History of the Music Press

1926- Melody maker and 'Inkies'

This began as a newspaper in 1926 and was known for its coverage of everything jazz related. Until the mid 50's there was no competition, however this brought on the arrival of the New Musical Express. This appeared to be orientated around the youth appeal with much coverage of Rock 'n' Roll. This was also a newspaper format.
Both played a huge role in the development of the music press, by offering weekly information on up and coming record releases and interviews with artists, its clear why they dominated newsstands in Britain during the 60's and 70's.
'Lennon and MCcartney famously argued over the beatles split by contributing bitchy letters to the Melody maker'.

1936- Billboard magazine

The first publication of this magazine was devoted to the music industry. With its first issue printed in 1894, it wasnt until 1936 that the issue was actually published. It began the 'music hit parade' that further involved..

Billboard charts have provided the foundation for chart countdown slots on radio programmes. This magazine in particular was aimed at professionals as reference source although being available to the public.

1966- The rock fanzine

This is considered to have emerged in the 1960's after evolving directly from earlier sci-fi and comic related amateur publications. Crawdaddy devised by paul williams along with two other creative partners, in ways helped launch many journalistic careers. Arrival of the amateur publication in the 60's shows the relationship between music, its fans and desires to document a 'scene'.

Punk fanzine 'sniffin' glue' started back in 1976, is credited as the first British amatuer publication to document movements.

1967 Rolling Stone

This magazine was conceived in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner (editor and publisher). This magazine was less about factual information of new releases within the music industry, it was instead more concerned with talking about musical cultures. Over time, the content has evolved and changed to talk about other entertainment as well as political issues. Famous photographer Annie Leibowitz have made good names for themselves workin via the rolling stones magazine.

1978 smash hits

This magazine was created in 1978 and has been seen as a very important contributor to the development of the music press as it offered a new mode of address to go along side music coverage. It was designed as a genre specific magazine with emphasis on the pop genre and culture. It was aimed specifically for the teen age and market. The magazine was dominated by 'backstage gossip' and personal interviews.

Kerrang, also a genre specific teen mag, was created from the template which helped to create smash hits. However, kerrang has emerged more music orientated in comparison to s/h which was more focused on the gossip side of the music scene. Other music genres were represented via different magazines, for example the dance and clubbing genre was represented by mixmag and r'n'b and rap was represented by american based magazine the source.

1980 The face- the glossy lifestyle magazine

Launched in 1980 by Nick Logan, a once NME and Smash Hits writer and editor, this magazine prioritised a new format, it was more glossy and stylish with a clear difference to the inkies. A colourful layout of smash hits was developed into a monthly magazine which was made weightier and aimed at the youth market.

The face ceased publishing back in 2004 which then helped pave the way for Q magazine as well as MOJO and Uncut.