A music magazine is a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

dedicated to

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and music culture. Such magazines typically include music news,

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

s, photo shoots,

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a covermount with recorded music.

Notable music magazines

Music magazines were very prolific in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, with the '' NME'' leading sales since its first issue in 1952. ''NME'' had a longstanding rival in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', an even older publication that had existed since 1926; however, by 2001, falling circulation and the rise of internet music sites caused the ''Melody Maker'' to be absorbed into its old rival and cease publishing. Several other British magazines such as '' Select'' and '' Sounds'' also folded between 1990 and 2000. Current UK music magazines include '' Q'', ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a on ...

'' and ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' (all published by EMAP). Magazines with a focus on

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

rather than rock and aimed at a younger market include the now-defunct ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' and the BBC's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', which outlived the television show on which it was based. The longest running music magazine of the UK is ''BMG'', founded in 1903 by Clifford Essex. BMG, which stands for Banjo, Mandolin, and Guitar, is the oldest fretted-instrument-focused publication and actively promotes acoustic instruments of all kinds. Major music magazines in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

include ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' (founded in 1967), '' Down Beat'' (founded in 1934), and '' Spin'' (founded in 1985). '' Clash'' magazine was voted Music Magazine of the Year in 2004 and is the second largest UK online presence. ''Clash'' was also Awarded Magazine of the Year at the PPA Scotland Awards. '' Alternative Press'' has more of an " underground" coverage including

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has be ...

and

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use ...

. A major digital magazine from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

i
Melodic
Melodic has its focus mainly on (hard)rock, melodic metal as well as alternative music. Among classical music magazines, '' Diapason'' is the most read in France. An example of a nostalgia magazine is ''Keep Rockin',''krmag.com
/ref> a 1950s and 1960s nostalgia magazine. The premier issue came out in January 2009. The magazine features a mixture of current events surrounding that time period (e.g. concerts, car shows) and stories with original photos from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as some reader-written articles about experiences growing up during that period.

Covermounts

Several music magazines include a free album of music (usually a compilation of tracks by various artists), known in the publishing industry as a covermount. The practice began in the 1980s with UK magazine ''

'' giving away flexi discs, and graduated to mixtapes and

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...

s in the 1990s, with modern magazines such as '' NME'' and ''

'' frequently including cover compilations.Geoghegan, Tom
Are free CDs killing music?
'' BBC News Magazine'', 13 July 2007. The tracks are cleared for release by the relevant record companies, and are usually released for promotional purposes.

References

{{reflist Magazine genres

Notable music magazines

Covermounts

See also

References