History of Music Magazines

  • Billboard

    Billboard
    Billboard magazine was first published in November 1894 by Prometheus Global Media. It is based in New York, USA and is published every week. The magazine was origianlly focused on bill posting and outdoor amustments before finally focusing on music the 1960s. The magazine includes songs and albums in the top charts from every genre, news and a photo gallery. Also they release a top 100 songs every week.
  • Melody Maker

    Melody Maker
    Melody Maker was first published in January 1926 by IPC. It is based in the UK and is published weekly. It was the world's oldest music weekly magazine. The magazine focuses on dance band musicians. In the 1950s-1960s, the magazine focused on Jazz music. In the 1970s, it focused on glam rock and progressive rock.
  • NME

    NME
    NME magazine was first published on the 7th March 1952 by IPC Media - Inspire. It is based in the UK and is published weekly. The magazine focuses on rock, alternative and indie music. At first, it was started in the newpaper but as it got more popular, it came as a magazine in 1998. It was the first British magazine to include the top singles and soon became the best selling music magazine. A website was released in 1996, and is now the world's biggest standalone music website.
  • Smash Hits

    Smash Hits
    Smash Hits was first published in September 1978 by EMAP Metro. It is based in the UK and was published every fortnight. The magazine focuses on pop music which was based at teenagers and young adults. Around 120,063 copies a fortnight were sold. The final issue was in 2006 and producers said they stopped the publications because the audience would be more interested in technology to find music.
  • Kerrang!

    Kerrang!
    Kerrang! magazine was first published on the 6th June 1981 by the Bauer Media Group. It is based in the UK and is published every week. The magazine focuses on rock music such as Slipknot and the Foo Fighters. Also its the biggest selling weekly rock magazine. The first issue was based on the rock groups such as Motothead, Girlschool and the Wild Horses. It was a heavy metal speical where it also included the top 100 songs.
  • SPIN

    SPIN
    SPIN magazine was first published in May 1985 by Spin Media. It is based in New York, USA and was published monthly. The magazine at first covered a broad range but had a bigger focus on rock and hip-hop music. The magazine was stopped publishing in 2012 because it got sold to Buzz Media. There is still an online website for the magazine which includes reviews, new music and photos.
  • Q

    Q
    Q magazine was first published in October 1986 by Bauer Media Group. It is based in the UK and is published every month. The magazine focuses on modern music including a review section from film and live concerts, new releases, reissue music and music complications. The target audience of the magazine are people between the ages of 30-40 years. It offers high quality photos and printing which made it stand out to other magazines.
  • MOJO

    MOJO
    MOJO magazine was first published on 15th October 1993, but the first issue was released November 1993. It was published by Bauer Media Group. It is based in UK and is published every month. The magazine has a classic rock genre and the first magazine included artists such as John Lennon and Bob Dylan. The magazine includes albums, new in and interviews. Also there is now a radio stations named 'MOJO Radio'.
  • Top Of The Pops

    Top Of The Pops
    Top Of The Pops was first published in February 1995 by Immediate Media Company. It is based in the UK and is published every month. It includes the top chart, music artist gossip and song lyrics. A TV show was created from this magazine which included artists wh perform every week. It consisted of popular music artists. This show was cancelled and the magazine had a re-design to focus on youn girls audience.