- Modern Drummer
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Modern Drummer Magazine Categories Music Frequency Monthly Publisher Isabel Spagnardi Founder Ron Spagnardi First issue January 1977 Company Modern Drummer Publications Country United States Language English Website moderndrummer.com Modern Drummer is a monthly publication targeting the interests of on drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public. Modern Drummer is also available on the internet.
First published in 1977, today the print version of Modern Drummer is available in 67 countries. The monthly digital edition, enhanced with music and videos corresponding to the current issue’s contents, is available on the internet. An electronic newsletter featuring unique editorial, MD Wire, is also published monthly. A corresponding website moderndrummer.com is used to supplement the magazine with blogs and other items which cannot be provided in the paper format (e.g., audio-video presentations).
In 1993 Modern Drummer Publications introduced a bimonthly drum dealer-oriented magazine called Drum Business, and for more than 20 years its book division has released works by drum educators. In 2006 the company published its first hardcover book on the history of drumming, entitled The Drummer: 100 Years Of Rhythmic Power And Invention. Since 1987 it has also produced the Modern Drummer Festival.
Contents
History
Modern Drummer magazine was conceived in the basement of Ron and Isabel Spagnardi’s home in Nutley, New Jersey, funded only with the family’s personal savings. The magazine’s initial staff consisted of Leo Spagnardi (Ron’s father, who taught him the to play the drums), and Ron and Isabel’s daughter, Lori. Although they had no real publication experience or financial backing, the Spagnardis placed ads in local newspapers, in Downbeat, and in Drum World. "What we didn’t consider when we put the ads in the papers," recalled Isabel in The Drummer, was that we were innocently breaking the law by advertising a product that didn’t even exist yet!"
The ads worked, however, and subscriptions began coming in as the first issue was still being laid out on the Spagnardis’ ping-pong table. Ron contributed most of the magazine’s content, writing the majority of the articles on an old typewriter under various pen names.
Within two years, the Spagnardis’ basement could no longer provide the necessary space and so moved to its first proper office in Clifton, New Jersey. By 1984, the magazine once again outgrew its headquarters and moved to a larger facility in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Ten years later, it moved to an even larger facility in the same town. Modern Drummer’s offices remain at 12 Old Bridge Road in Cedar Grove today.
Ron Spagnardi passed away on Sept. 22, 2003. In an interview, Ron explained “I think the timing was right, and it filled a need. “There were drummers who wanted something of their own, and no one was doing it. There were a couple of publications at the time, but they were created in-house by drum companies specifically to advertise their own products and endorsers. We needed something that was going to talk about products across the board, something that would talk to all drummers.”
Drum Business And Book Publishing
In 1993 Modern Drummer Publications introduced Drum Business, a magazine dedicated to the needs of drum retailers. The bi-monthly publication features interviews with drum sellers, press releases for new products, drum-industry news, articles and news such as on the annual National Association of Merchant Musicians (NAMM) convention.
Among the books Modern Drummer Publications has released are titles by well-known drummers such as Gary Chester, Carl Palmer and Bill Bruford.
Ron Spagnardi authored more than a dozen books.
Readers Poll
Each year Modern Drummer magazine publishes the results of its Readers Poll, which highlights top drummers spanning all genres of music and inducts one drummer into the Modern Drummer Hall Of Fame. Awards are also given for top educational materials and recorded performances.
Current Staff
- Isabel Spagnardi - Publisher/CEO
- Lori Spagnardi - Senior Vice President
- Kevin W. Kearns - Vice President
- Tracy Kearns - Associate Publisher
- Adam J. Budofsky - Editorial Director
- Michael Dawson - Managing Editor
- Billy Amendola - Associate Editor
- Michael Parillo - Associate Editor
- Suzanne Hurring - Editorial Assistant
- Scott G. Bienstock - Senior Art Director
- Gerald Vitale - Art Director
- Bob Berenson - Advertising Director
- LaShanda Gibson - Advertising Assistant
- EJ DeCoske - Digital Media Designer
References
External links
Categories:- American music magazines
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