Music street press of Australia

Australia has had a long history of street press media, beginning in the 1980s. Most street press have been centred around music and gig guides, but subjects have also included movies, fashion, and food. Each major city in Australia had at least two music street press at some point, and they were at their most popular during the 1990s.[1]

During the height of their popularity most were initially tabloid size, and printed on newsprint with glossy covers. Later titles shrunk to A4 size magazine.

State-based titles

Victoria

One of Australia's earliest street press was TAGG – The Alternative Gig Guide, which ran between 1979 and 1981. It was originally published in Melbourne before a Sydney edition was launched in 1980.

In Melbourne during the 1980s, Beat Magazine and Inpress were both published weekly, with Beat first published in 1986 and Inpress following two years later. Beat was founded by Rob Furst and published by his company Furst Media, while Inpress was published by Street Press Australia. Both companies would go onto own and run multiple street press titles across Australia.

Forte was started in 1991 as a regional gig guide, similar to Beat. It was published in Geelong and distributed to Ballarat, Bendigo, Castlemaine, Geelong, Surfcoast and Warrnambool.[2][3] In 2015 Furst Media became their publisher, starting with issue #619 on August 20.[4] Mixdown, a street press magazine focused on music creation and audio production, launched in 1993 and is printed by Furst Media as a national street press.

New South Wales

In 1989, 3D World began in Sydney, and ran until 2011. The magazine focused on dance music and club culture. Its main competitor was The Brag, published by Furst Media.[5] 3D World was purchased by Street Press Media in 2009, and they expanded to Melbourne and Brisbane in 2010[6] before closing the print edition the following year. It was then revived in August 2011 as Three Magazine, an iPad-only magazine.[7][8] It had been removed for the App store by 2014.

Sydney also had On The Street, which began in 1981 before its staff led a mass walkout and started a rival publication Drum Media in 1990.[9][10] A similar story occurred when Sydney's Revolver closed in 2003, after six years of publication, and its staff created a new magazine Evolver. When Revolver's publisher threatened to sue due to the new magazine's similarities to theirs, Evolver was renamed The Brag.[11] This new title was briefly owned by Furst Media until 2016, and was published weekly until 2017 when it became fortnightly, then monthly, and in 2018 moved to quarterly.[12][13][14]

Also in NSW, Newcastle's Reverb ran from 2006 to 2012, and became an online only publication from 2013.[15][16]

Queensland

During the 1980s Time Off was published in Brisbane, after starting as a campus newspaper at the University of Queensland in 1976. It became a widely available bi-weekly title from March 14, 1980.[17] Rave Magazine was also published in Brisbane, starting in 1991 and ran for 1047 issues until 2012.[18]

Scene Magazine was started in 1993 in Brisbane, and focused on dance music to differentiate themselves from the more rock focused Rave and Time Off. They would later rename themselves as scenestr and become national in the 2000s.[19]

South Australia
  • Rip It Up was published weekly in Adelaide, beginning in 1989 before it went digital in 2014 and ceased publication in 2016.[20] Although not officially part of Street Press Australia, it was added to the network via an agency agreement in 2008.[7]
  • dB Magazine, edited by Alex Wheaton, ran between October 1991 and 2010 in print,[21][22] and up to 2014 online.[23][24][25]
  • BSide Magazine, founded by former Rip It Up editor Robert Dunstan,[26] began publishing in 2015 as a print magazine, but afterwards went online as a fortnightly magazine.[27]
  • The Note is a monthly magazine focused on local music, food, and other culture. It has been published monthly, in print and online, since January 2023. It includes a gig guide, news, reviews, and interviews.[28]

Western Australia

Perth's X-Press started in 1985 as a weekly title, later shifting to monthly in 2014,[29] and the city also had their own edition of Drum Media starting in 2006.

