1950s and before
Music papers made their appearance with the jazz scene. The New Musical Express was first published on the 7 March 1952.
1960s
When Elvis Presley and the Beatles became famous world-wide the media adopted the pop music scene. The more pop music was played live, or on television or radio, the more the soaring numbers of fans wanted to find out about their pop idols.
Jann Wenner created Rolling Stone a fortnightly publication containing a mixture of current affairs, celebrity interviews and coverage of the music industry. Its appeal lay in the way the journalists addressed the youth audience.
1970s
The NME changed its style to meet punk head on. New writers were recruited from the
Magazine’s own readership, with advertisements like: "Wanted: hip, young gun slingers.” Julie Burchill became a top NME reporter overnight.
Melody Maker, which had been first published in 1926, earned the reputation as ‘the musician’s paper’.
The Police and Duran Duran were reputed to have met through the classified columns of the Melody Maker.
1980s
Independent music labels wanted their own voice and began producing their own fanzines. These fanzines were often typed, photocopied and distributed at concerts or by subscription. Despite the hand-made appearance this encouraged a whole new generation of writers, photographers and cartoonists to contribute. Similar publications are still going strong but with a mainly local touch.
National publications keep track of any promising writers and snap them up.
1978 saw the birth of Smash Hits, a new glossy publication catering for a younger age range in a smaller magazine format. It included song lyrics and pop posters. To be successful they had to keep in touch with their young readership and used surveys, reader’s letters and fan club information to inform them of what was popular and in which direction trends were flowing.
The 1980s saw the heyday of the glossy magazines devoted to the music business.
Lifestyle magazines such as The Face and Blitz became popular, providing not just music information but information about the latest fashions and hairstyles. This emphasis on style extended to the magazines themselves with new layout, type and graphics breaking all the rules.
1990s
New technologies began to emerge. Music videos became popular owing to the influence of MTV which began to change many aspects of the ways in which music is consumed.
2000s
Web rules. Web-sites exist for almost all bands and styles of music. Anyone can find information on anything they want. In February 2006, Smash Hits ceased printing and went over entirely to its web-site edition.
Today the Internet has everything a fan wants at the click of a button, instant gratification. The Popular press offers a daily dose of pop gossip. Pop music isn’t dead but perhaps the music publication business is..
# posted by Macguffin @ 6:26 PM
