What kind of institution will distribute your magazine and why?

This question focuses on the 4 main institution companies. These are Bauer, IPC, Conde Nast and The National Magazine Company. I began this question by stating the institution companies, and gave a brief description of each one. I then focused on the company that I felt would be most beneficial when distributing my magazine, to which I decided on Bauer Media. I also stated that IPC media may also be a possible contender. 

What kind of institution will distribute your magazine and why?

There are 4 main companies that tend to distribute the main magazines. These are Bauer Consumer Media, IPC media, The National Magazine Company and Conde Naste. Each of these companies is focused into specific genre of magazine, such as Fashion, Film, or Music, but each company does indeed have magazines of differing genres in its collection. 

I think the best institution to distribute my magazine would be Bauer Consumer Media. I think this because of the fact that they have such a vast catalogue of work areas. Not only do they have a magazine division, they also have a TV and Radio division, which will allow for maximum distribution for my magazine. In addition, the company is international, rather than ‘The National Magazine Company’ for example. This means that not only will it be seen in Britain, but also in Mainland Europe and further. There is also a distinct lack of my genre of magazine in their catalogue. Bauer distribution magazines such as ‘Empire’ and ‘FHM’, which are clearly not similar to my magazine  genre.

Although Bauer Media do have several music magazines in their catalogue, believe ‘Unplugged’ will play a different role and suit a different audience to their current magazines. Currently, they distribute music magazines ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang’. I do however not think this will be an issue, because both of these magazines focus on different audiences. Kerrang has more of a heavy rock/metal audience, which differs greatly from my audience of Indie. Although similar, ‘Q’ tends to focus on more of the older style musicians, although many of them may fit under the genre of ‘Indie’, ‘Q’ magazine tends to focus on the older Demographic. Differently, my magazine focuses specifically on the Indie genre, and has more of a younger audience, which is reflected by the model featured on the front of my magazine, as well as the artists and articles featured inside it.

The second choice for distribution of my magazine would be ICP. The reason for this is due to their vast experience in the distribution of several genres of magazine, but more specifically the genre of music. Their success is evident due to the success of their magazine ‘NME’, which can be considered the most popular music magazine currently being produced. I think this success with a music magazine, especially one of its genre, which is the same as mine, could be very useful. I think this because clearly the company is knowledgeable about the industry, and knows how to get a magazine out there. However, the main reason I didn’t choose this magazine is that it already has such a profitable and successful indie magazine in its roster. NME is already a huge success, and so it would not be profitable for the company to produce and distribute a magazine of such as similar genre, as it will produce un-needed competition between magazines in their own catalogue.