Magazine Pubishers essay

When it comes to the media industry considering magazines, IPC Media (now  known as 'TimeIncUK.) and Bauer are the top two magazine publishers in the UK, and well known globally, and account for 50% of the industry. They have both in particular worked exceptionally to ensure that every single aspect of their target audiences are on point, and they've made sure that they have built sustainable foundations to keep on developing as time goes on.

First of all, we'll begin with Bauer Media, who are a publishing company based in Germany, who manage a large portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products, and 50 stations of radio and TV situated around the world. The portfolio thus extends itself to be associated with print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services in the industry. One example of a magazine that Bauer publish is Kerrang!, one of the most well-known rock music magazines in the world. It always tries to appeal to the youngest audience, so teenagers to very young adults, but they still attract audiences over 25 years old. Another example of a magazine that Bauer are publishers of is Empire, which is also a music magazine, but have a vastly different audience to Kerrang!. Empire tends to be aimed at audiences slightly older than the average for Kerrang! magazine, but at the same time still attract young teenagers depending on their own music taste. In 2007, Bauer Media exercised some of their power in the media world by purchasing Emap, another known brand. As a result of this vital purchase, Bauer had become unstoppable and were the first magazine publisher to branch into the world of radio broadcasting as well.

As for TimeIncUK, they are very different to Bauer in the way that they published a whole range of different media, such as newspapers (The People, Daily Mail), magazines, (mainly comics), and Printing. So unlike Bauer, the media that TimeInc produce tend to be aimed at older, more sophisticated audiences. One example of a major newspaper that TimeInc publish is The Daily Mirror, who traditionally support the views and opinions of the Labour Party the most, and at the same time portray the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives as being antagonists. They also tend to be celebrity oriented in some cases One example of a magazine that TimeInc produce is 'TV Times', a magazine for listings of programmes on most TV channels, interviews with some TV stars, plus gossip on everyday issues.

Another magazine publisher which has made itself well-known within the media industry is Future PLC, who are a publishing company that are based in the UK. Unlike Bauer and TimeInc, this publisher produces magazines and media all about different aspects of Technology, including Games; Photography and Music. Their portfolio for games reaches over 14.5 million every month. Future is basically a massive film publisher, with a multi-platform portfolio for aspects such as: print; online; video and applications. One example of a major magazine that they produce is 'PC Gamer', which gives out all sorts of information on the latest games being played on PC, as well as ratings and reviews on even some of the old 'classics. Unlike other media packages, Future also includes sections for separate areas of the media. An instance of this is photography, where there are a number of slides which showcase different photography magazines online. So in this case, Future PLC in general tend to try and visually attract their target population.

Mood boards

I've included a lot of these brands because I feel that they are suited to teenagers and young adults in particular. I think that the bands I've included especially would be suited to teenagers, as they are presented with more modern styles of clothing than say, 80's bands. I also think that a lot of the alcohol logos included reflect the image that rock music conveys with the typical 'rockstar lifestyle' with people getting drunk and having laughs.

I've chosen to include a variety of colours like this because I feel that they are the most visually noticeable for my target audience. It's known that the colour red is the one that most people tend to notice first, because it's bright and attractive.

I have chosen to include a wide range of sponsors and logos for my second mood board, because when it comes to music, technology and media itself plays a huge part in how it's presented. Fast food companies such as McDonalds even pay lots of cash just to sponsor, which in turn benefits all parties concerned.

Here is a list of fonts I have found using photoshop which I want to choose from to then include in my magazine. I believe that it's got to be quite bold and fancy, but at the same time perfectly readable for my target audience at the same time.

Analysis of 2 Feature Articles

Kerrang! Feature Article Analysis

As you can see from this feature article from Kerrang! magazine, the main image of the band My Chemical Romance is situated on the right hand side of the double page spread. This is so that there is more than enough room for the main aspects of information to be included on the left, e.g. the main interview, as well as an introductory paragraph. What's very peculiar about the image of them is how all four members are looking in different directions. This could be an interpretation in the way that they will all want different things in their lives, and that they're predicting that their project will slowly come to an end.

At the very top of the left hand side of the page, there is a short quote from the interview which helps bring the target audience into the magazine a lot more, and encourages them to keep on reading. The actual quote is in a capital italic font to separate itself from the rest of the article on the band. It's also been styled in this way to go with the colour scheme of the band (Gerard Way has bright red hair in the photo).

Underneath the actual article with the band, Kerrang! have made sure that the formality of having an upper case font in italics is continued, and this attracts the target audience, gets their full undivided attention, and aims to make them go out and buy the next issue. 'Don't Miss Next Week's Kerrang!' and 'Part Two' are both in bold as well, which creates emphasis for the readers.

The other feature that this article includes is a bright red circle with the date of when the next issue of Kerrang! is released. The magazine have chosen to include a graphic like this for two main reasons I think. The first reason for this is because it also goes well with the style of the actual article and how it's set out. And the second reason is also because it attracts the target audience, by persuading them (but mainly teenagers and young adults), to buy the magazine.

Top Gear Feature Article Analysis

As you can see from this feature article from Top Gear magazine, they have chosen to take a similar approach to Kerrang! and their front cover, by making it as visually attractive as possible for their target audience, which is mainly young to middle-aged men. The way that they've chosen the layout for the first of the two pages on the double page spread is very effective, by having the main image underneath the main text, it enables the readers to gather the information a lot more easily.

The way that they have included a tagline to bring the reader into the article is impressive, particularly because of the choice of words that have been used. The magazine are basically comparing the Mercedes AMG to a machine gun, and this is all demonstrated by the supposed noise of the engine.

And like Kerrang!, Top Gear have chosen to include a small quote which is from the article, and this gives out more information as well as encourages the audience to carry on reading the magazine. The fact that it's not in italics means that the magazine is more formal than Kerrang! magazine.

The reason for Top Gear being more formal is simply because of the colour codes and conventions that the makers have used. As you can see, they have used darker colours such as black and grey, for the white font to stand out in the background.