Task 4a;

1. What types of magazine and target audience has IPC been associated with over the years? 2. Why Might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new magazine? 3. What sort of genres of music/types magazines might they be likely to publish? 4. Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate?

What types of magazine and target audience, do they aim their magazines at?

IPC have been associated with various types of magazines, for instance style & entertainment(ESSENCE, InStyle), lifestyle(allyou,CookingLight etc.) , News(Time, TIME for rise etc) , Business(CNNMoney, FORTUNE etc.), Sport(GOLF MAGAZINE,SPORTS ILLUSTRATED etc.), and international publications(IPC Media, Grupo Expansion etc). From the 1800s they had been associated with ; Horse & Hound, Shooting & times, Yachting World, Amateur gardening, Cycling weekly, Amateur photographer and the rail way magazine. Moving on into the new century from the 1900s to the 1960s, various new magazine titles became a feature with the IPC media. For example Yachting Monthly, Motor Boat, Womens Weekly, Golf Monthly, Women & Home, Womens own, Women and Anglers mail. The target audiences which IPC have been targeting from the beginning are Middle classed men, as the majority of their media would appeal to them, the sports covered are generally sports that fairly wealthy individuals would take part in. It is evident that IPC have been consistent in targeting audiences with a sporting interest, shown through the use of numerous sports magazines such as Gold Monthly. Also they target women, represented via the availability of women's magazines like Woman, Womens Own and Womens Home. Likewise from the 1970s to the 2000s IPC continued to join up with more titles like; Sporting Gun, Motor Caravan, Wedding & Home, Country Homes & Interiors, Classic Boats and Motor Boats Monthly. It is apparent that IPC has been consistent on focusing heavily on there main target audience Middle Class and Middle aged men, as well as increasing its focus on Middle aged women; this has seen them have a larger target audience, leading to them selling more magazines.

Why Might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new magazine?

IPC would be a appropriate publisher for a new magazine as they have a vast amount of experience and expertise in publishing magazines, targeted at niche markets with a specific genre, based on various aspects and elements on life; they have been launching magazines since 1853. Moreover they also published one of the most well-known, biggest and successfullest music magazines, that being NME. This clearly shows they have the knowledge and know what it takes to publish quality magazines. Throughout the years they have targeted various target audiences, so they clearly know how to appeal to different individuals. For instance Golf Monthly is aimed at middle aged men, whereas Woman is a magazine aimed at middle aged woman. Moreover IPC would be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine as NME is the only music magazine which they publish. NME only focuses on music which is in the official UK record charts, this means that music that isn't in the charts could be ignored. Also they would cover the latest music genres like Hip Hop and RnB for example.

What sort of genres of music/types of magazines, might they be likely to publish?

If IPC were to publish a magazine based on music, they probably would select a genre that has a identifiable target audience. For instance the Music magazine, focuses on the classical music genre, this genre is not as big as others. IPC are known for publishing magazines with quite small target audiences, which is made apparent form previous magazines theyve published, like Motor Boat.

Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate?

Bauer may be an appropriate alternative publisher, as they already publish Music magazines, which means they will have the required knowledge on how to sell magazines of this nature; they should be more efficient than IPC at marketing music magazines. Bauer has an extremely lengthy history in the publishing business ranging from 1875, up until to today, they sell an average of 38million magazines weekly; this shows that they know how to appeal to their target audience. Bauer aims its magazines at various target audiences as well as producing various magazines like FHM, Heat and Grazia. FHM is the largest lifestyle magazine in the UK, which is aimed at young male adults, as well as middle aged men. Heat is a magazine which specialises on celebrity news, gossip and fashion, its main target audience are young female adults, however they target audiences like middle aged woman and teenagers. Grazia is an Italian magazine, this also specialises on celebrity news and gossip, its target audience is basically the same as Heat. Based on these magazines it shows that Bauer is a successful publishing company, they are extremely well known and produce magazines which the target audience have a large demand for. Bauer have the expertise and know what it requires to attract their target audiences to purchase their magazines, which is why I believe they would be an appropriate alternative publisher.

