The History of Music Magazines

The music magazine is amongst the most dynamic and thriving sectors within the publishing industry and, by definition, must modernise and transform with the constant revolution of the musical climate. Thus, the journey from the emergence of the music magazine to its current position has been a thoroughly changeable one.

The very first music magazine to be published is not certain and cannot be ascertained for sure. However, it is believed that such publications existed as early as the eighteenth century. The first prominent music magazine to be published in the United Kingdom was Melody Maker in 1926, focusing primarily on Jazz music coverage, an exceedingly popular genre at the time, the magazine rapidly became Britain's most popular weekly music magazine and remained so for almost half a century. The magazine was targeted at musicians/budding musicians, and is known to be the first weekly music magazine in existence. Melody maker was published by Time Warner subsidiary IPC Media and throughout the years, boasted highly influential music journalists such as Max Jones and John Peel amongst its staff.

1952 saw the emergence of NME (New Musical Express) magazine, also published by IPC Media, a magazine focused strongly on introducing new alternative music to its readers, with an increasingly youthful target audience. Due to Melody Maker being slow to feature coverage of the increasingly prominent rock 'n' roll genre in the 1970s, NME became Britain's most popular weekly music magazine and Melody maker lost some of its previously enjoyed success. As a result of this, the two magazines later became 'rivals'. In 2001, Melody Maker could no longer maintain a healthy readership and merged with New Musical Express.

For a younger audience interested in pop music, magazines such as Top of the Pops (1995-present) and Smash Hits (1978-2006) were available, experiencing considerable success during the 1980s.

Presently, the number of music magazines in existence is the largest that it has been in history, with several music magazines to suit every sub-genre imaginable. Despite numerous set backs with the mounting popularity of the internet in the early nineties, overall it is now apparent that the digital age has not been a hindrance to the music magazine industry, but has helped to bring several music magazines into light. The internet has also aided music magazine publishers as it also allows accessibility with people being able to read articles online and thus decide to purchase the magazine itself. The design of magazines has also been enhanced greatly due to editing technology such as photoshop, as is evident upon viewing a recent cover of Clash magazine (above).

In conclusion, the music magazine industry is one which we will no doubt see continue to thrive throughout the 21st century, with the process of distribution and consumption constantly being aided by the advances in technology being made daily.