Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', '' Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael Cragg, and a host of contributors. The website seeks to celebrate commercial popular music and does this using humour, user interaction, and contacts within the music industry. Its writing style has been compared favourably by a number of critics to that of the now defunct '' Smash Hits'' magazine, in that it mixes a passion for pop music with a surreal and biting wit. The website was relaunched in January 2006 with more features, music downloads and online shop. In November 2006 Popjustice won a Record of the Day PR & Music Journalism Award in the Best Online Music Publication category, with another individual award going to Peter Robinson in the Breaking Music: Writer Of The Year category.

Popjustice £20 Music Prize

In 2003, Popjustice set up the

Popjustice £20 Music Prize The Popjustice £20 Music Prize, also known as the Popjustice Twenty Quid Prize, is an annual prize awarded by music website Popjustice to recognise the best British pop single of the previous year. The prize was conceived by Popjustice founder ...

, in order to find the best British pop single of the year, as a parody of the

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

and held on the same night, usually at a bar in Central London.

Popjustice books and albums

A series of Popjustice books called ''Popjustice Idols'' were published in March 2006. They are illustrated by David Whittle. Drawing inspiration from

Roger Hargreaves Charles Roger Hargreaves (9 May 1935 – 11 September 1988) was an English author and illustrator of children's books. He created the ''Mr. Men'' series, ''Little Miss'' series and ''Timbuctoo'' series, intended for young readers. The simple and ...

' ''

Mr Men ''Mr. Men'' is a British series of children's books by English author Roger Hargreaves which began publication in August 1971. From 1981, an accompanying series of Little Miss books by the same author (but with female characters) was published. ...

'' books, these feature amusing looks at the lives of pop stars. The initial titles were Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Robbie Williams and Eminem with a

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

version released in April 2006. Four more were released in November 2006 featuring Pete Doherty, Elton John, Britney Spears and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, and there is talk of this range expanding into a TV formatObserver newspaper article - Peter Robinson on Popjustice (March 2006)
A compilation album was also released in October 2006, titled '' Popjustice: 100% Solid Pop Music''.

References

External links

* * * {{Popjustice 20 British music websites