Development of Music Magazines

The Billboard Music Magazine

Billboard Music Magazine, January 1936:

The introduction of the music magazine has been an important contributor in developing the modern music industry, and the social elements that surround it. ‘Billboard’ magazine was the first notable magazine that was devoted to the music industry, and was first printed in 1894. The front cover of the magazine was presented in a newspaper style, with black and white text, though it still contained photographs in order to draw in the audience. Similar techniques were used, as in the modern day, to increase sales, like styled fonts and interestingly manipulated images. As the magazine developed during the mid 20th century, it began to feature professional elements, such as the music charts, which also had an impact on music consumers, introducing a more competitive element into the music industry. The magazine focused on varying genres of music and has developed over its time-span, recently using new technology to its advantage, featuring DVD extras and internet music downloads.

Billboard.com, November 2009:

Since ‘Billboard’ was launched in the 20th century, the music industry has grown massively, developing dozens of new sub-genres such as rock, R & B and heavy metal and has had an increasing influence on the way the audience presents itself. In the modern social community, music inspires emotions, being a large part of life, and is evocative to moods and actions. It often has a large influence on other divisions of the media and can dictate codes of behaviour, fashion, friends and cultural norms among sub-cultures.

Introduction of Fanzines
Audiences of the music industry develop passions within their musical preferences and often want to express themselves further into the genre of music. Music helps to target a member of the audience’s identity, where they can take part in social activities, like going to clubs, watching live performances and creating their own media texts concerning it. In the 1960s, one way that fans began to do this was by designing their own amateur publications, known as 'Fanzines'. These booklets made it possible for musical enthusiasts to document a 'scene' or story that the music press would not publish, and allow them to be creative in doing so, letting other fans hear and understand this experience. These fanzines began to develop and recognise various sub-genres, so that other fans would be included in the community being created, meaning new cultural groups based on tastes and fashion rather than class, ethnicity or gender.

One example of a 'Rock' fanzine is 'Crawdaddy!'. Most fanzines are unprofessionally designed, and backed by no substantial amount of finance, however 'Crawdaddy!' soon developed into what is known as a 'Prozine'. These publications included advertisments to improve the content, and could have been categorised as magazines. It continued to be published throughout the 1970s, often competeing in the national mass market of magazines, and was partly successful due to the popularity of the 'Rock' sub genre, and the large cultural and social groups surrounding it.

Since the 20th century, fanzines have begun to fade out, but fans of musical genres continue to document these amateur stories on the internet, where other fans can easily access the information, and take part in social gatherings, discussions and activities, where these communities can continue.