Industrial context: Bauer as a brand

The Bauer Media Group is a worldwide German multimedia conglomerate based in Hamburg with an approximate workforce of 11. 000 in 17 countries. Of the 600 magazines magazines Bauer own worldwide, they own 80 in the UK, as well as over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, plus print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services. The company was founded 148 years ago in 1875. Publications they own include Empire, Closer, Grazier, Heat, Mojo and Take A Break. 

Empire is a British monthly film magazine first established in 1989, and it is one of the UK's best-selling film magazines. Its first issue featured Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder from the film Great Balls of Fire! (1989), and sold over 50, 000 copies. Over the years, Empire has had eleven editors, and is currently edited by Sam Mendes. Empire reviews both mainstream and art films, and a regular feature ever

since the Robert De Niro film Raging Bull (1980) featured in May 2003, is the Empire Masterpiece. It is a two-page essay on a film selected by Empire in the Re. View section. The films selected are quite random and don't follow a specific pattern, but L.A. Confidential (1997) and Magnolia (1999) have both featured twice. There have been many special editions, including The Directors Collection, which, in 2001, was on Steven Spielberg. As part of its 18th birthday issue published in June 2007, Empire published a list of top 18-rated moments in film. They also selected the 50 greatest films rated with an 18-certificate. 

Empire occassionally invite readers to take part in a poll to find out what their favourite films are. In September 2001, readers voted Star Wars (1977) as the greatest movie of all time, but in March 2006, The Shawshank Redemption (1994) was chosen as reader's favourite. In September 2008, a list  was selected by over 10, 000 Empire readers, 150 film-makers

and 50 critics of the 500 greatest films of all time. Francis Ford-Coppola's The Godfather (1972) unsurprisingly came out on top, and Steven Spielberg was the list's most represented director, with 11 films in the top 500. However, another reader's poll in July 2014 of the 301 greatest movies of all time saw The Empire Strikes Back (1980) top the list. In 2021, they combined reader votes with Empire critics' choices to create a list of the top 100 movies, which was topped by The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). In 2008, a poll was conducted to ceate a list of the top 100 greatest movie characters, with Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden from Fight Club (1999) coming out on top, but, in June 2015, Indiana Jones was named the greatest film character of all time. 

Codes and Conventions (Empire):

• Consistent, simple masthead which can vary in colour or opacity depending on the colour scheme of the issue
• The magazine's name is instantly recognisable, so large portions of it can be hidden behind an image and audiences will still recognise it
• Usually only one image on the front cover - always brightly coloured and attractive
• Images can vary from being one character/ actor to an ensemble 
• Shot type of main image can vary from a close up to a long shot
• Often feature a brightly coloured puff
• Colour scheme and font types always relate to the main film they are covering - every edition is very different - attracts a larger audience
• Always feature several plugs to indicate lots more content inside.