 | |
 Cover of the December 2024 issue | |
| Editor | Michael Bonner[1] |
|---|---|
| Categories | Music magazine |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Circulation | 47,890 (ABC Jul – Dec 2015)[2] Print and digital editions |
| First issue | May 1997 |
| Company | Kelsey Media |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Based in | London |
| Language | English |
| Website | uncut.co.uk |
| ISSN | 1368-0722 |
Uncut is a monthlymagazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under theUncut brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006. The magazine was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music companyBandLab Technologies, and was published by NME Networks[3][4] from December 2021[5][6] to August 2023, when the brand was sold toKelsey Media.[7]
Uncut was launched in May 1997 byIPC as "a monthly magazine aimed at 25- to 45-year-old men that focuses on music and movies", edited byAllan Jones (former editor ofMelody Maker).[8] Jones has stated that "[t]he idea for Uncut came from my own disenchantment about what I was doing withMelody Maker. There was a publishing initiative to make the audience younger; I was getting older and they wanted to take the readers further away from me", specifically referring to the then dominantBritpop genre.[9]
According to IPC Media, 86% of the magazine's readers are male and their average age is 37 years.[10]
Uncut's contents include lengthy features on old albums, interviews with film directors, music and film news, and reviews of all major new album, film and DVD releases. Its music features tend to focus on genres such asAmericana,[9]rock andalternative country. Each month, the magazine includes a freeCD, which may include both new and older music. Special Issues have coveredU2,Radiohead,Bob Dylan,Bruce Springsteen,the Byrds,David Bowie,Demon Records,Eric Clapton,John Lennon,Pink Floyd,Queen,Martin Scorsese,Motown Records,Morrissey,George Harrison,Jimmy Page,Led Zeppelin,the Beach Boys,Paul McCartney,Neil Young,the Beatles,Elvis Costello,the Kinks,Fleetwood Mac and more.
Uncut underwent a radical redesign in May 2006, as a result of which the magazine no longer catered for books and reduced its film content.
Jones writes a regular monthly column, recounting stories from his long career in music journalism.
Uncut's monthly circulation dropped from over 90,000 in 2007[9] to 47,890 in the second half of 2015.[2]
In 2019, TI Media, successor to IPC, soldNME andUncut to Singaporean company BandLab Technologies.[11] BandLab Technologies became the Caldecott Music Group in 2021 and split itself into three sub-units called BandLab Technologies, Vista Musical Instruments and NME Networks, with the latter group continuing to publishUncut. In May 2023,[12][13] NME Networks soldUncut's print and digital assets to Kelsey Media, publisher of car magazines likeCar Mechanics,[14]Motorsport News[15] andFast Car, and farming titles likeCrop Production Magazine,Practical Pigs andThe Smallholder.[16] The first copy ofUncut published under Kelsey Media was the September 2023 issue (Take 317) in August, with the magazine still being sold in shops with itsNow Playing compilation CD.
Uncut often produces themed spin-off titles celebrating the career of one artist. This series is now known asThe Ultimate Music Guide, but was initially known asUncut Legends. The series started in 2003 with an inaugural issue devoted toBob Dylan, edited byNigel Williamson (though the majority of titles that followed were produced by magazine editorChris Hunt), followed by magazines entirely devoted to Radiohead,Kurt Cobain, U2, Bruce Springsteen,Tom Waits and John Lennon (with the Lennon magazine being produced to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of the former member of the Beatles).[17]
Since the series was rebranded asThe Ultimate Music Guide, artists such asKraftwerk,Wilco,Creedence Clearwater Revival,the Fall andTalking Heads[18] have been featured, with updated and expanded versions of earlier guides also released as Deluxe Editions (for exampleLennon: 80th Birthday Edition[19] orPJ Harvey's guide which came out again as a '30th Anniversary Edition' in June 2021).[20]
In 2021,Uncut launched more spin-offs includingThe Complete Bob Dylan[21] andThe Beatles – Miscellany & Atlas, the latter being a publication typeset in the style ofSchott's Miscellany.[22]
In 2015,The History of Rock (using a title previously used for anOrbis Publishing partwork) was launched as a spin-off fromUncut. The new magazine would cover the key events in rock history by year, starting in 1965 and continuing to the present day (though the series was never completed).[23][24]The History of Rock reproduced contemporary articles that had originally appeared in the music publications of IPC Magazines, with articles fromMelody Maker and theNME (used for the period 1965 to 1990) joined by articles fromVox andUncut in later issues.[24][25]
Another spin-off to Bandlab'sUltimate Music Guide is theUltimate Genre Guide, which takes an in depth look at a particular music style. Magazines in this series include 2021'sUltimate Genre Guide to Shoegaze[26] which features articles aboutThe Jesus and Mary Chain,Lush andMy Bloody Valentine, as well as issues devoted to Punk, Glam and Soul[27] In July 2023, the latestUltimate Genre Guide was published, a title devoted to Goth which featured articles on the Cure, Nick Cave and cover star Siouxsie.[28]
In late 2005, editor Allan Jones and publishing directorAndrew Sumner launched a spin-off of the main movies and music magazine, that focused its attention on DVD releases of classic movies. Billed as "the only great movie magazine",Uncut DVD was designed to compete with such established titles asUltimate DVD,DVD Review andDVD Monthly. Despite strong reviews in the UK trade press,Uncut DVD folded after three quarterly issues.
In 2008,Uncut launched its inaugural Uncut Music Award; this is described as "a quest to find the most inspiring and rewarding musical experience of the past year". A list of 25 nominees is selected by a panel of 10 judges, who are all musicians or music industry professionals, and they come together to decide a winner.[29] Past winners have includedFleet Foxes (2008),Tinariwen (2009),Paul Weller (2010) andP.J. Harvey (2011).
