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THI O F MY E !
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STUD
The popular hip-
hop magazine
named ‘VIBE’
first started in the
year 1993.
Vibe M
publis agazine is
h
Burne ed by Len
tt .
 This is one of the many front
Magazin
covers of my case study
magazine, Vibe. e
Vibe Magazine is published
by Lenn Burnett.

The first ever edition of

Vibe Magazine was
produced in 1993. VIBE chronicles the celebrities,
sounds, fashion, lifestyle, new
15 million unique media, and business born from
users per month. urban music. As an authoritative
voice, VIBE creates trends as much
as it records them. It covers music,
educates its readers, and gives
No other youth culture brand has the credibility to provide back to the community. VIBE
advertisers with direct access to high-profile events including music serves as a portal to a growing
young, trendsetting, multicultural
festivals, fashion shows, film, charitable events, movie premieres audience. As excellent journalists
and Oscar and Grammy celebrations. We work closely with our and innovative marketers, VIBE is
advertisers to develop customized programs and promotions suited the voice of urban music and
to brand and product initiatives. culture. VIBE provides a
democratic digital experience
where users are encouraged to
provide content. At VIBE print and
With our reach of more than 10 million influential young adults, online will seamlessly relate.
VIBE goes beyond traditional mass media to provide our marketing
partners with 360 degree turnkey opportunities to engage our urban
The audience of vibe is aimed at predominantly young, urban followers
of hip-hip and R&B cultures. It also attracts people interested in young
AUDIE
fashion as it has a big hit n the fashion industry.
N
The new Vibe is the premier destination for urban
music, entertainment, culture and lifestyle for the
inspirational 18-34 year old.
CE ADULTS
Vibe magazine is aimed at the American, English and
African background. The English are seen to not be as MEN
gangster as the Americans' when it comes to hip-hop 55%
whereas the Americans' are seen to be more slick and
dangerous. This therefore leads to the reasons of the
WOMEN
online magazine due to the fact of the American 45%
stereotype of the urban scene, as they are more into the AGE
video element rather than the reading. Compared to the 18 – 24
English whose stereotype isn't seen to as being hard,
which entitles them to be able to read the magazine. This
35%
could all be considered into why VIBE magazine closed 18 – 34
The VIBE audience is comprised of trendsetting
down. 67%
individuals passionate about music, entertainment,
21+
fashion and pop-culture. Our readers look to the
82%
VIBE
25+
brand to keep them ahead of the curve, visiting VIBE.
29%
com and the VIBE Lifestyle Network sites multiple RACE
median age
times a day – and referencing VIBE magazineEDUCATION
for all Black/African American
30
things hot, new and cool. Any college 75%
55% White
Currently in college 15.9%
20% Spanish/ Hispanic/ Latino
Employed 12.4%
62% Asian
Publisher
Readership Profile: The
new Vibe is the premier
destination for urban
music, entertainment,
culture and lifestyle for
the inspirational 18-34
year old.
Quincy Jones launched Vibe
in 1993, in partnership with
Time Inc. Russell Simmons
was rumoured to be an initial
partner. Miller Publishing
bout Vibe Magazine in 1996.
Miller Publishing also
owns ‘Tennis
Magazine, Vibe
Magazine and also
Spin Magazine.
Circulation
Vibe eliminated inefficient
circulation, added better
newsstand distributors,
increased sell through,
improved paper quality and
increased book size.
They also implemented targeted
newsstand and
direct-to-publisher subscriber
strategies to
provide advertisers a true
audited rate-base.
Rate Base
300,000
Annual Subscription Price
$14.95
Single Copy
$4.99
Subscribers/Newsstand
 Magazine Content
How has the magazine changed in style and content?
It has changed because the colours are more defined and vibrant
compared to the newest edition of the magazine.
Why do you think that is?
I think this is because the technology is more advanced
and complex nowadays. And also more vibrant to attract customers more
because there are online magazines today so they are after more sale.

Which changes are due to changing

audiences?
The celebrities, information and gossip it
contains.
Which changes are due to new
technology? Colours, quality, format, pric
etc.
One of the earliest issues One of the latest issues
of Vibe. of Vibe.
 The main rivals of my case study Bigge
magazine (Vibe) are the Magazine
s t Riv
‘s called ‘Spin’, ‘The Source’ and
‘XXL’ . a ls
Spin is published by Bob Guccione
and was bought by the same
company as Vibe, which is Miller
Publishing.
XXL is published by Harris
Publications.
The Source is published by The
John Lewis partnership.
Spin Magazine is bought by the
same
Spin companyProfile:
Readership as Vibe, which is
In its
Miller
early Publishing.
years, the magazine was
noted for its broad music coverage
with an emphasis on college-
orientated rock music and on the
ongoing emergence of hip-hop.
Putting black artists and women
artists on the cover was considered
a risk, potentially damaging
newsstand sales.
 r s h i p
o n s o
S p
r t i s i n g/
A dve
Vibe Magazine is advertising the
Synergy Example: raise your … for red nose day.

