X-Ray Moves On Rivals With New Monthly Frequency
X-Ray, the alternative music magazine launched by Capital Radio and Swinstead Publishing, is to increase its frequency later this month, in a move that could step up the pressure on rival music titles.
The non-genre specific title launched as a quarterly newsstand magazine last October in an attempt to reflect the music tastes of Capital’s alternative music station Xfm (see Capital Radio To Launch New Monthly Music Title). The magazine was due to go monthly later this year, but stronger than expected sales and advertising revenues have prompted the publishers to take the magazine monthly from 20 February.
According to Swinstead Publishing, the first newsstand issue of the magazine sold over 54,000 copies, placing it just behind the long-established NME, which currently circulates at around 72,000.
The first issue of X-Ray featured a range of music, drinks and tobacco advertisers, but future issues will concentrate on a broader mix of fashion and consumer brands in an attempt to deliver advertisers to a predominantly ABC1 demographic.
The move to increase the frequency of X-Ray will step up the pressure on rival music magazines. NME, which was the only alternative rock music title following the closure of IPC’s Melody Maker, has seen circulation decline by more than 32% over the last five years. Even Emap’s market leading Q has been hit by the rise of nu-metal titles such as Kerrang!, which has increased its circulation by more than 100% since 1997 (see below).
Capital and Swinstead Publishing will no doubt be hoping that X-Ray shares some of the success enjoyed by London-based Xfm. The latest RAJAR data for the three months to December 2002 shows that the station has seen its weekly reach increase by 7.6% year on year to 484,000, up from 450,000 in the same period the previous year.
Capital Radio: 020 7766 6000 www.capitalradiogroup.co.uk Swinstead Publishing 020 7729 3773
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