Concept

Modern Drummer

Summary
Modern Drummer is a monthly publication targeting the interests of drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public. Modern Drummer is also available on the internet. First published in 1977, today the print version of Modern Drummer is available in 67 countries. The monthly digital edition, enhanced with music and videos corresponding to the current issue's contents, is available on the internet. An electronic newsletter featuring unique editorial, MD Wire, is also published monthly. A corresponding website is used to supplement the magazine with blogs and other items which cannot be provided in the paper format (e.g., audio-video presentations). In 1993, Modern Drummer Publications introduced a bimonthly drum dealer-oriented magazine called Drum Business, and for more than 20 years its book division has released works by drum educators. In 2006 the company published its first hardcover book on the history of drumming, entitled The Drummer: 100 Years Of Rhythmic Power And Invention. Since 1987 it has also produced the Modern Drummer Festival. Modern Drummer magazine was conceived in the basement of Ron and Isabel Spagnardi's home in Nutley, New Jersey, funded only with the family's personal savings. The magazine's initial staff consisted of Leo Spagnardi (Ron's father, who taught him how to play the drums), and Ron and Isabel's daughter, Lori. Although they had no real publication experience or financial backing, the Spagnardis placed ads in local newspapers, in Downbeat, and in Drum World. "What we didn’t consider when we put the ads in the papers," recalled Isabel in The Drummer, "was that we were innocently breaking the law by advertising a product that didn’t even exist yet!" The ads worked, however, and subscriptions began coming in as the first issue was still being laid out on the Spagnardis’ ping-pong table. Ron contributed most of the magazine's content, writing the majority of the articles on an old typewriter under various pen names.
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