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KERRANG!, METAL HAMMER, ROCK SOUND, CLASSIC ROCK: U.K. Rock Magazines' Sales Figures Revealed

February 16, 2006

Michael Byrne of BrandRepublic.com is reporting that the battle between the U.K. weekly rock magazines has reignited as NME and Kerrang! almost tie on sales, with the IPC music weekly putting on 4.3% over a six-month period to record a circulation of 76,792, while Kerrang! piled on a whopping 18% to hit 76,165.

Kerrang!'s closing in on NME in the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) figures for July-December 2005 comes despite a redesign of the IPC title in September. With just a little more than 600 copies between the two and Kerrang!'s impressive 23.2% year-on-year increase in circulation, the rivalry between the two remaining weekly titles seems certain to continue.

In the monthly market, Emap's Q remains the market leader at 168,547, a period increase of 5.2%. Sister Emap title Mojo was up 5.2% to 120,530, retaining its lead over IPC's music and movies magazine Uncut, which has stabilized at 110,052, up just 37 copies up on its January-June 2005 figure.

Future's music monthlies Classic Rock and Metal Hammer also fared well, increasing 12.8% to 50,027 and 9.5% to 44,047 respectively.

ABC average monthly/weekly figures (NME and Kerrang! are the only weeklies on the list) for July-December 2005 (includes export copies):

01. Q - 168,547
02. Mojo - 120,530
03. Uncut - 110,052
04. NME - 76,792
05. Kerrang! - 76,165
06. Total Guitar - 52,183
07. Classic Rock - 50,027
08. Metal Hammer - 44,047
09. The Word - 34,753
10. Guitarist - 29,152
11. Rock Sound - 23,027
12. Guitar Techniques - 20,561
13. Rhythm - 10,434

NOTE: Magazines like Zero, Big Cheese, Zero Tolerance and Terrorizer aren't members of the ABC so they don't have "official" sales figures.

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