An Overview Of The Magazine Industry Today

The size of the magazine industry
Statistics show that there are MORE than 8000 titles published in Britain these can be categorised:

• consumer
• business/trade/professional
• customer magazines
• staff magazines
• newspaper supplements
• part works
• academic journals

There are so many magazines within one category for example, music: NME, Kerrang, Clash, Q and many more. The magazine industry is so big because it is so popular, everyone wants to know what is going on and catch up with the things that interest them. Some of them offer lifestyle advices, lifestyle choices, and many more.

Who the main publishers are

• Bauer
• IPC Media
• Conde Nast
• BBC Worldwide

there are many more than the ones I have listed above. Bauer publishes:

• Grazia
• Heat
• Kerrang
• FHM
• Q
• More
• Zoo

IPC Media publishes:

• Look
• Marie Clare
• Teen Now
• TV Times
• What's On TV

Conde Nast publishes:

• Vogue
• GQ
• Vanity Fair
• Glamour
• Easy Living

How magazine publishing has changed over time
Magazines now have to up their game, they have to make they USP even more unique because they have competition with the Internet and other media even though most magazines do have their own websites they still want to make money by people buying their magazines. Also advertising companies may lose out if people stop buying magazines, also things can be found out via google, facebook, twitter and other social networking sites.
In 2010 iPads and iPhones adapted the 'newstand' app where you could buy and read books and magazines this threatened and gave opportunities to publishers.
There was a shift within the audience of magazines, and magazines became more targeted at women than men because women were known for buying more magazines.

What things magazine publishers need to focus on to ensure their future success
There are 5 main obvious things which magazines can do in order to survive and succeed in the future, these are:

1. Invest in digital initiatives
2. Keep the company as lean and as efficient as possible
3. Recruit staff with new media and database skills
4. Analyse the audience to understand what they want
5. Develop apps to deliver digital content and services