Institutional context report

We were asked to create a music magazine that is based on a particular music genre. Therefore I have chosen the music genre of rock for my magazine as there is a vast majority of audience. Also because rock magazines tend to survive much better than other music genres. For example “Kerrang” is one of the most popular music magazines ever. Therefore I made my magazine a bit similar to Kerrang. The magazine I have created is aimed the demographic of young to older intelligent male teens who listens to modern and olden rock music The mode of address and the layout of my magazine are very masculine therefore it suits my targeted demographic.


The reason I think this magazine would survive in real life is because it has a vast audience. I have created this magazine so it is modern so it keeps up-to-date with modern rock music which would attract the young audience. Also it has roots to its olden music. This is done to show readers this magazine is not just about young people. We are not forgetting the icons of rock; we really care and are passionate about our music. This links in to the idea that many young people who listen to rock music also enjoy listening to, and finding out about, the history of the genre.


I will use Old media to promote my magazine. Things like radio, newspaper etc…However I am aware that old media is suffering because of the proliferation of media platforms. For example before there were only 3 channels so everyone watches them and they would listen to the radio, read news papers and magazines for information and entertainment. After the internet came it had a massive impact on the magazine industry this is because the internet provided you with entertainment and information. Therefore Old media became less popular as it also provides you with entertainment and information and the audiences for old media started to fall and is still falling. The media industry became more fragmented. I will have a radio station called “Xplode radio” This is done because when magazine become famous they usually go into radio as well as the internet and I can make the radio station accessible via the internet. This creates a symbiotic relationship between the website and the radio station as the website is promoting the radio station by making it accessible via the internet. Smash Hits was a famous magazine, when the internet came the magazine went to its downfall this was due it not keeping up-to-date with new media. However although the magazine named Smash Hits does not exists anymore the radio station still does. This is why I will have a radio station for my magazine. As I am aware that new media is important for a magazine to survive I will also use new media to promote my magazine.


Many magazines started to close down when the internet was introduced and to survive magazines had to create a website. In a magazine, if you are a commission editor, you would have to consider 360 degree commissioning. You should have a website, text advertising, viral advertising, and Trojan horses. This is where new media comes in. This is done as your product will not stand alone. For example you can have a website for your magazine. When one form of media promotes another it is called having a symbiotic relationship or synergy. In this case the magazine and the magazine website have a symbiotic relationship. Having a website for a magazine is very important in these days as websites are a form of new media.


It would be almost impossible for a music magazine to be successful without having a website as many magazines had to close down due to not being up-to-date with new media technologies. For example Smash Hits was one of the biggest and the most popular music magazine ever. It had to close down as it did not keep up-to-date with new media technology by having a website. The internet affected many magazines as the internet gave all the gossip, information and entertainment the public needed. Magazines became unpopular as it provides the same things as the internet.
The rise of the internet affected music magazines. Smash hits were one of the magazines that the internet had a massive impact on. It affected this magazine in many ways. Smash Hits changed magazine history as before magazines looked plain, simple. When Smash Hits changed its look. This had a massive impact on many magazines even the NME started to have a similar look. Before the NME used to look like a news paper. Smash Hits was a magazine about gossip, news and entertainment when the internet came the magazine’s sales dropped low because this magazine was a source of gossip, entertainment and news and the internet can provide you with these things. The magazine became less popular and went crashing down. At this point the magazine had to be ceased. In February 2006, it was announced that the magazine would stop publication after the 13th February due to declining sales. However the digital television channel, digital radio and the website service still continued. Therefore this is why this magazine has a website because it gives this magazine a chance to survive in the world. There is a sticker in this magazine that talks about the rock festival. It tells you for more info go to the magazine website. In this case the magazine is trying to promote the website. It is making the audience go to the website by seeing this in the magazine. This would interest the readers because they would be interested about the rock festival. Having a website will create a vast audience. As my magazine is aimed at the teenagers having a website for my magazine would be appropriate as most teenagers are on the internet most of the time. The magazine can have things saying visit the website for more information and the website can have subscriptions of the magazine just in case you miss it. If the magazine has an interview that is short it could say for the full interview go to the website. This way the website and the magazine will have a symbiotic relationship as they both can promote each other.

Another new media technology that I will be using would be mobile downloads. As many teenagers use their phone quite a lot I will use this to help my magazine’s audience grow. To internet enabled phones I could give away free downloads to go to the website of the magazine forcing symbiosis to happen. I could also send text alerts and messages about the magazine to its audience through their phone when they sign up to the website. I could also use social networking sites such as facebook to the magazine’s advantage. This could be done by creating a group in facebook for the Xplode magazine. This way when people are on facebook they could come and visit the magazine group to get more information on the upcoming magazine issue, to know about music tours, concerts etc…


I have considered many ways of marketing my magazine. I could send Trojan horses, discounts or use viral advertising. I will have a Trojan horse in my magazine. This is when you have a lighter version of that magazine with another. This should be aimed at a similar demographic that is slightly younger. This way when the younger audience grows up they will start to buy XPLODE which would be the grownup version of the Trojan horse. Another thing I can do is I could have a promotion offer for example buy this album and get this magazine for 50p.


