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Leadership of the weekly music sector has switched to Emap's rock

title Kerrang! after it overtook NME for the first time.

The news is a blow to IPC as it prepares to celebrate NME's 50th

anniversary later this year. Kerrang!'s year-on-year sales grew by 63.5

per cent to 76,841.

Period-on-period sales were up 46.6 per cent. NME's sales remained

relatively static, up 0.6 per cent year on year to 70,456.

Kerrang!'s success comes on the back of a shift in musical tastes toward

nu-metal, combined with the extension of the magazine's brand to TV and

online. Kerrang!'s editor, Paul Rees, added that the magazine has a

proven ability to break new bands.

"We redesigned last October in a move away from the whiff of spandex,"

Rees said. "Elements of the design were rooted in the mid-80s and we

have repositioned visually and editorially. Our audience has grown

younger and NME has stopped growing at the younger end. But what NME did

or does is not of concern to us."

Mike Soutar, the managing director of IPC ignite!, said: "The music

market segments in all sorts of ways. Kerrang! and NME are not direct

competitors - neither title would see the other as such. I'm pleased how

NME has developed over the past year and we have lots of plans to evolve

it as an editorial product."

Among the monthlies, the strongest growth came from Emap's Mojo title,

up 15.3 per cent year on year to 96,837. Q was down by 1.7 per cent to

200,636.

IPC's film/music crossover Uncut posted a good performance with a

circulation increase of 37.6 per cent year on year to 73,186. Among film

titles, Hotdog, recently sold by IFG to Paragon, saw a collapse in sales

of 45 per cent to 21,570.

While traditional rock titles had a solid period, dance music titles

suffered. Emap's mixmag was down 5.5 per cent to 100,277, with IPC's

Muzik falling 7.3 per cent to 40,550. Ministry of Sound's title,

Ministry, also fell by 8 per cent to 83,006.

Tim Schoonmaker, the chief executive of Emap Performance, said: "An

article in The Guardian recently concluded that music magazines are

fading to nothing, but the fact is that music has never been healthier.

The Kerrang! scene is growing like crazy."

Verdict: There will be further growth for heavy rock titles while the

dance sector feels the squeeze.

MUSIC MAGAZINES

Title Publisher Total ABC Period on Year on

period % year

Q Emap 200,636 0.2 -1.7

mixmag Emap 100,277 -0.1 - 5.5

Mojo Emap 96,837 11.2 15.3

Ministry MoS 83,006 10.3 -8.0

Kerrang! Emap 76,841 46.6 63.5

Uncut IPC 73,186 15.5 37.6

NME IPC 70,456 0.4 0.6

Muzik IPC 40,550 -8.3 -7.3

Metal Hammer Future 40,060 5.4 8.1

Classic Rock Future 31,794 -1.4 -3.2

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations (July-December 2001).