Musician (magazine)

{{short description|Music magazine published in the United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox magazine

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| category = Music magazine

| frequency = Monthly

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| founder = Sam Holdsworth, Gordon Baird

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| firstdate = October 1976

| finaldate = 1999

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| country = United States

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| language = English

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| issn = 0733-5253

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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.{{cite news| first=Geoff| last=Edgers| url=http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/07/20/artist_is_bitten_by_desire_to_put_greenheads_on_canvas/| title=Artist is bitten by desire to put greenheads on canvas| newspaper=The Boston Globe| date=July 20, 2008}}

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.{{cite journal |first=Liza |last=Frenette |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3065/is_n6_v18/ai_7627075 |title=BPI's entertainment architect - Billboard Publications Inc.; Sam Holdsworth |magazine=Folio |date=June 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050519010751/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3065/is_n6_v18/ai_7627075 |archive-date=May 19, 2005}} As Holdsworth told an interviewer in 2003, the magazine "created a level of trust that made the musicians feel they were talking with peers". 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.

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.{{cite journal| first=Ken| last=Gordon| title=A Great One Remembered: Musician| magazine=Folio| date=November 2003}} It was later renamed Musician, Player & Listener and was headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Holdsworth and Baird sold it in January 1981 to the company that owned Billboard magazine.{{cite news| first=Philip| last=Dougherty| title=Billboard Buys Magazine| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/19/business/advertising-billboard-buys-magazine.html| access-date=April 16, 2017| newspaper=The New York Times| date=January 19, 1981}}{{cite journal| title=Billboard Publications Buys Musician| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mCQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT8| access-date=April 16, 2017| date=November 22, 1980| magazine=Billboard| page=8| issn=0006-2510}} Holdsworth and another company executive bought it back in 1985, and ran it until selling it again in 1987. The magazine folded in 1999.