The Business of Magazines

[Benn98]

Why not keep it as a supplement instead of folding it together?

 

[WeberFanatic]

Let’s see how it turns out as originally AnOther was aimed as a gender less magazine back in 2001. We know it’s not authentic but AnOther Man was simply made as print was at a peak in the mid 2000s.

 

[Starry]

I am curious to see how the combined issue will be. Although it's sad for Another Man, it's more like going back to their "roots". When Another Magazine first started, it was labeled as a magazine for men and women and in those issues there were editorials and collection reviews for men's indeed, although the majority of the contents focused in women's of course.

 

[Benn98]

The virus will now be blamed for everything. But you have to imagine that if a biannual magazine can't even survive a 2-month advertising pause then there's something desperately wrong with the way it is being managed. That and the fact that menswear advertising spend has increased substantially. There's far more than meets the eye here!

 

[Srdjan]

Harper's Bazaar and Cosmopolitan (among other titles) in Malaysia are closed:

Major Malaysian publishing house Blu Inc shuts, 200 staff laid off

 

[SophiaVB]

L’Officiel Reducing Print as Freelancers Demand Long Overdue Payments

It seems the company needs a chief financial officer as it’s dealing with numerous claims of unpaid work. Many previous L’Officiel freelancers in the U.S., France and Switzerland, and even a few who were effectively on staff for a time, say they are trying to get paid for work they did in 2019, and even the year before.

WWD has learned that at least 20 contributors, mainly writers and photographers whose work was published in late 2018 through late 2019, have gone unpaid, with multiple requests for payment to senior staff and executives going generally unheeded. Some of the contributors seeking payment were on the masthead for a time and others were treated as normal staff would be, working full-time hours and having to request days off. But all were only given 1099 tax forms to fill out, meaning they were employed as freelancers.

In all instances of nonpayment, initial assurances of payment, sometimes from as high up chief revenue officer Erica Bartman, turned into radio silence. In at least one instance in Europe, a staffer turned contributor last year filed a legal action in an effort to collect what he claims to be owed. It’s ongoing. In the U.S., a group of roughly a dozen freelancers has started to work with the National Writers Union in an effort to get paid. New York’s Department of Consumer Affairs, which covers labor policy, also confirmed that it’s received a number of complaints about L’Officiel over the last year regarding nonpayment, but attempts to contact the company and resolve the complaints have been so far unsuccessful.

 

[Benn98]

Despicable! How can L'officiel still be allowed to operate if that's the case?

'....but attempts to contact the company and resolve the complaints have been so far unsuccessful.'

Try harder! This is why unions are becoming increasingly popular.

 

[Bertrando3]

Harper's Bazaar and Cosmopolitan (among other titles) in Malaysia are closed:

Major Malaysian publishing house Blu Inc shuts, 200 staff laid off

I found yesterday in fact a conversation between Kenneth Goh, EIC of Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore (@kennieboy) and EIC of Harper’s BAZAAR Malaysia, Natasha Kraal (@natasha_kraal), about the sudden closure of BAZAAR Malaysia on 30 April 2020. It's almost an hour long and it's super interesting guys, listen to it when you can.

BAZAAR Talks: EICs Kenneth Goh And Natasha Kraal On The Future Of Fashion Media

 

[vogue28]

According to Megan Gale's Instagram, Australian InStyle is now out of business:

 

[Benn98]

Really sad about the spate of recent closures, especially in smaller markets like Australia, Malaysia and South Africa. At least here in the UK there are loads of opportunities. I think what some people don't realise is that it not only trickles all the way down to masthead staff without a job, but it also limits their chances of securing a job elsewhere because I'm sure competitor magazines are cut to the bone as we speak. That's not even taking into consideration the freelancers who are usually the first to be purged, and young, freshly graduated creatives who had hoped to start a career in magazines.

 

[tigerrouge]

I can't imagine young people wanting to start a career in fashion magazines these days, a dead-end industry that hasn't paid well for a long time, never mind now.

