Billboard (magazine)

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Billboard
BillboardLogo2013.svg
description Logo of the magazine
language English
publishing company Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group
( Eldridge Industries ) ( United States )
Headquarters New York City
First edition November 1, 1894
founder William Donaldson
James Hennegan
Frequency of publication weekly
Sold edition 21,000 copies
(2017)
Widespread edition 115,000 copies
(2017)
Editor-in-chief Mike Bruno
Editor Lynne Segall
Web link billboard.com
ISSN (print)
Logo of the magazine, which was used from October 1984 to January 2013
First edition
Edition from 1896
Edition for the 10th anniversary

Billboard is a U.S. entertainment brand owned by Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, which is a division of Eldridge Industries. Billboard is now primarily an online magazine for news, events and reviews from the music industry. The media group also determines and publishes the official US sales charts for music albums ( The Billboard 200 ), singles (The Billboard Hot 100 ) and various types of music. The company also organizes events, runs a publishing house and runs various TV shows.

history

Foundation and establishment

The first issue of Billboard magazine was published on November 1, 1894 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by William Donaldson and James Hennegan. Initially, the magazine dealt with the advertising and billboarding industry and was entitled Billboard Advertising . While Donaldson took care of the editing and advertising, Hennegan managed magazine production with his printing company Hennegan Printing Co. The first issues were eight pages long and included columns such as The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable and Tireless Industry of the Bill Poster . An agricultural fairs section was established in 1896 before the title of the magazine was changed to The Billboard in 1897 .

After a brief production halt due to editorial differences, Donaldson bought Hennegan's shares in 1900 for $ 500 (equivalent to $ 15,400 today) to save the company from bankruptcy. In May 1900 the concept of the magazine was changed from a monthly to a weekly frequency with an emphasis on breaking news . He improved the editorial quality and opened new offices in New York , Chicago , San Francisco , London and Paris . In addition, the thematic focus on reporting on open-air events such as trade fairs, carnivals and circuses was rescheduled. In addition, topics such as market regulation , lack of professionalism , economy and current shows were dealt with. There was a gossip section that covered the private lives of entertainers, a tent show section for travel shows, and a subsection called Freaks to order . According to the Seattle Times , Donaldson also published articles that "attack censorship and the rainbow press."

With the advancement of the railways, Billboard set up a mail forwarding system for traveling entertainers. The location of an entertainer could be followed in the magazine in the Routes Ahead section . In the name of the star, Billboard received a shipment, whereupon the recipient was informed in the so-called letter box . The service was first introduced in 1904 and developed into the magazine's largest source of income, while also being able to build a strong closeness to celebrities. By 1914, 42,000 people were using the service. During World War II, the Billboard mailing address was used as an official address by many stars. In the 1960s, when the system was discontinued, Billboard was still processing 1,500 letters a week.

In 1920 Donaldson took a controversial move by commissioning African American journalist James Albert Jackson to write a weekly column devoted to African American artists. In the book The Business of Culture: Strategic Perspectives on Entertainment and Media , the columns helped identify discrimination against black artists and helped validate their careers. Jackson was the first black critic in a national magazine with a predominantly white audience. According to his grandson, Donaldson has also drawn up a policy against identifying artists based on their race. Donaldson died in 1925.

Focusing the music industry

As technology advances, so too has billboard reporting. The “wonders of modern technology”, such as phonographs , record players and wireless radios , moved more and more into focus. In 1899, the magazine reported for the first time on coin-operated amusement machines and from March 1932 devoted a separate section called Amusement Machines to such topics . After news from the film industry also found space in the magazine for a short time in 1907, the growing competition from the industry journal Variety meant that it was no longer followed up and the focus shifted increasingly to music. In the 1920s, the company ran a radio station.

The growth of the jukebox industry during the Great Depression , the magazine took to the inlet to devote increased attention to this issue, whereby the editorial focus on compressed music. On January 4, 1936, Billboard published the first music hit parade and introduced a record buying guide in January 1939 . Separate chart sections for bestsellers and jukeboxes followed in the 1940s. At that time, the magazine developed rapidly into a specialist journal. Due to the growing diversity of musical interests and genres, the number of published chart lists rose to 28 after World War II .

New offices opened in Brighton , Ohio and New York City between 1946 and 1948 . After a new tabloid format was introduced in November 1950 , coated paper was used for the first time in January 1963 to promote photojournalism . A separate specialist magazine for confectionery and cigarette machine suppliers was also published every month in the 1950s . This was called Vend . At the same time, an advertising magazine was launched under the name Tide . By 1969, Billboard Publications Inc. had published eleven different trade and consumer magazines, had its own publishing house, a series of cassettes and four television franchises .