Task 4b; ,Make a decision on which Sub-Genre the magazine you will produce belongs to:
The Sub-Genre of the magazine I will be producing will be based in Hip-hop/Rap culture.

Vibe is an R&B/Hip-Hop/Entertainment magazine, it was founded by Quincy Jones. It Main Target audience are young people who have an interest in R&B/Hip-Hop culture. Vibe initially shut down production in 2009, it was than purchased by private equity investment fund InterMedia Partners. Magazines are now released during Quarterly periods, containing double covers, a greater online presence, assisted by the Vibe LifeStyle network, which are a group of entertainment and music websites run by the Vibe organisation. The magazines Target audience is mainly youthful/Urban individuals with an interest in the Hip-Hop scenery. Vibe rose to popularity as it published a larger range of articles than its competitors, since the year 2007, they gained around 800,000 followers. There nearest competitors include The Source and XXL who both focus more intensely on rap music, as well as rock and the pop-centric(rolling stone and spin. The magazine has a wide variety of writers, for instance Alan light, Jeff Chang, Dream Hampton etc. Vibes arguably most Famous cover story featured rap legend Tupuc Shakur, the famous interview includes the Rap sensation anticipating his death, sadly he was killed the following year.

Research into a specific music magazine that links in some way to your chosen subgenre and find out who publishes it. Do research into this Publisher and why it might or might not make a suitable publisher for your final magazine: VIBE

Vibes Content Page

The magazine has a large range of articles from the back page list of 20 questions, the Boombshots column about reggae and Caribbean music. Also including Vibe Confidential and Vibe Confidential Revolutions music reviews, a celebrity gossip column and up and coming artists. Moreover the magazine also publishes articles concerning the most up to date Hip-Hop fashion and clothing, as well as high quality sportswear from urban brands like Rocawear and Fubu. Vibe made a conscious effort to include Models of all ethnicities in there pages. Vibes former editor Emil Wilbikin was consistently praised for the styling of those pages, as well as maintaining fashion as the vocal point of the magazine, in the period of the early 2000s. Various clothing brands designed for or with connections to Hip-Hop enjoyed a rich vain of publicity in Vibes pages; including G-unit by 50 cent and Apple bottoms. The September 2003 issue was the acknowledgment of Vibes ten years of publishing, the magazine was produced containing black and white portraits of the most enthralling & popular cover issues. Moreover It possessed The Vibe 100; The Juiciest people, places and things of the year.

Ideas For My Article Influenced by Vibe, some of the ideas which I can also adapt to suit my magazine;

My magazine will certainly be connected and based around the Hip-hop industry, preferably Rap music. This means my magazines name will be influenced by Hip-hop, just like Vibe. Vibes name has connections with base and music which are dominant connotations relating to the Hip-hop industry. My images, cover page, as well as contents page will all be all Hip-hop related. I can achieve this by ensuring the models for my Photos generate some form of attitude to portray a cocky, in command sense, just like the Artists on Vibes magazines have. Also I will use basic colour schemes like Vibe, to ensure I dont take focus away from my main image and cover -lines. Moreover Im going to incorporate a variety of information which has connotations to Hip-hop. I'm going to design my own Hiphop story based on a specific Rap artist and ensure the images link with my created story. My magazine could include information that caters and interests various ethnic groups(Black, White , Asian etc.) as Hip-hop isnt a restricted genre. Vibe magazines normally features up and coming and new artists trying to break through in the Hip -hop Rap scene; they rely heavily on their own promotion, which is why this magazine is extremely beneficial to them. This means my main Cover story will feature an underground Artist, who has just risen, and broke through, gaining their first real piece of recognition and fame in the mainstream industry. My main target audience is those who are interested in the Hip-Hop music industry, which is why I am going to follow typical Hip-hop conventions such as implementing features of graffiti, tattoo's basically creative Art elements on the whole; which will help me reach out to my intended audience. Photoshop can be made use of to edit my images effectively.