HM Magazine is a monthly, digital and print on demand publication focusing on hard music and alternative culture of interest to Christians. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas.[1] The magazine states that its goal is to "honestly and accurately cover the current state of hard music and alternative culture from a faith-based perspective."[2]
HM Magazine, Issue #117 featuring P.O.D., January/February 2006 | |
Editor | David Stagg |
---|---|
Categories | Christian metal |
Frequency | Monthly |
Founder | Doug Van Pelt |
First issue | Summer 1985 |
Final issue | 2011 (print) |
Company | HM Publications LLC |
Country | United States |
Based in | Houston, Texas |
Language | American English |
Website | hmmagazine |
ISSN | 1066-6923 |
History
editIn 1985, Doug Van Pelt started Heaven's Metal as a fanzine. It was Van Pelt's friend who would later place a classified ad in the 100th issue of Kerrang!, a British magazine focused on covering rock musicians and bands. During that time, Christian metal as a genre began to gain more attention, with Heaven's Metal profiting from this as the only publication exclusively covering that genre.[citation needed] Soon, Heaven's Metal achieved more popularity and became an official publication, with five full-time journalists working for the magazine. Around this time, Heaven's Metal achieved a regular subscription base of 15,000 readers.[3]
During the 1990s, HM sealed a distribution deal with a major magazine wholesaler that immediately increased its print-run from 13,000 to 22,000 copies, and it allowed Van Pelt and his co-workers to double ad rates, making HM a stable business enterprise.[3] Later, it would be two specific articles that would cement HM's mainstream popularity: the first was the band King's X's vocalist Doug Pinnick using an interview with HM to talk about his sexuality, and the second being Alice Cooper's interview in 2002 about his spiritual beliefs.[3]
In February 2013, Van Pelt sold the magazine to current editor David Stagg under undisclosed terms.[4]
References
edit- ^ "HM Magazine". Linkedin. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ Stagg, David (April 26, 2013). "About". HM Publications LLC. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
- ^ a b c Langer, Andy (August 7, 2000). "Heaven's Metal". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved December 11, 2007.
- ^ "Find Our what Former HM Magazine Editor has been Up to". Adrenaline PR. November 17, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
Further reading
edit- Austin Chronicle: HM Editor/Publisher Doug Van Pelt's Hard-Rocking Christian Empire Archived March 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine August 7, 2000
- Phantom Tollbooth: Heaven's Metal Re-launches As A Fanzine Archived September 18, 2023, at the Wayback Machine October 4, 2004