Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Music Press Institution
The Music Press Institution
Institution
Institution is all to do with the business and
industry behind the texts. Institutions are the companies who own magazines and websites. It includes big companies who own a lot of magazines and websites, medium-sized independent companies who just own one or a few, and even small companies run by one or two people. Studying institution also includes: how texts are promoted and sold how the institutions of the Music Press support the institutions of the Music industry (the record companies, the artists and bands)
Research task
Find out which music magazines and website these
companies own: Emap Silentway Development Hell Ltd IPC Future plc This Must be Pop Egmont UK Bauer Put the institutions in order of size, from the biggest (own most things) to the smallest (own least things)
Watch.
David Hepworth talking about magazine institutions Clip 1 Who Does What (0.00 4.15)
Discussions of the relationship between the Music Press and the Music Industry in Clip 4 The Influence of the Music Press (0.00- 6.08) Clip 6 Marketing the Music Press (all, 0.00 4.09)
Cross-media presence
Some institutions have a multi-platform presence where they own
web-based, print and broadcast texts, e.g. websites, apps, magazines, TV and radio programmes or even whole stations, all linked together.
This gives the company more power and influence to make and
magazine on its website, advertise its website on the TV programmes and so on).
Which of the institutions in your research had the strongest cross-
media presence?
The independents
Its good to be big, and have a cross-media presence but are
there any advantages to being small? Small companies can focus on niche markets: i.e. a small group of bands / artists in a small sub-genre of music. They only need to appeal to a small target audience. Small companies dont need to make as much money they dont need to rely on advertising as much; they dont need to cover the big mainstream bands; they can be freer and more independent. Small companies can react to changes more quickly, update their product more quickly and stay ahead of the big companies. Small companies can feel special for the audience because not everyone knows about them; they often have a small group of really committed fans.
Advertising
The Music press make a lot of their money from selling
advertising space in their website and magazines. They have core advertising, which is adverts from the Music Industry, about new albums, tours, merchandise and so on. They have consumer advertising which aims to sell other things to the specific audience group, like clothes, cosmetics, hair products, cars and so on. They have inserts which are separate pages or pamphlets loosely inserted into the magazine. There are also advertorials which are a cross between advertising and editorials. Advertisers choose very carefully which type of advertising they want, and which magazine or website will help them reach their target audience.
Watch
Clip 5 Advertising and The Music Press (all,
0.00 7.06)
Where to advertise?
Which Music Press title would you choose if
Lipstick Expensive family cars Cheap first cars Clubwear Houses Skateboards
offshoot of Sounds magazine, a one-off special dedicated to loud guitar music, then it became a monthly magazine, then a weekly. It used to sell about 40 000 copies a week In 2001 it launched its own TV station which has over 1 million viewers Kerrang! has since launched:
Kerrang! radio station Kerrang! live events Kerrang! website The Kerrang! tour The Kerrang! awards Kerrang! CDs and DVDs
Watch
The editor talking about how Kerrang! started
and 1990s but then it lost so many readers that the print version ceased in 2006; its now only online.
Its USP was printing song lyrics, and giving away free
posters, but by 2006 all this could be found on the internet, more quickly and cheaply.
Its audience had become younger and younger girls (10-14
years), so it lost credibility as a music magazine; it also lost many readers to the then new celebrity gossip magazines.
Unlike Kerrang! it didnt have a loyal niche market, and it
Watch
Clip 9 Smash Hits - the rise and fall of a
This must be pop Drowned in sound The girls are Wears the trousers The Quietus
Try to identify the target audience for each site, find out whether the
text exists across platforms, whether it seems to be expanding or not, and how successful you think it is likely to be in the future.
Watch
Clip 11 Indie Websites (all, 0.00 4.54)
What texts they own What music genres they specialise in What platforms they operate on What cross-media promotion they do Who their man audience is How they meet the four needs of their audience group Who advertises in their website or magazine What ideology / lifestyle they promote If / how the text fits into a larger institution How successful you think they are at meeting the needs of their audience / making money / promoting music
Summary
Explain these terms: - institution - independent - mainstream - multi-platform - cross-promotion - niche market - diversify