Research of the

Market PlaceBy: Karolina Kocaj

Introduction

To help me with ideas for my Music Magazine, I have researched the market place and looked at some already existing Music Magazines, of the same or similar genre that my music magazine will focus on. Later on this will help me with deciding on what to include in my music magazine and will give me an idea of what my music magazine will look like. As there are certain codes and conventions that I will have to follow for the specific genre that I have chosen. Through researching the already existing music magazines I will learn to understand the codes and conventions of the genre of music magazines that I'm looking at, which will help me with production.

Acoustic MagazineThe first magazine that I have researched is the "Acoustic" music magazine. This music magazine specifically focuses on Acoustic music and Acoustic music players. This is the only music magazine in the UK that has this focus. This magazine appeals mostly for people who are interested in and like Acoustic music also for Acoustic music players. This magazine features great artists who play acoustically that are known to everyone.The frequency of publication of this magazine was originally issued bi-monthly but has now changed to being a monthly issue.The Price of this magazine is £4.35 if you want to buy it monthly or you can get a 12 month subscription for £39.25. This price includes everything that comes with the magazine.The average size of this magazine is A4 and around 90-100 pages depending on the issue size.Some of the regular content that this magazine has is:

• New music• Editors letter• News• Gear review• Review new music • Different competitions• About the experts

But in this magazine there is not just regular content but also feature content such as:

• Interviews with different artists such as Ed Sheeran

• Workshops• Learn acoustic techniques• 12 string corner - one of feature articles

title

This is the link to the magazine's website: http://www.acousticmagazine.com/This is the link to the publishers website: http://www.blazepublishing.co.uk/

Jazzwise MagazineAnother music magazine that I have researched is the Jazzwise magazine. The Jazzwise magazine's main focus is on Jazz music. But it has a broad coverage of the jazz music including: jazz, musical improvisation, bebop, spiritual jazz, rock-jazz to world music, soul jazz, jazz funk, M-BASE, acid jazz and prog jazz. Jazzwise is currently the biggest selling jazz magazine

in Britain.The frequency of publication of this music magazine is issued monthly just like most music magazine out there. The price of this magazine is a set price which is £4.80 which is on the slightly more expensive end for a music magazine. Anything that comes exclusively with the magazine is covered within the price. The issue size of the magazine is regular A4 and it is approximately from 60- 70 pages depending on the issue.The regular content of this magazine includes things like

• News• Jazz On Film• Taking Off• Reviews• Books• The Player• Instrument Reviews• Live Reviews• Gig Guide• Subscriptions• Letters

The feature content is different for each issue of this magazine. I have researched what has appeared as feature content on the issue that is shown on the image above ( issue number 180) Some of the feature articles includes:• ACS - Exclusive interview with Geri

Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding

• John Escreet - British born New York -based pianist.

• Remember Shakti - Guitar icon John McLaughlin

• Carla Bley - The masterful composer and pianist

This is the link to the magazine's website: http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/This is the link to the Jazzwise direct website: http://sendmemusic.com/

NME MagazineOne of the other magazines that I have researched is the NME magazine. NME stands for New Musical Express. This magazine is one of UK's popular music magazines. The main focus of this magazine is pop, rock and punk rock. However in the past this magazine has featured articles from other music tittles owned by IPC these included Melody Maker, Rave and Uncut.

The frequency of publication of this music magazine is weekly, which is different as most music magazines that are currently out are published monthly. The price of this music magazine is £2.20 which is less than most music magazine but this is probably because this magazine is issued weekly and not monthly. The price includes added extras such as posters and CD's. The size of the magazine is A4 and the issue sizes vary from approximately 60-70 pages depending on the issue. Which is the average size of a music magazine.Some of the regular content that isincluded in this magazine is:

• News• Radar - New bands• Reviews - on albums and tracks• Live - The week's best gigs• NME TV• Letters • Gear & Crossword

This magazine also includes feature content which is different for every issue. Some of the feature articles that have appeared previously include:

• The Cure - Interview with the godfather of gloom

• Heartbreak - The life-changing high priests of Italo Disco

• Florence And The Machine - article• Kurt Cobain- article

This is the link to the magazine's website: http://www.nme.com/This is the link to the publishers website: http://www.ipcmedia.com/Media pack link: http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/g9fgogb7yus90vpvbnh0ef7m.pdf

Q Magazine

Another magazine that I have researched is the Q magazine. The Q magazine is UK's number one actively purchased music magazine. The magazine is well known from compiling lists that its created. The music genre focus of this magazine is the pop and rock genre which is quite popular. Every issue of Q has a different message on the spine. The median age of the readers for this magazine is 32 which shows that it is most popular within adults. Also 70% of the readers are male which suggests that it could be more appropriate for male than female and that males enjoy reading this magazine more.The frequency of publication for this magazine is monthly just like most of the music magazines that are out there. The price for a single issue of this music magazine is £3.99 which is on the more expensive side. You can also can a subscription for six months for £15, you could also even get a 12 month subscription for £40. In the subscription you can also have gift options which are included in the price. This magazine could also be bought digitally and then downloaded into your ipad or iphone. The issue size of this magazine varies from approximately 100 pages and up. With this magazine often promotional gifts are given away such as cover mounted CD's or books. There is regular contents that is always displayed in this magazine which includes:

• A review section featuring new music releases• Music compilations• Film and live concert reviews• Radio and television reviews• Crosswords• Ten commandments• Subscriptions• Q mail

Much of the magazine is devoted to interviews with popular musical artists., some of the regular features may include:• "The Q 50" which is where the magazine

lists the top 50 essential tracks of the month

• "Cash for questions" in which famous bands or celebrities answers questions sent by readers.

