Teen magazines are
magazines aimed at younger
teenage readers, usually young women. They usually consisted of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include
posters,
stickers, small samples of
cosmetics or other products and inserts.
History
In the
United States, teen magazines were conceived of during the 1940s. In the
United Kingdom,
Fleetway's
Honey (1960-1986) is regarded as having established the sector. Teen magazines are produced in many countries worldwide, and enjoy wide popularity in
Australia,
Latin America,
Europe, and
Asia.
Seventeen Magazine started publication in the US in 1944 and was the first magazine devoted to the needs and likes of adolescents.
While some teen magazines focus almost exclusively on music and film stars, others feature more extensive coverage of lifestyle issues and are virtually junior versions of magazines such as
Cosmopolitan or
Cleo.
In many countries, teen magazines are aimed almost exclusively at teenage girls. Teenage boys, like adult men, usually buy magazines related to specific activities that they are interested in, such as motor vehicles, sports, or music. However,
Popcorn, the biggest title in Germany, aims to attract readers of both genders and is published in five other European countries.
Well-known American teen magazines include
BOP,
Tiger Beat,
Teen People,
Teen Beat,
Seventeen,
Popstar! Magazine,
M and
J-14. Large-scale Canadian teen magazines include
Faze magazine. Since 1972, teen magazines in the United States have reached out to the
African-American market with publications such as
Right On! (produced by Sterling-McFadden, which also produces
Tiger Beat) and
Word Up!.
Like other mainstream magazines, teen magazines can be found each month at supermarkets, pharmacies, stores and newsstands. In recent years, teen magazines have also appeared on the
World Wide Web. Examples of these include
Faze in Canada, which is published in both web and print versions.
In the UK, changes in the way teenagers spend their money (and the fact that there were fewer of them, though they had more cash) led to many casualties in the 1990s because titles were unable to compete with mobile, digital and online media. Magazine publishers have moved down the age range with titles for "tweenagers" (aged 9 to 13) gaining popularity, such as
It's Hot.
Teenage magazines tend to be categorised as: lifestyle, eg
Sugar; entertainment (often based around music); or comics.
On the web
In the UK, sales in the teen magazine sector peaked in 1998. Teenagers had many more attractions competing for their cash and their attention, such as media delivered on the web and through mobile phones. Also, the booming celebrity weeklies attracted more teens from ever-younger ages (driven by celebrity TV series). In response to this, in April 2007, National Magazines - publisher of
Cosmopolitan and
Cosmo Girl! - launched a digital weekly magazine for teens,
Jellyfish, in a trial. This was the second attempt in the UK to establish a new online business model, the first being
Monkey from
Dennis, which aims to sell to men aged 18 to 34. In both cases, readers sign up to be sent the 'eMag' by email. Each issue features interactive elements and 'pages' that can be 'turned'. However, National Magazines closed
Cosmo Girl! in June and the
Jellyfish experiment was drawn to a close in August.
See also
