Post by classic rock revival on Jul 15, 2011 13:05:28 GMT -6
It has been more than two decades since rock fans could pick up a copy of Creem magazine at a newsstand and submerse themselves in the fabled publication where critics like Lester Bangs and Dave Marsh helped define a generation of popular musicians. But there are plans afoot to resurrect the printed magazine this fall, The Associated Press reported this week.
Jason Turner, the chairman of Creem Enterprises Inc., said the team that has been operating a music Web site under the Creem trademark since 2001 plans to begin publishing a quarterly edition of the magazine sometime in late September.
“We just feel the time is now,” Mr. Turner told The A.P. “There’s so much amazing music happening today but there’s no filter.”
Mr. Turner said the resurrected magazine, with an expected initial circulation of 150,000 to 200,000 copies, will be part of a broader music network that will include mobile apps and streaming music videos. The hope is to attract both older readers who remember the magazine and younger music fans, who consume music and criticism over the Internet.
The new publishers have a big reputation to live up. The magazine was started in 1969 by Barry Kramer, who owned a record store in Detroit, and within two years had become a national publication known for its irreverent style and iconoclastic reviews. Mr. Bangs, one of the most influential critics of his time, took over as editor in 1971 and under his leadership the magazine was on the forefront of recognizing first heavy metal and later punk rock as important movements.
The magazine also gave exposure to underground and outside-the-mainstream groups like Lou Reed, Roxy Music and the New York Dolls before the mainstream press did. In the 1980s, it led the pack in focusing attention on R.E.M., the Smiths and the Cure, among others.
But when Mr Kramer died in the early 1980s, the magazine was mired in debt. Unable to turn a profit, the founder’s wife sold the intellectual property rights to a New York businessman, Arnold Levitt, who closed the publication in 1988. It was brought back as a glossy tabloid a couple years later, but then folded again.
Then in 2001, the success of Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical movie “Almost Famous” rekindled interest in the magazine. (Mr. Crowe had written for Creem as a teenager.) Some investors led by a former photographer for Creem, Robert Matheu, persuaded Mr. Levitt to let them start an online version, and in 2006, they finally bought the title and intellectual property rights for $70,000, according to court documents.
Now the same group is talking about reviving the publication. Mr. Turner would not comment on how the re-launching of the magazine would be financed or who would edit it, though he said he hoped to re-establish the long, in-depth articles that had made it famous. He suggested a whole new crop of writers might emerge from the ranks of people who visit the Creem Web site. “We have to write with personality and we think some of the best ways to find up and coming writers is to open it up to users to contribute,” he told the wire service.
nytimes.com
Jason Turner, the chairman of Creem Enterprises Inc., said the team that has been operating a music Web site under the Creem trademark since 2001 plans to begin publishing a quarterly edition of the magazine sometime in late September.
“We just feel the time is now,” Mr. Turner told The A.P. “There’s so much amazing music happening today but there’s no filter.”
Mr. Turner said the resurrected magazine, with an expected initial circulation of 150,000 to 200,000 copies, will be part of a broader music network that will include mobile apps and streaming music videos. The hope is to attract both older readers who remember the magazine and younger music fans, who consume music and criticism over the Internet.
The new publishers have a big reputation to live up. The magazine was started in 1969 by Barry Kramer, who owned a record store in Detroit, and within two years had become a national publication known for its irreverent style and iconoclastic reviews. Mr. Bangs, one of the most influential critics of his time, took over as editor in 1971 and under his leadership the magazine was on the forefront of recognizing first heavy metal and later punk rock as important movements.
The magazine also gave exposure to underground and outside-the-mainstream groups like Lou Reed, Roxy Music and the New York Dolls before the mainstream press did. In the 1980s, it led the pack in focusing attention on R.E.M., the Smiths and the Cure, among others.
But when Mr Kramer died in the early 1980s, the magazine was mired in debt. Unable to turn a profit, the founder’s wife sold the intellectual property rights to a New York businessman, Arnold Levitt, who closed the publication in 1988. It was brought back as a glossy tabloid a couple years later, but then folded again.
Then in 2001, the success of Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical movie “Almost Famous” rekindled interest in the magazine. (Mr. Crowe had written for Creem as a teenager.) Some investors led by a former photographer for Creem, Robert Matheu, persuaded Mr. Levitt to let them start an online version, and in 2006, they finally bought the title and intellectual property rights for $70,000, according to court documents.
Now the same group is talking about reviving the publication. Mr. Turner would not comment on how the re-launching of the magazine would be financed or who would edit it, though he said he hoped to re-establish the long, in-depth articles that had made it famous. He suggested a whole new crop of writers might emerge from the ranks of people who visit the Creem Web site. “We have to write with personality and we think some of the best ways to find up and coming writers is to open it up to users to contribute,” he told the wire service.
nytimes.com