It's better than NO job - but anyone who fancies themselves as a fashion or a beauty expert can set themselves up on social media and receive all the attention and PR samples they desire, and anyone burning to write or report in a serious capacity will still lean towards news outlets rather than fashion magazines for their opportunities. Designers (eg page layouts), copywriters... there are a lot of better-paid (if boring) avenues for those people than publications that often don't even pay them in the first place.

I went from working in print to working in an industry where I regulated where print ends up. The latter has no glamour, but money goes a long way in life.

 

[Benn98]

They can, yes, but there's certainly a lot of instant prestige attached to working for a well-known magazine as opposed to starting your own platform, building trust with your following (which is not as easy as it sounds!) and relationships with advertisers, creating your own content etc etc. It's a long and arduous process versus working for a magazine (however poorly paid) and coat tailing off its reputation.

 

[tigerrouge]

I imagine being able to earn money is a much bigger worry for young people than it was years ago - the entry-level positions in the magazine world that pay a living wage are long gone. Prestige doesn't pay the rent, and even the most hopeful intern knows it could be years before they get any tangible return on their slave labour.

We're aware of all the famous "lifers" who have been working at prestigious publications for decades, but they're the unicorns. For most people, working at a magazine or newspaper - at any of the hundreds of lesser titles out there in Malaysia or Australia or wherever - is a phase in life that comes to an end when they need a better wage, or lose their job because the title has gone bust.

So there's nothing much to be gained at the start, and there's no future in it either.

Because even the unicorns get herded out into "consultancy" roles and "freelance" work. Your name's still on the masthead so you still work for the magazine... in spirit.

If you're twenty and working in magazines and unable to pay your rent, it's almost romanticised - but being much older and suddenly downgraded and unable to pay your mortgage... nobody's making movies about those people.

 

[MissMagAddict]

They can deny it all they want, but WSJ Magazine will most likely end up going digital only.

WSJ. Magazine to Skip August Print Issue Due to the Coronavirus
A number of fashion and lifestyle magazines in the U.S. have been altering their summer print plans during lockdown.

WSJ. Magazine is the latest print publication adjusting its summer plans due to the coronavirus.

The monthly fashion and luxury-focused insert for the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal will skip an August print issue this summer, a representative confirmed. Instead, some planned content will be included in an expanded summer digital issue, which made its debut last year with cover face Kim Kardashian West.

The publication has been making a push on the digital side lately, with the recently released bonus May digital cover featuring Miley Cyrus, and a stand-alone Kanye West digital cover in April.

Its bread-and-butter print component isn’t going anywhere, though, according to a spokeswoman, who said no other changes are planned and the August print issue will return in 2021.

WSJ. is one of a number of magazines making shifts to their print schedules this summer. As previously reported by WWD, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire, all owned by Hearst Corp., will each publish just one combined issue this summer, compared to three separate issues last year.

At rival Condé Nast, Vogue has combined June and July and Condé Nast Traveler has also been shifted to be heavier later in the year due to global travel freezing up.

Paper Magazine, meanwhile, won’t publish a summer or fall issue and its owner ENTtech Media is yet to decide if it will continue in print.

As well as difficulties conducting fashion shoots and creating other content during lockdown, many magazines are being impacted by a steep decline in advertising as brands cut budgets due to the spread of COVID-19. This is a problem the whole media industry is facing and in many cases comes despite record engagement.

Last week News Corp., the owner of The Wall Street Journal, said the publication had hit a record three million subscribers for the first time. It noted, though, there had been a third quarter 18 percent decline in print advertising revenues in its Dow Jones division that includes the Journal, partially offset by a 25 percent increase in digital advertising.
source | wws

 

[Benn98]

I imagine being able to earn money is a much bigger worry for young people than it was years ago - the entry-level positions in the magazine world that pay a living wage are long gone. Prestige doesn't pay the rent, and even the most hopeful intern knows it could be years before they get any tangible return on their slave labour.

We're aware of all the famous "lifers" who have been working at prestigious publications for decades, but they're the unicorns. For most people, working at a magazine or newspaper - at any of the hundreds of lesser titles out there in Malaysia or Australia or wherever - is a phase in life that comes to an end when they need a better wage, or lose their job because the title has gone bust.

