''The Mag'' is an independent and alternative music magazine in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

which has been published online since 2003. Contributions in the form of reviews and music articles were made by aspiring music journalists, photographers and enthusiasts such as Steve Fenton, Pete Habert, Stuart Smith and Mark Holloway. ''The Mag'' gained exposure in 2006 when the magazine's website became the largest of its kind (source

Alexa Internet Alexa Internet, Inc. was an American web traffic analysis company based in San Francisco. It was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon. Alexa was founded as an independent company in 1996 and acquired by Amazon in 1999 for $250 million in stock. ...

- Independent and Alternative Music) and it reached its peak in 2007, hosting an awards show that gained recognition from the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, as well as radio stations

Original 106 (Solent) Original 106fm was formerly a radio station broadcasting to the Solent region of southern England, centred on the towns and cities of Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth, from its transmitters at Chillerton Down, Mannings Heath (Poole) and ...

and Southern Counties Radio.

History

The magazine's first edition was published as an 8-page local music guide in Salisbury, Wiltshire. However, due to distribution issues, the physical edition was replaced with a website on 9 July 2003. In December 2006, The Mag were the first to report on the

Delays Delays are an English indie rock, indie band formed in Southampton, which consisted of brothers Greg and Aaron Gilbert, Colin Fox and Rowly until Greg Gilbert's death in 2021. The band's sound combines guitar and synths and featured Greg Gilbe ...

new record deal with

Fiction Records Fiction Records is a British record label founded by Chris Parry in 1978, owned by Universal Music Group and based in the United Kingdom. It is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. It was originally a part of Polydor, ...

as they were present backstage at Southampton Guildhall to interview lead singer Greg Gilbert when the deal was signed. In 2007, www.the-mag.me.uk were awarded the runners-up prize in the category 'Best Interactive Website' at the HantsWeb awards run by

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

. In 2019, The Mag was re-branded with the new name Phonotonal.

The Mag Awards

The Mag Awards is an annual award show voted for by readers of the magazine, from a list of all bands featured in the preceding year. The Mag Awards 2008 winners were announced on Saturday 19 July at a live show in Southampton, presented by radio station,

The Mag Awards Winners

2008: 2007:

References

Alexa Independent and Alternative Music category

External links

The Mag
homepage
Phonotonal
homepage
The Mag Awards on The BBC
Online music magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 2003 {{music-mag-stub