My research of NME magazine

I have decided to take a closer look at the working of NME magazine, as it longest running published music magazine. It is also probably the most recognised music magazine in the world. Over the years Nme has expanded and now includes NME Tv and NME radio. I have decided to take a closer look at NME as i could not find a magazine of similar stature to my music magazine.  NME is owned by the large corporate  brand IPCmedia. IPC publish a large variety of magazines not just music magazines they have diversified so they have a suitable ,magazine for every section of the market. But in the music magazine market IPC publishes 2 other magazines to NME, these are Uncut and Guitar&Bass. Uncut focuses mainly on rock music from all time periods it also has a few sections about films. Guitar&Bass is like a guide for all good guitar players or people who generally have an interest in guitars. This shows that IPC have tried to make music magazines suitable for all the genre in music.

“IPC Media produces over 85 iconic media brands, with our print brands alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men –almost 27 million UK adults – while our online brands collectively reach 20 million users every month.”

The Music magazine market

 The Music magazine market that shrunk by 12.2 per cent in the second half of 2008. This shows that the demand for mainstream magazines like NME is falling, whereas magazines aimed at smaller segments of the music magazine industry appear to be on the rise as magazines like classic rock and Future Music posted a growth in sales for 2008. There has also been an increase in sales/growth for many specialist guitarist magazines. , Guitarist – 31,917 (8.5%), Guitar Techniques – 22,387 (7.0%), The Guitar Magazine – 11,994 (3.0%) the only guitar based magazine which is struggling is total guitar.

Ofcom’s Communications Market report revealed on Thursday that 15 to 24-year-olds were reading fewer magazines and turning their attention away from traditional media in favour of the internet. This suggests that I should try and aim my music magazine for an older generation as fewer young people are buying music magazines.

The current most distributed music magazine in the UK is The Fly, it circulation number is over 100,000 copies for every issue. The Fly is A5-sized, and is distributed around most record shops, bars and venues but its main distributor is HMV.The magazine is distributed throughout  Great Britain and Ireland. The Fly is a free music magazine which maybe largely due to its success, as magazines which you have to pay for have seen a sharp decline in sales.