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Alternative Press
"Most Anticipated Albums of 2007" issue Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Editor In Chief	Jason Pettigrew
Categories	Alternative/Rock Magazine
Frequency	Monthly
Publisher	Alternative Press Magazine, Inc.
First issue	June, 1985
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	www.altpress.com
ISSN	1065-1667

Alternative Press (or commonly referred to on the website and in the magazine as AP) is a music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio which primarily focuses on pop rock, post-hardcore, indie rock, ska, hardcore and rock music and their attendant subgenres, providing readers with band interviews and photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president. For other uses, see June (disambiguation). ... This article is about the year. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... Cleveland redirects here. ... This article is about the music genre. ... Post-hardcore; this specific genre was created by others as a sourse to relaese the emotion that builds inside, making the music intimate and touching to listeners. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... For other uses, see SKA (disambiguation). ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ...

Norman Wonderly is publisher and Katherine Poecze is the general manager. Jason Pettigrew is editor in chief, Leslie Simon is managing editor, Scott Heisel is music editor, Tim Karan is associate editor and Rachel Lux is copy editor.

Beginnings

The first issue of AP was just a photocopied fanzine, distributed at concerts in Cleveland beginning in June of 1985 by AP's founder, Mike Shea, who disliked the music then broadcast on radio stations and believed that bands playing underground music should be given more media coverage "all in the same spot", he said. A fanzine (see also: zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share their interest. ... Underground music is music which has developed a cult following, independent of commercial success. ...

Financial problems plagued AP in its early years. Of the fledgling magazine's struggles in 1986, Shea said: "After the last few punk concerts we promoted that year failed to make any money to help finance the magazine, I had to start begging my mom for money to keep AP going: $1,500 here, $2,500 there. My mom was super-supportive of the whole endeavor, and she seemed to enjoy having a bunch of punkers over at all hours of the night putting together issues on her dining-room table and getting spray mount all over her nice tablecloths and on the carpeting, which resulted in our socks getting pulled off as we walked over it." However, by the end of 1986, publication had ceased due to its financial problems, not resuming until the spring of 1988.

First issue of Alternative Press, June, 1985

Image File history File links Altpress_first_issue. ... Image File history File links Altpress_first_issue. ...

Growth in the 1990s

With the growth of alternative music in the early 1990s, circulation began to increase. AP's covers included bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden, prior to each band's mainstream success. The magazine's first cover story on Nine Inch Nails in 1990 was said by Shea to be AP's "biggest-selling issue ever." Shea recalled getting a subscription order from Spin magazine publisher Bob Guccione, who wrote a note saying, “I enjoy your magazine tremendously, and at the risk of offending your alternative sensibilities, here’s a copy of the next issue, in which I wrote the cover story about Bon Jovi." The term alternative rock or alternative music1 was coined in the early 1980s to describe bands which didnt fit into the mainstream genres of the time. ... Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. ... Soundgarden was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. ... “NIN” redirects here. ... Spin is a music magazine that reports on all the music that rocks. Founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. ... Bob Guccione and friend Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione (b. ... Bon Jovi is a hard rock band originating from Sayreville, New Jersey. ...

In 1991, Shea dissolved his partnership with Bobby Crist, in a dispute over Alternative Press' advertising and subscription sales agency at the time, Spectrum Media Group.

By 1994, the magazine was doing cover stories on Beastie Boys, Henry Rollins and Love And Rockets. Norman Wonderly, now the publisher, was credited by Shea as having "made most of these happen and the more Norman got what he wanted, the more artists wanted their cover shoots to look the way Norman wanted, and so on. It wasn’t always easy; there were some nasty phone calls exchanged between everyone, and there was always some publicist who wanted to give us one half-hour of shoot time so the artist could go shopping or some stupid thing. Did we sometimes protest too much? Maybe, but we were up against a lot; we were underfinanced and still underappreciated in some corners of the music business, so we had to fight scrappily and mean when it was called for. Nobody takes you seriously unless you take yourself seriously, and that’s what Norman brings to his position to this day." Beastie Boys is a hip hop musical group from New York City, consisting of Michael Mike D Diamond, Adam MCA Yauch, Adam Ad-Rock Horovitz and the official DJ for the group Michael Mix Master Mike Schwartz. ... Henry Rollins (born February 13, 1961 as Henry Lawrence Garfield) is an American singer and songwriter, spoken word artist and author. ... Love and Rockets were an alternative rock band formed in 1985 by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash (guitars, saxophone, and vocals), David J (bass and vocals) and Kevin Haskins (drums, synthesizers). ...

