Less and less people are using printed paper forms for reference and entertainment, especially in my target market. Most young people go straight to the internet for reference - why plough through books and magazines when the answer to your search is at the click of a button? The search engine is the youth of today's best friend!
There are many reference sources online for music festivals, gigs and general gossip. Most are free, instantly accessible and it is easy to pin point exactly what you want. So why would I choose to make a print version of what can be found online?
Digital versions of print products have slashed the costs involved in buying magazines in the same way as iTunes and digital music download sites has closed down many highstreet record stores. It is cheaper/often free to get information from websites. It also greener than paper.
DESPITE all of this, I am choosing to launch a print product because I feel this medium suits my product best.
Buying a magazine is a more personal thing than surfing the internet. Some magazines build up great loyalty and these become a status symbol to carry in the way that browsing the internet can't achieve. Reading a copy of KERRANG on the train could be just as much a fasion accessory for a heavy metal fan as the clothes they wear!
Some people take great pleasure in collecting magazines on a subject they love (as witnessed by our family collection of Q magazines going back as far as 2001). Webpages are not collectable, cannot be given as gifts and in magazines, pages can be taken out and used as posters.
On a practical note, magazines are portable in a way electronic devices are not. for my target audience, it is better media as many teenagers are not allowed to take laptops or mobile phones into school.
Concerning the content, it is easier to read longer articles in a magazine than it is online, especially on the smaller devices most young people have nowadays (Blackberry, iPhone, iPad etc), topics can be analysed in more depth in a magazine rather than online. Some sites are little more than events listings with a few images thrown in, for example:
http://www.efestivals.co.uk/
http://www.virtualfestivals.com/
www.timeout.com/london/festivals
DESPITE all of this, I am choosing to launch a print product because I feel this medium suits my product best.
Buying a magazine is a more personal thing than surfing the internet. Some magazines build up great loyalty and these become a status symbol to carry in the way that browsing the internet can't achieve. Reading a copy of KERRANG on the train could be just as much a fasion accessory for a heavy metal fan as the clothes they wear!
Some people take great pleasure in collecting magazines on a subject they love (as witnessed by our family collection of Q magazines going back as far as 2001). Webpages are not collectable, cannot be given as gifts and in magazines, pages can be taken out and used as posters.
On a practical note, magazines are portable in a way electronic devices are not. for my target audience, it is better media as many teenagers are not allowed to take laptops or mobile phones into school.
Concerning the content, it is easier to read longer articles in a magazine than it is online, especially on the smaller devices most young people have nowadays (Blackberry, iPhone, iPad etc), topics can be analysed in more depth in a magazine rather than online. Some sites are little more than events listings with a few images thrown in, for example:
http://www.efestivals.co.uk/
http://www.virtualfestivals.com/
www.timeout.com/london/festivals
Useful article on audiences and the explosion of festivals
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/aug/27/music-festivals-record-industry
Music industry clearly makes a lot of money from festivals, compared with slide in sales of CDs and rise in piracy (look up articles on these and present the info interestingly)