Evaluation - Question Three

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

In the above animation, you can see the a short comic strip that I created to demonstrate the institutions that could produce my music magazine. The Magazine Industry is currently falling popularity, as the rise of the Internet replaces this outdated medium of publication. As the industry has become a Fragmented Market, with Circulation and Readership Figures falling year on year. Below you can see a table of the recent figures from Press Gazette:

 

Mojo ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 87,555 ; -7.5%

  Q ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 77,522 ; -12.1%

 Classic Rock ( Future Publishing Ltd ) : 62,354 ; -7.9%

Kerrang! ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 42,077 ; -2.1%

 Metal Hammer ( Future Publishing Ltd ) : 35,259 ; -15.7%

New Musical Express ( IPC Media Ltd ) : 27,650 ; -14.0%

As you can see, each magazine is experiencing a decline in Circulation to some degree as I have stated before. Also, by comparing Metal Hammer and Kerrang! it is clear to see that Metal Hammer is falling in popularity at a greater degree, and this opens up the demand for a popular Metal Magazine that sells as many copies as titles such as NME and Q. Out of the three that were highlighted by the "Magical Media Bird", I personally feel that Future Media or Future PLC would be the most appropriate to publish my magazine. And here's why:

Company Introduction

The first thing that catches my eye when I look at their website is the company introduction. The paragraph states how "At Future we base everything we do around clusters of like-minded individuals who are passionate about their interests". Project Mayhem has been created to appeal to quite a specialised audience, similar to that which is targeted by Kerrang! Magazine (for more research into Target Audience, click here). Since my Target Audience is in such a slim market, and since they already publish Metal Hammer, I feel that Future Media would be an appropriate institution to publish my Metal Magazine.

What have they published previously?

Future Media have published a number of popular music magazines, such as Classic Rock, Revolver and Total Guitar. However, they are most famously known for publishing the metal-based Music Magazine, Metal Hammer. Looking at the above Circulation Figures, Metal Hammer has decreased in Circulation by 15.7%in the past year, and this presents Future Media with a choice; do we keep publishing Metal Hammer or move on to another title? This is where Project Mayhem comes in. It's a new name with new ideas, a new style and a new look into the ever-changing industry of Heavy Metal. Alongside the genres and magazines that are published by Future Media at the moment, Project Mayhem does fit into the portfolio of Future Media as it uses similar techniques and layout styles combined with new and exciting Graphic Elements.