In January 1961, Billboard was renamed Billboard Music Week to highlight its new exclusive interest in music. Two years later it reappeared on Billboard . According to The New Business Journalism , by 1984 Billboard had become the leading media reporter in the music industry.

Change of ownership

Billboard struggled with bankruptcy a few years after the death of its founder William Donaldson in 1925 . Donaldson's son-in-law Roger Littleford took over the management of the company in 1928 and made sure that the magazine was back in the black. His sons Bill and Roger became co-editors in 1946 and inherited the brand after Littleford's death in the late 1970s. In 1985 they sold the company to private investors for an estimated $ 40 million. Investors cut costs and acquired Backstage , a trade magazine that focused on the Broadway theater industry.

In 1987, Billboard was sold to Affiliated Publications for $ 100 million. As a result, Billboard Publications Inc. acted as a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications under the name BPI Communications. They also acquired The Hollywood Reporter , Adweek , Marketing Week and Mediaweek magazines . They also took over the high-tech company Broadcast Data Systems for tracking the airtime of music. A short time later, two-thirds of BPI's shares were bought back by private investors from Boston Ventures and BPI executives for around 100 million US dollars. In 1993, a separate department called Billboard Music Group was established for music-related publications.

In 1994 Billboard Publications Inc. was sold to the Dutch media empire Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen for US $ 220 million . In 2000, BPI merged with other VNU subsidiaries to form Bill Communications Inc. By 2003, VNU expanded many times over, but was in debt due to the high number of acquisitions. An attempted acquisition of the company in 2005 from IMS Health worth $ 7 billion led to major protests. In 2006, a takeover bid of $ 11 billion was accepted by investors.

VNU changed its name to The Nielsen Company in 2007. The name goes back to a company that VNU acquired in 1999 for $ 2.5 billion. The new CEO Robert Krakoff sold some of the previously owned brands, restructured the organization and planned some acquisitions until he suddenly passed away in 2007. He was then replaced by Greg Farrar.

In 2009, Billboard was sold to e5 Global Media Holding as one of eight brands . E5 was founded as a B2B media group by the investment firms Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners. The following year, the new parent company was renamed Prometheus Global Media . Three years later, Guggenheim Partners acquired Pluribus' stake in Prometheus and became the sole owner of Billboard.

In December 2015, Guggenheim Digital Media spun off several brands, including Billboard. These were taken over by the new managing director Todd Boehly. The assets run as the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group and are a unit of the Eldridge Industries holding company.

Since the 1990s

Timothy White was the magazine's editor in chief from 1991 until his unexpected death in 2002. White wrote a weekly column praising music with "artistic merit" while criticizing music that included violence and misogyny. He also revised the chart evaluation. Instead of relying on data from music dealers, we now collect our own evaluations. The Nielsen SoundScan system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett was used, in which the data is collected directly at the checkout. White also focused on writing musician profiles. In the decades that followed, the magazine suffered from the economic decline of the music industry. This was accompanied by a loss of over 20,000 readers. The magazine's staff and ownership also rotated regularly.

In 2004, author Keith Girard and an employee filed a lawsuit worth $ 29 million as a result of his resignation. Billboard was accused of damaging its reputation with the termination. There was also talk of sexual harassment , a hostile work environment and a financially motivated lack of editorial integrity. E-mail evidence indicated that Human Resources received special instructions about monitoring minority employees. In 2006 an out-of-court settlement was reached.

In 2004, Tamara Conniff became the first female and youngest female editor-in-chief in the history of the Billboard, creating the first major redesign since the 1960s. Under her leadership, billboard sales increased 10%, ad pages increased 22%, and team meetings increased 76%. In 2005, Billboard expanded into other areas of the digital entertainment industry. After successfully running the Billboard radio station, former ABC News and CNN journalist Scott McKenzie was named editor-in-chief of all Billboard departments in 2006. Conniff organized the Billboard Women in Music event in 2007.

In 2008 Bill Werde was appointed editor-in-chief, followed by Janice Min in January 2014, who was also responsible for the editorial content of The Hollywood Reporter. The magazine developed in the course of the 2010s from an industry paper to an entertainment magazine, the content of which increasingly encompassed lifestyle , fashion and gossip . Min hired Tony Gervino as editor of the magazine, which was unusual in that he had no background in the music industry. Gervino was appointed editor-in-chief in April 2014. In May 2016 he was replaced by Senior Vice President, Digital Content, Mike Bruno. On June 15, 2016, the subsidiary Billboard Philippines was founded together with Algo-Rhythm Communications. On September 12, 2016, Billboard expanded with the support of Vision Music Ltd. to China.

