Industry Research

 This part of my blog post will detail my research into the magazine industry

I think it's essential to understand the industry of the media text I am creating as a producer as it would help me better understand how magazines such as mine would be produced, distributed and marketed if it were a real product. So, I've decided to research more into different publishers in the magazine industry.

Hearst Magazines

Hearst Magazines
Founded	1887
Audience	According to their website, Hearst Magazine’s audience consist of:   -          195 million print readers worldwide -          61% of US millennials (28-43 yr olds) -          71% of US adult women
Circulation Figures	20 million magazines/yr
Most Popular Magazine	Good Housekeeping

 Hearst Magazines is one of the biggest magazine publishers worldwide with over 195 million print readers internationally. I decided to research it to gain an understanding of what large magazine publishers in the industry are like. 

Diamond Publishing

Diamond Publishing (Metropolis International Group)
Founded	2002
Audience	I struggled to find concrete data of their intended audiences, however, based on their publications, it can be assumed that their audience consists of: -          British people -          Older audiences -          People interested in pop-culture
Circulation Figures	3.5 million magazines/yr
Most Popular Magazine	Fortean Times, Viz

Throughout this project, I've learned that paranormal is a very niche genre in magazines. When researching paranormal magazines, one of the magazines I would most often come across is Fortean TImes. To better understand publishers that work with more niche products, I thought it would be a good idea to research their publisher, Diamond Publishing. 

I noticed that looking for information on this publisher was significantly more difficult compared to when researching a more well-known publisher. Perhaps this is because they publish magazines in more niche genres (music, paranormal, cycling, comics) rather than genres that would more effectively appease the general market such as with Hearst magazines (fashion, home, health). I find this an interesting comparison as it helped me better understand the demand of the genres in the magazine market

Conclusion

From my research into the magazine industry, I better understand the behaviour of audiences who consume this sort of media. If my magazine were a real publication, it may not grow to be very popular but I find an opportunity in this. Niche markets often gather more loyal audiences as there are not much competitors so this would reduce the risk of my magazine failing as a product. Releasing a new media product to a general market can prove to be risky as the amount of competitors would act as a barrier to entry. If my genre was more general, I would have to think about what I could do to set my product apart from competitors which introduces more risks. Rather, I find it more valuable to be more sure of the long-term continuity of my product than being exposed to an 'easier' market with far more risks