Is EMAP racking up another failure?

Changing musical tastes have hit the magazine industry hard, triggering the closure of the rock fans’ bible, IPC Media’s Melody Maker, and EMAP’s indie-pop title Select late last year.

Undeterred, EMAP Performance hopes its new monthly music title, Kingsize, designed to cater for fans of rock, hip-hop and heavy metal, will capture the essence of a musical trend towards rock-indie music.

To be launched in March with an initial print run of 60,000 to 70,000, Kingsize is aimed at 18- to 28-year-olds (MW last week). It will present a “very American world” and include features on extreme sports, video games and of course music, with artists ranging from Wu Tang Clan through Eminem to Limp Bizkit. EMAP claims that the title will fill a gap between its monthly mainstream title Q and the weekly Kerrang!.

The move comes despite EMAP’s decision to axe Select in December last year. The title’s circulation had dropped 13.2 per cent year on year to 50,534, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).

In the same month, rival publisher IPC Media closed Melody Maker following an unsuccessful relaunch in a magazine format and a 5.5 per cent year-on-year fall in circulation to 32,206.

Robert Tame, publishing director at IPC Ignite, which includes men’s lifestyle titles and music titles such as NME, claims that tastes have changed and there are more musical genres than before.

He says: “Music titles have had a fairly tough time, primarily because men’s lifestyle magazines are a growth area and have eaten into the music market.”

Dance music is the one sector within the music magazine market that appears to be doing well. Ministry of Sound’s magazine, Ministry, has seen its circulation rise 18.2 per cent year on year to 95,088 and EMAP’s Mixmag has increased its circulation by 43.4 per cent.

Zenith Media Services press group manager Clare Seager, says: “It is an odd time to be launching a new music magazine, just after titles like Select and Melody Maker have been shut down. But, then again, Kingsize has identified a gap that exists between Kerrang! and Q – which is quite a narrow gap. EMAP is not looking at big numbers for the new launch though and initially Kingsize will have a novelty value for readers.”

IPC Ignite marketing director Vijay Solanki agrees: “It seems that EMAP has rushed out into the market with the launch of Kingsize because Select has gone.

“EMAP seems to be aiming for smaller ABCs, but the timing for the launch seems flawed, because most rock gigs are in the summer.”

But Tom Toumazis, managing director of EMAP Advertising, feels certain there is room in the market for more music titles.

“With EMAP’s muscle and its youth expertise, we think this launch is a very strong proposition for the market. We certainly believe that there is room for more titles in the rock-indie market. The genre is also popular in the US and record labels over here are trying to back this market,” he says.

The new title will also carry general features, building on the 6.6 per cent year-on year overall circulation growth seen in the men’s lifestyle sector of the market. The mix of subject matter means that EMAP will be able to target companies that advertise in the lifestyle press, therefore providing the title with a broader advertising revenue base.

Rob Dreblow, a senior planner buyer at the Mediacom division Entertainment Media Group, says: “Music magazines need to draw off some of the focus of lifestyle magazines into their titles. The fact that Kingsize will include everything from music to extreme sports would appear to be the right strategy.”

But Tame queries whether EMAP’s broader strategy for Kingsize will work and wonders if its potential readers are not already being served by Kerrang!. He says: “If people want a music magazine, they will pick up a title that caters for music alone.”

Industry observers say that the music magazine market is overcrowded and that it is coming under increasing competition from music-based websites. Publishers, keen to capitalise on the multimedia explosion, are extending their music brands to other platforms such as the Internet, TV and radio in a bid to appeal to a broader market. IPC has already launched nme.com and EMAP has launched Q TV.

Dreblow claims that the mass appeal of websites is the way forward for some music brands which have their origins in print. He says: “NME has continued to decline and its website has almost made NME magazine defunct.”

IPC, which has seen NME’s circulation fall 16 per cent year on year to 76,215, has plans to make it into a “stronger brand” by launching a standalone NME TV channel.

Given the recent failure of Melody Maker, the pressure is on EMAP to prove that it is still in touch with the music market.