MusicTech

About MusicTech

MusicTech is a British monthly magazine for music producers, engineers and recording musicians, covering the intersection of music and technology. It is widely described as the world's most practical music recording and production magazine, packing each issue with hands-on features written by professional producers and engineers, software walkthroughs, reviews of studio hardware and software, and easy-to-follow tutorials. It is published by BandLab Technologies, with its editorial and commercial teams based in the United Kingdom.

From its origins as the first title of a small English publisher to its present position within a global collective of music brands, MusicTech has remained focused on a single mission: helping readers get more out of their music, whatever instruments they want to record. Below is a detailed profile of the magazine: its history, editorial character, ownership, formats and digital presence.

History and Founding

MusicTech was launched in the early 2000s as the very first title of Anthem Publishing, a small English publishing company founded by Jon Bickley. It arrived in a crowded field of British music-technology magazines, aiming its sights on the space between the high-end, professional world of Sound On Sound and the more entry-level territory of Future Music. An early review noted that it caused quite a stir in the UK publishing industry as it attempted to muscle into the gap between its competitors.

The new magazine's mission was stated simply from the start: it was "a new publication for people who create, record and edit their own music", with the goal of helping readers get more out of their music, no matter what instruments they wanted to record. The first issues were stuffed with product news from the big trade shows of the year — NAMM in January and Musikmesse in March — and came with cover-mounted CD-ROMs carrying samples, software and tutorials.

Editorial Focus and Audience

MusicTech is aimed at producers, engineers and recording musicians, from aspiring producers to accomplished professionals. Its editorial structure follows a practical rhythm of news, reviews, tutorials and advice on recording, editing and mixing, with the magazine published on the third Thursday of each month and an editorial deadline falling one month prior to publication.

The magazine's content is built around doing rather than theorizing: hands-on features written by professional producers and engineers, software workshops for every major DAW, interviews with top named producers, artists and engineers, and reviews of the latest studio hardware and software. Its "Ten Minute Master" guides to technologies and techniques, its software walkthroughs for all the key packages, and its buyer’s guides have made it a working tool for its readers as much as a magazine — the ultimate package for today's studio user.

Ownership and Publishing

For its first decade and a half, MusicTech was published by Anthem Publishing, where it held a special place as the company's very first title. In October 2018, Singapore-based BandLab Technologies announced the acquisition of MusicTech and its sister brand The Guitar Magazine from Anthem Publishing, as part of its stated commitment to connecting music creators and fans.

Under the deal, the editorial and commercial teams for both brands continued to operate in the UK — the MusicTech office remained in Britain while the parent company, BandLab Technologies, is headquartered in Singapore. BandLab's CEO, Meng Ru Kuok, said at the time that the brands would strengthen the company's vision of creating a connected world of music and empowering people everywhere to be creative, while Anthem founder Jon Bickley noted that the company had been proud that both titles had encouraged people around the world in their love of music creation and recording.

Print Format and Frequency

MusicTech is published monthly, with each issue running to well over 100 pages — a November 2015 issue, for example, ran to 116 pages. Every issue comes packed with in-depth features on music recording and production, including interviews with visionaries, gear reviews, buyer's guides and tutorials, all written by a team of industry experts and musicians.

The print edition has traditionally been a multimedia package: each copy has come with free cover-mounted media — originally CD-ROMs and later DVDs — containing exclusive royalty-free samples and loops, special-edition software, video tutorials and workshop resources. That combination of print journalism and usable digital content has been central to the magazine's identity as a practical, hands-on title.

Regular Features

The magazine's regular architecture is built around the working life of the modern producer. News pages track the latest product and software announcements from across the industry; reviews put studio hardware and software through their paces; and tutorials — the heart of the magazine — walk readers through techniques step by step. Software workshops cover every major DAW, while the "Ten Minute Master" series offers quick guides to technologies and techniques.

Interviews with leading producers, engineers and artists give readers insight into professional workflows and creative thinking, and the cover-mounted samples, loops and software give every issue a practical afterlife in the reader's own studio. The structure of news, reviews, tutorials and advice has remained consistent throughout the magazine's history, whatever the ownership.

Position in the Market

MusicTech has long positioned itself between the established poles of the British music-technology press: more practical and hands-on than the high-end professional titles, and more focused on recording and production craft than the broader music press. It is frequently described as the world's most practical music recording and production magazine, and it is listed in media databases as a practical recording magazine for producers, engineers and recording musicians.

The magazine's readership spans the full range from bedroom producers to professional studio engineers, and its global reach — in print, on newsstands and through digital editions — has made it one of the best-known English-language titles in its field. Its sister brand under BandLab, The Guitar Magazine, underwent an award-winning reinvention during the Anthem years, and MusicTech has continued to evolve its physical and digital products under BandLab's investment.

Digital Presence

MusicTech's digital operation centres on musictech.com, which publishes news, reviews and features for the music-production community alongside the monthly print magazine. The brand also offers a mobile edition: a MusicTech Magazine app, published by BandLab UK Limited, through which readers can purchase the current issue and back issues or take out subscriptions.

The website extends the magazine's practical ethos online, with product news, reviews and technique content updated between print issues. The brand's social media presence and digital editions serve an international audience of producers and engineers, complementing the UK-based editorial team's monthly print production.

Notable Content

Across its history, MusicTech has been defined by the expertise of its contributors: professional producers, engineers and musicians writing hands-on features for their peers. The interviews with visionaries of music production, the detailed gear reviews and the royalty-free sample libraries bundled with each issue have given the magazine a library-like quality — readers keep back issues as reference material for their studios.

The magazine's coverage of the major trade shows — NAMM and the former Musikmesse — has been a fixture since its earliest issues, and its workshops on the key software packages have tracked the evolution of the digital studio from the early 2000s to the present day, from the first cover-mounted CD-ROMs to today's downloadable sample packs and video tutorials.

Official Website

The official website of the magazine is musictech.com, where readers can find the latest music-production news, reviews and tutorials, digital editions of the monthly magazine, and subscription options.