Alternative Press (magazine)

Alternative Press

"Most Anticipated Albums of 2007" issue
Editor in chief	Jason Pettigrew
Categories	Music
Frequency	Monthly
Publisher	Alternative Press Magazine, Inc.
Founder	Mike Shea
Year founded	1985
First issue	June 1985
Company	Alternative Press
Country	United States
Based in	Cleveland
Language	English
Website	www.altpress.com
ISSN	1065-1667

Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president.

Joe Scarpelli is the current general manager. Jason Pettigrew is editor in chief.

The first issue of Alternative Press was simply a photocopied punk rock fanzine, distributed at concerts in Cleveland, Ohio beginning in June 1985 by AP's founder, Mike Shea. He disliked the music that was then being broadcast on radio stations and believed that bands playing underground music should be given more media coverage "all in the same spot", he said.

The name for the magazine, Alternative Press, was not a reference to the alternative rock genre, but referred to the fanzine being an alternative to the local press that wasn't covering the music that Shea felt deserved to be heard. He said, "It has really always been about covering music for the misfits".

Shea began working on his first issue in his mother's house in Aurora, Ohio. Shea and a friend, Jimmy Kosicki, targeted the Cleveland neighborhood of Coventry. "I took my high school newspaper from Aurora High that looked nice and clean and offset print. I'd walk into these flower shops and Hallmark shops, and I'd say 'We're going to put out an entertainment publication, and it's going to be for kids and [the ad is] only $25.' And they'd look at my high school newspaper and say, 'It's really professional...' That's how we got enough money to make the first issue".

Financial problems plagued AP in its early years. Of the fledgling magazine's struggles in 1986, Shea said: "After the last few punk concerts we promoted that year failed to make any money to help finance the magazine, I had to start begging my mom for money to keep AP going: $1,500 here, $2,500 there. My mom was super-supportive of the whole endeavor, and she seemed to enjoy having a bunch of punkers over at all hours of the night putting together issues on her dining-room table and getting spray mount all over her nice tablecloths and on the carpeting, which resulted in our socks getting pulled off as we walked over it". However, by the end of 1986, publication had ceased due to its financial problems, not resuming until the spring of 1988.

With the growth of alternative rock in the early 1990s, circulation began to increase. AP's covers included bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden, prior to each band's mainstream success.