Distribution of Magazines

Magazine Distribution - Newsstand & Supermarkets

For this task, I had to go to a local shop where they sell magazines, which was WHSmith as they always have a wide range of magazines, including music magazines. It was the only shop that sold music magazines near me as supermarkets only sell gossip and TV magazines. Here is a photo of how it looked:

Click on the photo to see the photo in its original size.

There was a wide range of magazine brands, but the most noticeable ones were Q, MOJO, The History of Rock and Uncut. The rest were Vintage Rock, Record Collector, Sound on Sound, Guitar Techniques, Dancing Time, Guitarist, Total Guitar, Computer Music, Rhythm, MusicTech, Electronic Sound and Classic Rock. However, I was surprised not to see Kerrang!, Rock Sound and Mixmag, which could be because people have already bought all of the print copies of them as they are very popular and I know that this WHSmith only sells about 10-15 copies of these 3 brands and tomorrow (a Wednesday) is the day the new issue is published. 

Q was displayed on the middle shelf of the three shelves for music magazines, which is about level with people's eyes and that is where they look first. Even though Q had its own display case, there was no copies in there, which could mean they have been bought or the shop just chose not to put it there. MOJO copies were placed behind Q's issue, which suggested to me that Q is more popular and important for the shop to sell them. But MOJO was still placed next to Q on the middle shelf, which connoted to me that it's almost as important of a magazine as Q. The History of Rock was placed on the top shelf but caught my attention very quickly as it had its own shelf and no other magazine brands were placed on the same shelf. Uncut was put next to MOJO, meaning that it was also an important magazine. The rest of the magazines were put in the middle and bottom shelf, suggesting they aren't as important or popular.

The whole of Q magazine's front cover could be seen, meaning that everything that is on the front of it is very important and the customers are able to see the cover lines, the masthead, the cover star and the price. Uncut and The History of Rock magazines were the same, unlike MOJO which had its front cover's left side hidden but the cover star and half of the masthead could be seen as well as most cover lines as they were aligned to the right. The most important bits which could make the customers buy the magazine were visible.

Magazine Distribution - Other Methods

Example: Kerrang!

Subscriptions

Kerrang! has different subscription offers which are available all around the world, in most countries. There are three types of subscriptions they sell. Kerrang! has a print subscription, which offers a print version of the magazine for 15 issues, costing £24.99 (as a Christmas offer). The second type of subscription they offer is a digital version of the magazine which can be viewed on Android and Apple devices. With the same price as the 15 print issues (£24.99), readers can buy 30 issues of the digital magazine (special offer for Christmas). The third and biggest type of subscription they offer is the one with both the print and the digital version of the magazine. As part of the Christmas offer, people can buy this combined subscription for £27.50. However, the delivery/downloading is instant in the UK and is free. Kerrang! offers subscriptions as their regular readers can get the magazines quickly and they are guaranteed to get it whether if they had to go and buy it in the shops, the shop might not have it which would result in them not being able to buy it. Also, readers can save money with this method of shopping. The reason why Kerrang! also offers three different types of subscription is so people can buy the magazine on different platforms and can chose the most convenient or suitable version for themselves. By offering subscriptions, there is more of a guarantee for Kerrang! that there will be people who buy their magazine, making more profit for its publisher and the magazine itself which can result in a better quality magazine. 

Ezine version

Kerrang! doesn't offer an ezine version as ezines are usually free and this magazine charges for electronic versions of the magazine as I've mentioned above. The magazine doesn't offer an ezine version of their issues is because if they did, they would have less revenue and wouldn't be able to provide as good content as they do now and would have low production values. 

Content - magazine issue vs. website

The content in the magazine and on its website is really similar and mostly the same, however, there are differences. Some things that are in the issue of the magazine, like exclusives, can't be read on the website, but there are also things on the website, like videos, that can't be seen in the issues as it wouldn't be possible. As I've said, the contents are really similar, but Kerrang! doesn't put everything on both the website and the magazine issue as then there would be no reason for its target audience to buy the magazine as they can just read what is on their website, or the other way around, which is there would be no reason for the target audience to view the website. Both of these things would make Kerrang! lose out on a big amount of profit and would have a worse quality of news, interviews, and other important features. 

Social Media

Kerrang! also uses social media to generate readers. The magazine brand has a Facebook page, a Twitter and Snapchat account as well as a Tumblr website which all have at least 500,000 followers/likes. The magazine also has an app available on Android and Apple devices which is almost like the website but the layout of the news is slightly different. However, Kerrang! is very active on its social media accounts and posts frequently to update its readers about news, the new issue and other things, such as competitions.