Research into Competitors

Vibe Magazine: Vibe is a magazine which is based on both music and entertainment. The magazine was founded by Quincy Jones and mainly features R&B and hip hop artists as well as actors and other sorts of entertainers.

Vibes closest competitors are ‘the source’ and ‘XXL’ which focus more on rap and rock music. The magazine owes its success to featuring a broader range of interests than its competitors.

By looking at the front cover you are able to see that the magazine is aimed at older teenagers. There is always an image of a familiar pop artist on the front which is used to draw many readers in and make them want to read the magazine.

Vibe was described as ‘evangelical’ in its time, whilst creating a market for urban and giving fans of all colours an important touchstone for the culture. Vibe is a ‘streetwise magazine that celebrates and educates people about urban culture.’

Vibe magazine also focuses on art, style and social issues as well as focusing on the scene amongst hip hop music and discovering who made things happen.  

Publisher: Pro Circ RWD Magazine  RWD is a British magazine that consists of features news, charts on hip hop, R&B, UK garage, Drum, bass and US house music as well as interviews. RWD magazine distributes 36,040 copies each time and is also ABC certified. This magazine considers itself to be the largest UK urban music and lifestyle magazine. RWD does not only publish magazines but also has a website which features music videos, tracks and artist profiles. The magazine was very popular which soon spread on to its website. The founding editor-in-chief was Matt Mason. RWD magazine became a popular, well known music magazine within 2003, fitting in with the rise of a new urban music genre and later became referred to as grime. This magazine provided a space for new emerging artists who wanted to be noticed. This meant that these aspiring artists could pay to be featured in the magazine and the magazines good distribution and circulation made this seem more attractive. These are a couple magazines (vibe and RWD) which would be classed as the competition for my new music magazine as well as many others. These two magazines are both well known within the music industry and they are quite popular. I’d have to consider many aspects of my magazine and make sure I compare then to the competition for example price. Since many music magazines are around £3 - £4 I would make my magazine around £2.50 as i think this would be the most reasonable price and draw in more customers. I would also want to draw my readers in so I would consider adding additional free things. For example a free CD which would not cost a lot. Other magazines use images, layouts, colour schemes and cover lines to draw in readers. I would have to focus on all of these to make sure that my magazine would be the one that the readers want to read.