Some of the other articles that have been previously featured may include:• The Q list• Ticket touting• Where are they now?• New!

This is the link to the magazine's website: http://www.qthemusic.com/This is the link to the publishers website: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Media pack link: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/uploads/QMediaPack-Feb2013.pdf

Blues Matters MagazineThe next music magazine that I have researched is called "Blues Matters". Blues Matters

mainly focuses on blues music and represents all directions and shades of the Blues. Each issue of the magazine provides information, fact, honesty and humour into the blues world. In the magazine there is a wide range of Blues topics which are presented so that it's easy to read for the reader. Blues Matters has a wide audience which is not only located in the UK but its worldwide in places such as USA, Canada, Europe, Russia and many more. The target for this magazine would be people who enjoy all aspects of the Blues as this magazine has it all.The frequency of publication of this magazine is bi-monthly which is six issues per year which is different than the frequency of publication of other music magazines. The price of this magazine is £4.95 per issue which is not a lot considering that the magazine is only published six times per year. However you could also get a subscription of £27.50 in the UK and £45.00 worldwide, this is the price per year which includes six issues, you can also download the Blues Matters app for your phone. A regular size of the Blues Matters music magazine consists of approximately 132 pages.Some of the regular articles in this magazine include:

• Happenin'• Kitchat• Blue Blood• Blues Top 10• Red lick Top 20• RMR Blues Top 50

There are also articles which are featured in this magazine they include:• Reviews on Albums• Showtime• Under the radar• Resonating the Blues

Besides the features that I have listed above this magazine mostly features interviews, some of the interviews that have appeared in one of the issues include:• Andy Fraser• Jo Harman• Devon Allman• Robben Ford• Eddie "Blue" Lester• Robin Thrower• Erik Steckel• Alex Zayas • And many more.

This is the link to the magazine's website: http://www.bluesmatters.com/

Juke Blues Magazine Another music magazine that I have researched is the "Juke Blues" magazine. Juke Blues is a British music magazine which focuses on quite a few genres, these include: blues, R&B, gospel, soul, zydeco, and jazz. The magazine contains a mixture of biographical articles articles on blues and related musicians as well as discographies, interviews and reviews. Juke Blues has had representation on Channel 4 TV and has had coverage on various BBC radio stations. It is said by many that this is the best magazine of it's type. The contents ranges from in depth interviews or articles to shorter pieces on popular figures.The frequency of publication of this magazine previously was a least twice a year now is irregularly, which seems really odd that it doesn't have an actual set frequency date. The price of this magazine is £5.00 per issue which is more on the expensive side but the magazine is not published regularly. The size of the issue consists of approximately 100 pages and more. Some of the regular contributions have included:

• Mick Huggins• John Broven• John Barnie• Chris Smith• and many more.

This is the link to the magazine's website: http://www.jukeblues.com/

Blues & Soul Magazine Another music magazine that I have researched is the Blues & Soul magazine. Blues & Soul is a British music magazine covering a variety of different genres which include: soul, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, reggae and world music. This magazine covers the latest UK and Us urban music information which includes things like; reviews, charts, news event and clubbing information any many interviews with known people who are involved with this type of music. Some of these people include: Jay-Z and Amy Winehouse.The frequency of publication of this magazine is bi-monthly meaning that there are six issues per year which is quite common. The price of this magazine is £3.95 for a single issue and there is also a magazine subscription available which is £39.00 per year. The price of this magazine is in the less expensive side considering it's bi-monthly issue. The regular issue size for this magazine is approximately 85-110 pages which is normal for a bi-monthly issue.

Some of the regular content in this magazine includes:

• News• Reviews• Charts• Event Information • Clubbing Information

Besides the regular content in this magazine there are also feature articles which are mostly interviews. Some of people hat have been previously interviewed includes:

• Amy Winehouse• Jay-Z• Smokey Robinson• Taio Cruz • Jay Sean • Corinne Bailey Rae and many more.

This is the link to the magazine's website: http://www.bluesandsoul.com/The magazine is published by the same company.

Rolling Stone MagazineThe final music magazine that I have researched is the "Rolling Stone" magazine.

The Rolling Stone magazine is known for its musical coverage. The magazine has changes its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-orientated television shows, film, actors and popular music. The magazine has a bigger readership within males rather than females and mostly younger people aged between 18-24. The Rolling Stone magazine has a website which they have maintained for a long time, the website contains selected current articles, reviews, blogs MP3's and other features such as articles about artists.The frequency of publication of this magazine is bi-weekly meaning that it is published one every two weeks also meaning that there are about 26 issues published every year. The price for a single issue of the magazine is £5.28 which is slightly on the more expensive side considering it's a bi-weekly magazine. There are also various subscriptions available; a 3 month subscription which consists of 6 issues and costs £31.49, there is also the 6 months subscription which consists of 13 issue and it costs £67.99 and there is the 12 months subscriptions which consists of all 26 issues for that year and it costs £135.49. The size of the issue varies between 100 to 150 pages depending on the issue.

Some of the regular content for this magazine includes:• Q&A (question and answer)• Letters • Rock & Roll• National Affairs• Reviews• Charts

Besides the regular content the magazine also contains feature content, some of the articles that featured in the magazine includes:

• "Eminem's Road Back From Hell"• "Phil Collins' Last stand"• "Taylor Swift's Huge Week"• "Kanye West's 'Dark Twisted Fantasy'"

and many more.This is the link to the magazine's website: http://www.rollingstone.com/This is the name of the publishers company: Wenner Media LLCThis is the link for the media pack: http://www.srds.com/mediakits/rollingstone/index.html