State
State Issue #1 (April 2008)
EditorPhil Udell
CategoriesMusic
Frequency12 per year
PublisherRoger Woolman
Founded2008
First issueApril 2008
Final issueJanuary 2009 (print); January 2020 (web)
CountryIreland
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.state.ie

State.ie (formerly State Magazine) was an Irish website and, before, a monthly music magazine. It launched in April 2008 and switched to online-only distribution in January 2009 after having published a total of ten issues. The magazine continued online until 2020, when that year's edition of its Faces series prominently mentioned the website having ceased publication.[1]

It enjoyed a good run and was voted Best Music Site in 2008 and Best Web Publication in 2010 in the Irish Web Awards. Originally, the concept of the magazine involved a hard copy of which there was a charge to purchase. However after six issues it was decided to make the magazine's content free both online and in print. The first issue, April 2008, appeared on Irish shelves on 6 March 2008[2][3] and featured Michael Stipe of R.E.M. on the cover.[4] This immediately garnered comparisons between the new magazine's similarities with Hot Press who featured Stipe on their cover at the same time, a move widely thought to be an attempt by Hot Press to stifle State's status as a serious 'alternative' to the more established local magazine.[5] At a price of €5.50, State charged €2 more than Hot Press.[6]

State was published by Roger Woolman and edited by Hot Press alumni Phil Udell. Contributors included Evening Herald columnist, The Irish Times reviewer and blogger Sinéad Gleeson, Rolling Stone writer Kara Manning, award-winning blogger Niall Byrne (a.k.a. Nialler9[7]), Event Guide writer David O'Mahony and The Star feature writer Tanya Sweeney. The magazine's art director, Simon Roche, was named designer of the year by the Periodical Publishers Association of Ireland in December 2008.

From October 2008 until January 2009 the magazine was made available for free of charge from a number of venues around Ireland's major cities and online from the magazine's website, following a number of other magazines such as Mongrel, Connected and Analogue Magazine in providing their print content free of charge. The first freely distributed issue of State featured Kings of Leon on the cover.[8] After January 2009, the magazine was only available online from its website.

Issues

The first six issues were available for a fee.[9]

# Date of publication Cover star Details Link
1 6 March 2008 Michael Stipe Goldfrapp, The Jimmy Cake, Cadence Weapon, Stiff Little Fingers, The Kooks
2 3 April 2008 Muse Portishead, Jape, SXSW [10]
3 1 May 2008 Gemma Hayes Republic of Loose, The National, Mick Jagger [11]
4 5 June 2008 Iggy Pop Damien Dempsey, Alanis Morissette & Martha Wainwright, The Ting Tings [12]
5 3 July 2008 Interpol Tricky, The Hold Steady, Pendulum, Justin Timberlake [13]
6 7 August 2008 ABBA Electric Picnic 2008: Tinariwen, David Holmes, Oppenheimer, Tindersticks, That Petrol Emotion, Bodytonic, Pivot [14]

Cross-border collaborations

State.ie linked up with AU magazine of Belfast in 2009 to co-host what was described as "a series of cross-border gigs" designed to promote Northern Irish musicians in Ireland.[15] Alphastates, And So I Watch You From Afar and Conor O'Brien of Villagers and The Immediate all featured.[15]

References

  1. ^ "State Faces". State as an entity has wrapped up – a wonderful decade in that world.
  2. ^ "State Magazine - Issue One". State. 26 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  3. ^ "State Magazine - Issue 1 Available Now". IMRO. 6 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  4. ^ "State Magazine Issue One out now!". State. 5 March 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  5. ^ "The State of play in the nation's music mag biz". Irish Independent. 8 March 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  6. ^ John Meagher (25 April 2008). "Loaded: Apr 26th - May 2nd". Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  7. ^ "nialler9 - Music/Mp3 Blog". Nialler9. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  8. ^ "State Issue 7 - The Details". State. 2 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  9. ^ "Issues". State. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  10. ^ "State Magazine - Issue 02". State. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  11. ^ "State Magazine Issue 03 and Muxtape". State. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  12. ^ "State Magazine Issue 04". State. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  13. ^ "State Issue 05, Muxtape, Listings & PDFs". State. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  14. ^ "State Issue 06: Abba, Electric Picnic and a Free CD". State. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  15. ^ a b "No borders for bands". The Irish Times. 24 April 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2009.

External links

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