As a budding music fan, I got introduced to music magazines around my junior high years.  My mom brought home a copy of “Song Hits”, which had the lyrics to the popular songs of the day in which you could sing along to your heart’s content (I distinctly recall Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson on the cover but don’t recall any Tull songs in the mag!).  Shortly thereafter I would go to the bookstore and start buying my own magazines, the best of the lot being Hit Parader, Circus, and Creem.  I spent hours on end poring over these magas to read about my favorite bands and occasionally cutting out photos to put in my locker at school, and also sharing these mags with other likeminded friends.

At some point my musical tastes were going in different directions than the artists that were being covered, so I started reading various guitar magazines and occasionally buying import copies of Kerrang! and Metal Hammer.  Both of these periodicals featured the heavier bands in my wheelhouse, with a good dose of bands like Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Metallica, etc etc etc.  But at some point grunge took hold of the mainstream and fewer bookstores and record stores carried the better music mags, leaving only Rolling Stone, Spin, and a few others to keep me in the loop on the scene.  Fortunately, the Internet was in its infancy and I was getting bits and pieces of the music I liked but I really missed the printed format.

At some point around the early 2000s I saw a copy of a magazine called Classic Rock.  I don’t recall who was on the cover of my first issue (I can recall the Stones being on my first SUBSCRIBED issue tho!), but it was the featured bands that grabbed me.  I’d finally found a new magazine that fully piqued my interest!  Articles abound regarding my old favorites but lots of newer artists as well, some which I’d not heard before but with the monthly samplers that became part of the magazine, ones that would become new favorites in time.  Classic Rock was soon to spin off another magazine in Prog, focusing on that particular genre of music and introducing me to even more newer artists.  As a subscriber, I eagerly awaited each monthly issue and savored over each article and record review, reading everything from front to back.

Unfortunately Team Rock publications, the company behind Classic Rock Magazine and sister publications Metal Hammer and Prog, has filed for bankruptcy and has laid off 73 employees just a few short days ago.  Orange Goblin frontman Ben Ward had launched a Crowdfunding campaign (link HERE if you’d like to donate) to support these employees with a goal of raising 20,000 pounds- amazingly, that number has been smashed and is now over 80,000 pounds as of this writing.  While it’s sad to think that these three magazines may be gone for good, it is wonderful to see such spirit (Christmas or not) from the music community in rallying behind the Team Rock staff during this difficult time.

Best wishes to the Team Rock staff and we hope to see you and the magazines back on your feet soon!