Music Journalism Print Journalism 14th February 2008

Today’s Class History of U.K. music press and music journalism Contemporary changes in music journalism /role of journalists Structure of publishing companies

To Begin Read the two articles supplied & working in pairs come up with a list of five or six key differences between the writing (one current, one from 1970s) Consider the style, tone, structure, subject, length, publication and any other factors you consider relevant. How typical are these changes of journalism more generally in the same period?

Music Press History : Early Days 1926: launch of Melody Maker. Primarily a jazz/ trade publication. ‘the birth of the modern music press’ (Frith) 1950s: series of new magazines launched :  New Musical Express (1952)  Record Mirror (1953)  Disc (1958).

Music Press History : Early Days Rock’n’roll perceived as a threat: Melody Maker review of ‘Hound Dog’ (1956): ‘for sheer repulsiveness coupled with the monotony of icoherence, Hound Dog hit a new low in my experience’ Rock = ‘the antithesis of all that jazz has been striving for over the years’ (Steve Race, MM 5 May 1956)

Music Press History : 1960s IPC buys Melody Maker (1961) and New Musical Express (1964) NME sales reach a peak of in Development of ‘underground press’ in USA - Rolling Stone, Creem, Crawdaddy, etc.

Music Press History : 1960s Only with The Beatles did MM start treating rock on a level with jazz. Close links between editors and managers (e.g. Epstein, Oldham) Advent of ‘serious’ rock writing Popular Culture + Jazz Criticism + Authenticity + UK youth subcultures -> rock journalism (Gudmundson et al)

Music Press History : 1970s Sounds becomes 4th weekly music paper. Personality writers - Jon Landau, Bob Christgau, Greil Marcus (USA), Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray (UK). Punk rock: ‘punk and the press were made for each other’ - Neil Spencer Combined sales of weekly music press >

Music Press History : 1970s New breed of writers: Tony Parsons, Julie Burchill, Jon Savage, Paul Morley, etc. ‘New-pop’ - launch of Smash Hits (1978). New style of writing. Arrival of EMAP. Weeklies struggled to cover pop. Beginning of the end of the weeklies and ‘inkies’ ?

Music Press History : 1980s Launch of The Face (1980) - post- modern pop, fashion/ style magazine. Launch of Q magazine (1986): - consumer guide journalism, ‘anti- fashion’. Genre specific magazines launched: Kerrang! (1981), Mixmag (1986) by EMAP to cater for specific scenes/ tastes.

Music Press History : 1980s Smash Hits sales reached / fortnight Q also an instant success. Increased coverage of music in broadsheet and tabloids, general magazines (e.g. GQ, Esquire, Cosmopolitan) Closer links between journalism and record company PR/ schedules. EMAP ‘neutral style of journalism’

Music Press History : 1990s Closure of Sounds and Record Mirror (1991) Launch of new monthlies: Select (EMAP), Vox (IPC) More specialist publications - Metal Hammer, Ministry of Sound, Muzik, etc. Declining sales of weeklies - arrested by Britpop. Launch of Mojo (EMAP, 1993) and Uncut (IPC, 1997)

Music Press History : 2000s More closures: Melody Maker, Select (2000) NME gradual change to magazine format. Kerrang overtakes NME as biggest selling weekly. Decline of dance music press. Relative success of Uncut and Mojo selling to older, more affluent demographic

Music Press History : 2000s Attempts to break IPC/ EMAP domination: Bang! X-Ray, both short lived. Word magazine launched by former EMAP executives / Development Hell Closure of The Face, Smash Hits by EMAP. Increased importance of branding & brand extension. Difficulties with launching web sites. Competition from free magazines, websites

Magazine Sales : Jan - Jun 2007 NME (weekly, IPC): Kerrang! (weekly, EMAP) Q (monthly, EMAP) Mojo (monthly, EMAP) Uncut (monthly, IPC) Word (monthly, Development Hell) Metal Hammer (monthly, Future) Mixmag (monthly, Dev. Hell)

Group Work Each group will be given a music paper / magazine from some point over the last few years. Study its content and write down some bullet point observations on: Cover / Graphic Design /Format Content / balance of features, reviews, etc. Length of articles (approx) Musical Content / range and type of artists Adverts / what type of companies advertise? / products and services advertised Style of writing Readership Involvement / how? Letters? Etc.

Music Journalists Differences between music journalists and ‘ordinary journalists:  Qualifications / Lack of formal training  Objectivity / Subjectivity  Information centred / product centred  Reporting / evaluating  Career structure / lack of career structure  Detached / Connected work & social life  Readership - broad vs specialist  Stable/ changing readerships

Music Journalists Age sensitivity / lack of age sensitivity Ability / lack of ability to work across a number of publications Professional distance / lack of professional distance Overall, music journalism is less structured, less formally organised and offers more individual freedom than news journalism. Or does it?

Magazine Structure Importance of a number of factors/ events in the management and production of music magazines. Management structure - Executives, editors, journalists, Generally small number of full-time journalistic staff Mainly casual creative workforce Operation around deadlines (various) Production cycles Editorial meetings Layout of offices - inclusion and exclusion (freelance vs staff)