I was a freshman in high school when I really started to get heavily into music magazines. I deaded my subscription to Beckett Baseball Card Monthly, eased up on the Mad Magazine and Sports Illustrated, and broke the seal on a subscription to Rolling Stone. I regularly picked up The Source, and would spend hours at bookstores reading pieces from Vibe, Heeb, and other music mags that caught my eye. I remember being at Borders one day, killing time before a movie, when I saw my first issue of The Fader. I was immediately drawn to the magazine’s thickness, its gloss, and it’s dope cover shot. The emergiing (and since reformed) music snob in me also loved the fact that the artists featured weren’t the regular top 40 variety, but up and comers from the underground. And they were good. Really good. I knew immediately that by reading the The Fader I was going to be up on “that next shit,” that “oh, you don’t know about… you’re slipping” shit.
It’s been 14 years since the start of The Fader magazine. And while the music world, the print world, and pretty much every other world in between has changed drastically, The Fader is still regarded and respected as a top curator for emerging music and culture. They continue to adjust to new technologies as well as new faces, and it still means something to grace their pages. The Fader has been able to remain relevant because it has stayed true to its mission. The magazine enjoys great relationships with artists, managers, publicists, brands, fans, and everyone in between. And it is no fluke.
In this new interview with The Fader’s Publisher, Andy Cohn, we examine The Fader’s mission, music journalism 2012, and how Cohn’s stints at Spin and The Source have informed what he brings to his current gig. Check it out.