http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/PopworldC4.gif

Pop magazine axed after one week

The publisher's said they had 'no regrets'

Popworld Pulp magazine has closed after just one week because of poor sales.
The first issue of the music magazine, which was linked with Channel 4's Popworld show, had an initial print run of 130,000 copies but sold just 9,000.

Darren Styles of the Brooklands Group publishers said: "The magazine has bombed in a way nobody connected with it could ever have envisaged."

The magazine, priced £1.49, was aimed at 16-24 year olds and focused on indie, pop, rock, emo and R&B.

The magazine had been in development for more than a year and had been heavily trailed on TV, radio and the internet.

'Acid test'

Mr Styles said: "Every piece of research we did, every dummy we created and the concept in all its forms was fantastically received from first to last.

"The industry wanted it, the news trade wanted it, the market was there according to every group we asked - but come the acid test the readers were absent."

Management had targeted a long-term circulation of 40,000 and launch sales of around 60,000.

"But the data tells us we have achieved a little over 15% of that," Mr Styles said. "Which makes continuation impossible for us - however brutal a rush to judgement that may seem."

Ten of the magazine's 14 staff have been made redundant.

The move follows the closure of Smash Hits magazine in 2006 after 28 years. Its publishers said teenagers were increasingly turning to new platforms like the internet to satisfy their interest in music.

so what could they have done to stop it failing? was it really that bad? esp when it seemed from the mag it was actually going after the nme rtather than tv hits?

btw do you think the publisher should have just brought back the original popworld mag and focused it on pop music rather than being more indie???

There's not really a market for a new pop mag these days. They got their figures badly wrong though, after many months of planning.

 

9,000 is roughly what Music Week sell every week. They only print 9,000 though and they sell them at more than £4

 

This single issue mag will be worth a fortune to collectors in the future. If anyone bought one last week, they should loook after it well.

Edited April 19, 200718 yr by Dave B

Any magazine that features Fall Out Boy & My Chemical Romance is not going to get a good reception from me.

 

I did have a flick through it in WHSmiths during one of my lunch-breaks and I can't say I was impressed with it at all.

 

Not just because of the featured artists, but because the standard of writing/journalism was poor.

 

However it was always going to be a struggle like climbing up the hill backwards as the weekly pop magazine is dead/dying due to the internet.

If it was good and interested me i would have bought it but i didn't even know there was one made :huh: -_-

it looked more appealing to emo's and indie people. not so much pop and rock. if JoJo was in there then i would get it but no

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QUOTE(Dave B @ Apr 19 2007, 08:28 PM) 1026882[/snapback]

There's not really a market for a new pop mag these days. They got their figures badly wrong though, after many months of planning.

 

9,000 is roughly what Music Week sell every week. They only print 9,000 though and they sell them at more than £4

 

This single issue mag will be worth a fortune to collectors in the future. If anyone bought one last week, they should loook after it well.

 

My sister bought it, I'll let her know B)

 

I flicked through it...it was nothing special...like a cooler version of Smash Hits

I didn't know about it! Would have bought it if I'd known it existed!

 

Where was the promotion for it to let people know about it? No wonder it sold only 9,000!

it was ok but the next issue would have had fall out boy, even though it was a cooler version of smash hits, i dont want to see the same old bands talking about their career and stuff so i can see why they axed it after 1 issue, but i did like the reviews section and a couple of the features!!!