Who would launch a music magazine in 2016?

Chapter 1

Liv Siddall and Mark Ellen on music magazines

The music press, like the music industry, was eaten alive by the internet where sites such as Pitchfork did what print publications did before them: reviewed things. But can those sites shape culture like ‘Rolling Stone’, the ‘NME’ and ‘Smash Hits’ once did? Does paper mean permanence and power in the mind of the reader? Magazine editors Liv Siddall and Mark Ellen mull over the brand new monthly publication ‘Rough Trade Magazine’ that’s just hit the music shop’s shelves and discuss how physical music magazines can trump those online.

Chapter 2

‘Record Culture Magazine’

New York-based Record Culture Magazine is a new biannual publication due to launch online on April 15 and in shops from May. Mixing lifestyle with long-format pieces and plenty of photography thrown in for good measure, the focus is firmly on independent musicians aimed at in-the-know consumers. The magazine is a passion project by copywriter and editor Karl Henkell. Monocle’s New York bureau chief Ed Stocker caught up with him in the Big Apple to find out why he decided now is the time to launch a new music mag.