Music Week

Music Week is a specialist trade-media brand focused on the United Kingdom record industry and the commercial infrastructure surrounding recorded music. Its coverage is aimed primarily at record labels, music publishers, distributors, retailers, streaming businesses, broadcasters, promoters, managers, artists' representatives and other professional participants rather than at a general consumer audience. The brand combines industry news, analysis, interviews, release information, market data and chart reporting through its website and a magazine that became monthly in 2021. The publication began in 1959 under the name Record Retailer. It relaunched as Music Week on 18 March 1972, adopting a title that more directly represented the expanding business around recorded music. In 1981, as sell-through video became increasingly significant to the market, it was renamed Music & Video Week. The parent title returned to Music Week later in 1983 after the launch of the separate Video Week. That same year, the publication absorbed Record Business, a competing trade title founded in 1978 by Brian Mulligan and Norman Garrod. Music Week's historical scope expanded through the incorporation of related publications and supplements. Record Mirror became part of the title in 1991, first as a chart supplement and later as a dance-focused section containing features, reviews and charts. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the wider Music Week family also included or carried associated services such as Music Business International, Promo, MIRO Future Hits, Tours Report, Fono, Green Sheet, ChartsPlus and Hit Music. Most of the newsletters were discontinued by 2001, although Promo continued at that point. The brand has treated charts and market intelligence as central products. Its output has included UK singles and albums charts, vinyl and genre charts, streaming information, airplay data, compilation rankings and specialist dance charts based on feedback from DJs and independent record shops. The website also publishes chart-analysis articles and professional news coverage. The exact chart package has changed over time as the publication moved from a weekly magazine to a monthly format and as digital consumption, streaming and other data sources became more important. Music Week relaunched its website in 2003 with daily news, features, release listings and sales, airplay and club-chart material. A separate, free Music Week Directory website followed in 2006, providing a large contact database for the UK music business. The print product received significant redesigns in 2007 and 2008. Ownership changed in 2011 when the title was sold to Intent Media; NewBay Media acquired Intent Media in 2012, and Future acquired NewBay Media in 2018. From the March 2021 issue, Future published Music Week as a monthly magazine, while the website continued to support more frequent digital news and chart-analysis publishing. Today, Music Week's positioning rests on professional authority, industry connectivity and data-led interpretation. It is both a publication and a business-information platform: the print edition offers curated monthly coverage, while the website provides more timely reporting and online subscriber material. Its historical archive reflects major changes in the music business, including the growth of video, the consolidation of specialist trade publishing, the rise of digital distribution and the increasing importance of streaming and chart data.

Music Week traces its origins to Record Retailer, established in 1959 as a trade publication for the UK recorded-music market. The title relaunched as Music Week on 18 March 1972. In January 1981, it became Music & Video Week to reflect the growing commercial importance of sell-through video. A separate Video Week spin-off was launched later in 1983, after which the parent title returned to Music Week. The publication also absorbed Record Business in February 1983, consolidating two important UK music-trade voices. The title broadened its editorial and chart franchise during the 1990s. From April 1991, it incorporated Record Mirror, initially as a short chart supplement and later as a dance-oriented section with reviews, features and specialist charts. The Music Week publishing family also included Music Business International, Promo, MIRO Future Hits, Tours Report, Fono, Green Sheet, ChartsPlus and Hit Music at different times. By May 2001, most of the associated newsletters had closed, with Promo remaining in circulation at that point. Digital publishing became increasingly important in the 2000s. Music Week relaunched its website in 2003 with daily news, features, release listings and sales, airplay and club-chart content. In early 2006, a separate free Music Week Directory website was introduced to provide a substantial database of UK music-industry contacts. The magazine was redesigned in 2007 by This Is Real Art and underwent another major redesign in October 2008. These changes reflected the growing role of online information, live market indicators and new forms of consumer and industry data. During its weekly era, Music Week carried extensive chart material, including singles, artist albums, downloads, ringtones, compilations, radio airplay, television airplay, music DVD and genre rankings. It also published club charts compiled from DJ returns, including Upfront Club, Commercial Pop and Urban charts, along with the Cool Cuts chart derived from DJ feedback and independent-record-shop reporting. The magazine later added live, box-office and predictive chart features drawing on data from services and retailers such as Tixdaq, Rakuten, Amazon, Shazam, Last.fm and HMV, as described in the publication's historical account. Ownership changed in June 2011, when Music Week was sold to Intent Media. The transaction included other specialist media assets and related digital, event and newsletter activities. Intent Media became the publisher from August 2011. NewBay Media acquired Intent Media in 2012, and Future acquired NewBay Media in 2018. Under Future, Music Week became a monthly print publication from the March 2021 issue, in line with other Future music titles such as Metal Hammer and Classic Rock. Its website retained a more frequent publishing role, including ongoing news and online chart analysis. The brand's editorial identity has therefore evolved from a conventional weekly trade paper into a hybrid professional-media service. Its enduring functions are to report on the UK music business, interpret market and chart developments, provide industry-facing data and maintain a record of commercial activity across recorded music, radio, retail, streaming and related sectors.