Australian Capitol Territory

BMA Magazine began publishing in Canberra in 1992, and is still publishing in 2022 as a fortnightly title.[30] Drum Media was also distributed in Canberra from Sydney.[31]

Northern Territory

Starting in 1996, Pulse NT was published in Darwin and called themselves, "The Northern Territory's first street mag: local, national, international music and reviews."[32] It was published monthly by Pulse Street Press.[33][32]

National titles and mergers

In 2006 the owners of Inpress formed Street Press Australia and took over The Drum Media and Time Off, before merging them all together in 2013 as The Music.[34] Alongside the new name came a smaller A4 size and a less frequent publication as The Music went monthly, shifting their focus away from being a weekly local gig guide. In 2018 Street Press Australia ceased to exist, and their assets were taken over by Handshake Media who continued to publish The Music on Australia's east cost.[19]

Furst Media's titles such as Beat and The Brag had been the major competitor with Street Press Australia in their cities, but never expanded further or merged their titles nationally. Instead they joined Beat, The Brag, Rave, dB, and X-Press under the banner of the National Street Press in 2009, but the companies remained separate.[35]

Perth's X-Press was merged with The Music in 2015, but continued to be printed under its own name.[36] X-Press was later put up for sale in April 2016.[37]

In 2017 The Brag was acquired by Seventh Street Media, and they ran The Brag alongside music websites Tone Deaf, The Industry Observer, and Rolling Stone Australia.[38][39]

Scene Magazine, which had started in Adelaide in 1993, created a Melbourne edition in 2003. They downsized from their tabloid style magazine to A4 glossy in 2004 and later rebranded to scenestr in 2014, also changing from weekly to a monthly schedule.[40][41] In 2015 they launched in Adelaide,[42] Sydney in 2016,[43] Perth in 2017,[44] and relaunched in Melbourne in 2018.[45] In 2021 they claimed to be the only national street press group.[19]

Other publications included Australian Musician,[46] and Music Feeds.[47]

Distribution numbers

The number of copies each street press distributed was audited by the Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA) through their CAB brand which verifies and provides distribution data to media companies.[48] Street press magazines would report their weekly distribution numbers as CAB audited, and would occasionally call each other out over displaying their numbers incorrectly.[49][6] By 2020 no titles reported CAB audited data anymore, and instead displayed rounded numbers on their websites or inside each magazine, if at all.

Title2009 Distributed (CAB Audit)2009 Outlets2020 Distributed2020 OutletsReferences
Inpress33,3481000[31]
The Drum Media (Sydney)34,312850[31]
The Drum Media (Perth)25,318900[31]
Time Off22,218800[31]
Rip It Up12,000800[31]
Beat34,000+1800n/a32,000+[50][51]
The Brag30,000+n/an/an/a[52]
Mixdown*25,0001500+32,000+1750+[53][54]
Scene / Scenestr*n/a1,100+60,000[55][56]
The Music*n/an/a
  • denotes national title

COVID-19 pandemic impact

In 2020, during Australia's lockdown period, due to COVID-19, most street presses stopped printing and moved completely online.

In Melbourne, Beat had moved to a fortnightly schedule in 2019.[57] Following issue #1695's publication on March 11, 2020 Beat paused their print edition until in May 2022 editor when Lucas Radbourne announced the print issue had returned, and was available freely again as a monthly magazine.[58]

In Sydney, The Brag also ceased publication in March 2020.[59] But while most street press did so without a formal announcement, The Brag released a statement in February of their coming closure.[14]

March 2020 was also the date of The Music’s most recent issue, and in October 2021, Handshake Media (previously Street Press Australia) announced they had sold The Music to SGC Media, owners of online music titles Purple Sneakers and Country Town.[60] Time Off was separately sold to Sean Sennett, who had run the magazine through the 1990s, with plans to relaunch the magazine in 2022.

scenestr reported in October 2021 they were the "largest – and only remaining – street press group in Australia", and had returned to printing copies of their magazine in mid-2020 in five states and territories "where COVID and prevailing conditions have permitted".[19] They continue to be published in 2022.[61]

Mixdown has continued to be printed bi-monthly by Furst Media and made available nationally. They published their 318th issue in December 2021.[62]

Elsewhere, BMA is still being published fortnightly in Canberra and is the longest consecutively running street press which is still in print in Australia.

