Magazine publishers and the music magazine industry

The music magazine industry is volatile; you never know what will sell and what will not. Bauer, IPC, BBC Magazines and Hearst in Britain are some of the major magazine publishers. The biggest is Bauer and it owns Kerrang, Q and Mojo, which are three of the most popular music magazines. IPC own NME and Uncut, which are also big sellers in the music magazine world. IPC is the second biggest magazine publisher. BBC magazines own Music, a magazine made specifically by the BBC Franchise. Hearst however does not sell music magazines.

There aren’t many music magazines available because publishers don’t want to publish a magazine that is similar to a current popular one. This also shows how harsh the industry can be. Recently music magazines have been able to expand to online versions which can be more popular amongst younger generations. Online magazines are more affordable to run, a lot easier to create and often give smaller brands opportunity to advertise, especially if they appeal to a younger audience. Although the classic magazine does give you a physical copy and it's portable, it has no interactivity and unlike an online magazine you can't hear the music. Online magazines seem to have a lot more content readily available to the reader whilst continuing to create income from advertisers. Advances in technology have had a positive effect on the magazine world however there are still a few disadvantages; the reader needs to have an electronic device to read it on and internet connection, which isn’t always available. Whereas with paper versions, you can take and read them anywhere, therefore traditional magazines are much more practical.