The Skinny (magazine)

Infobox Magazine
title= The Skinny


image_size =
image_caption = May 2008 cover of The Skinny
category= Music, Arts, Culture, Listings
frequency= Monthly
publisher = Radge Media
firstdate= May, 2005
country= Scotland
circulation=28,592 (ABC, 31 Dec 2008)
website = [http://www.theskinny.co.uk www.theskinny.co.uk]

"The Skinny" is a free, 72 page, monthly publication distributed in approximately 600 establishments throughout the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and the region of Fife in Scotland. Founded in 2005, the magazine features interviews and articles on music, art, film, comedy and other aspects of Scottish culture.

History

"The Skinny" was founded and launched in 2005 as a free Edinburgh and Glasgow listings magazine. From the outset, the magazine secured interviews with high-profile music acts, including Mogwai, Pearl Jam, GZA and Muse.

In August 2006, "The Skinny" formed a partnership with established Edinburgh Festival magazine Fest in 2006. The first year of this partnership saw the publication renamed "SkinnyFest", before it reverted back to the title "Fest" in 2007.

In May 2007, "The Skinny" started to distribute in Dundee in a move that was presented as the first step in a plan to distribute Scotland-wide.

"The Skinny" was originally set up as a social enterprise and sustained this way of working until July 2007, when it became a private company limited by shares in order to take on new investment.

In September 2007, "The Skinny" printed a Student Guide. The guide was distributed through a number of Scottish universities and art colleges.

In December 2007, "The Skinny" ran a conference on the future of the music industry called ON:07, in the Reid Hall at the University of Edinburgh. The delegates included Peter Jenner, former manager of Pink Floyd and The Clash, and secretary-general of the International Music Managers Forum; Simon Frith, Tovey Professor of Music at Edinburgh University and the founder of the Mercury Prize for music; Evan Cohen, Director of Strategy and Communications for social-networking website Bebo; and Will Page, Executive Director of Research for the MCPS-PRS Alliance. As keynote speaker Peter Jenner called for a standard charge to be applied to Internet Service Provider connections to cover all music downloads – effectively a form of music tax.

In April 2008, "The Skinny" launched a new website, moving listings information online and providing guides to venues around Scotland.

Content

As a listings magazine, "The Skinny" largely runs content that relates to events taking place within its catchment area during the month covered by the issue. This consists for the most part of previews, reviews, and feature interviews.

In March 2007, the magazine secured the first UK interview with Arcade Fire after the release of hit album "Neon Bible". The following month, it secured the first UK magazine cover for the band Battles in anticipation of the release of their debut album "Mirrored".

In July 2007, the magazine ran an "opposites issue", which took an unusual slant on "The Skinny"'s usual content, and featured the first reversed-logo masthead on a UK magazine.

Associations

"The Skinny" has established itself as a media partner for a range of events, including Edinburgh International Art Festival and Glasgay, and has a long-running association with popular music radio station Xfm Scotland.

Awards

In 2006, Jasper Hamill won the Press Gazette / Reuters Student Interviewer of the Year, for his piece "Another View" – an interview with avant-garde musician John Cale.

Also in 2006, Miles Johnson was awarded the Allen Wright Award for Excellence in Journalism for his feature "Bowling with The Hamiltons", beating off competition from "The Scotsman", "The List" and "the Sunday Herald".

ee also

* List of magazines published in Scotland

External links

* [http://www.theskinny.co.uk Home site]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/aug/15/edinburgh.festivals "The Guardian" article retrieved from August, 2007]