Magazines drops in sales

This chart shows the purchase of magazines by adults in a year. We see that Kerrang! has decreased in sales by 7, NME has decreased by 33, Mojo has decreased by 26, Top Of The Pops has decreased by 19, but BBC music magazine has increased by 11.

This chart then shows magazines brought by males and females in a year. As you can see, all of the music magazines brought by males have decreased in sales. Kerrang! has decreased  by 12, NME has decreased by 40, BBC music magazine has decreased by 3, Mojo has decreased by 16 and Top Of The Pops has decreased by 21. This shows that within a year, the amount of men buying magazines went down.

However, all of the music magazines, but one brought by females has increased. Kerrang! increased by 5, NME has increased by 7, BBC music magazine has increased by 14, Top Of The Pops has increased by 2, but Mojo decreased by 10. This tells us that more women buy magazines than men.


I got these results from the NRS, the National Readership Survey.

Questionnaire results

Here are the results I got from my questionnaire:

The  results I achieved helped me gain ideas for my magazine and helped guide me to create a good magazine. The majority of music people listen to was pop, so the theme of my magazine will be pop music. Most people said that they would pay between £2-£3 for a magazine, therefore my price will be £2.50. For features included in the magazine, most people picked all of what was on offer, which was exclusive interviews, album reviews, posters and photos, latest fashion, celebrity gossip, latest music, up & coming artists, gigs and concerts and events. Therefore, all of these will be included in my magazine. Most girls wanted vouchers as a freebie in the magazine, so this will be presented on the front cover. Most people said that they thought a magazine should be published weekly, so my magazine will be published every Saturday morning. Almost everyone said that they wouldn't participate in competitions, consequently, I won't put any competitions on offer. Just over half said they use the internet to read magazines, so my magazine will be available online. Almost everyone said that they listen to the radio and that they watch music channels, so my magazine will hold it's own radio and music channel. 

Music magazine questionnaire

****MUSIC MAGAZINE QUESTIONNAIRE **** 

 Q1. How old are you? 

 14-16 

 17-20


 Q2. What is your preferred music to listen to? 

 - Rock

 - Rap 

 - Indie 

 - Pop 

 - R&B 

 - House 

 - Hip Hop


 Q3. How much money are you willing to spend on a music magazine? 

 - Below £1 

 - £1 - £2

 - £2 – £3

 - £3 - £4 

 - £4+


 Q4. What colours would you like to see be used in a music magazine? 

 - Red 

 - Blue

 - Orange 

 - Yellow 

 - Green

 - Pink 

 - Purple

 - Grey 

 - Black 

 - White 

 - ALL 


 Q5. How often do you buy music magazines? 

 -Daily

- Weekly 

 - Monthly 

 - Sometimes 

 - Never 


 Q6. If you don’t buy music magazines, why not? 

 - Too expensive 

 - Not interested 

 - I don’t read/buy music magazines 

 - Other – online // No time 


 Q7. How often do you think music magazines should be published? 

 - Daily

 - Weekly

 - Every other week 

 - Once a month


 Q8. What features would you like to see in a music magazine? 

- Exclusive interviews  

- Album reviews 

 - Posters and photos 

 - Latest fashion

 - Celebrity gossip 

 - Latest music 

 - Up & coming artists

 - Gigs and concerts 

 - Events -

All of the above


 Q9. What freebies would you want in a music magazine? 

 - CD’s

 - Posters

 - Make-up -

 Vouchers 

 - Other – None 


 Q10. Would you take part in competitions? 

-  YES 

 - NO 


 Q11. Do you use the internet to read music magazines? 

 - YES 

 - NO 


 Q12. Do you listen to the radio?

 - YES 

 - NO 


 Q13. If yes, which radio stations do you listen to? 

 - KISS 

-  CAPITAL 

-  MAGIC 

-  HEART 

-  RADIO 1 


 Q14. Do you watch music channels? 

-  YES

-  NO

TV and radio

Billboard and Rolling Stones magazines both have their own radio that can be accessed on the radio, online and they have their own apps that can be downloaded from the app store onto iPhones, iPads and laptops. On the TV under music, you can also find their radio/music channels.

BILLBOARD ONLINE

BILLBOARD RADIO APP

BILLBOARD MAGAZINE APP

ROLLING STONES ONLINE

ROLLING STONES MAGAZINE APP

Social media

Social media has seen a surge in popularity in recent years. Initially, sites like Facebook and more recently Twitter were viewed as tools for personal communication, marketing, advertising and publicity by organisations keen to get their message out to the widest possible audience.

