Research Task One: How has the UK consumer magazine industry evolved?

 Over the years, the UK magazine industry has transformed dramatically as the increase in technology means that many brands have moved online, decreasing newsstand sales. Furthermore, the covid19 pandemic played a significant role in the decrease of print magazines, as people weren’t able to leave the house to purchase magazines regularly. Social media sites such as instagram and TikTok have created competition for verticals such as men’s magazines. Many publishers no longer refer to themselves as simply ‘magazines’ as they feel it is not the best word to describe their organisations. Magazines have had a sharp fall in print advertising revenue, whereas digital advertising spend has been monopolised by tech platforms such as Facebook and Google. In 2000, 1.6 billion magazines were circulated in the UK, however this number decreased to 565 million last year. Consumer expenditure has also shrunk. UK consumers spent £669 million on magazines in 2020, which was less than half of the £1.4 billion spent in 2000. The number of magazine tiles has decreased aswell, from over 700 in 2000 to 558 in 2010, and now stands at only 241 titles. In the past five years, men’s magazines and music magazines have decreased significantly (men’s magazines fell from 32.3 million to 3.6 million between 2017 and 2021, an 89% decrease). One of the main reasons magazines are decreasing is because most of the content can be easily substituted for a newer online version, such as instagram. Subscriptions to magazines are growing, however this isn’t really helping the print industry as many subscriptions are digital, and subscriptions as a whole are still a minority.