Two beloved Aussie music mastheads back in print

Few industries have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic as print media, so the return of Aussie music publications scenestr and Country Music Capital News is a huge boon for music.

After hitting pause in March, scenestr published its first new edition in several months, returning with a new issue in South East Queensland and Northern NSW.

The new edition marks the restart of publishing for scenestr, which puts out separate titles in all five major territories and hopes to bring all titles back to the market by September.

“This week’s publication of the QLD edition is the first of baby steps to return to nationwide rollout,” publisher Howard Duggan said. “I hope all titles will return by September, with all eyes on Victoria. We are assessing weekly.

“We have kept busy during COVID by developing our scenestr TV capabilities into a fortnightly, 20-minute, studio-hosted programme called The Blender. We’ve interviewed artists from all around the world and included TOP 5s from Aussie comedians as well as regular video game reviews.”

Another title set to be revived from coronavirus-induced hiatus is one of Australia’s longest-running music magazines Country Music Capital News.

It is set to return in September as a bi-monthly publication with a new look cover, and the magazine is also set to catapult into the digital space with an online edition through ISSUU.

The revamped mag also has new sections including ‘Country Picks’ and ‘Looking Back’, as the country music community looks towards the 50th Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2022.

“This exciting change to a bi-monthly magazine will not only achieve a more seamless production process but will offer a greater distribution with more outlets, more copies per outlet with a longer shelf time, resulting in more readers,” the publisher said in an announcement.

“Now there is light at the end of the tunnel, with restrictions being lifted or relaxed and the country music industry is BACK IN BUSINESS.”