The decline of Q magazine

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Tarpt40, Jan 16, 2018.

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  1. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Picture Disc

    Location:
    England
    Maybe an online historical face-off between Q and Rolling Stone..

    ..who wrote the most nonsense about beloved or popular albums and artists?

    Or who had the least musical foresight....!
     
    Bobby Morrow likes this.
  2. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    The best albums reviewer imo was the late Ian McDonald / Uncut!!!!
     
  3. johnnybrum

    johnnybrum Forum Resident

    I bet the guy who gave Be Here Now 5 stars wouldn't allow his review to go online.... It wasn't you, was it? :p
     
  4. Colin H

    Colin H Forum Resident

    You might be right about a certain period - I dimly recall a new contract being talked about, people at the management basically exploring the possibilities of making print content available online - an extra fiver per review for the writer or something like that. I can't recall what happened...

    I do, though, recall that early in the 2000s there was a major stand-off between around 200 freelance writers and titles owned by EMAP (or maybe they'd been bought by Bauer by then - I forget). Anyway, the publisher wanted all freelancers to sign up to a new contract that basically sold their souls - allowing multiple use/syndication/total ownership (I forget exactly - but it was Draconian) of content supplied by freelahncers while utterly indemnifying the publisher from any legal liability (against libel claims etc), even if the publisher/editors had tinkered with the contributor's text.

    Lots of well-known names stopped contributing to Mojo at that point. There was an organised freelancer group via email/similar and meetings with management for a year or two. At one point, the freelance group made moves to create a new digital magazine of its own (the name Howl was chosen) but I don't know if it got anywhere. I drifted away to other things so I don't know how the story ended - but I was only ever a small fish in that pantheon of writers. Some swore never to write for the publishing group again. I too was disinclined to. 10+ years after, on the 2 or 3 times I've been sought out and asked to do a small feature, I've mostly agreed to do so - as long as it's a simple thing, no likelihood of endless drawn-out nonsense, and a standard fee a month later.

    To be honest, the game was up, really, for professional print music journalism in Britain by the mid 2000s.
     
  5. Colin H

    Colin H Forum Resident

    Certainly not! I was never in the category that were 'allowed' to give 5 star reviews. I once asked if I could give a certain album 5 stars and was told 'no'. It's a corporate judgement - as should be abundantly clear from all the 5 stars that go to major artists who make themselves available for exclusive interviews/cover features. What magazine would give a buffed up Paul McCartney reissue 3 stars and have him on the cover? It would be the lasty cover feature he would do for them.
     
  6. Colin H

    Colin H Forum Resident

    I dedicated one of my books to Ian. He was great. Never met him.
     
    Man at C&A and alexpop like this.
  7. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    What book would that be?
     
  8. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Sad state of affairs.
     
    Man at C&A likes this.
  9. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I knew there was a reason Press To Play received 4 stars in the debut issue of Q.:)

    It was the only good review I ever saw of the album.
     
    Eric_Generic likes this.
  10. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Truth. And a refreshingly insightful post.
     
    ToneLa likes this.
  11. Colin H

    Colin H Forum Resident

    Bathed In Lightning: John McLaughlin, the 60s and the Emerald Beyond (Jawbone, 2014)
     
    psubliminal and alexpop like this.
  12. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Dazzling Stranger, indeed.
    I like your folk related books as well.
     
  13. Colin H

    Colin H Forum Resident

    Thank you Alex. 'Dazzling Stranger' was dedicated to the now late Karl Dallas, a very conscientious writer during the 1960s and early 70s, who chronicled a great deal that might otherwise have slipped away. 'The Wheels of the World: 300 Years of Irish Uilleann Pipers' was dedicated to Valerie Wilmer, another great writer (on jazz and blues) from the 1960s onwards. 'Echoes From Then: Glimpses of John McLaughlin 1959-75' (a recent companion volume to 'BiL') is dedicated to the great Richard Williams, and reproduces five of his McLaughlin-related Melody Maker pieces from 1969-72, with his permission. All of these are doffs of the cap to the greats of yore. Not sure anyone's noticed the pattern yet!
     
    Imagine70 and alexpop like this.
  14. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    NME gave Stone roses debut 5 or 6 out of 10. What do they know?!
     
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  15. johnnybrum

    johnnybrum Forum Resident

    Q also gave the initial release of Screamadelica a tiny 2-star review... Which is strange really as it didn't come out of nowhere; it was quite long-awaited with 4 big singles ahead of it...The reviewer had ample warning!
     
    It's Felix likes this.
  16. johnnybrum

    johnnybrum Forum Resident

    I just remembered that Q also used to a have a running joke about Tears For Fears third album which took an astonishing 4 and a half years since the previous one; an extraordinarily long gestation time in those days...Of course, nobody bats an eyelid at gaps like that nowadays.

    And it got ***** when it was eventually released!!
     
    Eric_Generic likes this.
  17. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing. That's why reading @Bobby Morrow review scans from the 70's and 80's are so great to read...
     
  18. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    Wow, I think I was well past even scanning Q in WHSmiths by then, but that sums it up. Q was basically the Brit Awards of music. Or the Britannia Music club
     
  19. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Thanks for your insights; confirming what I long assumed to be the case. Still buy Mojo and Uncut but mostly skip through the cover features that endlessly regurgitate well known facts. I was happy when Mojo had Lou Reed on the cover; one artist about much is still relatively little known by the general public. Of course the article focused on Transformer (though they did do a feature on Street Hassle at some point). :sigh:
     
    It's Felix likes this.
  20. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    Yes I remember that too
     
  21. Dave Gilmour's Cat

    Dave Gilmour's Cat Forum Resident

    Spooky coincidence. I was just listening to The Time Has Come by Anne Briggs. Sleevenotes by... Colin Harper!
     
    carlwm and It's Felix like this.
  22. Graham

    Graham Senior Member

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
    New Mojo arrived in the post today - Nick Drake’s on the cover, which makes a nice change.
     
  23. ToneLa

    ToneLa Forum Resident

    Here's the hilariously bitter Melody Maker review of Kid A - 1.5 stars out of 5!

     
  24. aussievinyl

    aussievinyl Appreciator Of Creative Expression

    I bought Q regularly during the late 80’s then stopped once Mojo arrived.
    However, I have quite a few copies of the American magazine Musician, which I miss. It’s funny how you tend to get sick of reading about classic rock artists after a while. I think sometimes these fawning articles meant to tie in with a reissue should have had the word ‘advertisement’ written in the middle at the top of the page.
    Also, Mojo obviously wants to stay on the good side of McCartney and Gilmour, which destroys any objectivity. It must also be flattering to use photos of them from 40 to 50 years ago, to massage their egos.
     
    DTK likes this.
  25. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    I had a five year MoJO subscription from 1995 till 2000.

    Q. The eighties version came with thicker paper,a bit of thought put into them.
     
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