Recently I visited my local newsagents to see what types of music magazine they sold, in order to see what genre of music magazine there is a demand for, and also what there is a gap in the market for. However, I quickly found from browsing the shelves that there was a significant lack of music magazines – I could only find ‘Top of the Pops’, and so I decided to ask the newsagent if they stocked any magazines, to clarify why there weren’t many on the shelves. She then proceeded to tell me that they did stock a limited number of music magazines, but they only order them when they are specifically requested because they just don’t sell when they have a selection on the shelves like they do with lifestyle and fashion magazines. Therefore, they are kept behind the counter for customers to come in and collect. Some of the magazines that are ordered are: ‘The Guitarist’ and ‘Q’. She then went on to explain that ‘Top of the Pops’ is still stocked on the shelves as there is an influx of young girls who come in to buy it, but she thinks this is because the music magazine has a lot of traits of a gossip/lifestyle magazine as it has articles on celebrities and quizzes.

After this discovery, I decided to go to my local supermarket – ‘ASDA’, to see whether there was a difference in the music magazines that they stocked, as it is a much bigger store which receives more customers. I found that there were several music magazines stocked on the shelves at ASDA, including ‘Kerrang’, ‘The Guitairst’ and ‘Q’. These magazines were the same as the ones that my local newsagents stocked, suggesting that these are some of the most popular music magazines. However, they were placed on the lowest shelf, near the back where they weren’t very noticeable, connoting that those who would buy these magazines seek them out, rather than buying them on impulse. Other magazines

such as gaming magazines and lifestyle magazines took the more prominent spaces on the shelf, suggesting that they are more popular.

I decided to look more closely at these magazines to see if there was anything specific that appeared to make them more popular, and I found that most of them had a free CD included with them to encourage people to buy the music

magazine. ‘The Guitarist’ didn’t have a free CD, but this is because it is the type of magazine which will have a niche but loyal audience who won’t need to be enticed by a free CD. The CD that the other magazines offered was in keeping with the genre of the music magazine because those interested in the CD are more likely to be interested in music journalism of the same genre.

I will definitely take this idea into consideration when creating my music magazine as it appears to be a good way of attracting customers to buy music magazines, but I will consider ways in which I can make this idea more modern, as I don’t know many people who still listen to CDs. Most people now listen to music electronically, either over the Internet or by downloading music onto their smart devices.