The third wave of country magazines

What's hotter than Billy Ray Cyrus and Garth Brooks combined? The magazine devoted to the aforementioned stars: Country America. Meredith, Hearst and a host of other publishers are flooding the market with country magazines--and specifically country music magazines. In fact, the last few months of 1992 saw more country magazines introduced than in all of 1991.

The latest group represents the third wave of country magazines to hit the stands since their introduction 140 years ago. In 1853, Luther Tucker launched the first wave with Country Gentleman and Country Gentlewoman.

It took more than a century for the second wave of country magazines to appear. Rachel Newman, editor of Hearst's Country Living, credits the rebirth of country magazines to two major historical events: America's bicentennial and the renovation of older, inner-city housing. The 1976 event encouraged people to rethink "classic American style," and with renovation "came the whole idea of historic preservation." Combine the two and you get the first issue of Country Living in 1978, "the magazine of American living."

It was the start of the shelter era in country magazines. No less than 30 titles followed: Country Home, Country Life, Country, Country Accents and Country Decorating Ideas, to name a few.

The third wave of country magazines rolled in with Meredith's Country America in 1989. It was the first effort to marry lifestyle and service with country music. The result was an unprecedented success: one million copies, four million readers, a record 62 pages of ads in the February 1993 issue--all in a time frame of less than three years.

Why the response? Richard Krumme, general manager and editorial director of Country America, credits baby-boomers, who are turning to country music as the rock 'n' roll of the nineties. Some of the newest titles on the market reflect this trend: Country Beat, Country Sounds, Country Confidential.

If the past provides any lessons, marketers have followed the "baby-boomers through the intestinal track of history," observes Krumme. And so, it is likely, will magazines.

Samir A. Husni heads the magazine service journalism program at the University of Mississippi and is author of Samir Husni's Guide to New Consumer Magazines, which is published by FOLIO:.

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