Ray Gun aims for music fans

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Nov 1, 1992 by Erika Isler

Marvin Jarrett, the publisher/editor who resurrected Creem in July 1990--only to sever ties this past spring--is back on the music scene. His newest magazine project, Ray Gun, hit the stands with a November premier issue. "I've set a different course now," Jarrett explains. "And I'm filling the creative need I have to produce a progressive, cutting-edge, alternative-music magazine." Certainly, Jarrett's aspirations are high: The first issue of the 10-times-per-year magazine carries the tagline: "The bible of music + style."

Published by Ray Gun Publishing, Inc., the title launched on newsstands with 51,000 copies; an additional 5,000 copies, says Jarrett, will go directly to top executive "taste-makers" in the entertainment industry.

Jarrett describes the audience for the new title as "the Lalapalooza generation," referring to the sold-out multiband alternative-rock tour of the same name. The magazine will include reviews, profiles, interviews with alternative-music personalities and fashion (and anti-fashion) features, accompanied by funky photography of such renowned photo gurus as Matt Mahurin. But the editorial will focus primarily on the techno-music of the nineties. And to complement the computerized music articles, Ray Gun will present information to its readers using computer graphics to closely resemble the mood of a fast-cut music video.

Although Rolling Stone fills a place in the music market, Ray Gun is addressing the generation of New Rock enthusiasts who listen to bands like Nirvana, Sonic Youth and The Mighty Lemon Drops.

Advertisers want to reach that youth market, Jarrett says. As proof, Jarrett points out that Ray Gun's first issue carries 16 different national advertisers, 13 of which are record companies.

Financing for the launch comes from "some private investors," as well as the publisher himself. Much of the money going into the magazine is on the production side. "In design, Ray Gun is very much like some of the upscale European titles," says Jarrett, who is serving as both publisher and editor. The avant-garde design incorporating post-modern visuals sets the look and tone of the magazine and is the handiwork of typographic wunderkind David Carson, whose last opus, Beach Culture, was well known for its adventurous type treatments.

The cover price is $3.50; a subscription costs $25 and initially includes an alternative-music CD. The rate for a black-and-white advertising page is set at $3,000.