Amusic magazine is amagazine dedicated tomusic andmusic culture. Such magazines typically include music news,interviews,photo shoots,essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have acovermount with recorded music.
Music magazines were very prolific in theUnited Kingdom, with theNME leading sales since its first issue in 1952.NME had a longstanding rival inMelody Maker, an even older publication that had existed since 1926; however, by 2001, falling circulation and the rise of internet music sites caused theMelody Maker to be absorbed into its old rival and cease publishing.[1] Several other British magazines such asSelect andSounds also folded between 1990 and 2000. Current UK music magazines includeKerrang! andMojo.[2] Magazines with a focus onpop music rather thanrock and aimed at a younger market include the now-defunctSmash Hits and theBBC'sTop of the Pops, which outlived the television show on which it was based.
The longest running music magazine in the UK isBMG, founded in 1903 byClifford Essex.[3]BMG, which stands for banjo, mandolin, and guitar, is the oldest fretted-instrument-focused publication and actively promotesacoustic instruments of all kinds.
Major music magazines in theUnited States includeRolling Stone (founded in 1967),DownBeat (founded in 1934), andSpin (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 includingpop punk,post-hardcore andmetalcore.
A major digital magazine fromSweden isMelodic. Melodic has its focus mainly onhard rock, melodic metal and alternative music.
Among classical music magazines,Diapason is the most read in France.
An example of a nostalgia magazine isKeep Rockin',[4] 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.
Several music magazines include a freealbum of music (usually a compilation of tracks by various artists), known in the publishing industry as acovermount. The practice began in the 1980s with UK magazineSmash Hits giving awayflexi discs, and graduated tomixtapes andcompact discs in the 1990s, with modern magazines such asNME andMojo frequently including cover compilations.[5]
The tracks are cleared for release by the relevantrecord companies, and are usually released for promotional purposes.
