The Magazine Industry Blog

The future of the magazine industry

There is likely to be increased globalisation of the industry. So magazines are published in many different countries (eg Prima, Grazia, Best and FHM are produced in 27 countries.)

But at the same time, the magazine market will probably continue to fragment as ‘social identities’ fragment leading to more niche titles (eg to cater to an aging population)

GQ’s Dylan Jones believes that the future will see a polarisation of the magazine market. He predicts that “There will be a lot of fast-food activity from free-sheets and downmarket weeklies, and then the top end will stay at the top – they will remain real luxury, glossy products.”

“Magazines continue to offer companionship, entertainment, escapism and diversions both mindless and thought-provoking. Until we do away with the material world entirely and upload our very beings onto the internet, magazines will continue to have a place in our lives.” Will Hodgkinson “The enduring attraction of print” The Guardian, 19.11.2007.

Some people argue that print magazines will survive because:

• They are iconic
• They can be viewed as art and are collectable
• They are easy to carry around
• They are associated with relaxation whereas computers are often associated with work
• They offer a sensory experience which feels more personal than looking at a computer screen
• We enjoy quality writing which has been selected for us and well laid out

But:

• David Renard (author of The Last Magazine) believes that in the next 25 years only 10% of the European and American paper-based magazine industry will remain. Only ‘connoisseurs, aficionados and aging Luddites’ will read paper-based magazines. The rest of us will download a magazine from a news/magazine vending machine to be read on e-paper.
• e-paper still looks like ‘newsprint’, it’s flexible, portable and thin and you can change the image on it every 2 seconds for a year with an AAA battery.
• Journalists and publishers could struggle and be replaced with users/readers being the creators of content, as voted for by other readers, perhaps? How realistic is this?

PREDICT:
List the attributes of what you think magazines will be like in the next 20 years. Come up with your own ideas. What can your magazine design do that current ones can’t? What advantages does it have? Will there be advertisements. If so, what will these be like?