Mainstream vs. Niche publications
A mainstream publication is one that appeals to a lot of
people (broad public appeal) – e.g. NME, Q, Ok, Chat, Bella, Kerrang! Etc. Mainstream publications hope for big sales
(Advantage). Generate a lot of profit due to sales (Advantage). There is a wide
target audience and they appeal to advertisers more (Advantage). Mainstream
also covers more subject matter in a magazine (Advantage). Mainstream
publications also have a flooded market/proliferation of product (Disadvantage).
There is also no specific targeting of any one group (Disadvantage). Mainstream
magazines are usually owned by multimedia corporations, with links to record
labels (owned by the same company) (Disadvantage). The cross-media convergence
can manipulate record sales. You have to be careful with what you include in a
mainstream magazine (you can’t offend a large group of people) (Disadvantages).
Mainstream magazines can lack credibility (seem like a jack of all trades)
(Disadvantage).
A niche publication is intended for a small, specific and
dedicated audience (e.g. Terrorizer, Pitchfork, Fangoria, etc.). Niche
publications are aimed at a specific target audience which could means that
sales figures will be lower than they are for mainstream publications. However,
this also shows that niche publications have credibility as they are not
writing about lots of different topics. Niche publications are also hard to get
noticed unless they are publicised which is not likely as they are less
appealing to advertising companies. This will also influence the sales figures
of the publication. The writers in a niche publication can become more
expressive (advantage). There is also less influence from external sources as
cross media convergence is less likely to occur. Niche publications also have a
more dedicated and loyal consumer. Niche magazines can also be more expensive
as they will not produce as many copies due to printing costs. These publications can also be of a lower
quality as they cannot afford a skilled designer to create the magazine
(aesthetic quality can be lower and look cheaper). Niche magazines also use a lot of technical
terms and jargon as their fan base understands them.
In times of economic pressure, people stop spending money on
luxuries and magazines are luxuries. In the last half of 2013, UK magazines
lost 6.3% of their print sales.
‘Empire’ Magazine’s sales went down by 13.5% in the last six
months of 2013. I think this is because less people are going to the cinema as
they can’t afford it which may lead to their interest in films fading
away. Another reason may be that there
was a lack of interesting and exciting films being released in late 2013 so
consumers chose not to buy the magazine. Also, in the first 6 months of 2013,
most of the magazine’s editions are based on upcoming summer blockbusters which
probably result in a lot more sales. This means that it would be difficult for
Empire to reach the sales figures of the early 2013 magazines when more popular
films were featured so the figures may have dipped.
The Christmas
Magazine’s sales increased by 20.8% in the last six months of 2013. I think
this is because Christmas was approaching and more people became interested and
excited for the seasonal period.
Socio-demographic indicators used to help design our target
audience.
A - Upper middle class: higher managerial,
administrative or professional.
B - Middle class: intermediate
managerial, administrative or professional.
C1- lower middle class –
supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional.
C2- skilled working class:
skilled manual workers.
D – Working class: semi and
unskilled manual workers.
E – Those at lowest level of
subsistence: state pensioners or widows (no other earner), casual or lowest
grade workers.
My magazine is going to be aimed
at people in and below the C1 category. Pop artists usually target themselves
at a similar socio-demographic as well.
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