Music Magazine Sector and Audience Research

Music Magazine Sector

There has been a significant drop in the circulation numbers of music magazines from February 2010. The overall circulation for the UK consumer magazines industry the first half of 2010 was 62,048,488 - a full 13.31m fewer than in the last half of 2009. The market has shrunk by 12.2 per cent from the second half of 2008.

These drops include well-liked magazines Kerrang!, New Music Express and Metal Hammer. IPC Media's Uncut, held onto third place among the paid-for rock music titles, despite a 13.3% fall although it was ahead of Classic Rock, which was up 1.5% year on year. The rock Sector also experiences drops from Future Publishing's Metal Hammer, which was down 16.9% year on year. Bauer's rock title Kerrang! tumbled 21.3% year on year and 4.9% on the first half of 2009 to 41,125.


In a statement IPC said that despite the drop NME “continues to be an exemplar of a modern multiplatform media brand”, serving its audience “via social media, on TV, radio, mobile, through live events and in print and reaches over one million consumers each week”.

Sales of IPC Media’s music title NME fell 14.3 per cent to 29,020 in the first half of 2011.

Overall circulation figures for music magazines were up 22.6 per cent on the previous year, but this down to the ABC debut of free magazines The Stool Pigeon, Properganda and DIY Magazine.

The most popular music magazines include Rolling Stones, a sophisticated magazines aimed at 17 - 30 year olds and NME and Kerrang! which are both aimed 15-25 year olds. Electronic music accounts for 13% of singles sales and 7.5% of total album sales in the UK, showing the influence technology has had on the music sector.

Audience Research

I am attracting my audience by using neutral colours of red, black and white which appeal to all genders and also using male and female artists throughout the magazine so there is something for everyone. I have also got a range of articles so it can appeal to different groups of people for example 'the must have music gadgets' section can appeal to a males audience and then an interview and photo shoot with a new male artist, for the female audience. I will use a range of fonts and effects such as shadows and strokes to make to it eye-catching. I will appeal to the age range of my audience by using things that interest that age group, for example the must see gigs section. I will also use the Top 40 Charts as well as new upcoming artists to appeal to a wider range of music genres and attract a wider audience.