The Skinny is a 72
page, monthly publication distributed in approximately 600
establishments throughout the cities of Aberdeen
, Dundee
, Edinburgh
, Glasgow
and the
region of Fife
in Scotland
.
Founded in 2005, the magazine features interviews and articles on
music, art, film, comedy and other aspects of Scottish
culture.
History
The Skinny was founded and launched in 2005 as a free
Edinburgh and Glasgow listings magazine. From the outset, the
magazine secured interviews with high-profile music acts, including
Mogwai,
Pearl Jam,
GZA and
Muse.
In August 2006,
The Skinny formed a partnership with
established
Edinburgh Festival
magazine
Fest. The first year of this
partnership saw the publication renamed "SkinnyFest", before it
reverted back to the title "Fest" in 2007.
In May
2007, The Skinny started to distribute in Dundee in a move
that was presented as the first step in a plan to distribute
Scotland-wide.
The Skinny was originally set up as a
social enterprise and sustained this way
of working until July 2007, when it became a
private company limited by shares in order
to take on new investment.
In September 2007,
The Skinny printed a Student Guide. The
guide was distributed through a number of
Scottish universities and art
colleges.
In December 2007,
The Skinny ran a conference on the
future of the music industry called ON:07, in the Reid Hall at the
University of Edinburgh. The
delegates included
Peter Jenner, former
manager of
Pink Floyd and
The Clash, and secretary-general of the
International Music Managers Forum;
Simon
Frith, Tovey Professor of Music at
Edinburgh University and the founder of
the
Mercury Prize for music; Evan
Cohen, Director of Strategy and Communications for
social-networking website
Bebo; and Will Page,
Executive Director of Research for the
MCPS-PRS Alliance. As keynote speaker
Peter Jenner called for a standard charge to be applied to
Internet Service Provider
connections to cover all music downloads – effectively a form of
music tax.
In April 2008,
The Skinny launched a new website, moving
listings information online and providing guides to venues around
Scotland.
Content
As a
listings magazine,
The
Skinny largely runs content that relates to events taking
place within its
catchment area during the
month covered by the issue. This consists for the most part of
previews, reviews, and feature interviews.
In March 2007, the magazine secured the first UK interview with
Arcade Fire after the release of hit
album
Neon Bible. The following
month, it secured the first UK magazine cover for the band
Battles in anticipation of the release of their
debut album
Mirrored.
In July 2007, the magazine ran an "opposites issue", which took an
unusual slant on
The Skinny's usual content, and featured
the first reversed-logo masthead on a UK magazine.
Associations
The Skinny has established itself as a 'media partner' for
a range of events, including
Edinburgh International
Film Festival,
Edinburgh International
Book Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival and
Glasgay, and has previously had a long-running
association with popular music radio station
Xfm Scotland.
Awards
In 2006, Jasper Hamill won the Press Gazette /
Reuters Student Interviewer of the Year, for his
piece "Another View" – an interview with avant-garde musician
John Cale.
Also in 2006, Miles Johnson was awarded the Allen Wright Award for
Excellence in Journalism for his feature "Bowling with The
Hamiltons", beating off competition from
The Scotsman,
The List and
the Sunday Herald.
See also
External links
Wikis
Quiz
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