1. Ali Butt
Task 7– Choose a magazine that caters for music in a similar genre to the one
you would like to do for your coursework other than an IPC title.
The chosen music magazine is ‘Vibe’ due to various reasons which will be
explained, looking at the similarities and differences with the ‘Vibe’ and the
newly designed ‘Beatz’ magazines.
Who Publishes ‘Vibe’ magazine?
It was originally founded by musician producer Quincy Jones and launched Vibe
in 1993 in partnership with Time Inc. the magazine was owned by the two for
three years until it was sold to miller publishing then in a short period of time it
was then sold by miller publishing to spin magazine. The magazine was owned
by Spin for many years until it was taken over by the Wicks Group of Companies
in 2006. Furthermore, it was announced the Vibe was shutting down production
in summer 2009, however a private equity investment fund InterMedia Partners
purchased Vibe magazine and added Uptown magazine to Vibe Company.
Whether publisher can be applied to ‘Beatz’ magazine?
The company started back in 1993 as Vibe was launched by Quincy Jones in
partnership with Time Inc. Now the company publishes a magazine and operates
VIBE.com which features news, blogs, galleries and music. It has become a media
company in operating video-on-demand channel and mobile VIBE which features
music news, album reviews, polls, trivia, underground buzz and mobile content.
These entire features would be used in the Beatz magazine in advertising and
marketing of the magazine.
The publisher can be applied to the ‘Beatz’ magazine in many different ways;
firstly the front cover has always given a creative direction such as portraying R
& B singer Mary J. Blige with many articles covering her career journey which
would be very insightful to the reader who is inspired by her. There has been

2. Ali Butt
non-photograph cover as illustration by singer Aaliyah, who had the very first
appearance given by Alvaro. There are many famous and iconic celebrities had
have appeared on the front cover of Vibe such as Brandy, SnoogDogg, Mariah
Carey, Beyonce, Amerie, Jennifer Lopez, Keyshia Cole, Janet Jackson, Lil Wayne,
The Fugees, Eminem, T.I, R.Kelly, Michael Jackson, Ciara and rap legend Tupac
Shakur gave an detailed insight story revealing important details about his non-
fatal 1994 NYC shooting and died two years before in Las Vegas, Nevada. The
various celebrities can be applied quite easily to the Beatz magazine as the
magazine keeps up the hip hop culture making it more engaging and interactive
as well as the information presented in a better matter making the key features
eye-catching for the reader.
The content of the Vibe cover many sections including back pages of 20
questions, the Boomshots column about various artists such as Reggae and
Caribbean music by Rob Kenner, Revolutions music reviews and Vibe
Confidential, a celebrity gossip column and also the Next profiled upcoming
artists. These featured segments would be easily implemented in the Beatz
magazine as it gives more structure to the magazine making it easier to reader to
find out certain information. Also the vibe dedicates several pages to photo
spreads displaying high-end designer clothing as well as sportwear by urban
labels such as Rocawear and Fubu. This would be hugely beneficial to have in
the Beatz magazineas it would meet the needs of the target audience.
Furthermore in the Vibe there are constant use of models of all ethnicities
featured in the pages keeping styling and fashion at the forefront of the
magazine’s identity which was introduced by the former editor Emil Wilbikin in
2000. The Beatz magazine would also include model as fashionable iconic
making it more attractive to the audience.
The layouts of the two magazines has some similarities and differences, firstly
the use of colour in VIBE predominantly uses very strong and bright bold colours
such as red, yellow, white and black which would be used on Beatz magazine.
This symbolise the type of personality the magazine is targeted towards. The
Also the Vibe magazine advertises online, covering over 25 sites and subscribers
receive Vibe Magazine monthly. The magazine has approximately 863,000
readers. This would be very useful source of advertising for the Beatz magazine
which can also offer promotions in helping to sell the magazine in shops and
online further. The Vibe offers subscription for two years for $14.95 online,
viewers can benefit from saving 75% off the subscription offer which would be
something that can be introduced in the Beatz magazine encouraging and
engaging the viewers to sign up and being more successful due to the
promotions. Beatz would find it beneficial in setting up a website which would
engage people worldwide. This would increase the number of viewers reading
information and gossip online. This would be useful in accompanying the Beatz
magazine as it concentrates on Hip-Hop genre which is hugely influential to

3. Ali Butt
teenagers-young adults around the world. The majority of the teenagers enjoy
listening to hip-hop music and therefore, by creating a website purely focusing
on this specific genre would be good in engaging and persuading them to become
members by subscribing on the website. Furthermore, Vibe has the online
magazine which is also used to promote other magazines which will therefore be
more profitability from the advertising costs such as Blackvoices,
Singersroom.com, The Huffington Post Entertainment and Ballerstatus. Vibe
issues quarterly with double covers with a larger online presence which was
aided by the Vibe Lifestyle Network, a group of entertainment/music websites
under the umbrella of vibe brand.
What target audiences does it cater for?
The vibe magazine’s target audience is predominantly young, urban followers of
hip hop culture. The celebrities on the magazine covers are usually quite famous
as it is a popular magazine. The audience tends to be teenagers-young adults.
Most teenagers/ young adults are interested in hip hop genre as its ‘cool’ and
music is upbeat. The vibe reported the circulation had records of 818,000 in
2009.
What other music magazines does it publish?
There are other magazines online that VIBE.com promotes which are
Singersroom.com, The Huffington Post, Blackvoices, Hello Beautiful and
Ballerstatus.
VIBE chronicles the celebrities, sounds, fashion, lifestyle, new media, and business born from
urban music. As an authoritative voice, VIBE creates trends as much as it records them. It covers
music, educates its readers, and gives back to the community. VIBE serves as a portal to a
growing young, trendsetting, multicultural audience. As excellent journalists and innovative
marketers, VIBE is the voice of urban music and culture. VIBE provides a democratic digital
experience where users are encouraged to provide content. At VIBE print and online will
seamlessly relate.
Vibe Lifestyle Network- 15 million unique users per month
Multiple channels
Music
Sports
Lifestyle
Entertainment
Fashion
Vixen Collective
I will be looking into the “Vibe” music magazine because it publishes R&B/Hip
Hop artists and give latest info on what artists doing what and upcoming events
e.g. tours, gigs, etc… For example: Vibe Lifestyle Network is the parent company of
VIBE Magazine and VIBE.COM and is the premier destination for the hip-hop
generation. Vibe Lifestyle network represents over 25 sites and reaches over 19
million unique users per month. The new Vibe is the premier destination for urban

4. Ali Butt
music, entertainment, culture and lifestyle for the inspirational 18-34 year old.
Source: http://www.vibe.com/about/
VIBE chronicles the celebrities, sounds, fashion, lifestyle, new media, and business
born from urban music. As an authoritative voice, VIBE creates trends as much as it
records them. It covers music, educates its readers, and gives back to the
community. VIBE serves as a portal to a growing young, trendsetting, multicultural
audience. As excellent journalists and innovative marketers, VIBE is the voice of
urban music and culture. VIBE provides a democratic digital experience where users
are encouraged to provide content. At VIBE print and online will seamlessly relate.
Source: http://www.vibelifestylenetwork.com/
Furthermore, I believe that “Vibe Lifestyle Network” would be an appropriate
publisher for my magazine because as well as their well known reputation, one
their published music magazines. “Vibe Lifestyle Network” has an audience
composedof passionate, engaged and open minded music fans driven to
continually discover new music – and to use this lust for discovery to influence
their friends. The audience is split into a ratio of 25% female and 75% male
which will more or less be the same ratio for my magazine because it is in the
genre of music.