History of music magazines and how it progressed

The Billboard magazine has an important role to the development of music press, this magazine was one of the publications devoted to music industry. In 1936 music hit parade was published this then became the subject of music magazines from 1940’s and onwards. The Billboard charts featured chart countdown on the radio and programmes like American Top 40.

Melody maker was a weekly newspaper that began in 1926. This magazine consisted coverage of all aspects of jazz scenes. NME magazine then arrived in 1950’s which was a direct competition, they both covered all upcoming releases and articles about artists . They both dominated newsstands in Britain in 60’s and 70’s because they appealed to the youth.

Inkies covered the reputation of serious music journalism while NME focuses on glossy images over music coverage. Inkies were the only source indie scene and also provided detailed articles of independent labeled artists and non producing mainstream artists.

Rolling Stone magazine was published in 1967 by Jann Wenner. It covered the hiphop music, lifestyle and culture, this then appealed to the youth which made the magazine evolved until today.

NME magazine arrived in 1950’s which became a direct competition to melody maker. NME focused on music that appealed to youth which was rock n roll scene. In 60’ and 70’s NME was the popular on newsstands as its consisted music that contributed to youth identity.

MixMag magazine’s first issue was published in February 1983 this represented dance/clubbing, hiphop and rap music. In the mid 1990’s it was sold to Emap a media company then bought by Development hell company. Mixmag reached 70,000 copies due to popularity of its music coverage this then caused the Development hell to issue Brazilian version of Mixmag magazines

Kerrang is a genre specific teen magazine which arrived in 1981. It focused on heavy metal and hard rocks. The original owner of this magazine was the United newspapers who then sold it to Emap. Up until to 2008 Emap sold it to Bauer Media group which is currently the owner of Kerrang