3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

There are three different options that I can choose to distribute my music magazine. These can be using an existing big publishing company, such as IPC or EMAP, or smaller independent publishing companies such as Development Hell Ltd, or also self publishing.

One of the media institutions that will be able to distribute my music magazine is IPC. IPC was first founded in 1963 and already produces over 60 iconic media brands and focuses on three core audiences, men, mass market and upmarket women. Some of the magazines they distribute for men include, ‘Country Life’, ‘Horse & Hound’, ‘Rugby World’, ‘Decanter’, ‘Nuts’, ‘Mousebreaker’ and ‘NME’. Some of the magazines they distribute for mass market women include, ‘Look’, ‘Now’, ‘Chat’, ‘Woman’, ‘What’s on TV’, ‘TV Times’ and ‘TV & Satellite Week’. Some of the magazines they distribute for upmarket women include, ‘Marie Claire’, ‘InStyle’, ‘Woman&Home’, ‘Essentials’, ‘Ideal Home’, ‘Livingetc’ and ‘Housetohome’.

Another large media institution that could distribute my music magazine is EMAP. EMAP is a British media company specialising in the production and distribution of magazines. It is the second largest distributor in the UK, behind IPC. It was first formed as a regional newspaper group in 1947.

Another option that I considered was Bauer Media as a distributor for my music magazine. It is Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group and offers over 300 magazines in 15 different countries, as well as online, TV and Radio stations.  Some of the magazines they distribute are, ‘Heat’ which is also a radio station and available online, as well as ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang!’; ‘Closer’, ‘GRAZIA’, ‘more!’, ‘Pop’, ‘cocosa’, ‘Yours’, ‘Empire’ and ‘Mojo’. The problem with using Bauer as a publisher is that there is too much internal competition as they already sell a lot of magazines. The good thing about it though is that it has a good reputation and many contacts which would be good for my magazine.

Development Hell Ltd was an independent media company that I considered. It’s based in Islington, London and was founded in 2004 so it’s a new company. It was set up by two former EMAP executives, David Hepworth and Jerry Perkins. It currently publishes two monthly magazines, ‘The Word’ and ‘mixmag’ and distributes all over the country. The good thing about using this company as my publisher would be that they don’t have a lot of internal competition but because the executives have had experience in music magazines such as ‘Q’, ‘Empire’, ‘Mojo’ and ‘Heat’. Development Hell would be ideal because it is aimed at a niche market and so is my magazine.

I could also go into self publishing and publish the magazine myself. I will not have to rely on publishing companies and pay for them to distribute my magazine. With self publishing, it allows me the chance to have complete control of my magazine and it will not cost a lot for me to do it myself. A downside to self publishing is that I will not have an editor or someone to help correct errors and obvious mistakes in my magazine. 

Overall I’ve decided that IPC would be best suited for my music magazine because they are largest media institution and have a good reputation and background. They do not distribute magazines such as mine so there won’t be any competition internally. They have a lot of experience so they will have many contacts which are good for me. Because of their experience they will know what sells well and how to distribute it. My magazines is aimed at a large demographic so I think that IPC will be best at distributing it because it is so big itself, whereas a small independent company wouldn’t have the resources to achieve this.

I also thought about how I would market my music magazine. Some of the ways I can do this is by using and creating synergy between different companies. I will use the internet as one of the ways I could market my magazine because it is the best option and I can make the most out of it. It is a free way of advertising and marketing my magazine and reaches out to millions of people around the world. I will use synergy by creating a website for my music magazine as well as a real copy for people to buy in shops. I will include the web address in my magazines so that people can go on the website and give information of where people can purchase these magazines on the website. I will also use Web2.0 and social media to help market my magazine. I will create a Facebook page and a Twitters account so that people will be able to interact on the web. My demographic are most likely to use Facebook and Twitter so it is good because I will be able to reach my audience. I will give people opportunities to upload their own videos or thoughts on the website which will help the audience interact and get more involved with my magazine. I will give my audience opportunities to win things for their mobile phones and work with popular phones such as Iphones and Blackberries to create apps for them to use.