Musician (magazine)

Musician was a monthly magazine that covered news and information about American popular music. First called Music America, it was founded in 1976 by Sam Holdsworth and Gordon Baird. The two friends borrowed $20,000 from relatives and started the publication in a barn in Colorado.^[1]

Subtitled "The Art, Business and Technology of Making Music", it became known for its extended and thorough articles about the stars of rock music. It was not intended as a fan magazine, but as a publication about the musician's craft, and as a result, it earned it the respect of people in the music business.^[2] As Holdsworth told an interviewer in 2003, the magazine "created a level of trust that made the musicians feel they were talking with peers".^[2] In the same article, he said that Musician was also known for unearthing details that the average magazine did not—such as why a musician chose a particular brand of instrument, or what was the inspiration for a certain song.^[2]

Musician never gained a wide following, although it had a devoted readership. It was respected by critics for the quality of its writers; among the best-known writers for Musician were rock critic Lester Bangs and soon-to-be film director Cameron Crowe.^[3] It was later renamed Musician, Player & Listener and was headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts.^[4][5]

Holdsworth and Baird sold it in January 1981 to the company that owned Billboard magazine.^[4][5] Holdsworth and another company executive bought it back in 1985, and ran it until selling it again in 1987.^[2] The magazine folded in 1999.

• Library of Congress: Musician. Gloucester, MA: Amordian Press, 1982–1999. ISSN 0733-5253.