Convergence has or By advertising in

could enhance magazines, you
Vibe also advertises
advertising/sponsors can reach your
Coors Light.
hip in the following target audience,
ways : educate them
about your
products or
services, and
move them closer
to making a Vibe also advertises
purchase. RIP THE
RUNWAY.
Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy
Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists,
actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production in Summer 2009,
Vibe was purchased by the private equity investment fund InterMedia Partners
and is now issued quarterly with double covers, with a larger online presence,
History
aided by the Vibe LifeStyle Network, a group of entertainment/music websites
under the Vibe brand. The magazine's target demographic is predominantly
Quincy Jones followers
young, urban launchedof Vibe in 1993,
hip-hop in partnership
culture.
with Time Inc. Miller Publishing then bought Vibe in
1996 and shortly after bought Spin.
Then sadly on June 30th, Vibe announced that the
magazine was shutting its doors and immediately
ceasing publication, but Quincy Jones then stated he
Vibe
wouldMagazine closed
like to keep down
it alive for the
online.
main reason of the R&B scene were
not into reading about there sort of
music they were more into
consuming it in different ways e.g.
video format, online etc.
Therefore the print publications of
the magazine were descending “The collapse of the capital markets has impacted us greatly.
downhill rapidly. Over the past several months, we have actively pursued
investment resources while working intensively with our bank to
Finally the magazine was ceased find a solution. But the deal market right now remains very poor
immediately. and at the end of the day, the lack of investment resources to
restructure the huge debt on our small company has made this
outcome become a reality.
The print advertising collapse hit VIBE hard, especially as key
ad categories like automotive and fashion, which represented
the bulk of our top 10 advertisers, have stopped advertising or
gone out of business. It's also unfortunate that in a recession
many companies reduce the multi-cultural campaigns. These
facts, coupled with the continuing decline of the music industry
not to mention the newsstand wholesaler consolidation in early
2009 all negatively impacted our business in a significant way.”
 GLOBALISATION
POSITIVE EFFECTS
• Better access
• Bigger audience
• How business and trade becomes global – all over the
world
• Smaller companies are taken over
• •Who do you trust? Some media companies
May have to re-brand to fit in with the particular
country and customs
• Less trust worthy
• With magazine you can ‘outsource’ which means that
you can unite with anyone worldwide to put together a
global magazine team using websites like these:
Elance and Odesk.
• Brings people together to confront world problems
through the internet.
• The internet has meant that we can link things up
much more through Convergence such as posting up
on multiple sites at once with Syndicated Content and
linking video devices directly up to youtube to make
instant videos available: Video Marketing
• Forces prices down due to products being available
from other countries.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS
•Businesses are dominated by TNCs (Trans-
National Corporations): groups of businesses
and 'mega-corporations'. Small companies
are taken over by these 'faceless giants'.
owned by global businesses have been
accused of ignoring important issues that cast
them in a bad light.
•A 'global division of labour' meant that the
likes of Nike and Starbucks could offer
extremely low wages in poor countries and
make massive profits by selling their
products to more wealthy nations. Many of
the workers suffer terrible working
conditions.
•Business is indifferent to the laws and
customs of countries that are often not in a
position to cope. This means that they are
free to cause environmental damage and
damage to the world's health e.g. rainforest-
 THE LONG TAIL THEORY
• As the magazine became an online craze, the delivery companies
working in association with online businesses are making or meant to
be making a lot more money.
• This is where the long tail theory comes in as the ‘proliferation’ of
websites selling goods such as eBay etc. are known to be getting more
‘niche’ items.
• With so much more being available on line it would appear that the
online market is potentially making more money that the mainstream
market. This is the ‘Long Tail’.
• Many successful online businesses are now run through huge
warehouses that store vast amounts of more rare, niche stock that meet
the particular requirements of the buyer.
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated
with web applications that
facilitate participatory
information sharing,
interoperability, user entered
design, and collaboration on the
World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site
allows users to interact and
collaborate with each other in a
social media dialogue as creators
(prosumers) of user-generated
content in a virtual community, in
contrast to websites where users
(consumers) are limited to the
passive viewing of content that
was created for them. Examples
of Web 2.0 include social
networking sites, blogs, wikis,
video sharing sites, hosted
services, web applications,