''Bearded'' is a British bi-monthly music magazine that covers the independent music industry, reviewing artists who are either unsigned or signed to independent record labels.

History

''Bearded'' was founded by Gareth Main, a former editor of the trade publication Golf Course News International, with the aim of providing nationwide coverage for independent artists. The first issue of ''Bearded'' was released on 14 August 2007 with an illustration of actor and musician

Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''What ...

on the cover. The cover design was minimal, featuring only the original ''Bearded'' logo with no content or other information. This design continued through the first 18 months of the magazine, until ''Bearded'' relaunched on 29 January 2009, after which the logo was changed. The magazine retained its signature minimal aesthetic.

Beardaid

14 July Events Pre-1600 * 982 – King Otto II and his Frankish army are defeated by the Muslim army of al-Qasim at Cape Colonna, Southern Italy. *1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II. * 1420 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, ''Bearded'' announced the launch of Beardaid, a charitable side to the

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

that aimed to further help people working in the independent music industry. Beardaid then offered independent labels

subsidized A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

in ''Bearded'' to help them reach a wider audience previously unreachable due to cost.

Critical reaction

Following the magazine's launch,

online Journalism Digital journalism, also known as netizen journalism or online journalism, is a contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is distributed via the Internet, as opposed to publishing via print or broadcast. What constitutes digital j ...

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

ger Paul Bradshaw heralded its "web-savvy

business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...

" while ''Created in Birmingham's'' Pete Ashton commented on ''Bearded'''s "very impressive start."Created in Birmingham » Bearded Launched
/ref>

Distribution

''Bearded'' is distributed in the UK through independent

record shop A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record sho ...

s, and

newsagent A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand (American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local ...

s including

WHSmith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

and previously

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bearded 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 2007 Bi-monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Music magazines published in the United Kingdom Mass media in Birmingham, West Midlands