Iconic UK based music magazine Q is setting up shop in China. They’ve been working on the various business aspects since April of this year and are currently recruiting writers and looking at a September launch.
Print magazines are certainly in a growth phase in China (unlike the rest of the world) and we welcome anything that brings music news to the masses. However, music consumers generally exist in the 10 – 30 age range, and in this demographic particularly, people are moving away from long form writing: see the last 12 months in terms of Sina Weibo’s growth. Secondly, Q’s advertising (the key revenue driver) has historically been gig listings, artist/ label promotion and some few youth consumer brands. There has certainly been an upswing in competition here in the last 12 months – enough to keep a Q Magazine running? We hope so…
Q, welcome to China.