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

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? There are several conglomerates which could potentially distribute my magazine, for example TimeInc, who own ‘NME’ and Bauer Media, who own ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang’. These would both be suitable for distributing my magazine as they both have experience in the field, hence they would have a great amount of knowledge on how to promote and globalise the magazine and identity of the magazine. Bauer Media already have two rock magazines in ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang’, I think a third would be excessive for them; therefore TimeInc would have more of an interest in the magazine. TimeInc is based in New York; it publishes over 90 magazines including Sports Illustrated, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Fortune and Entertainment Weekly. It also owns Time Inc. UK, which publishes popular magazines like What's On TV and NME. TimeInc merged with Warner Communications as part of the conglomerate Time Warner in 1990, but they parted last year.

TimeInc is modern and carries its brands through various forms of media, for example their magazines are available on IOS devices and you can follow their brands on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. This shows that the company is approaching the new age of technology openly, this was highlighted in a previous post- “Problems facing the magazine industry”. I am confident that TimeInc would be able to evolve with the new age of media instead of being left behind.

TimeInc would want to distribute ‘Vexx’ magazine because it is a modern magazine which has a clear target audience and is priced reasonably. I believe the brand would be able to make TimeInc a great amount of money, not only from magazine sales, but also from downloads and merchandise. Although the magazine has a similar target audience to ‘NME’, I think a rival brand would be healthy for the industry and for the consumers it would be refreshing to read a completely new style of magazine. ‘Vexx’ is rich in content and is fully embracing the digital revolution, there are many ways for the customer to become involved with the magazine and the experience is ultimately very personal. The age range is much broader than NME, it targets not only teenagers through social interaction, but middle age males, this is through the content within the magazine (there are interviews which are with artists who older audiences are more likely to recognise). TimeInc would be able to fully embrace this target audience, offering age specific prizes and setting up viral advertising campaigns to draw people in, it would overall be a great opportunity for them to explore and reinvent the genre of rock.

The target audience would likely be in search of a magazine which is widely distributed and is easy to buy, therefore I would like the magazine to be available in high street shops and supermarkets, meaning everyone can have the opportunity to buy it. Furthermore, the new audience is looking for complete convenience, where they don’t even have to leave their house to buy the magazine. I would like to have my magazine available on Itunes, online and on the Google Play Newsstand in order to appeal to the new generation of people who are used to reading on their smartphone or tablet. Newer technology would help spread the interest of the magazine, people, especially younger people are often inclined to explore new forms of media and technology, this would definitely encourage an increase in consumption of the magazine. By offering a subscription service people would be able to automatically buy the magazine and be reminded to read it.