Week 3 EOC: Rolling Stone Magazine

Rolling Stones magazine was founded in San Francisco during the year 1967. The founder, Jann Wenner wanted this magazine to be all about music, liberal politics, and pop-culture. Jann launched his magazine with money that he borrowed from his family and from his soon to be wife’s family. At first Rolling Stones magazine was known for their political coverage, but then in the 1990s they changed their format to appeal to the younger population of America. In his very first magazine published, “Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone ‘is not just about the music, but about the things and attitudes that music embraces.’ This has become the de facto motto of the magazine.” In the 1980s Wenner saw that his readers were becoming more interested in the celebrities in television and movies, also the influencers of the day so he shifted his magazine to be more of an “entertainment magazine.”

In the book “Rolling Stone Magazine: The Uncensored History” Robert Draper states, “What was going on inside the Rolling Stone offices was just as wild and unpredictable. This was not the usual collection of professionals battling deadlines to lay out fashion spreads or recipe collections. This was a motley band of rebels, outcasts, and loners, fiercely independent scribes with nothing in common save a belief in the power of music and the ideals it represented.” The Rolling Stone men were not afraid to take risks, they wanted to stand out and show the world how they felt about music and also how our everyday lives has a huge effect on how music is perceived. This is why I think that they choose to put controversial things on the cover of their magazines. It may come to a shock for some people, because they may be unaware that Rolling Stones is also a news magazine. But since many just think that this magazine is only all about music, I feel that their covers can also tie into the music world. There have been many songs that address their feelings about politics and the issues that are going on in the world. Rolling Stones can certainly show people that political issues do have an effect on our music. “Today, Rolling Stone continues to reign at the forefront of American journalism, and with 12 million readers it serves as the ultimate source for music information and popular-culture trends.” Although they are still known from being a music based magazine, the risk they took to show people that they are a source for the news, will definitely not be forgotten again. 

The History of Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved from http://cecilbuffington.com/photo3_40.html

Rolling Stone Magazine: The Uncensored History. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236615.Rolling_Stone_Magazine

Jann S. Wenner Biography. Retrieved from http://www.jannswenner.com/Biography/