So there's nothing much to be gained at the start, and there's no future in it either.

Because even the unicorns get herded out into "consultancy" roles and "freelance" work. Your name's still on the masthead so you still work for the magazine... in spirit.

If you're twenty and working in magazines and unable to pay your rent, it's almost romanticised - but being much older and suddenly downgraded and unable to pay your mortgage... nobody's making movies about those people.

I hear you, and maybe that's the reason why people job hop faster than they change underwear. I'm a firm believer that you have to do something because you're truly passionate about it versus how much money you can make off it from the get go. The money will follow, but it simply cannot be your prime motivation.

 

[MissMagAddict]

Condé layoffs just dropped.

Condé Nast will pink-slip about 100 employees in the U.S. and is putting another 100 on unpaid leave for several months as the COVID-19 crisis cuts into the media company’s business.

The New York-based company, whose titles include the New Yorker, Wired, Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ, had about 6,000 employees worldwide at the start of 2020.

CEO Roger Lynch announced the cutbacks in a memo to staff Wednesday. One month ago, he told employees that layoffs were in the offing, along with other cost-cutting measures. An insider said the layoffs span all areas of the company and aren’t targeted at individual brands or groups, although some teams may be hit harder than others.

Condé Nast Lays Off 100 U.S. Employees, Furloughs Another 100 Staffers

“Through this crisis we’ve all gone through many states of emotion, personally and professionally, and I’m deeply saddened to have to write this note with the news that we’ll be saying goodbye to some of our U.S. colleagues,” Lynch said in the May 13 memo.

In addition to the layoffs, Lynch wrote, the company is furloughing about 100 employees who “can’t effectively work during this period,” such as those in Condé Nast’s events group. Also, a “handful” of employees will have reduced work schedules, according to Lynch, who joined the company about a year ago after serving as CEO of Pandora and Dish Network’s Sling TV.

Per Lynch’s memo, Condé Nast is providing severance packages and job-placement resources to employees who are getting laid off. For furloughed staffers, the company will “cover the full cost of their healthcare premiums while they are out on furlough,” the CEO wrote.

Condé Nast’s previously enacted cost-saving measures included pay cuts of 10%-20% for those earning at least $100,000 per year and a 50% salary reduction for Lynch and outside board members. Lynch said it has limited hiring and closed hundreds of open roles across the company’s divisions.

The company also is deferring until 2021 several big strategic initiatives, including the rollout of Condé Nast’s Copilot content-management system to additional markets this year; the buildout of global internal events spaces; and a global employee intranet.
source | variety

 

[dodencebt]

Two hundred people out of a job.. even though half of those are supposedly furloughed for a few months, most of them will probably never return to Conde Nast. It's a devastating situation for print media, but an indicator of what's to come. Not to sound too pessimistic, but the financial cutbacks have just begun; it will surely get worse.

 

[MON]

I have a feeling that COVID19 and the looming global recession it caused will impact the print industry the most. We can see it already starting and we've barely pass COVID19.

The Top US Magazines (Vogue, Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan) may survive a few more years or even a decade. Though there will come a time where they'll start making 4 issues a year.

 

[honeycombchild]

It’s going to be really interesting to see the sales figures and subscription numbers from this period. It could be down to stocking issues of course, but everytime I’ve been to the supermarkets here during lockdown the magazine shelves have been half empty, with no copies of your big publications left. Some days I’d say when they had been stocked up so I know they were coming in and realistically it would seem like a prime time for people to have been reaching for the Print copies as they shop.

I do imagine however that the closure of places like WHSmith will have left a huge deficit of print sales.

 

[8eight]

UK magazines. What will happen?

Grazia is currently fortnightly.
ES magazine is on hiatus.
The Stylist has gone digital. They had a lovely Shira Haas cover last week. What a waste.
Style with the Sunday Times are doing buy in/repeat covers. Which they said they would never do.
The Hearst monthlies are business as usual this month. No Corona cover changes.
Vogue. What will they do for September? Will people advertise?
Esquire. Currently only six issues a year. Can it survive this?
Elle. Already so much buy in content. I guess we can expect more?

I guess, the strongest survive?