Secondary Audience Research

NME Magazine

This graph is taken from the NRS (National Readership Survey) looking at the readership and circulation of NME between January 2003 and December 2011. The graph shows a general decline in readership and circulation, although there are temporary increases in both throughout 2006. The decline in circulation is due to the decline in readership and the decline in readership can be based on a few different factors. Advances in technology will have effected the readership largely, as is evident in NME's decision to branch into TV, internet and radio. Also, we can see a movement into social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. This sees NME giving the news and features offered in the magazine in other ways, thus decreasing the readership and circulation figures.

Q Magazine

Q Magazine has a circulation of 89,450 and has a readership of 550,000 as of the start of 2010. This shows the magazine is shifting more units than its competitor NME. A 72% ABC1 reader profile suggest Q's readers are rather affluent and thus inflation and difficult financial times are unlikely to harm the magazines readership. The average age of a reader is 29 and this again backs up the theory that technology is moving in on the magazine market, as younger readers who would bring the average age down are more likely to use the magazine's website and social media to get the content the magazine contains.

Rolling Stone Magazine

A survey of adult (18+) Rolling Stone magazine readers shows a rather large 30% of readers fall into the 18-24 age bracket. The readership proportion then decreases with each increase in age bracket but there is still an impressive 12% of readers aged 55+. This shows a broad range in ages of Rolling Stone readers. An average age of 32.2 demonstrates this and suggests readership is unlikely to fall as dramatically as that of NME due to a more mature audience who are, stereotypically, less likely to embrace advances in technology.