Background Information about the Industry

1.103 Billion magazines were circulated in 2008.


There are 6 kinds of magazines:
1. Consumer magazine - sold in newsagents which are most commonly known and bought.
2. B2B - for people at work, there are magazines which are specifically associated with the work place.
3. Customer publishing - magazines are produced for organisations to give to customer to boost marketing. 
4. Part works - a set number of issues which builds up into an 'encyclopedia' on a specific topic.
5. Newspaper supplements - magazines which come free as part of  daily or Sunday newspaper.
6. Academy journals - for university - level discussions of all sorts of topics.


The UK produces 3,409 types of consumer magazines
The total circulation for consumer magazines in the UK is now at 46 million
69 new magazines were launched in the first 6 months in 2010, and they were successful
A combined annual consumer spend of £1.6 Billion.


The most popular magazine which circulates over 1 million is TV Choice.
The reasons this magazine might be the most popular is because it is all about a TV guide for the next week or 2 weeks which includes soap gossip which gives hints into what is going to happen over the next week. Generations might of bought it before and have got into a routine of buying it. And it is very cheap compared to other magazines.


Glamour is the most popular woman's magazine which circulated 489,461 magazines. The reasons glamour may be the most popular woman's magazine could be its price is affordable (£2.00) compared to other woman's magazines which cost around 3-4 pounds. Also, Glamour is in a compact size, making t easier to fit into bags. 


NME is the biggest selling music magazine, but last year circulation was down by 14.6%, due to technology taking over. For the younger generation, they are starting to get used to technology being an everyday part of life with phones, iPods and computers. NME is online so younger generations are more likely to access the NME website rather than going out and buying the magazine. Plus, on the website all the information is free. However, technology isn't great all the time, computers and laptops can sometimes be unreliable and the internet might not always work when you want it to. The website might be harder to readers to follow and might not have the same layout as the magazine did. And not everyone will be able to access it, some people may not have internet or a smart phone they can use. 


The number of people who read magazines will always be higher to the number of people who buy magazines. Most people share magazines with each other, not mainly to share money but just because they are there and people read magazines when they're bored or find the look of a friends or someone else's interesting. 
9 out of 10 people read magazines with an average read of 50 minutes. And the average person in the UK buys 22 magazines a year.