The magazine market has become highly fragmented recently and it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep circulation figures

of magazines at a consistently high level. Publishers realise this and therefore would be wary in taking on new publications as to make sure there would be a steady demand for the product. This of course means that I would have to ensure I targeted and used the correct publisher.

* Mojo ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 87,555 ; -7.5% * Q ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 77,522 ; -12.1% * Classic Rock ( Future Publishing Ltd ) : 62,354 ; -7.9% * Kerrang! ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 42,077 ; -2.1% * Metal Hammer ( Future Publishing Ltd ) : 35,259 ; -15.7% * New Musical Express ( IPC Media Ltd ) : 27,650 ; -14.0%
Circulation figures for market leaders as of January 2011. For more info relate to Question 1. Key to note is that aswell as choosing a publisher in terms of the similarity of previous publications, the popularity of the publisher should also be taken into account as to start off with a good reputation from critics and customers.

Q, NME and and Uncut suffered double-digit year-on-year sales declines in another torrid period for the music magazine sector in the second half of (Josh Halliday-The Guardian) 2011.

Bauer appear to be the biggest publisher in terms of both its reputation and its product portfolio. They are a large German publishing company based in Hamburg, who operates in 15 countries worldwide. Bauer Media joined in conjunction with emap businesss in January 2008 following emaps plc consumer products to Bauer. Bauer Media focuses its attentions on Magazines and Radio - widely recognised as being industry innovators within the magazine sector. With such high credentials, it would appear that Bauer is a suitable candidate. It does not as of late have a Dubstep Magazine within its published magazine base and could fit in with advertising packages.

There are 4 music magazine publishers in the UK who are dominating the market. The publishers logos are seen in the opening slide. Although it is key to note that Development Hell is a majorly smaller company than the other 3 publishers.

IPC Media is another possible publisher. IPC Media (International Publishing Corporation) is owned by Time Inc and is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom selling over 350 million copies of its magazines every year. Much like Bauer, IPC do not feature a Dubstep based magazine within its Magazine catalogue. Its only music based publication is NME and there is a strong possibility that it may want to expand further into the music magazine market and with the emergence of Dubstep as a popular genre, this may be a publisher which shows keen interest and would be happy to take on my magazine along with using outstanding advertising clients.

The one featuring music magazine within IPCs publication base is NME (New Musical Express) perhaps the lowest circulated magazine however readership figures are slightly more impressive standing at 411,000 .(1/11/11)

Development Hell Ltd. Is perhaps the lesser known publisher publishing the more unknown and perhaps underground titles. It is an independent media company based in Islington, London who currently publish two monthly magazines, The Word and Mixmag. They also manage their accompanying websites and have provided consultancy for Future, IPC and were employed by Paul McCartney to produce his souvenier magazine. These credits lead to very high praise and as they already feature a similar publication, they would most likely be encouraged by my magazine, knowing they could use current advertising clients within the magazine aswell as using some of their ideas in it.

MixMag is known as The Worlds biggest Dance Music & Clubbing Destination.

Finally I will focus on Future Publishing. Future is the biggest guitar publisher in the world and the biggest music-making publisher in both the US and the UK. This is a fairly good thing to know as the majority of Dubstep music is made using computers. One of Futures published magazines, Computer Music, relates to the equipment used to make music. As this is a key component of my genre I feel this publisher could effectively taken on board my magazine although the inexperience of genre based writing outside of the metal genre may mean this is not a suitable publisher to use as it may not fit into the market as a wide consumer based magazine. Much like its instrumental magazines.

Futures music-listening brands Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Revolver are going from strength to strength. Classic Rock recorded its ninth consecutive circulation increase in the last full (Future Publishing Portfolio) year.

As mentioned earlier, the music magazine market is in a steep decline of popularity. This is due to the increase in technological advances as well as public demand for more interactivity within modern publications, something magazine publishers are unable to provide within the confines of a paper magazine. Interactivity is the key point here and with my QR code accessibility it allows my product a USP.

As I briefly mentioned, the publishers of MixMag, Development Hell Ltd also work as a consultancy firm for music magazine publishers. With a fairly vast amount of experience and recongised experts, it could be a good idea to use this company not as my magazines publisher but as a consultant for the publication. With the genre similarity and previous knowledge, this would allow me to gain in-sight into the possibilities for the future of Duble Take.

Along with this info, there is a minority who still enjoy the physicality of a magazine and would dislike the complete change to internet, a problem seen frequently amongst this genre. This is why my magazine and the brand itself would be unique. It would provide traditional accessibility with a strong link to current advances using digital iBook sales, a market which in itself is currently booming. Being able to utilise this for music magazines would mean my magazine is leading the way for modern methods of publication.

In retrospect, Bauer Media are the largest and most prominent company and for many would be the obvious choice however, in my opinion the vastness of the operation they are managing is perhaps the key reason why they would not be the suitable candidate. They would perhaps not be interested in taking on a new magazine, especially in this period of dramatic drops in circulation. I have therefore decided that the ideal publisher for my magazine would be IPC. With NME being the only one of their extensive catalogue of magazines focusing on music, it is a strong possibility that they may want to investigate the potential into this market further, especially using a genre which is proven to be an upcoming favourite amongst both mainstream listeners as well as the potential sales they could gain from devoted listeners since the creation of Dubstep. When mentioning to them the drop in magazine circulation, which they will most likely be aware of, I could mention the emerging market for downloadable content and e-book sales. When describing the plan and possibility to expand into this, This may ensure that they will be keen to make a deal and with the viewable quality of NME, it is clear that they could be trusted with their input for the magazine and that they could help bring success from this new publication.