Skope Magazine

Infobox Magazine
title = Skope Magazine

---

image_size = 200px
image_caption = 50 Cent on the Sept/Oct 2007 Issue
publisher = Michael Friedman
paid_circulation =
unpaid_circulation =
total_circulation = 100,000
circulation_year = 2007
language = English
category = Music
frequency = Bi-Monthly
owners = Michael Friedman
editor = TBA
firstdate = January 2001
country = flag|United States
language = English
website = [http://www.skopemagazine.com www.skopemagazine.com]
issn =

Skope Magazine is a music magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2000 and privately owned by Michael Friedman. It is published by Skope Entertainment Inc. The magazine was printed bi-monthly in glossy full color. The magazine began as a Co-Op project at Northeastern University in Boston, MA where Michael attended college as a Music Industry/Business major. For seven years Michael worked on the magazine while still attending college, waiting tables and bartending, graduating from Northeastern and entering the real world.

With a total investment of $400K, Skope Magazine went from a black & white, 20 page newsletter with FREE distribution to a 100+ full color internationally distributed magazine. The magazine went from being handed out at colleges in Boston to newstand sales at Newbury Comics, Hastings, Banrnes & Noble, just to name a few.

In May of 2008 it was announced that Skope would stop printing Skope Magazine. The costs of printing, distribution, and payroll was too much overhead for the small operation. The name of the game is circulation. With little resources it was tough to increase circulation and marketing while keeping costs below $50K/issue. Media buyers want to see big numbers but that takes much time and money to accomplish. If an opportunity arose where Friedman could ressurect Skope Magazine bets are that he will. He loved that magazine and put everything he could into it. Some might try to place blame but what Skope Magazine accomplished over seven years was remarkable to watch.

Skope Entertainment Inc will continue without the magazine and can now be seen at www.skopemag.com/about. Skope prides itself as a diverse music based media company. The subsidiaries consist of Skopemag.com, Skope Merch, Skope Records and Skope Live!.

Origin

Issue #1 (the Skope Eye issue) was published in 2001. It was printed in black and white, totaled 20 pages, and focused its content on Boston area musicians and emcees. An initial tag-line stated that Skope is "Boston's Premier Local Music Magazine," an idea based on the vision of featuring only local area musicians that were beneath the MTV radar. As the magazine grew, there was such interest from both indies and major labels that the staff was able to cover both levels across various genres. In the beginning it was never considered that the industry would embrace Skope in the manner that it did. Skope benefited from having major label artists next to indie bands.

Distribution

1,000 copies of each issues were distributed for free throughout Northeastern University and at live music venues and cafes throughout Boston. Publication began on a quarterly basis, and moved to a consistent bi-monthly release in 2004.

The April 2004 ("Polyphonic Spree") issue, was the first issue to print in CMYK, and also marked the switch to a "pay" publication. A distribution contract was signed with Newbury Comics and Tower Records in New England to sell the magazine for $1.

In 2006, page count increased to 60 pages and a national distribution contract was signed with Ingram Periodicals allowing the magazine to be placed into national chain bookstores, including Barnes and Noble.

In May 2007, Canada based CTC Magazines extended the distribution of Skope to newsstands internationally with a $3.99 cover price. David Abramowitz of Mag N Book, was hired as a distribution consultant. The May/June 08 issue had Panic At The Disco on the cover.

www.skopemagazine.com

www.skopemagazine.com, was launched April 1, 2001 to host additional time-sensitive articles, contests, news, artist biographies, event calendars, and sound clips. It was to be an online supplement to the magazine.

At first the site was managed by an outside conractor. But as the magazine grew the site could not keep up with the amount of content coming in. The site was updated maybe once a month.

In 2004 the server was switched over to NIMBIT.com. NIMBIT.com allowed Skope's CEO, Michael Friedman to update the site on a daily basis.

In 2007 Shaun Flagg did a total redesign and got the site to its best point yet. That site can be seen at www.skopemag.com.

In 2008 Skope signed up with Constant Contact to start a Skope E-Blast opearation. Offering readers giveaways, features, tickets, information and much more.

kope Live!

Skope Live! was established in November 2002 as a live music concert promoter. The first show was held at Harper’s Ferry in Allston, MA, and sold out with John Brown’s Body headlining the event. Other Boston venues to host Skope Live! events include Bill’s Bar, The Middle East, The Cutting Room, FELT, and The All Asia. In July 2008, AMP Energy signed on as a major sponsor. Each show is used as a platform to raise awreness and money for Autism Speaks.

Cover stories

2007 cover stories included: Ludacris, My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, 50 Cent and KT Tunstall.

2006 cover stories included Pharrell, Living Things, Jurassic 5, Taking Back Sunday.

2005 covers included: The Flaming Lips, T House of The Almighty, Fall Out Boy and Thrice.

2004 cover stories included: The Polyphonic Spree, D12, The Dresden Dolls, The Donnas.

External links

* [http://www.skopemag.com/ Skope Media Website]