MPA Proclaims Dismal Newsstand “Solid” (Especially When Celebs Die!)

There is a silver-lining to the ominous deathcloud hanging over the magazine industry — if you look hard enough.

The publishing advocacy group Magazine Publishers of America has disseminated a four-page document titled “The Full Story on Magazine Circulation Vitality” aimed at spinning the circ numbers released by the ABC at the end of August (single-copy sales are down 12 percent from last year).

But, according to the MPA, there’s plenty of good news:

• Subscriptions are up over the same period last year
• Newsstand sales increased in May through July compared to the first four months of the year
• Total circulation is stable (down only 1%) with subscription gains offsetting newsstand
declines in a tough economy and despite an unusual disruption of distribution
• Circulation executives are capitalizing on new technology options to market subscriptions
differently and more efficiently
• Magazine readership continues to grow

The White Sheet also mentions that for the duration of the recession consumers have substituted trips to warehouse stores and dollar stores for the supermarket, where glossies are readily available. The MPA also takes comfort in the $55 revenue spike from Michael Jackson commemorative issues and coverage.

Take comfort, American magazine publishers. It seems that nothing is wrong with your business models — it’s just that people won’t go out of their way to buy them unless a celebrity dies.

Photo courtesy of SubwayBlogger.

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