Rock weekly Kerrang! has extended its lead over rival NME, with an increase of 12.1 per cent year on year to 85,377.
Kerrang! publisher Stuart Williams said “All this talking about brand — it’s easy not to ask, what does the magazine do that the other bits don’t. That’s where other magazines, particularly NME, have gone wrong, concentrating so much on their website, they’ve forgotten their core product is the magazine.”
IPC’s NME has seen a slight drop of 4.9 per cent year on year to 74,206, but has averaged sales of 73,000 across the past eight ABCs. NME says its website currently has 1.5 million unique monthly users. Paul Cheal, publishing director of NME and Uncut, remains bullish over both. “People buy into brands, and expect a daily interaction with a brand — you have to stretch your brand onto as many platforms as possible. You now have to work much harder for the loyalty of kids than before.”
IPC monthly Uncut saw a fall of 14.9 per cent year on year, but improved its sale to 93,678, up nearly 5,000 on the first half of the year due to a relaunch in May. Cheal said that it would up its new music coverage. Emap’s music monthlies Q and Mojo continue to dominate the top spot in the rock music titles, although both were down yearon- year. Future’s rock magazines saw an increase, Classic Rock up 25.3 per cent year on year to 62,699 and Metal Hammer up 11.2 per cent to 48,977.
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