Suzuki SV650 Riders Forum banner

Anyone read the newest motorcyclist magazine?

3K views 36 replies 28 participants last post by  jay313 
#1 ·
Out of 130 pages, the magazine contains 80.5 pages of AD space not including reviews.ICON has a 12 page spread and Field Sheer has a 8 page spread.

Do we get free articles when we buy the commercials?
 
#11 ·
You're right, they can. About 6 months ago they were giving out free 1 year subscriptions online, and I hear every once in a while they give out more. A lot of people got in on that deal, me included.

I think it's so they can quickly boost their subscription count and charge a higher rate to advertisers.
 
#7 ·
just some perspective. I used to work for DETAILS magazine and JANE in the marketing department. 95% of the magazines were product placement. The only thing that we ever put in that magazine while I was with them that was worth reading was Anderson Cooper and Augusten Boroughs. I was naive and in college and thought I was getting a job with some pretty edgy literary mag that was driven towards people my age. It's all a sham. Magazines are the epitamy(sp?) of narcism. We had a whole department that researched the media looking for other media outlets that would give us a name drop.

The kicker, the top purchaser of advertisement space was thrown a party every issue. ie: while I was their Perry Ellis and Law and Order bought a combined 10 pages of Advertising space. So we funded their Season Premier party, and put the whole cast in Perry Ellis Clothing. Ice T's Girl didn't conform... Any way, we disguised those 10 pages as a best dress section...... LAME.

This was the main reason I left marketing. It was disgusting. Money hungry people
 
#12 ·
i'm a photographer that works with big magazines like vogue and the like... every editorial shoot you see has to have at least one or a couple pieces of clothing from advertisers. it's stupid, but it makes sense. really opens your eyes about trends and brain washing people into buying things... sometimes i get depressed that i am taking part of it all. haha
 
#13 ·
It is coming into the riding season for most. Same thing happens in hunting mags when coming up to hunting season.

Speaking of riding season, I have been virtually the only bike on the roads around here since November. Yesterday the sun was out and the mid 60s. HDs and sport bikes out everywhere.
 
#14 ·
I noticed that Icon ad. With the chicks with their t!ts practically hanging out. Not that I mind that but if I wanted a bike magazine and softcore porn I would buy a British bike magazine for $10+ and get tatas hanging out for real. Kind of annoyed me that a gear company would have ads showing improper/pointless use of gear. Icon = FAIL. They should be ashamed.
 
#19 ·
I don't own a single piece of Icon gear and never will. They promote the wrong attitude toward riding in my opinion. (Remember - just an opinion and I respect other people opinions). I have a Joe Rocket jacket and gloves I got because the price was right and my trusty HJC helmet.
 
#17 ·
The ads pay for the magazine, not the subscription. That's why most magaines are free - the salesman makes the profit from the subscription price. A friend of mine at work sells subscriptions for $2 or $3 (near his cost for friends). For example, I think car and driver would cost me 2 or 3 bucks.
 
#20 ·
I like the American mags (long-time subscriber to Motorcyclist, Cycle World, & Sport Rider) but when I want real substance, I buy TWO or Bike from the UK. Hell, even their Performance Bikes has better content than our rags.
 
#23 ·
Spent many years in the magazine industry. All on the editorial side, but if I remember correctly, postal service regulations require no more than 50% of a magazine's content be advertising in order to qualify for certain mailing rates. Thing is, that is an average over the course of a year. When you have a seasonal thing like motorcycling, some months are going to be heavy with ads, while other months will be lighter. Pick up a fashion mag during the holiday season and they'll be loaded down with stuff. Same mag during summer months will be much lighter on ads. Overall, though, it should average out to around 50%.

The marketing thing used to get to me, too, and I even worked for a publisher with a modicum of integrity. Don't miss that part of the business.
 
#24 ·
I think I paid $20 or $24 for 2 years of Motorcyclist and Sport Rider. Considering if there hadn't been a CompetitionAccessories Advert in Sport Rider last month, I wouldn't have found out they had the ac-12 carbon I just bought was on sale for $199 with free shipping, I'll take the ads. Heck, half the useful info for me is comparing prices on tires and such between companies that advertise.

I'm happy with the ads.
 
#25 ·
Industry standard for ads to editorial ratio is around 60/40. And, the only pages that count are the paid advertisements.

Besides, it takes a lot of effort to generate 50 pages of content per month wiht a fairly small staff, and sell ads, and do all the other stuff they have to do.

And, if it takes that many ads to cover costs to put it together, I am cool with it. the alternative of having the publications fail just does not get me excited.
 
#26 ·
And since the Icon ads were already mentioned.....is it even possible for them to be more squidly.

I'd be willing to pay cover price if it was actually still a respectable magazine.
 
G
#32 ·
I've never really cared for Icon stuff, and after seeing those 12 pages of stupid ads, I've promised myself never to buy their stuff. Yes, while sex does sell, 12 pages of of it was just too much.

Over the last few years the amount of adspace now exceeds the amount of actual content in the magazine. Unfortunately, it's not just MotorCyclist. I've already sent them a nasty email about the amount of adverts in every issue.
 
#34 ·
I've already sent them a nasty email about the amount of adverts in every issue.
Then how would you suggest they earn enough money to publish the magazine every month?? :rolleyes:

Newspapers and magazines fold because of low advertising budgets. Subscriptions don't pay chit to keep magazines alive, it's all about ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads and oh yeah ads. Take a look at the first section of your local newspaper and see how many inches/cm of ads compared to actual stories. Then look at the sports section or the home section and count the inches/cm of ads there.

None of this is new news, publishing isn't cheap and if a company wants to drop a 12 page special ad in a magazine, they will be welcomed with open arms any day of the week.

:)
 
#37 ·
Coming from the editorial side of the magazine world, I can testify that it's always a balancing act (and often a power struggle) between ad and edit. The person who is supposed to keep the peace is the publisher. As long as the publisher allows the editor some amount of independence from the advertisers, the readers are well served. The problem comes when advertising starts to drive editorial. You know that's the case when every single "review" comes up positive. Another dead give-away is when every "travel" piece is actually a junket sponsored by one manufacturer or another. And once the writers and editors get addicted to the freebies from advertisers (whether products or trips), the jig is pretty much up.

On the flip side, there are some mags that are read more for the advertisements than the editorial.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top