''Melodie und Rhythmus'' is a German

countercultural A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

magazine founded in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

in November 1957. The magazine initially focused on

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

music in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, and slowly expanded its content to pop and rock until its discontinuance in 1991. Relaunched in 2004, ''Melodie und Rhythmus'' adopted a similar approach but it has gradually shifted towards socio-political issues.

History

From its launching to the 1990

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, ''Melodie und Rhythmus'' remained one of the most popular magazines in East Germany with a circulation of 270,000 copies in 1989, only limited by the amount of paper. Its first issue expressed the intention of supporting music that reflected East Germany's socialist idiosyncrasy, in contrast to the "

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

from the capitalist West", including its "excesses à la

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

." Among the first artists featured in the magazine were the Schlager singers Jenny Petra and Helga Brauer. ''Melodie und Rhythmus'' existed in varying black-and-white formats, covering several music events and reflecting the lifestyle of the country. In 1974, it established a colored outfit and, in December of that year, the Puhdys were its first modern rock band featured; eventually, ''Melodie & Rhythmus'' would become the main publication to report the developing ''

Ostrock Germany claims some of the most renowned composers, singers, producers and performers of the world. Germany is the largest music market in Europe, and third largest in the world. German classical music is one of the most performed in the worl ...

'' movement. Since the 1980s, it started to include

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

artists with photographs, greatly increasing its popularity. After the reunification, ''Melodie und Rhythmus'' was acquired by the Berlin-based company Henschel-Verlag which discontinued it in February 1991 due to the flood of Western German music magazines. In 2004, ''Melodie und Rhythmus'' was brought back by journalist Christian Hentschel and musician Tino Eisbrennen. For this relaunching, its content mixed coverage of well-known international stars and artists from the former

Socialist Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

which are not popular in the Western media, trying to "fill a gap", according to ''

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...

''. In June 2006, ''Melodie und Rhythmus'' started getting published by Heimat-Verlag, and in 2008, by Verlag 8. Mai, an imprint which also owns the newspaper ''

junge Welt ''Junge Welt'' (English: ''Young World'', stylized in its logo as ''junge Welt'') is a German daily newspaper, published in Berlin. The jW describes itself as a left-wing and Marxist newspaper. German authorities categorize it as a far-left medi ...

''. In 2010, ''Melodie und Rhythmus'' switched to publishing every two months. In 2014, under editor-in-chief Susann Witt-Stahl, the magazine adopted an increasingly political approach, more specifically left-wing

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

. In the second quarter of 2017, ''M&R'' changed its focus from a pop-critical magazine to discussing the political and socio-economic issues regarding cultural events. In January 2018, ''Melodie und Rhythmus'' entered a hiatus due to financial difficulties. However, after more than forty artists and musicians campaigned for its survival, the magazine got more than 1,200 new subscribers and several major ads, announcing its comeback in June 2018.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melodie und Rhythmus 1957 establishments in East Germany Mass media in East Germany East German music Magazines established in 1957 Magazines published in Berlin Music magazines published in Germany Political magazines published in Germany Quarterly magazines published in Germany Visual arts magazines published in Germany