Billboard charts

Album charts (selection)

Single charts (selection)

Web links

Commons : Billboard (magazine)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Billboard Media Kit 2017. (PDF; 24.8 MB) Brand Overview. In: Billboard. Eldridge Industries, p. 2 , accessed April 21, 2018 .
  2. N. Anand: Charting the Music Business: Magazine and the Development of the Commercial Music Field (p. 140) in The Business of Culture: Strategic Perspectives on Entertainment and Media on " Google Books "
  3. a b c d e f g h J. Broven :. p. 187: Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers (p. 187) in University of Illinois Press on " Internet Archive "
  4. a b Donald G. Godfrey; Frederic A. Leigh: Historical Dictionary of American Radio (p. 45)
  5. ^ A b Don Gussow: The New Business of Journalism: An Insider's Look at the Workings of America's Business Press (pp. 32–33) on "Internet Archive"
  6. a b c d e f g h i j k Ed Dinger: Nielsen Business Media, Inc. International Directory of Company Histories. (P. 98)
  7. ^ A b c d Writers' Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Ohio: Cincinnati, a Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors on "Google Books"
  8. a b c d e Frank Hoffmann: Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound (p. 212) on "Google Books"
  9. a b c d e f Cliff Radel: Entertainment & the Arts: Billboard Celebrates 100 Years Of Hits on " The Seattle Times "
  10. K. Bloom: Broadway: An Encyclopedia (p. 83) on "Google Books"
  11. Sale Jonathan: Sixty years of hits, from Sinatra to… Sinatra on " The Independent "
  12. a b K. T. Jackson; L. Keller; N. Flood: The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition p. 638 on "Google Books"
  13. Dutch Buyer Acquires BPI on " The New York Times "
  14. Dutch Firm To Purchase Billboard, Film Magazine on " Chicago Tribune "
  15. Kyle Pope: VNU to Buy Nielsen Media In Deal Valued at $ 2.5 Billion on " The Wall Street Journal "
  16. Meredith Deliso: VNU Changes Name to the Nielsen Co " Ad Age "
  17. Nat Ives Adweek Group Among Titles Sold to e5 Global Media Holdings on "Ad Age"
  18. Ben Fritz: Hollywood Reporter, Billboard sold on " Los Angeles Times "
  19. What's in a Name? on "Folio"
  20. Emily Steel: Former Yahoo chief moves to Guggenheim on " Financial Times "
  21. Yahoo Exec Tapped To Head Prometheus Global Media on "Folio"
  22. Guggenheim Prepares To Sell Hollywood Reporter, Dick Clark Productions To Exec on "Deadline"
  23. Guggenheim Media Spins Off Money-Losing Hollywood Reporter, Billboard to Company President Todd Boehly (Exclusive) on " The Wrap "
  24. Dodgers' Boehly Leads $ 100 Million DraftKings Investment on " Bloomberg "
  25. Timothy White, 50; Editor Revolutionized Billboard Magazine on "Los Angeles Times"
  26. Jon Pareles: Timothy White, 50, Billboard Editor in Chief on "The New York Times"
  27. a b c Mark Jurkowitz: Lawsuit is latest in list of tough hits for Billboard on "Boston Globe29"
  28. a b Ben Sisario: Leadership Change May Signal New Start for Billboard Magazine on "The New York Times"
  29. a b Anastasia Tsioulcas: Why Is 'Billboard' Asking Industry Execs If They Believe Kesha? on " NPR "
  30. a b Emanuella Grinberg: New motion details racial profiling claims against Billboard magazine on " CNN "
  31. Matthew Flamm: Tamara Conniff, 33 on "Crain's New York Business"
  32. a b Randy Lewis: Billboard Shakeup puts Hollywood Reporter's Janice Min in Charge on "Los Angeles Times"
  33. a b Ben Sisario Billboard Names Tony Gervino as Editor on "The New York Times"
  34. Alexandra Teigrad: Billboard Names Tony Gervino Editor in Chief on " Women's Wear Daily "
  35. Billboard EIC Tony Gervino Exits on a High Note on "Adweek"
  36. Billboard Partners with AlgoRhythm to Launch Billboard Philippines on "Billboard"
  37. Lyndsey Havens: Billboard Launches in China on "Billboard"