Existing magazines: Institutions and audiences.

I wanted to find out about existing magazines in more depth in order to find out how they work and how they encourage readership.

Q magazine:
Q magazine was first published in 1986 by both Mark Ellen and David Epworth; it set itself apart from many other magazines with higher standards of photography and printing. Originally it was called cue, as cueing for a record but was quickly removed not to be mistaken for a 'Snooker' magazine.
Q's publishers are currently Beuer media group and is edited by 'Paul Rees' former editor of Kerrang! They strive in appealing to people who want new music up to date because when the magazine first started up, they believed that there was not much direction in that area.
Q magazine is a monthly magazine selling at £3.90 and in June 2007 they managed a massive circulation of 130, 179. Q also have a history of charitable events they have held; 'War or Want' was named their official charity in 2006 to support the anti war campaign.


Smash!hits
Smash! hits is a pop music based magazine based firmly on and was originally published by EMAP metro. The first issue was in 1978, but the magazine was founded in 1977 by the previous editor of New Music Express Nick Logan. This publication was originally monthly but quickly changed to fortnightly after only 3 issues. The main thing about this magazine in it's prime was the 'top 20 song lyrics' noted in the back of the magazine. However in 2006 they were forced into decline and the last ever magazine was issued in February 2006, although Smash! hits have returned to commemorate the death of Micheal Jackson in July of 2009 and an issue based firmly on Take That. This shows the element of trust between the readership and the magazine; they readers know what they want, and even though the circulation of this magazine isn't continued it is still trusted to bring out limited editions on important figures in the music industry.

Beuer magazine group.

Beuer media is a division of the Beuer publishing group, and is Europe's largest privately owned publishing group. It is a worldwide media empire offering over 230 magazines to be distributed across the world. (This includes TV, radio and online) Collectively the Beuer media group employs some 6,400 people and has a 2007 turnover of 1.70 Billion Euros.

Beuer's magazine heritage elongates back to 1953 with the launch of the Angling Times and the Motor Cycle news, both still considerably iconic.

This media empire publishes many magazines such as:

FHM ( this was originally called 'For HIM' magazine) which was bought in 1994.
Closer (A woman's glossy magazine) which was bought in 2002.
Grazia (A womans fashion magazine)was launched in 2005

They also publish: 'Heat', 'Take a Break', 'Yours' and 'Bella'.

Music magazines they publish:Mojo, Q magazine, Kerrang!

Beuer media group would, in my opinion would like to publish my magazine because it would be different. Q magazine and kerrang! come across as heavy, (with the bold fonts and colours) however my magazine would be lighter and mroe feminine. Although, my magazine is not only for women, it would have a lot of articles that would be unisexual. or example I would include features on brand new unsigned acts that tour universities and such. It would encourage people to become more into music itself and to discover themselves.

IPC.
IPC media is the UK's leading magazine and digital publishers selling over 350 million copies each year.
Magazines by IPC:
Country Life
Horse and hound
Rugby world
Decanter
Nuts
Mousebreaker
NME
Chat
Woman
Marie Claire
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