Evaluation Question Three

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

After researching a variety of different music magazines I have come to the conclusion that my magazine is most like the “Rolling Stones” magazine. The co-founder and publisher of the bi-weekly magazine, Jann Wenner (http://www.jannswenner.com/), is also the owner of “Us Weekly” and “Men’s Journal”. The political and music based magazine is based in the US and underwent changes to it’s layout in the 1990’s to appeal to a younger audience.

Before conducting my research into music magazines I wasn’t very aware of this particular one. I thought that it was a magazine that only came out a couple of times a year for fans to remember The Rolling Stones by. However I have discovered that I was wrong and that the magazine does in fact come out twice a month and covers a variety of different musical genres, predominantly Indie/Alternative bands. Perhaps I was unaware of the true nature of the magazine because I have come to realise that it is only widely available for purchase in supermarkets like “ASDA” and chain-stores like “WH Smith”. I usually buy my magazines from smaller stores such as newsagents and have never seen it in any place like that. Maybe this is because the magazine company is based in the US and is only slowly growing in recognition in the UK. Perhaps when it’s popularity in England has grown some more it will be easier to purchase here? Saying this, however, the website (http://www.rollingstone.com/) is packed full of things to read and is easy to access in the UK. This could be an indication of the changing popularity in media institutions – the internet is growing in popularity while paper copies of the information are reducing.

I think that this issue of “Rolling Stones” magazine is extremely similar to my music magazine. Both my magazine and this one have quite a plain and simple front cover with an image in black and white. They both have sell lines written on the sleeve of the model. This could be an indication that the audience of “Rolling Stone” magazine would also like mine. Perhaps if my magazine were to become professionally published I would only allow have it readily available in large chain stores so that more people would see the masthead and become familiar with it. I would hope that this would help to slowly build up people’s recognition so that eventually the audience for my magazine would grow higher and higher. I would also have a website where people could subscribe and get my magazine delivered to their homes. I would include the same information on the website but I would keep some articles exclusive to those who had registered as a means of maintaining a steady income.