Timeline

See also

References
  1. Groth, Simon (2010). Off the Record: 25 Years of Music Street Press. Univ. of Queensland Press. pp. xi–xiv. ISBN 978-0-7022-4653-1.
  2. "Forte Magazine -". 12 October 2009. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  3. "About Us | Forte". 4 April 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  4. "Forte 619 by Forte Mag - Issuu". issuu.com. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  5. "3D World To Cease Publication". Music Feeds. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  6. "Publicity Complaint Action 3D World, August 4, 2010" (PDF). Audit Bureau. 2010.
  7. "About Us ♫". 15 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  8. "About Us ♫ theMusic.com.au | Australia's Premier Music News & Reviews Website". 21 July 2014. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  9. "On the Street magazine". collection.maas.museum. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  10. "Lowest of the Low 6". Clinton Walker. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  11. "Street-press casualties born again ... under the gun". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 April 2003. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  12. "End of an era? The Brag goes fortnightly as editor departs". The Music Network. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  13. "Sydney street press The BRAG is moving its print edition to quarterly". The Music Network. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  14. "After 17 years The BRAG mag is kaput, but its legacy lives on". The Music Network. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  15. "Street Press Mag 'Reverb Magazine' Stopping Print Form". Music Feeds. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  16. "Reverb Magazine Online". Facebook. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  17. "Beginner's Guide To Brisbane Rock History - Time Off". Issuu. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  18. Nancarrow, Dan (26 June 2012). "Rave over for street press mainstay". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  19. Duggan, Howard. "TheMusic.Com.Au Sold To SGC Media". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  20. "Adelaide street mag Rip It Up to close after 27 years". ABC News. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  21. "DB magazine". National Library of Australia Catalogue. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  22. "dBmagazine.com.au". 12 October 2006. Archived from the original on 12 October 2006. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  23. "dB Magazine". Facebook. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  24. "dB Magazine". Issuu. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  25. Goers, Peter (21 August 2023). "'Bertie' Dunstan, the irrepressible SA music champion who left Telstra to pursue his true love" (audio + text). ABC Listen. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  26. Robinson, Ellie (24 August 2023). "Street press legend Robert Dunstan passes away, aged 68". the Music. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  27. "About". BSide Magazine. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  28. "Home". The Note. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  29. Foster, Brendan (14 August 2014). "Perth's oldest street mag X-Press goes monthly". WAtoday. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  30. "Featured Stories". BMA Magazine. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  31. "Street Press Australia - Distribution". 19 September 2009. Archived from the original on 19 September 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  32. "Pulse NT. Library & Archives NT". lant.on.worldcat.org. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  33. "17 May 2000 - NTsearch - Music - Archived Website". Trove. Archived from the original on 16 May 2000. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  34. "Drum Media, Inpress & Time Off To Be Rebranded". Music Feeds. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  35. "NationalStreetPress". National Street Press. 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  36. Barnes, Candice (29 June 2015). "Perth music rags X-Press and The Music to merge". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  37. Young, Emma (4 April 2016). "Perth street newspaper X-Press Magazine up for sale, publisher announces". WAtoday. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  38. Kelly, Vivienne (17 January 2017). "Seventh Street Media acquires Tone Deaf, The Brag and J Play". Mumbrella. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  39. "The Brag Media acquires new building for artist-first music venue". The Industry Observer. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  40. "We interview the publisher behind WA's new street press; scenestr". WA Music. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  41. Duggan, Howard. "Scene Magazine Is Rebranding". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  42. Staff Writers. "Street Press - Adelaide - scenestr". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  43. Duggan, Howard. "scenestr mag to launch Sydney Street Press". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  44. Staff Writers. "scenestr To Launch Perth Street Press". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  45. Staff Writers. "scenestr To Launch Print Edition In Melbourne". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  46. "Australian Musician Medi Kit 2012" (PDF). Australian Musician. 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  47. "Music Feeds wants YOU!". Music Feeds. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  48. "Brands - AMAA". www.auditedmedia.org.au. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  49. "Beat Magazine #1305". Issuu. Furst Media. p. 16. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  50. "Furst Media". 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  51. "Beat Magazine #1695". Issuu. Furst Media. 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
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  54. "About". Mixdown (Archived). 21 March 2020. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  55. "About Scene Magazine". 21 August 2009. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  56. "Scenestr Company". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  57. "How 33 years of ambition frames Beat Magazine's next step". Beat Magazine. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  58. Radbourne, Lucas (May 2022). "1696". Beat Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  59. "The Brag #749". Issuu. Brag Media. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  60. Shepherd, Emma (11 October 2021). "SGC Group acquires TheMusic.com.au from Handshake Group". Mumbrella. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
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