• 2021

  Print edition becomes monthly

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  From the March issue, the magazine moved from weekly to monthly publication.

• 2018

  Future acquires NewBay Media

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  Future became the publisher after acquiring NewBay Media.

• 2012

  NewBay Media acquires Intent Media

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  Music Week moved into NewBay Media's portfolio through its acquisition of Intent Media.

• 2011

  Sold to Intent Media

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  Intent Media acquired the publication and became its publisher from August.

• 2006

  Music Week Directory introduced online

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  A separate free website was created to provide a directory of UK music-industry contacts.

• 2003

  Website relaunched

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  The website was relaunched with daily news, features, release listings and UK music-market charts.

• 1991

  Record Mirror incorporated

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  Record Mirror joined the publication as a chart supplement and later as a dance-focused editorial section.

• 1983

  Record Business absorbed and Music Week name restored

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  Record Business was absorbed, while the parent publication reverted to Music Week after Video Week became a separate offshoot.

• 1981

  Renamed Music & Video Week

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  The title changed to Music & Video Week as sell-through video grew in importance.

• 1972

  Relaunched as Music Week

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  The title adopted the Music Week name on 18 March 1972.

• 1959

  Founded as Record Retailer

  [1]Music Weeken.wikipedia.org

  The publication began as Record Retailer, a trade title serving the UK record industry.

A professional UK music-business information brand combining trade journalism, charts, market intelligence, industry directories and digital reporting.

• Trade magazine · 1972

  Music Week magazine

  The core print product provides professional coverage of the UK and international music business, including news, interviews, features, market developments, release information and charts. It was historically issued weekly, but became a monthly magazine from March 2021. A digital PDF edition has also been associated with the publication.

• Digital trade media · 2003

  Music Week website

  The website publishes music-business news, features, release listings, chart reporting and online analysis. It extends the publication beyond the monthly print cycle and has hosted subscriber-access material, including professional chart-analysis content.

• Market data and charts

  Music Week charts

  Music Week presents UK singles, albums, vinyl, streaming, compilation, airplay and specialist genre charts. Its historical chart portfolio has included Americana, classical, hip-hop and R&B, jazz, country, dance, folk, rock and metal, as well as club charts based on DJ and independent-retail feedback.

• Industry directory · 2006

  Music Week Directory

  The directory was introduced as a free-access online service listing contacts across the UK music industry. It complemented the magazine's editorial role with a practical professional reference function.

• 2021

  Move from weekly to monthly print publishingStrategy

  Background

  Future aligned Music Week's print schedule with the monthly rhythm of related music publications while maintaining digital activity.

  Action taken

  The magazine became monthly beginning with the March 2021 edition.

  Aftermath

  The website continued to publish news and chart-analysis material more frequently than the print edition.

  Source

• 2011

  Sale to Intent MediaM&A

  Background

  The publication was transferred as part of a wider specialist-media portfolio transaction.

  Action taken

  Intent Media acquired Music Week, becoming publisher from 1 August 2011.

  Aftermath

  The title later moved to NewBay Media and then Future through successive corporate acquisitions.

  Source

• 2003

  Digital publishing expansionStrategy

  Background

  Professional readers increasingly needed timely news, release information and market data outside the print cycle.

  Action taken

  Music Week relaunched its website with daily news, features, listings and chart-related information.

  Aftermath

  The brand developed into a hybrid print and digital information service.

  Source

• 1981

  Expansion into music and video trade coverageStrategy

  Background

  Sell-through video was becoming more commercially important to the entertainment market.

  Action taken

  The title was changed from Music Week to Music & Video Week.

  Aftermath

  A separate Video Week offshoot was later launched, and the parent title subsequently returned to Music Week.

  Source

• 1972

  Repositioning under the Music Week nameStrategy

  Background

  The original Record Retailer title was relaunched as Music Week to represent a broader music-business remit.

  Action taken

  The publication changed its name and relaunched on 18 March 1972.

  Aftermath

  Music Week became the enduring identity of the trade publication, notwithstanding the temporary Music & Video Week period in the 1980s.

  Source

1. 1Music Weeken.wikipedia.org