HM (magazine)
HM Magazine is a monthly, digital and print on demand publication focusing on hard rock music and alternative culture of interest to Christians. It is based in Houston, Texas. Originally published as Heaven's Metal, it was renamed to HM in 1995, and in late 2004 Heaven's Metal was reissued as a separate publication from HM, with some shared editorial overlap.
History
[Image:HeavensMetlCover.jpg|thumb|upright|Heaven's Metal Fanzine featuring Theocracy]In 1985, a journalist Doug Van Pelt started Heaven's Metal as a fanzine. It changed its name in 1995 to HM, standing for Hard Music, but the Heaven's Metal branding was brought back in 2004 and was released alongside HM. Heaven's Metal achieved more popularity and became an official publication, with five full-time journalists working for the magazine. In 2000, HM achieved a regular subscription base of 15,000 readers.
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. The most popular issue of the publication was No. 77, where Doug Pinnick of King's X came out as homosexual. A subsequent wave of Christian music retailers refusing to sell the music of King's X is attributed to the publicizing of Pinnick's sexuality in that HM issue.
In 2010, Heaven's Metal ceased print and its content was merged into the digital issues of HM. In February 2013, Van Pelt sold HM to current editor David Stagg. Van Pelt remains the owner and publisher of Heaven's Metal, which is officially a separate publication even though it shares some editorial coverage with HM.