Today

Throughout its history, Alternative Press has featured many varied bands on its covers such as blink-182, Radiohead, Veruca Salt, Rage Against the Machine, L7, No Doubt, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, AFI, Blaqk Audio, Every Time I Die, From First to Last, Head Automatica The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Radiohead are an English rock band. ... For the alternative rock group named after the character, see Veruca Salt (band) Veruca Salt is a character from the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, written by Roald Dahl. ... This article is about the American rock band. ... L7 was an all-female grunge band that was active between 1985 and 2000. ... For other uses, see No Doubt (disambiguation). ... For the albums, see Weezer (1994 album) and Weezer (2001 album). ... “NIN” redirects here. ... Soundgarden was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. ... AFI is a three-letter acronym that may refer to: AFI (band) Air Force Instruction Armed Forces of India Amniotic Fluid Index American Film Institute Australian Film Institute Australian Foresight Institute American Football Israel association Agencia Federal de Investigación, Mexico Africa-Indian Ocean (as in AFI Region) in aviation... Blaqk Audio is an electronic project, created by and consisting of Davey Havok and Jade Puget, both members of the band AFI. Blaqk Audio features Havok as lyricist and vocalist, with Puget writing all music and programming the synthesizers. ... Every Time I Die is a five-piece metalcore/hardcore/metal band from Buffalo, New York, founded in the winter of 1998. ... From First to Last (sometimes shortened to FFTL) is an American post-hardcore band. ... Head Automatica is a rock band, formed by Glassjaw frontman Daryl Palumbo. ...

Over the years, Alternative Press has supported a number of unknown new groups who have gone on to mainstream success, such as My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, The All-American Rejects, Panic! at the Disco, Hawthorne Heights, The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Avenged Sevenfold, Coheed and Cambria, and others. The magazine was the first national music publication to put Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins and other alternative-rock icons on its covers. My Chemical Romance are an American rock band formed in 2001. ... Fall Out Boy (commonly abbreviated as FOB) is an American band from Wilmette, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) that formed in 2001. ... The All-American Rejects is an American power pop band from Stillwater, Oklahoma formed by Tyson Ritter (lead vocals, bass) and Nick Wheeler (vocals, guitar) when they were in junior high school. ... Panic! at the Disco is an alternative rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. ... Hawthorne Heights is a post-hardcore band formed in Dayton, Ohio in June of 2001. ... The Used is a Emo band from Orem, Utah. ... Taking Back Sunday is a band from Rockville Centre, New York, Long Island, New York. ... Avenged Sevenfold is an American metal/hard rock band. ... Coheed and Cambria is a progressive rock[1][2] band from Nyack, New York and Kingston, New York[3]. Coheed and Cambria have released four studio albums, two live albums, and various special-edition re-releases. ... This article is about the American rock band. ... “NIN” redirects here. ... The Smashing Pumpkins (circa 1995) left to right: James Iha, DArcy, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

At the time of its 20th anniversary in 2005, AP had grown to an average size of 112 pages an issue and now averages between 198 to 220-plus pages a month.

Critics such as David Thorpe, a music reviewer at the Something Awful website, have accused AP of pandering to the "Hot Topic crowd", while some have said that it has become more like its main competitors, Rolling Stone and Spin magazines. However, others retort that those magazines are actually adapting more to AP's style, citing as evidence recent cover stories by those publications on Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco and My Chemical Romance – all three bands which AP discovered and first broke on a national level. Something Awful, often abbreviated to SA, is a comedy website and forum housing a wide variety of content, including feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. ... For the Le Tigre song, see Hot Topic (Song). ... This article is about the magazine. ... Spin is a music magazine that reports on all the music that rocks. Founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. ...

The magazine's monthly columns include:

• The AP Poll
• In The Studio
• AP&R (Unsigned bands of the month)
• Chalkboard Confessional
• Musician Of The Month
• Gig Bag
• 1000 Words
• 10 Essential
• Steven's Untitled Rock Column

Its annual feature issues include Most Anticipated Albums of the Year, which provides information about bands and their upcoming albums, and 100 Bands You Need To Know, informing readers of new bands and artists expected to become popular.