BAM (magazine)

Bay Area Music (BAM)
Type	Music magazine
Format	Free biweekly
Owner(s)	Bam Media
Founder(s)	Dennis Erokan
Publisher	Earl Adkins (from 1994)
Launched	January 1976; 48 years ago
Ceased publication	June 1999
Relaunched	2011
Circulation	130,000 (mid-1980s)
Sister newspapers	This Week; MicroTimes;
Website	www.bammagazine.com

BAM (short for Bay Area Music) was a free bi-weekly music magazine founded and published by Dennis Erokan in the San Francisco Bay Area from January 1976 until June 1999.^[1]

History

Bay Area Music magazine was first published in January 1976. It was a free bi-weekly magazine that was funded by advertisers.^[2]

In the mid-1980s the magazine reached its largest circulation of 130,000 biweekly throughout California, after opening an office in Los Angeles.^[3] After the opening of the Los Angeles office, separate Northern and Southern editions of BAM were published.^[3]

In October 1994, the magazine got a new publisher, Earl Adkins.^[4] Adkins resigned in spring 1995. In 1995, Bam magazine's parent company, Bam Media, bought the copyright to the Seattle Rocket music magazine.^[4]

The final edition of the print magazine was published in June 1999.^[3] The paper's circulation at the time of closing was 55,000.^[3] The BAM logo was used as the music section of This Week, another Bam Media publication, after the paper folded.^[3]

Relaunch

In 2011, BAM returned as an online magazine at BAMmagazine.com,^[5] operated by Dennis Erokan.^[6]

Bammies

In 1977, Erokan founded the Bay Area Music Awards, better known as the Bammies, a yearly award show for musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[4] Winners were voted on by BAM's readers.^[7] In 1998, the Bammies name was changed to the California Music Awards.^[8] In March 2018, there was a Bammies Reunion Concert in San Francisco.^[5]

MicroTimes

MicroTimes was a free regional computer magazine, focused on industry personalities, founded and published by Dennis Erokan in the San Francisco Bay Area starting in 1984 and sold in 1999.^[9]^[10]^[11]

References

^ Ganahl, Jane; Staff, Of the Examiner (June 4, 1999). "BAM magazine shuts doors". SFGate. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ "The Stanford Daily 24 October 1996 — The Stanford Daily". stanforddailyarchive.com. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Chonin, Neva; Writer, Chronicle Staff (June 4, 1999). "Bam To Cease Publishing / Music magazine was losing money". SFGate. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ganahl, Jane; Staff, Of the Examiner (September 1, 1995). "BAM Magazine merges with Seattle Rocket". SFGate. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Bammies reunion hopes to revive spirit of once-popular Bay Area award show - SFChronicle.com". www.sfchronicle.com. March 19, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ "BAM magazine will return as website". The Mercury News. September 1, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ MTV News Staff. "Hole Lead 'Bammies' Nominees". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ Report, Examiner Staff (October 21, 1997). "Bammies become California Music Awards". SFGate. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ "MicroTimes Newsletter". Internet Archive. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ Microtimes. BAM Publications, Incorporated. September 1989. via google books
^ "Volume 1 Number 1". MicroTimes. 1 (1). BAM Publications. May 1984. OCLC 18528655. Retrieved June 10, 2022. via archive.org