Michael Jackson's Death a (Perverse) Shot in the Arm for Magazines

While being in the print business isn’t something I’d wish on many these days, perversely, the short-term should be better for celebrity magazines than it has been, courtesy of the death of Michael Jackson. The question is what approach these magazines, running from the relatively respectable People to the down-and-dirty Star, will take in monetizing what in their warped world is a renewable resource.

For now, the week-after covers are slowly coming out, and the approaches … let’s say … vary. OK! is running with what it purports to be the last pictures of MJ, taken after he was stricken (you can take a look at the cover photo here, which the magazine allegedly paid $500K for, but I’ve no interest in printing it). Life & Style, meanwhile, is going the conspiracy-theory route, suggesting that someone actually did MJ in. Fortunately, we can always look to People, which not all coincidentally gets 43 percent of the category’s ad revenue, to take a more respectable tack.

But the monetization of the death of MJ won’t stop with this week’s issues. While the Internet will likely lead the way in terms of media consumption, past major celebrity deaths pump up print revenue streams in several ways.  For one, there will be the inevitable MJ commemorative issues, which will take advantage of one of print’s principal remaining strengths — that you can hold it in your hand and treat it as a keepsake. (Remember back in November, when The New York Times had to print additional copies of its election edition?) The editors at TIME, a celebrity book when it’s convenient, have already issued theirs (at right), and Rolling Stone and LIFE — talk about a print resurrection — are also allegedly planning such issues.

But the other circulation-driven revenue stream is typified by the Life & Style cover above, which represents the beginning of the long tail of MJ coverage, exemplified by “exclusive” interviews and innuendo — in other words, the kicking in of the Princess Di-like rumor mill that will continue on for years, if not decades, via covers that scream “impulse purchase” in the checkout line.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, in the second half of 2008, circulation of most of these magazines was down: In Touch (32%), Life & Style (31%), US Weekly (21 percent), OK! (11 %), with People and Entertainment Weekly, gaining slightly. Now, it’s time for the inevitable, if unseemly, MJ bump.

Previous coverage of Michael Jackson and the media at BNET Media:

• Michael Jackson’s Death Illustrates How Much Media Has Changed
• Traditional Media Brands Rise to the Task as a Celebrity Dies

(UPDATE: One magazine that won’t be covering the death of Michael Jackson is R&B and hip-hop book Vibe, which announced its folding earlier today. One of its founders was Quincy Jones, producer of, among other albums, MJ’s Thriller.)

(UPDATE II: The good news? Quincy Jones now says he’s looking to buy Vibe back. The bad news? He’s doing it “because print and all that stuff is over.”)

(UPDATE III: For a look at just how much the magazine business has benefited, as of late August, click here.)