many magazines are aimed at similar audience because that 'demographic' is lucrative for advertisers. E.g. teen magazines- Bliss, More, Cosmogirl.
titles within a certain sector of the market may be very similar, but each will have a unique selling point.
kerrang is unique for its 'brand credibility'
the magazine industry operates in a 'volatile market'.
Kerrang has changed 'ownership' 3 times in 28 years.
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Ownership
originally launched in 1981 as a heavy metal supplement to United Newspapers 'sounds'.
kerrang was picked up by EMAP in 1991.
kerrang was sold to Bauer along with all other EMAP titles in February 2008.
kerrang has a specific 'niche' market.
Paul Brannigan is the editor of kerrang.
managed by one senior 'editorial director' Stuart Williams.
the editorial director is there to make sure that kerrang doesn't apply to the same target audience as another magazine.
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Synergy and Convergence
it was one of the first tiltes to exploit cross media 'convergence' in targeting a specific audience.
decided to take things further by developing 'print-based' music titles as 'multi-platform brands'.
EMAP's first venture into the synergized world was with Kerrang radio station.
had the core 'brand values' of the magazine.
was a big success so followed this up in 2001 with Kerrang tv.
the 'omnipotence of the brand' across several 'media platforms' lead to kerrang selling around 80,000 copies a week from 2000-2007
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Technologies
digital photography enables art directors to work on the layout as soon as a photo shoot is over.
uses adobe in design.
use acrobat, allowing high resolution pdfs to be send directly to printers.
over the counter transactions account for 95% of sales.
for 2008/2009 sales were down nearly 30% because of music retailers like HMV.
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Web 2
means anything the audeince generates.
retail price = £2.20.
the magazine has lost out to the 'proliferation' of 'social networking' sites' like Facebook and MySpace.
Facebook and MySpace are able to give information the music world either from bands or fans...whereas the magazine used to be the 'gatekeeper'.
encouraged readers to be interactive in the producation of the magazine, e.g. readers can pick who they want on the front cover.
magazine includes posters which is a key selling point.
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Hardware
the success of kerrang is due to the fact that it has embraced the 'proliferation' of new digital 'hardware'.
uses internet, digital tv and radio to extend the range of the brand.
recent changes to the way in which people 'listen to music' is threatening to erode the 'financial viability' of the magazine.
the proliferation of mp3's, the iPod and online music players like Spotify, mean that the music industry has come to rely less upon the sales of recorded music to make a profit.
it could be said that the online version of the magazine has more to offer the target audience than it print based namesake.
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Technological Convergence
Kerrangs success in targeting a 'specific audience' can be attributed to the way in which it has embraced the 'convergence of technology'.
those magazines that have survived have developed 'multi-platform brands'.
some magazines have a 'digital after life'. Smash hits lives on as a radio station and tv channel.
the 'convergence of technologies' has meant the end for some titles, the music press could be said to be the 'forefront of the digital revolution'.
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Targeting an Audience
while it is possible to 'profile the audience' in terms of age, race, sex and class, for a 'passion title' it is important to have a 'core ideology' about the topic with which the reader can identify.
kerrangs written style is very celebratory, the magazine tends not to be critical of bands but ignores what it does not like.
the 'dark house style' reflects the 'sub-cultural style' of the metal and hard-core music scenes.
magazines 'core audience' is predominantly white and more middle class.
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