„Magazyn Muzyczny” 1980–1991. Ewolucja, struktura, ogólna tematyka, bibliografie zawartości

“Music Magazine” 1980–1991. Evolution, structure, general topics, content bibliographies This book is the first part of a research and scientific reflection on “Magazyn Muzyczny”, i.e. one of the two most well-known, popular and appreciated by readers magazines promoting popular, youth music, especially rock and its varieties in the times of the People’s Republic of Poland (the other was “Non Stop”). At the same time, this is only the monograph of a music periodical in Polish press studies – the first one (the second volume) concerned “Tylko Rock” (Only Rock) published in 1991–2002, i.e. already in the times of political transformation and the Third Republic of Poland. This sequence (selection of magazines) was not accidental, as there are many similarities between the two, and even the monthly founded by Wiesław Królikowski and Wiesław Weiss is colloquially referred to as the successor to “Magazyn Muzyczny”, on whose editorial board they both sat, with Królikowski being the author of the greatest number of articles in its entire history. While mentioning press connections, it should be noted that the “Magazyn Muzyczny” also had a (formal and real) predecessor, i.e. “Jazz”, established in 1956, which was the first magazine in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe to promote popular music (initially, according to its name, syncopated, and later rock music). As stated in the first sentence, this study is not yet a complete, comprehensive account of the history of the eponymous periodical, as the aspect of analysing strictly musical content remains in development, being the canvass of a second book, which should also appear in print in the near future. Returning to the essence of this dissertation, it should be emphasised that it took on a complex, two-faceted form, i.e. its first part was filled with a classical (descriptive) media studies reconstruction of the magazine’s history (of course without the content, for which volume II was intended ex hypotesi), while the second part was a source bibliography of the magazine’s content, as an autonomous structural element, necessary for a holistic analysis of the magazine, but also coherent with the entire research. It was formed by 5 annexes, which gathered statistical data on the most important aspects of the monthly magazine: 1) Sections, columns, regular places; 2) visual communication (and advertising); 3) genology; 4) authors of texts; 5) artists. In turn, the main part was divided into three Chapters, within which there were additionally Sub-Chapters (also 3 in each), in order to make the whole argument transparent, clear and internally coherent, but this was also an effect of the specificity of the subject matter in question. According to the author’s findings, the periodical underwent changes, modifications, transformations, which took place in 3 consecutive phases. The first chapter was of a theoretical and historical nature, but at least to some extent it was also intended to serve as an introduction to the rest of the dissertation, which was already a concrete analysis of the periodical. The clue of the first subchapter was the reconstruction of the general situation in which the monthly, and more broadly the press, existed in the People’s Republic of Poland, the transformation and the beginnings of the Third Republic, including the aspect of the political system, the legal environment, the media market, relations between the authorities and society, etc. Not only, but especially during the communist regime, were these factors affecting the magazine, but also the period of transition from socialism to capitalism was unfavourable for “Magazyn Muzyczny”, as the result of reforms and the introduction of capitalism was, in its case, liquidation after 12 years of existence (and 35 with “Jazz”). In the second subsection, attention was focused directly on the music press segment (jazz, rock, pop, etc.), that is, the area of Journalism and Music Media, a young but developing sub-discipline. Finally, the third was, on the one hand, a summary of the historical considerations of Chapter I and, on the other hand, a link to the press studies of the monthly magazine. The structural structuring of Chapter II into 3 Subchapters followed the stages distinguished in its history: 1) No longer “Jazz” – not yet “Music Magazine” (1980–1982); 2) In search of an optimal formula (1983–1987); 3) The end of the People’s Republic of Poland, transformation and closure of the magazine (1988–1991). In each of them, the magazine was examined in several aspects, especially structural changes, the editorial team and contributors, the genology, style and language of the journalists, and outlining the background of the subject matter that prevailed in the given period, with the analysis focusing on a part of the material (i.e. columnists, introductory articles, polemics, etc., excluding texts typical of music journalism, e.g. articles, reviews, concert reports, etc.). In the journalistic and so-called In the journalistic and so-called music journalism, a lot of space was occupied by the issues of music education among children and young people, the condition (not very good) of Polish phonography and music life (jazz, rock), salaries and status of musicians, but also one’s own views on the state of popular music in Poland (clearly critical), or one’s attitude (individual) to the state policy in relation to culture and art (there was no shortage of politicised, or “going against” propaganda, party and communist indoctrination, at least in the second and third phases. There were also issues of so-called listomania, i.e. various summaries, compilations, etc., as well as technical innovations in the field of audio-video, and it was also possible for fans (readers) to have their say, e.g. in matters of the magazine, music, by posting and commenting on their letters. The last chapter served the function of integrating Volume I of the book with Volume II, as it was filled with a structured analysis of the magazine, including a discussion of all the structural components of the magazine, i.e. sections, columns, fixed locations (Subchapter I); visual communication (graphic design, photographs, posters, photo essays, etc. – Subchapter II); and a quantitative, but also qualitative determination of the periodical’s belonging to a particular segment. This chapter showed unequivocally – which was not yet necessarily the case – that ‘Magazyn Muzyczny’, should be included in the category of rock magazines, as the data collected and scientifically analysed proved. In the context of photography: the following rock bands/ artists were most frequently printed on the covers: The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Metallica (3x each); Cocteau Twins, Dire Straits, The Police, Prince, D. Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, TSA, M. Davis (2× each); on the ‘spreads’: classic rock: (51.92%), hard rock/heavy metal (9.61%), pop and pop-rock (7.7%), jazz, reggae and other rock trends (30.76%); on the pictures: The Beatles (76), The Rolling Stones (57), TSA (47); Metallica (43); Brygada Kryzys (42); Jam (41); Lady Pank, David Bowie (39 each); Deep Purple (34); Iron Maiden, Voo Voo (31 each), and by genre: rock (27.31%), hard rock/heavy metal metal (13.45%), jazz/jazz rock (10.12%), pop-rock (6.9%), (6.1%), alternative rock/indie/Manchester/4AD (5.3%) and other pon. 5%. This de facto hegemony of rock and genres derived from it was also observed from the perspective of the most frequently described performers: of the 3216 artists/groups, practically two thirds were representatives of rock or related genres (64.17%), just over 10% jazz musicians (12.34%, but including jazz-rockers), 7.55% pop musicians and only 3.45% classical music artists.