These social media sites is a way to give a fast update of news, sell related items, allows fans to write on their pages, current affairs, celebrity gossip, latest fashion, latest music and recent events. They update their sites with various photos and videos.

Nowadays, consumers are buying fewer magazines at newsstands given the availability of plenty of free reading material online. Newsstand sales of U.S. consumer magazines dropped 12% in the first half of 2014, while paid subscriptions declined 1.8% and digital editions continued to expand their presence in the industry. 

Q, NME and and Uncut suffered double-digit year-on-year sales declines in another torrid period for the music magazine sector in the second half of 2011.

Uncut magazine was the biggest circulation faller among music magazines in the second half of 2011. The IPC Media title shed 14.2% of its circulation year-on-year and 5.6% compared to the first half of 2011, to 62,305.

 NME reported a 14% drop year-on-year, to 27,650 sales – a 4.7% decline compared to the previous six months. Q saw its circulation fall 12.1% year on year, to 77,522. Mojo remained the best-selling paid-for title in the music market, with a 0.3% period-on-period lift in sales to 87,555. However, the title fell 7.5% on the second half of 2010. Q fell 3.6% compared to the first half of last year, to 77,522 – a 12.1% year-on-year decline. The rock title Kerrang! fell slightly on the period, loosing 2.2% of sales to 42,077 after an impressive first half of 2011. The title fell 2.1% compared to the second half of 2010.

Daily Mail have reached social media sites such as, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

SNAPCHAT

Rolling Stones music magazine has also reached Facebook and Twitter.

FACEBOOK 

TWITTER

Billboard magazine has also reached social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

Target audience collage

Below is a collage that I created, which reflects my target audience:

This collage contains what my target audience's interests, hobbies and passions are. This includes the type of make-up they like, the celebrities they love, the films and reality TV shows they watch, the fashion labels they buy, the songs and radio stations they listen to and the social networking sites they belong to. 

I will be targeting females who listen to radio stations such as Capital and Kisstory. Use social media sites such as, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Tumblr and Pinterest. 

Interested in celebrities such as, The Kardashians, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, One direction, Beyoncé, Drake, Calvin Harris, Nicki Minaj, Cara Delevinge, Gigi Hadid, Hailey Baldwin, Jennifer Laurence, Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Joe Jonas, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna. 

Use make-up items such as, MAC, Naked, Christian Dior, Chanel, No. 7, Benefit, Rimmel, Bare minerals, Max factor and Yves Saint Laurent. Wear fashion labels such as Topshop, New look, Forever 21, River Island, Hollister, Jack Wills, American Apparel, Chanel, H&M, Zara, Asos, Marc Jacobs, Dorothy Perkins, Lipsy, Next, Misguided, Choice, Juicy couture, Versace, Longshamp, Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Ray Ban, Prada, Victoria Secret, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Hermes, Guess, D&G, Givenchy, Christian Louboutin, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Armani, DKNY, Chloe, Balmain, Balenciaga. 

Watching films such as, The Fault In Our Stars, Dear John, The Notebook, LOL, Endless Love, The best of me, If I Stay, Confessions of a shopaholic, The Devil Wears Prada, Hot Pursuit, Paper Towns, The Sleepover, Just Go With It, The Proposal, Pitch Perfect, New York Minute, So Undercover, Tammy, Bridesmaids, White Chicks, We’re The Millers, 13 Going on 30, Chalet Girl, Clueless, The Back Up Plan, Think Like A Man, 10 rules For Sleeping around, Just My Luck, Mean Girls, The Pill and The DUFF. Watch Netflix shows including, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, 90210, Orange Is The New Black, Blue State Mountain, Skins, Misfits, Scream Queens, Scandal and American Horror Story. Watch reality TV shows such as, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Made In Chelsea, Towie, Geordie Shore, Ex On The Beach, Celebrity Big Brother, Real Housewives, Catfish and Enews.

Target audience

In the media industry, recognising and appealing to your target audience is incredibly important as ultimately they will be the types of people reading your magazines. Recognising your target audience early on in your pre-production is vital as they will determine the content of your film. For example, a magazine that is aiming to appeal to a teenage market will be very different from a magazine aiming to appeal to older people. Your target audience need to be able to relate and engage with your type of magazine. Below I have created a table that explains who my target audience is, their interests and hobbies and how I am going to target them in my magazine.