Advertising is very important. It is what helps your magazine to be recognized within the audience you choose. When you advertise you have to be very careful as you need to spend a lot of money. You need to make sure you are aiming at your demographic. This is why I am considering viral advertisement as it is free. I will plan to give free t-shirts to people who go to a concert that is being mentioned in the magazine. The free t-shirts will have the brand identity of the magazine. It does not have to contain the logo it can just be cool designs that contain the brand identity. Then this can be recorded and put onto you tube. This will spread quickly and fast as many teenagers like to see videos of concerts and when they realise so many people wore this kind of t-shirt they would want to send this to their friends and spread it. This will not only save money it will also advertise the magazine which is the main target. The magazine would upload this video of the concert to Youtube. The downside to this is there could be legal considerations of copyright. Therefore if the legal considerations would stop the magazine from doing this the magazine could arrange a music artist to play a special track each month. Something like a quirky cover song which the magazine will video. The video will be heavily branded. The magazine then will realise this on to the magazine website and also on Youtube. This then can allow word of mouth and people posting it do the rest.


IPC is a magazine publishing house that produces more than 85 iconic media brands. It reaches about 44% of men and two thirds of women in the UK. As my magazine is aimed at men it would help to raise the percentage of reaching out to male users. Their men’s magazine portfolio contains of leisure brands and life style brands. The life style brands of the IPC are very popular as it includes popular men’s magazines such as Nuts and NME. I am aware that the NME is also a music magazine that is slightly similar to XPLODE as they both are music magazines that are aimed at teenagers. However the NME is aimed at older teens Therefore there will be no rivalry as my magazine is aimed at young and old intelligent teenagers who listen to modern and olden soft rock music. The main reason of not having competition is because the NME is the only music magazine that is the closest to XPLODE and they are not as similar and is not even in the same genre of music. Another reason why this magazine should be published in the IPC media publishing house is because the percentage of magazines that are aimed at men are lower than women’s therefore it would be suitable to use this publishing house for my magazine to be published at as it will benefit my magazine and the publishing house.


There are legal considerations that you have to consider when you are advertising your product. Advertising plays an important role in today’s world. There are codes that you have to follow when advertising. The codes put down regulations for advertisers that they must follow or will not be allowed to advertise what they want. These rules are general and they say that advertising must be responsible, must not offend, must not mislead. Also there are specific rules that cover advertising for children some of these rules are not to say only in a product that is being sold to a child as children don’t understands the meaning of value, you also cannot portray people sexually…etc However I do not have to worry about this as my magazine is not aimed at children. However if I am going to have a Trojan horse I should consider this because a lighter version of this magazine would be aimed at a younger audience.


Point of sale is another thing that is important in order to sell your magazine. Statistically it is proven if there is a product in the left and same one the right you would pick the left one as you read left to right. Also if the magazine is at an eye level it would be easy for people to see it as soon as they enter the shop. Therefore the perfect spot would be to have the magazine at an eye level shelf on the left side. This spot is called the “prime spot”. This spot is hard to get. To get this spot we could give the launch issue with a massive discount. It will make a loss at the start but then it would survive later on. Later when the magazine becomes popular and is easily recognized then the magazine does not have to be in the prime spot as it is popular enough.


The Marxist structure states that power is held by those who have possession and control of production and distribution. There is a threat to the traditional Marxist structure of most media industries because there is more fragmented media and people share their opinion more through new media rather than let magazines and newspapers speak for people by making things biased. For example if there was an election newspapers and magazines can favour a party by saying bad things about the opposite parties. These things also happen in the music industries. An example of this is when Simon Cowell tired to make X factor winner Joe McElderry’s Christmas single to go to number one and magazines and newspapers also helped to do this. Unfortunately for Simon Cowell the power of new media stopped this from happening. A facebook group was created in order to stop this from happening and many people joined this. At the end these people were successful and Joe McElderry’s Christmas single did not become number one. This shows that new media allows peoples opinion speak out. Therefore to fight this threat my magazine would need to embrace and utilize new media technologies.


In conclusion my marketing campaign and the use of digital technologies would guaranteed that my magazine will be successful in a very competitive industry because I am publishing my magazine in the IPC publishing house where I am guaranteed to not have a magazine like mine therefore there will be no rivalry. Also I would be helping the publishing house to make the percentage of the magazines aimed at men go higher. The fact that I am using viral advertising would also make my magazine successful as it is free and it would spread across to my demographic without spending any money. Another reason for success would be having my magazine at an eye level with other magazines by giving a massive discount to the shop for the launch issue which would help to create recognition of the magazine. New media technologies would help me the most to make my magazine successful as it is vital to keep up-to-date with new media technologies.