the music press - a brief history
1950s - the first press was from Melody Maker and New Musical Express, they were very uncritical of artists and all the press was very good and positive for the artists. the content was pretty much all charts, singles, releases and gig/show dates/listings.
1960s - the arrival of more "rock and roll" type bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones changed the tone and feel of the press. this is due to them portraying the typical "rock and roll lifestyle" of lots of drugs and women. this also changed the music and the music writing.
1970s - early 70s: music press is still very positive and doesn't give much criticism to artists, this is until the glam rock and prog. rock groups/artists start to spend lots of money on lights, costumes, lasers, etc.
mid 70s: NME starts to popularise the genre of punk. the authors of the papers start to focus on other things as well as music, such as politics, philosophy, etc. fans od the music magazines start to become divided between the people that like the more "musical" magazines such as Melody Maker that focus on actual music subjects, such as techniques and instruments. Then there's the fans that prefer the more social magazines such as NME that focus on other subjects as well as music.
late 70s: some readers are abandoning the magazines that don't focus on "normal" bands and have started to be mainly about politics and random news rather than actual music press.
1980s and 90s - magazines start to introduce new styling and articles. changes in layout, typefaces and design. this makes more people interested in the magazines because they are more visually appealing to the mainstream public.
present - there isn't as much of a sense of exclusiveness with music magazines because lots of other things like newspapers, etc. are doing the exact same thing, but they are showing off more of the "pop culture". there is so many people trying to be famous that the press cant handle al of the "news"
mid 70s: NME starts to popularise the genre of punk. the authors of the papers start to focus on other things as well as music, such as politics, philosophy, etc. fans od the music magazines start to become divided between the people that like the more "musical" magazines such as Melody Maker that focus on actual music subjects, such as techniques and instruments. Then there's the fans that prefer the more social magazines such as NME that focus on other subjects as well as music.
late 70s: some readers are abandoning the magazines that don't focus on "normal" bands and have started to be mainly about politics and random news rather than actual music press.
1980s and 90s - magazines start to introduce new styling and articles. changes in layout, typefaces and design. this makes more people interested in the magazines because they are more visually appealing to the mainstream public.
present - there isn't as much of a sense of exclusiveness with music magazines because lots of other things like newspapers, etc. are doing the exact same thing, but they are showing off more of the "pop culture". there is so many people trying to be famous that the press cant handle al of the "news"
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