One such organisation which may distribute it are COMAG, which is one of the UK's longest running magazine distribution companys (since 1977), so they would have ample experience in how to best distribute my magazine. COMAG is co-owned by two larger parent companies (The National Magazine Company and Conde Nast) which mean that is has even more connections and experience within the industry. Another reason why I think COMAG would be a good choice is because they have a specialised division for niche or specialist magazines called "COMAG specialist", it's this sub-division which I think would make it such a good fit for my magazine.
Niche music magazines that COMAG currently distribute are some of the magazines that I found inspirational when making my own, such as Clash and The Wire, have a lot of parallels with my finished media product, such as targeting smaller more specific audiences and focusing on more minimal covers with emphasis on the photographic content as opposed to lots of text. They also feature, not necessarily the same music, but there is an overlap between the genres contained within each magazine.
I feel the foremost reason that COMAG would want to distribute my product is that they already have several successful niche music magazines, which I imagine turn them a good profit, so it follows that my magazine would do similarly well. Whilst it may be the case that they by already having similar magazines they may not want any more, however I think this is outweighed by the potential rewards of having a quality product and the resources to distribute and sell it.
Since the majority of most magazines revenue comes in through advertisement, it is important that the distributor of your magazine has connections to company's which would want to feature adverts in your magazine. This is indeed the case, with COMAG (Specialist) whose current magazines feature adverts from a mix of mainstream or more niche fashion and brands which wouldn't look amiss in my own media product.
Some other media institutions I looked at, but decided were not the best fit for my media product were the Baeur media group, and Dennis publishing. I reached this decision as Baeur doesn't really have any current niche magazine brands, they have KERRANG magazine, which whilst targeting alternative music fans, is more mainstream in its conventions. So therefore they may not have the correct experience to successfully distribute my product. Dennis publishing does not actually distribute any music magazines, so it's doubtful that they would want to choose a fairly non-mainstream magazine for their foothold into music magazine distribution. In terms of the type of presence my magazine could have online, there would be a partner website which could not only publish online-only content such as videos and downloadable content.
Some other media institutions I looked at, but decided were not the best fit for my media product were the Baeur media group, and Dennis publishing. I reached this decision as Baeur doesn't really have any current niche magazine brands, they have KERRANG magazine, which whilst targeting alternative music fans, is more mainstream in its conventions. So therefore they may not have the correct experience to successfully distribute my product. Dennis publishing does not actually distribute any music magazines, so it's doubtful that they would want to choose a fairly non-mainstream magazine for their foothold into music magazine distribution. In terms of the type of presence my magazine could have online, there would be a partner website which could not only publish online-only content such as videos and downloadable content.
This is a very good response George. Try and explain why Baur and Dennis are not suitable distributors for you as well as explaining what online presence (if any) your publication might have.
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