History of Music Magazines

Billboard
Billboard's first music magazine was issued in 1894 which is the first ever. This gradually evolved into radio airplay and record sales charts (The Billboard Charts). TBC provided different music genre and was the foundation for slots on the radio for programmes like 'American Top 40'. The magazine is aimed at music professionals however, it is available to the general public. 

Melody Maker 
Melody Maker was the one of the first ever music magazines released in June 1926 and inside had the honors list which was the first ever recorded charts.By the 50's it had competition from New Musical Express which was appealing to more of a younger generation as it had coverage on the up-and-coming rock n roll scene. They both offered weekly information on upcoming record releases. The magazines had newspapers formats but 'music inkies' provided detailed coverage of independent label artists not mainstream chart music. A glossy magazine format for Melody Maker was introduced in 1999 and merged with NME in 2000 which are both owned by IPC media.   

Vibe  
Vibe was launched in1993 and is still a very popular magazine that provides lots of entertainment and recent news about a range of artists.

NME Magazine 
New Musical Express magazine was first issued in 1952. In the 1970's it became the best selling british music magazine. 

Rolling Stone Magazine
In 1967 Rolling Stone magazine was created and documented music as an important part in the culture of youth with reflective articles about music and social change, and the political concerns about music. Rolling Stone was less about factual information and more about the culture of music. 

Smash Hits 
This magazine was created in 1978 and was aimed at teens. This magazine is important to the development of music because it covered music in a different way as it was designed as a genre-specific magazine(pop). 

The Face 
The Face was launched in 1980 by Nick Logan. The Face was monthly magazine that offered the colourful layout of Smash Hits but aimed at a slightly older audience, embracing music and also fashion and lifestyle. The layout consisted of lots of images and detailed articles, pages full of celebrities, musicians, fashion shoots and advertising. This magazine stopped being published in 2004 however it influenced other magazines such as Q magazine. 

Kerrang
Kerrang was introduced in 1981 and compered to Smash Hits, it is more of a music orientated magazine. Kerrang's monthly competitor is Metal Hammer. 

Since then, magazines have became less popular as nowadays ways to get new information about the music scene is very easy to do. Most people use the internet and magazine's websites to find everything out.