Institution

There are two main media institutions that distribute music magazines in the UK and they both make a profit as the music magazine industry in the UK is a very big industry and is highly popular among consumers. Upon researching popular magazines in the UK I found that the main distributers were Time Inc. Ltd. (formerly IPC media) and Bauer. Times Inc Ltd and Bauer both distribute a range of very popular magazines of other genres along side music magazines. In terms of music magazines, Times Inc Ltd. distributed the indie magazine NME that sells over 350 million copies a year. While Bauer Media group distributes Q and Kerrang! This shows me that both companies have experience of distributing magazines of a similar genre to my magazine to a similar target audience as mine.

Ultimately when looking for an institution to distribute my magazine I would choose Time Inc. Ltd because the distributers only produce the NME magazine meaning they are more likely to take on another similar title that Bauer who already distribute Kerrang and Q. I feel that this would be beneficial because it means that the distributors already have a magazine of a similar genre and with a similar target audience and therefore would know how to pitch and market it to advertisers and the target audience. I do not think they would think my magazine was too similar to NME because it is different enough to still find its own market.

I did consider distributing independently but after looking at printing and marketing costs I decided I would rather try and get Time Inc Ltd to distribute because they have more experience and there investment could lead to more profit even though they would obviously take a cut of this.  However, if I could not attract Time Inc Ltd I would distribute independently and if print costs were too high initially I might make my magazine an online version as this would be cheaper to launch and could still be popular because most youths use the internet more than they buy magazines.