Uncut (magazine)
Uncut is a monthly magazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the Uncut brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006. The magazine was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies, and was published by NME Networks from December 2021 to August 2023, when the brand was sold to Kelsey Media.
''Uncut'' (main magazine)
Uncut was launched in May 1997 by IPC as "a monthly magazine aimed at 25- to 45-year-old men that focuses on music and movies", edited by Allan Jones. Jones has stated that "he idea for Uncut came from my own disenchantment about what I was doing with Melody Maker. There was a publishing initiative to make the audience younger; I was getting older and they wanted to take the readers further away from me", specifically referring to the then dominant Britpop genre.According to IPC Media, 86% of the magazine's readers are male and their average age is 37 years.
Uncut's contents include lengthy features on old albums, interviews with film directors, music and film news, and reviews of all major new album, film and DVD releases. Its music features tend to focus on genres such as Americana, rock and alternative country. Each month, the magazine includes a free CD, which may include both new and older music. Special Issues have covered U2, Radiohead, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the Byrds, David Bowie, Demon Records, Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Queen, Martin Scorsese, Motown Records, Morrissey, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, the Beatles, Elvis Costello, the Kinks, Fleetwood Mac and more.
Uncut underwent a radical redesign in May 2006, as a result of which the magazine no longer catered for books and reduced its film content.
Jones writes a regular monthly column, recounting stories from his long career in music journalism.
Uncuts monthly circulation dropped from over 90,000 in 2007 to 47,890 in the second half of 2015.
In 2019, TI Media, successor to IPC, sold NME and Uncut to Singaporean company BandLab Technologies. BandLab Technologies became the Caldecott Music Group in 2021 and split itself into three sub-units called BandLab Technologies, Vista Musical Instruments and NME Networks, with the latter group continuing to publish Uncut. In May 2023, NME Networks sold Uncut's print and digital assets to Kelsey Media, publisher of car magazines like Car Mechanics, Motorsport News and Fast Car, and farming titles like Crop Production Magazine, Practical Pigs and The Smallholder. The first copy of Uncut published under Kelsey Media was the September 2023 issue in August, with the magazine still being sold in shops with its Now Playing compilation CD.
''The Ultimate Music Guide''
Uncut often produces themed spin-off titles celebrating the career of one artist. This series is now known as The Ultimate Music Guide, but was initially known as Uncut Legends. The series started in 2003 with an inaugural issue devoted to Bob Dylan, edited by Nigel Williamson, followed by magazines entirely devoted to Radiohead, Kurt Cobain, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and John Lennon.Since the series was rebranded as The Ultimate Music Guide, artists such as Kraftwerk, Wilco, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Fall and Talking Heads have been featured, with updated and expanded versions of earlier guides also released as Deluxe Editions.
In 2021, Uncut launched more spin-offs including The Complete Bob Dylan and The Beatles – Miscellany & Atlas, the latter being a publication typeset in the style of Schott's Miscellany.