| Type | Music magazine |
|---|---|
| Format | Free biweekly |
| Owner(s) | Bam Media |
| Founder(s) | Dennis Erokan |
| Publisher | Earl Adkins (from 1994) |
| Launched | January 1976 |
| Ceased publication | June 1999 |
| Relaunched | 2011 |
| Circulation | 130,000 (mid-1980s) |
| Sister newspapers |
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| Website | www |
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]
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]
In 2011, BAM returned as an online magazine at BAMmagazine.com,[5] operated by Dennis Erokan.[6]
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 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]