Once again, Emap's monthly Q tops the sector, piling on 11.6% year on year with a total circulation of 200,159, although it did slip 1.9% period on period. Its editor for the past year, John McKie, was replaced by features editor Danny Ecclestone at the start of August and a redesign is on the cards.
Mojo, its sister title aimed at an older audience, also gained readers, up 6.5% year on year to 87,120, while Future Publishing's Classic Rock posted a respectable 15.8% rise to 32,242.
The biggest mover of all among the music titles, however, was IPC's Uncut, which boasts a 24.5% year-on-year increase to 63,361, proving that its mix of country-rock music, film and covermount CDs is proving popular with consumers.
It was bad news, however, for IPC's declining NME. The sole remaining music weekly has failed to soak up Melody Maker's readership and ends the year down 8%. Under the editorship of Ben Knowles, it is, however, beginning to halt the slide by netting a 0.2% rise period on period to rest at 70,142.
While rock titles are settling down into a quiet middle age, the heavy metal titles are showing signs of vibrant life. Emap's Kerrang! and Future Publishing' s Metal Hammer marked up identical increases of 15.6% in the 12-month period. Kerrang! with sales of 52,428 firmly shows Metal Hammer, at 38,018, who is the boss in the metal market.
The dance titles were also mainly on the rise, with Emap's Mixmag up 4.1% year-on-year to 100,404 and IPC's Muzik continuing its resurgence with a 10.3% rise to 44,219. The loser on the dancefloor is Ministry of Sound's Ministry, which brings up the rear of the dance crowd with a worrying 20.8% year-on-year slump to 75,274.
In the film market, Emap's Empire holds on to the top spot with 160,247, a drop year on year of 8%, while Total Film records a 3.9% increase to 78,118.