Task 4

1) What types of magazine and target audiences has IPC been associated with over the years?

International Publishing Corporation (IPC) has been associated with three leading magazine publishers –George Newnes, Odham’s Press and Fleetway Productions who merged with Mirror Group to form IPC. Over the years IPC published a lot of different magazines:

In the 1800s; The Field, Country Life, Horse & Hound, Shooting Times, Yachting World, Amateur Gardening, Cycling Weekly, Amateur Photographer and The Railway Magazine.

The early 1900s saw new arrivals to start the new century; Yachting Monthly, Cage Birds, Motor Boat, Woman’s Weekly and Golf Monthly.

The 1920s; Magazine publisher Odham launched a new monthly magazine called Ideal Home. Newnes’ also launched a similar magazine called Homes & Gardens.

In 1926; Woman & Home was launched and by 1929 it had grown to 144 pages.

The 1930s; The launch of Woman’s Own, Caravan, Stamp Magazine and Prediction.

The 1950s; this included the launch of New Musical Express which had the first official UK record chart.

1955; After ITV was launched, TV Times was published which IPC bought in 1989.

The 1960s; They launched a new football magazine called Shoot! Others included Rugby World, World Soccer, Anglers Mail and Family Circle.

In the 1970s; The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited the publishing towers. They also launched, Aeroplane Monthly, Sporting Gun and SuperBike.

1980s; IPC formed with Marie Claire to create European Magazines Ltd. The IPC introduce the Editorial Awards. This decade had seen the arrival of; Essentials, 4x4, Eventing, Chat, Mizz, Motor Caravan Magazine, Wedding & Home, Country Homes & Interior s, Classic Boat, Model Collector, Motor Boats Monthly, Practical Parenting, VolksWorld and Bird Keeper.

The 1990s; IPC launched a lads magazine called Loaded, which opened up the market of young men’s magazines.

2000s meant a name change for IPC to IP C Media. In October 2001, Time Inc bought IPC Media for

£1.15bn. In January 2004, Ignite! Launches Nuts which was

backed be an £8 million investment. In January 2005, IPC unveils Pick Me Up which was

backed by a £6 million investment. April 2005, they release TV easy, which was the

first compact paid for TV listings weekly and is backed by a £10 million marketing investment.

2) Why might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine? What sorts of genres of music/types of magazines might they be likely to publish? Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate?

IPC has been a very successful music publisher, with some release in 1930s still going strong today. IPC is ideal for a new music magazine as the chance of

success is a lot higher. NME which was launched in1952 was one of the most successful music magazines of its time. NME being such a big hit shows that IPC are able to work well within the music magazine industry. Another reason why IPC would be appropriate is the already made fan-base. They have created a variety of different magazines which shows their success at targeting the right audience. NME focused on indie/rock as the main music genre. Hence, IPC are likely to publish a rock music magazine.

Bauer Media has many different magazines some examples are; Closer, Grazia, Kerrang!, Q, FHM and Zoo. Bauer would be a good alternative to IPC as they have had successful music magazines. Kerrang!, a rock magazine, was first published in 1981. Over the years Kerrang! has expanded into different media formats such as Kerrang! Radio and Kerrang! TV. Bauer Media has also published Q magazine, which features many different artists was first published in 1986. Q magazine has interviewed artists for different genres of music. Therefore, Bauer may be appropriate for new music magazines as they have experiences with different types of music.