The Ministry Of Sound is a club with big ambitions. Ambitions, that
is, that are way above and beyond most clubs and certainly beyond
cramming a warehouse in South London with 5,000 clubbers every weekend.
The club has a web site, a radio programme on Kiss 100 in London as well
as Japan, Austria and a bundle of other countries. It has its own record
label, a merchandise operation and, as of this week, its own
magazine.
Pauline Haldane, who edits the eponymous Ministry, says the magazine is
designed to appeal to a mass market of clubbers rather than the
trainspotting DJ fanatics who buy Mixmag and Muzik.
’I’ve got nothing against those magazines and they do a brilliant job,
but when we were researching this we found that most clubbers were more
interested in the feeling of the whole clubbing experience than in the
beats per minute of a particular track.’
Thus Ministry - which has a cover price of pounds 2.40 and a print run
of 120,000 - is a lifestyle title, covering film, television, bands,
travel, drugs and, most importantly, sex. This is because the club knows
its market.
A survey published in the first issue shows clubbers’ interests. In
order, they are: sex, music, money, drink, clubbing, cigarettes and
drugs. Thus, there are features on legal highs, fashion shoots,
travelling to Amsterdam and interviews with Mark Lamarr, actor Mark
Wahlberg and DJs Pete Tong and Judge Jules. There is also quite a lot of
clubbing.
’The bones of the magazine is a monthly review of 100 clubs around the
country and each one will be rated or slated,’ explains Haldane.
’We’ve got a team of people who visit all these clubs for us and they
will report on everything from the door policy to the state of the
toilets.
We want this to be unbiased and we won’t be slagging off Ministry Of
Sound rivals like Cream every week. We want to give an honest picture of
the UK’s clubs.’
Because the magazine aims for the mass market of clubbers it aims to
feature mainstream house music clubs and acts quite prominently. The
more unusual drum and bass or big beat acts will get coverage, but not
as frequently.
Working out of the Ministry Of Sound offices is, as you’d expect, pretty
useful here. If the promotions team at the club have just signed up a DJ
to play there, the magazine has a pretty good chance of securing an
exclusive interview.
Haldane herself has a strong background in music journalism, which
nipped her first career choice as a war correspondent in the bud.
’Pretty much my first day on Jackie I realised I wasn’t going to make it
as the BBC’s war reporter,’ she admits.
’That’s what I’d wanted to be since was 11. I’d also like to be a travel
writer. In fact, that’s what I’ll do when I get old. Well, older.’
HIGHLIGHTS
1988
Pop editor, Jackie
1991
Assistant editor, TV Hits
1995
Projects editor, Attic Futura
1996
Editor-in-chief, Blah Blah Blah
1997
Editor, Ministry
