Research and Planning: Distribution

Between major and independent publishing and distributing companies, there are many differences in their audiences and distribution strategies.
Frontline, and through this Bauer Media, has produced many popular magazine titles, including Heat, Bella, Q and Kerrang; in being a major company, they have gathered enough of both a reputation and money to be able to successfully fund so many. Vice, a smaller independent publishing company is focused singly on the production of the magazine Vice, though also branches into film, dvds (e.g. "Heavy Metal in Baghdad"), books and art.
Most of the Bauer Media magazines are distributed through a large process, travelling between wholesalers and finally the shops themselves – places such as Tesco and Asda, competitive mainstream markets, where they are exposed to the largest possible audience on an almost constant basis and are priced based on such a wide audience. The multi-platform market is also exploited by the company, saturating it in all forms – radio, tv, magazine and also in live events (e.g. awards) Vice, however, distributes in a seemingly small-scale manner, but in fact does so on a worldwide scale, reaching far across Europe and the US. However, it is free for the reader and seems to get its money from advertising, being stocked in alternative and indie shops such as Urban Outfitters and Retro Bizarre. It also posts much of its contents online to leave itself open to as many people as possible.
The audiences differ greatly between those of Bauer and Vice – Bauer is exposed to a very mainstream audience and therefore can be marketed almost anywhere. However, it is able to attract a range of demographics depending on the presentation of the magazine, Q, for example, gaining an A-C1 audience with its high quality, more generalised magazine. Vice, though independent, also is able to target a large audience, anything from A – C2. It is sold worldwide, but through a more individual, niche market which is actually seemingly equally successful.
My own magazine will be for a similar niche market to that of Vice, the audience being aspirers from between A-C2. Because of its musical genre and the individuality of the bands and the concept of the magazine, it probably wouldn’t appeal to the mainstream, and its purpose means that I would charge little or make it free to buy, for it is for promotion and recognition of new and unsigned bands. To gain audiences for these bands, my magazine would have to be sold in a similar location to the target audience, and thus distribute it similarly to Vice, to shops frequented by such people. I would also need to expand into the multi-platform, perhaps giving it a website to host videos and stream music of the bands for an interested audience to sample.