Problems facing the magazine industry

Magazines typically have a difficult task in adapting to the modern technology of the 21^st century; they face great competition from other forms of modern media such as the internet. Many people feel it is easier and cheaper to receive their ‘fix’ of information about their hobbies with their computers and tablets than to go out and buy a magazine from the shop. This would be a problem because the demand for the magazine will drop, so the revenue from sales will consequently decrease, which could lead to long-term problems, such as failure to pay bills and production costs. Another problem is that there is an issue of oligopoly, it is hard for new magazines to break out and create a fan-base due to major names dominating the market, and these include the likes of The Radio Times and New! There is little room for new names in the magazine stand. Many magazines have been forced to devote to being an ‘online magazine’ which breaks the trend, this would be an issue because the structure of the company would have to be re-designed to incorporate the fact that you cannot advertise in the same way, there’s no printing required (meaning money spent on the required technology would be wasted). Overall, I think the modernisation of media is the biggest problem as many steps must be taken to adapt to the new market for magazines which can be very difficult.