Qu 3: Institutions

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?


I would like for my magazine to be published by IPC. This company is British although it is owned by the American conglomerate Time-Warner. IPC have a proved track record in managing successful magazines as they have proven with the top music title, NME.

My magazine does not 'parrot', or copy any other music magazine but I have taken good ideas from other magazines and combined these with my own creativity and audience research to make it what it is. I think its form and content is unique and appeals to a clearly defined audience. Some of its potential readers are likely to read NME and therefore IPC may not be interested in my magazine but I would argue that it is sufficiently different to NME that they would see the value in adding it to their stable. I think it is more current than NME and would attract a younger audience which would be good for IPC. I also think it offers lots of opportunities for synergy, especially over the internet, as it is so up-to-date with youth culture.

If IPC did not want to pick up my magazine, the other option I would go for if I had a choice would be Bauer they also have a unique best-selling music magazine called Kerrang and my magazine would certainly not clash with that. Bauer are the largest publishers of magazines in the UK and I am sure they would want to attract new, especially young, niche audiences.

In terms of distribution, Hazaa could be sold not only in traditional outlets such as WH Smith but also in places such as PC World along side the gaming and gadget magazines, also in other electronic stores. The main retailers of my magazine would be the following shops because this is where my target audience would spend most of there time when shopping: GAME, GameStation, HMV and as many indie games shops is we can find such as Swallows Games.

My magazine is fairly non-consumerist and therefore it would not wish to sell advertising space to iTunes. However, Spotify the free music online radio site and Last FM would definitely be included in the magazine. Also, my readers would not want to be seen to be supporting huge corporations such as Microsoft but that doesn't mean they can't be easily persuaded to buy the latest gadgets. This is another reason the likes of IPC and Bauer would hopefully be interested in picking up the magazine.

There will definitely be an online version of Hazaa which would not include all the articles that are in the print version. The target audience would not pay for the printed version if the online version was identical and free and given that my potential audience would be up-to-date with the latest mobile technology, they would all have the gear to be able to read it online on the move unless they are in a tunnel, a really long tunnel, then they will need the actual magazine.

The online version would need advertising to support the content as I don't think a subscription service would appeal to my audience as they are not used to having to pay for much online.

A radio station may be another spin-off of Hazaa but it is more likely that it would be a weekly podcast plus video blogs of the interviews on YouTube.