the German ‘Erbauliche

Monaths Unterredungen’, published in the year 1663. The magazine contained literary

and philosophical editions and after it was released several other magazines were

launched which portrayed very similar topics, it is stated that the first magazines were

intended for an intellectual audience, of an mature age, presumably male dominated

due to the time period being in a patriarchal society, and men were viewed as

intellectually superior. During the 17th and 18th centuries, publishers founded several

different types of periodicals, this meant the magazine industry obtained a diverse

audiences, including the elite and women.

In the year 2015, there was a study to discover the most popular and diverse magazine

in modern society. The study was taken by the sales in the UK and Ireland according to ABC statistics

of February, 2015. The third most popular magazine in the statistic is ‘Take a

Break’ magazine which sold ‘602,674’ copies, the genre of this magazine is

‘women’s weeklies’, and by the title it is evident that the main target audience

in this magazine would be women aged 25+. The second most popular

magazine according to UK and Ireland Statistics, is ‘What’s on TV’ selling

‘1,010,798’, and the top selling magazine is ‘TV Choice’ selling ‘1,276,045’

Newsstand single copies, 2015. The genre of both magazines is TV listings, this

is due to our culture as a western society it is important to own and watch the

television, both men and women will be buying copies as both

men and women are part of a consumer culture.

In regards to Music Magazines, the top three most popular magazines include,

Billboard Magazine publishing 50 issues per year, the Rolling stone magazine publishing

26 issues per year, and the top music magazine according to ‘allyoucanread.com’

statistics is Entertainment Weekly publishing 52 issues a year.

The most recent study on music magazine statists from ‘Pressgate.co.uk’ (2013), it is

clear to see the harmful effects which have taken place on the Music Magazine

Industry. Mojo magazine sales went down by 6.8%, The Fly down by 34.9% Q magazine decreasing

by 8.7% Kerrang down by 6.5% of sales, and New Musical Express down by 16.4%. The average

money of a music magazine is under £5, however this varies from magazine to magazine.

The demand of magazines in general is considered high, therefore advertisers

are more than willing to spend approx. $500 up to $20,000, depending on the

size and whether the publication is local or global, to buy the inside front cover

of some national magazines can cost as much as $500,000. Magazine advertising

can offer brands a return of investment of 130%, making it one of the most

rewarding media channels for businesses. Colours used in the advertisement

affect the cost of the ad too. The prices of magazine are rising, which is most

probably caused by the high fees involved with printing/making the magazines.

The magazine industry is changing due to modern technology including applications on our phones

and the internet where you can receive the information for free. The industry is changing and

magazines are trying to diversify and continue their brand as stable. This may