Bauer Media has today (April 12) announced the launch of their new magazine title Planet Rock, an extension of the UK’s successful commercial radio and live events brand. The first issue of Planet Rock will hit newsstands on Friday, 12 May.
The project has been a collaboration between Bauer radio’s music and content director Ric Blaxill and Bauer Media’s music publishing team led by Phil Alexander, both of whom have worked closely with launch editor Mark Blake – a contributing editor to Q and MOJO, and the author of best-selling biographies of Pink Floyd, The Who and Queen.
As a magazine, Planet Rock will combine the editorial depth, bespoke design – art edited by Russell Moorcroft, a member of the award-winning MOJO team - and collectibility of Bauer’s market-leading music title, MOJO, with the humour, insight and passion of the Planet Rock brand. The title will be aimed at 30-50 year old music-lovers, and will add context to Planet Rock’s on-air programming and bring some of its key franchises to life. A key focus is to ensure that the brand supports artists on-air, on-line, via events and in print, which will also create a unique opportunity for those acts and their labels to reach Planet Rock’s unique audience which stretches to over a million ardent rock fans.
Commenting on the launch, Ric Blaxill, music and content director of Bauer Radio, said: “As Planet Rock continues growing audience on-air, on-line, on mobile and on social, to be able to now launch a high quality Planet Rock magazine is a truly exciting development for the station. It gives the brand a new and strong platform for listeners to enjoy our content, get more insight into the station, the artists we play and our presenters. And as well as supporting rock music even more, it gives us a great chance to push our station mantra of 'converting the unconverted' even further!”
Phil Alexander editor in chief of MOJO, Q, Kerrang! and Planet Rock, added: “The idea for Planet Rock Magazine came last year when Ric and I were talking about the incredible community of fans that listen to Planet Rock. We got excited about creating a magazine that reflected how they use and discover music, and which also reflected their conversations. That's how we ended up shaping Planet Rock magazine: by listening to that community and creating a magazine for rock fans like us, featuring the artists that we all love. We hope they’ll enjoy what we’ve come up with.”
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